Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Part 121 Experience

Yesterday, I got to serve as a crewmember on a Part 121 carrier. I was serving as Seventh Deputy Underassistant Copilot for Customer Service. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the guy snoring in 26C on the redeye from SLC to ATL.

On Sunday night, KSAN closed due to heavy fog (near zero/zero). The KSAN TAF for Monday night, my scheduled departure, was more of the same: CAVU all day, heavy fog after sunset. I planned my own reroute to avoid the inevitable cancellation, then called one of our great american air carriers to execute said reroute.

Dude at Call Center in India: I'm sorry, sir, we can't reroute you, that flight has already departed.
BC: No, it actually leaves in eight hours, but it isn't going anywhere, please reroute me through SLC.
Dude: Our system shows your flight is on time. You don't need to reroute, everything will be fine.
BC: No, it won't.
Dude: Well, sir, my system won't let me do anything for you. My supervisor has to do it.
Supervisor: Sir, you don't need to reroute your flight. The weather in San Diego is perfect.
BC: Yes, it's perfect right now, but not eight hours from now. I'm trying to get back east to see the 'rents and the Chief Photographer. Please change my flight.
Supervisor: It will cost you $300 to change your flight. If you wait another hour, within three hours of the departure to SLC, you will be able to change to that flight for only $25.
BC: Huh?
Supervisor: Within three hours of the departure, you can change to that flight for only $25.
BC: Let me get this straight. The weather is going to cancel my flight tonight, so I'm trying to help you out by shifting to an earlier flight, minimizing the amount of people you have to rebook. If I do it now, it's going to cost me $300. If I wait 55 minutes, it will only cost me $25. Is that right?
Supervisor: That's absolutely correct. Is there anything else we can help with?
BC: Grrrr. No. Bye.

So, now I am biding the requisite 55 minutes, so I call the Chief Photographer and let her know what I am trying to do. About 25 minutes after I got off the phone with the airline, my cell phone starts ringing. A recorded voice greets me: "This is Great American Bankrupt Air Carrier. We have canceled your flight for tonight. We have rebooked you on a flight for tomorrow morning. If you need any assistance, please call us. Thank you."

I pick up the phone and now get to call the rebooking center somewhere in the southern USA.

Rebooking Center: Yes, your flight was cancelled. We have rebooked you on a flight tomorrow morning. Can I help you with something?
BC: I'd like to leave tonight, rerouting on the earlier departure to SLC, then ATL, then my original connection to TYS. Can we do that?
Rebooking Center: No problem. (A few minutes of keystrokes). Done. Have a great flight!
BC: Thanks.

I just don't understand.

So, now that I have returned to to the land of my youth for a great Thanksgiving holiday with my family, it's time to relax, watch football, and adjust my W&B.

MBA Update:
Harvard: Application submitted, waiting on interview.
Wharton: Invited to interview, interview complete, waiting on results.
Darden: Application and interview complete. Waiting on results.
Duke: Application and interview complete. Waiting on results.

Y'all have a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Cheers,
BC

Sunday, November 12, 2006

$133.41 Hamburger

With the sunshine in SOCAL, and my temporary bachelorhood, I decided to scoot up to French Valley for lunch. Departed NZY, Lindbergh transition direct MZB direct F70 own navigation with flight following. There was a direct crosswind at F70 and my crosswind skills are a bit rusty, so I decided to make two passes there for practice. They both went well, to my surprise, so I shut down and had a quick bite of lunch. After a tasty burger, I loaded up the steed and headed back to NZY. There were a few planes who had decided to orbit at my altitude, so SOCAL climbed me to 5500, over the traffic, then back to 3500 for the rest of the way. Crossed Lindbergh at 1000, then a no-flaps landing.

Hours: 1.9
Plane: $123.50
Hamburger and Iced Tea: $9.91
Nailing a landing in an 11kt wind gusting to 15 with crosswind: Priceless.

A good time was had by all.

My first (really) long cross country

I'm playing bachelor right now, the Chief Photographer having left me to my own devices for a few days to visit family back east. Friday was a holiday. Hmm, what shall I do with my time?

Well, I decided that it was finally time to stretch my legs a bit. Since I got my ticket, I haven't flown farther than 80 miles from my home airport. Lack of time, nervousness, whatever, it just hasn't happened. So, I figured it was finally time to actually use an airplane to cover a long distance, so I planned a flight to North Las Vegas Airport, KVGT. The planning phase was actually pretty simple, since I had planned this flight as the cross country portion of my private pilot exam, but now I had to actually go fly it.

I had booked a Warrior for the whole day, so I got to the airport at 7am to preflight and file. I walked straight to the airplane door, checked the squawk sheet, and ran a W&B. Since we normally only fill the Pipers to the tabs (34 gal) and I would be flying over the desert, I wanted full fuel (48 gal), so had to make sure the W&B would take it. After confirming, I started preflighting the airplane. As I did the initial walk around, I noticed a MAJOR problem: the left main was sitting on the rim, flat as a pancake. This plane wasn't going anywhere, and none of the maintenance places were open yet. Not good.

I secured the airplane, then went into the club building. Lucky for me, there was another Warrior that was open for the whole day, so I quickly changed my reservation. New W&B, call for fuel, preflight, weather brief and file on DUATS, and I was able to take off only 15 minutes later than I had planned.

I departed SOCAL to the east over JULIAN VOR and picked up flight following right after I activated my flight plan. LA Center had me climb to 11500 to get over the Palm Springs TRSA, which was a beehive of activity due to the AOPA convention. KPSP was closed due to lack of parking, Thermal and Bermuda Dunes were nearing capacity, planes coming in from all over, so I stayed well above the fray. As I approached TNP VOR, Center advised me to remain clear of a few restricted areas and MOAs, but I told them my route was the Victor Airway (V514) which remains clear of all, so they were happy with me.

I had planned to take the Showboat arrival into VGT (from the east over Lake Meade), but when Center handed me off to Las Vegas Approach, they were unable due to the arrival pattern for McCarran. Instead, they vectored me overhead Henderson Airport, direct the numbers of 25 at McCarran, then direct VGT. This gave me a great view of the strip. When Approach handed me off to VGT tower, they cleared me to land on 31L, but I was too high from my previous clearance, so I called a go around and circled to land.

After landing, I went to the terminal building, ordered my fuel, then went upstairs to the restaurant. It's a decent little burger place where they let you sign the walls. After signing "Big Country Flying" and my tail number, I sat out on the patio to watch the traffic and ordered a patty melt. It was actually pretty good for an airport cafe.

After a tasty lunch, I got another weather brief and filed the return (nice planning room, free WiFi), then launched. Smooth ride home, over the top of the TRSA nightmare, then a long glide back to MYF.

I would have said a lot more, but it was an uneventful flight. For my first really long cross country, it couldn't have gone better. I think this will help my confidence in stretching my legs a bit more and flying to a few further away places.

A few lessons learned for a long cross country:
1. Preflight the night before. Save yourself some heartache.
2. Book a plane with an autopilot. Just having the heading hold function made the flight much more enjoyable.
3. Don't drink a large coffee shortly before takeoff. 'Nuf said.

If anyone is looking to fly into Las Vegas, VGT is the way to go. Cheap fuel, plenty of parking, cheap overnights, and a free shuttle to the strip. McCarran is very overpriced and (from what I hear) they treat piston single guys slightly worse than they do the vagrants.

I might make it up today to bag a few more XC hours, then it will be time to work on my Instrument.

Cheers,
BC

PS-For those of you interested in my MBA quest, last week I received an invitation to interview with Wharton. YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!! The interview is Thursday, so I'll let you know.