My Airplane!

Learning from Aviation

2009-02-18T11:22:00.002-06:00

tA little clarification on what I meant through my last post.

My main point is that we can learn a lot from believing that the pilot operated within the full extent of his experience. And to do that may scare you if you really think about it. I imagine that I am the pilot in that Q400. If I am operating at the top of my game, I assume that I would not be anywhere near the experience level of the captain.

So I ask myself, how is it possible that I would have made the right action (as many people are quick to say they would have) when this crew did not?

That's the way I analyze every accident I read, and its the way I approach everyone in aviation. Assume that they have more experience than you, make better decisions than you, and think faster than you. Even with people who have less flight time. It will serve you well and you will never stop learning. Being a student to aviation is more than just reading lots of books and listening to your CFI. You gain knowledge through EVERYONE, including the kid that just took his first intro flight.

Flying is a wonderful craft that provides endless learning. You just have to know how to use every resource available. It's sad that accidents are part of the resource, but it is true. There are just too many people who look at an accident analysis, read "pilot error", and disregard by saying they wouldn't have made the same mistake. At that point, we turn away from learning, and our attitude becomes nothing more than pride before the fall.

Fly safe everyone

Quick to Point Fingers at 3407

2009-02-17T13:48:00.002-06:00

I've been following the investigation of Colgan 3407 as close as is practicable.

I have friends at Colgan and they all knew the crew closely, and said they were excellent people and pilots.

It makes me sick to read some articles and forums around the internet that are already attacking the crew's performance. Long story short, no one knows what happened in that cockpit in the final moments. What I do know is that they did their best to overcome an emergency, and simply lost the battle. Sure there is probably an error chain that could have been broken at any time, but none of us is in a position to criticize their actions.

To anyone that is just entering the profession, I believe that we can do nothing more but support fellow pilots until facts prove us otherwise.

It is easy to point the finger and say we could have done it better. But we all could improve both ourselves and our profession if we believe that the pilots did their very best, and used the actual facts to prevent further accidents.

Lagniappe

2009-02-13T09:23:00.002-06:00

Still been kickin' it old school here in Ruston. Its not a bad place to be during the winter. Sometimes a little cold, sometimes a little boring, but for the most part its nice.

In the good news section of things, I was able to swing at least a temporary gig flying a Bonanza. That lasted a whole one flight so far, but if the guy needs to make more trips, I'm apparently on the call list. That's not a bad deal, but I'm still looking for a full time job. After applying to all the flight schools between here and Monroe, I've got two people that want to hire me but can't because of finances. Somehow I figured North Louisiana for being a bit more insulated from the recession...

So anyway, I've actually been doing a lot of thinking about a possible exit from the career. Scary I know. Its a hard thing to put so much time and effort into one thing (about 6 years and untold $$ for me) and then think about changing completely.

But so far my plan is to stay here and polish up this graduate degree, as that's the most important backup plan I can have. At the end of the final quarter here, which should be either November or March, I'll see what aviation holds for me, and if I can get in at a decent regional or freight operation, I'll try it one more time. If nothing's open, I'll probably make my move to bigger and better things.

Don't get me wrong, I do love flying, but I REALLY hate this industry. And flying straight and level across the country was never really my cup of tea anyway. I'd much prefer to be spinning or stalling or rolling. Anyway...

Headed down to New Orleans this weekend to check out one of my favorite bands, Old Crow Medicine Show. Check them out. They're a pretty good band, and I've always wanted to see them. Thanks to the redhead for buying me tickets.

Fly safe in your neck of the woods.

Furloughed

2009-01-19T23:55:00.003-06:00

Man I wish I would keep up with this blog.

New years resolution: Keep up with this blog.

Anyway. I got furloughed in the Airnet cuts of October '08. Yay, sob, boohoo, life sucks, etc. etc.

Instead of doing all that I decided to be proactive and head back to Ruston for graduate school. Nothing has taught me more this summer than have a backup plan in this business.

I'm currently a full time grad student and a part time instructor on the freelance side. I am not doing a terrible amount of flying, but I'm a little dejected at the moment. Graduate school is engaging, and I like that.

