Friday, June 27, 2008

The Left Seat.

Perma-reserve here I come! The dreaded ATP/Upgrade Checkride has been passed. One more sim session and I'm released to the line to begin my life as a new Captain. Today has been the culmination of 15 years of aviation. 4 years spent working on my private pilots license. 4 and a half (very fun) years at UND (much to my parents chagrin), 2 years of aerial photography, 2 and a half years freight doggin, 8 months of part 121 airline experience and a whole lot of hard work, sacrifice and effort, have brought me to this point in my career, Airline Captain.

Initially being an airline pilot was never a goal which I had set for myself. I had hoped to avoid the regionals all together by flying freight, but it was not to be. The terrible manner in which I was treated at my former company forced my hand into coming to a regional. At one point there were dreams and aspirations of flying for my former company, becoming captain, building the coveted 1000 hours turbine PIC, maby making assistant chief pilot and moving on to my dream job from there. But that was not to be. The winds of change shifted in a new direction and landed me here. My family and I couldn't be happier.

I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who has helped me get to this point. Most importantly, my loving and very, very, very tolerant wife Erin. Without your support, I never would have been able to further my career in the manner in which I have. Love you Hun! Second, to Mom and Dad, if it wasn't for you guys (and your college money), I never would have taken up flying in the first place. Third, to Mukwonago Mom and Dad, with out you guys picking up the slack when I'm gone, I don't think I'd be able to do my job with out worrying about Erin and Jack being without me. Lastly, I'd like to thank all the former flight instructors, captains and boss's who have tolerated my cantankerous ass over the years and taught me a great deal about flying and life in general. Thanks again, I appreciate all of you.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Half way there.

Being a Captain entails a lot more responsibility than sitting in the right seat. There is a saying out there that if the shit hits the fan, look to your left for help. That's all well and good if your sitting in the right seat. Now every time I look left, I'm looking at my reflection in the window.

Groundschool was interesting. The instructor had a unique approach to teaching the class. On the second day of class he started asking us questions. They were questions that we should have known, but didn't. Questions such as " You are on a 3 mile final into MEM, the tower controller wants you to switch runways from 18C to 18R. Can you switch runways with out getting new landing numbers?" I think most of us answered correctly, but when he asked us if we were sure, we all backed down. He then got pissy with us and for the first of many times over the next week and a half, he let loose with his trademark saying " C'mon now, ya''ll is Captains now, you need to know this shit". He was right, but teaching by fear is not something any of us were used to, nor had seen before. There was a standing joke in class. We would make a big deal out of what time it was when we got stumped for the first time. We made it to 9:30 once. The rest of the time he'd always get us before 9. It took us a few days to realise his teaching technique. He was using the knock em down then build them back up approach. It worked. By the time groundschool was over, we were impressing him with our vast wealth of knowledge and even stumping him with a few questions of our own.

At my company, they do the checkride a little differently than other places. Typically when you do a checkride, you have an oral exam for a few hours then go hop in a plane or simulator for the flight portion of the test. At my company, they split it up into separate events. After completing the ground school, you then take the oral part of the type ride. For a lot of us, me especially, its a nerve wracking event. For Captain type rides (we call it a type ride because we get a type rating at the completion of the checkride) anything is fair game. The examiner can ask anything they want about the plane, our flight manuals, regulations, weather, systems and so on and so forth. For me, this is the hardest part. There is a vast amount of knowledge that needs to be memorized. On first officer orals, they are pretty relaxed and easy. Captain orals are a whole different ballgame. You are expected to know the aircraft and every little rule that applies to it forward and backward. My oral exam was on Thursday. Thankfully I passed with flying colors and can now move on to the fun part of the training, the Sims!!! The way I see it, if I can get through the oral, I'm 90% done. The flying is the easy part, I can make this plane do what I want, when I want. On fire, single engine, bad weather, no auto pilot, bring it on. I love this part of the training. Its all down hill from here :)