Promise to update more frequently.

Freight Puppin'

2008-08-26T16:16:00.002-05:00

Well. Made it through training.

I passed last week and got shipped out to the midwest on about a 5 hour nightly run as an SIC.

One week down

2008-07-29T17:47:00.002-05:00

So training has been tough. Today is our first day off in 8 days, and what a stressful 8 days it has been.

The class is great, informative, and casual. However, every day there were small quizzes which required an 80% to pass. Knowing you had to study for those things every night was stressful. Then, on Saturday we had the last class before the giant 80 question indoc test and got off a little earlier so we could maximize our study time.

That night, we all took about an hour or two off and began studying. We started at about 9 PM and went until 3AM. Needless to say, we busted our ass.

But we passed! Everyone scored above 92% and that felt pretty good. Apparently no class has done that well in 2 years. So we are pretty excited and went out last night. Food, strip club, etc. bad things.

Anyway... Sims start tomorrow and they are going to be rough. But i think it won't be as stressful as the ground session. We'll see... only 3 weeks left until I'm freight doggin it.

Training

2008-07-21T08:25:00.002-05:00

Training starts today! After 16 long hours of driving yesterday and Saturday, I'm finally here and ready to roll with the first day. Its exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. All the guys that I've met so far are real nice and the accommodations are good. Two of my old college buddies are still in the city so we hung out for a little while last night. It was good seeing some familiar faces.

Well.. 2 hours till I crank it up. It feels so good to be employed right now!

New Job

2008-07-11T15:08:00.004-05:00

So I'm currently in the backseat of a car. No, wait... a BMW. I tell you because it apparently matters to some people what kind of car they drive... that's another story though. Anyway, we are headed to Dallas to celebrate my girlfriend's 21^st birthday. It will be a weekend of expensive clubs, travelling around a city that I can't stand because of its blatant consumerism. I'm really not a liberal guy, and I honestly vote republican most of the time. But I am feeling incredibly anti-establishment right now because of this trip. Dallas is probably the most stuck-up-its-own-ass city that I've ever been do, and I think it changes people when they go there. This place holds some significance for me.

Less than two months ago, I went to my first job interview in the city of Dallas for a job with American Eagle airlines as a First Officer. Luckily, I got the job. It was a great experience and I was excited to become an airline pilot. Needless to say, Gas jumped to somewhere in the neighborhood of $130/barrel, and I lost that job before I got on the property. Strike 1 for dallas.

One month ago today, I took my second real job interview with Comair airlines out of Cincinnati, OH. I enjoyed what I saw of Cincinnati, and I also went in and got the job with Comair. While I was very excited to start, I had learned my lesson with AE and decided to interview at a freight company. I was pretty confident that Comair was going to work out, so I didn't study extra hard for the interview. I went in with a smug look on my face about already having a job, but I left realizing that I respected these people for the job that they did. I was hired 3 days later. But, once again, fate knocked down my plans.. Some legal battling with Mesa and Pinnacle as well as some... questionable... hiring practices took me out of my second class date with Comair. I was now sitting in a pool at a freight dog operation and two airlines with no idea which way was up. Dejected, I left for LA Tech.

I was convinced that I was destined to be a CFI forever and never build any more time outside of a Cessna 172. But three days after starting my job and getting resettled into the right seat, the freight company called me with news of a class date. Thus, in two weeks, (the closest I've come to a class date) I will be driving up to begin training as a freighter pilot.

And for the third time, I've devoted my hopes to making it. I won't be a skeptic while I wait. Now, I'm pretty excited to be going over to fly single-pilot multi-engine freight getting 1000 hours a year. But honestly, this wasn't my first choice. Two months ago, I was going to be an airline pilot. And yeah, it sounds bad. But I wanted the “glamor” that was left in airline flying. I wanted to be the sharp-looking guy walking around the airplane... at least one time. But you know what? I realized while I was botching my interview at the freight operation that airlines were not for me. I'm too much stick and rudder, too much airmail pilot, too much seat of the pants. Moreover, this job is more stable than any regional airline could ever be. Once I get on property, I won't be worried about this job. CJ is worried he could lose his new regional job in 3 months. I have other friends in the same boat. I feel bad for them, but I am glad not to be at a regional right now.

Anyway. I'm obviously excited about my new job. But truthfully I am as worried as I am excited. Now I have to go through training, pass, and then find may way across America at night, by myself, through any weather possible, in a high performance twin loaded down with who knows what. How do I adjust to the nighttime schedule? Are my personal relationships going to suffer? How will I function without sunlight? I'm ready to give it a shot, but I'm nervous as hell about it. For now, I'm instructing for two more weeks, then departing to start a new life. Lets hope new life class stays on schedule.

Slacking

2008-02-18T23:51:00.002-06:00

Right now, I should be finishing my History paper. I've been working on it for a little while now, and I'm thankful to even be close, seeing as I didn't know it was due until this morning.

Taking 15 hours a quarter to graduate in three years is not an easy task. It was also my glorious decision to splurge on 2 400 level history classes in one quarter. In all, I've read 6 books and written 8 papers in a 10 week quarter. 1 more left to go, too.

Hopefully I'll have a loooong break coming up in a few days. I really need it. Work has been stressful the last few days. I've got 2 instrument, 1 commercial, and 1 private student up for PTs next week, and its been really busy. Trying to cover all my bases is getting tough.

In other news, my roomate got an adorable cat named Ramsey. Since he's never around, Ramsey has taken to me, and believe me when I say this is the cutest cat I've ever seen. Did I just sacrifice masculinity? oh well.

Back to work...

Daily Grind

2008-02-17T18:14:00.003-06:00

The last two weeks have been extremely busy in my work. The weather finally picked up, my IFR students got motivated, and I had a long nerve-wracking ride with the FAA last week. More on that:

Tech recently achieved Part 142 Training Center certification. All this means is that we are a 141 school which uses a Level 6 FTD for a fair bit of training time; saving students money. Overall, it will be a positive switch, but regulations are tight and we are having to cut a lot of red tape. One such item was designating a TCE (Training Course Evaluator). This is a Designated Examiner with a different acronym. In order to be certified, our selected TCE needed to evaluate a student on a practical test under supervision of our Principal Operations Inspector last Wednesday. Needless to say, the failure rate is a little elevated in these situations. After two students got cold feet and denied, we were in danger of losing our certification. After looking through some regs, I got the brightest idea to volunteer for a standardization ride in lieu of a practical test. The idea was accepted.
So after a cloudy Mardi Gras, I returned to Tech to face this new ride. Our 141 Standrides last about 2 hours, so I was expecting similar fare... Wrong. We spent 3 hours of oral, 2 hours of simulator, and an hour of flight making sure that I was good enough to teach what I've been doing for two years and 600 hours. After wasting my time, they thanked me and left... without pay. So now that I've vented on my poor exerience...

I had a pretty awesome dream the other night. In this dream, I recieved this as a present:

This is the Fokker E.III. For some reason, I was given a full scale 1916 Eindecker as a present from my girlfriend. Thanks to its relatively short takeoff and landing distance, I kept it hangared at my house here in Ruston and flew it off of Redwood street.
Oddly enough, I don't have many dreams about flying. But it seems that when I do, they are pretty much the best dreams ever. And apparently, I can build a 3/4 Scale E.III for a fair price. If only I could build planes...

Introduction

2008-01-31T13:18:00.000-06:00

After much internal debate, I've decided to start a blog. I never thought that this would come about, and I'm still not even sure why it is called a blog and not a journal. But in the end, I've given in to the nameless hype in favor of publicly displaying my thoughts and actions for all to see... if anyone ever watches.

First, here's a little about me. At the time of this writing, I am 10 days shy of 21. Native of Luling, LA (About 20 miles southwest of New Orleans. I'm very proud of my home and its uniqueness. Flying became an interest to me when I first flew on a commercial airliner in 1994, at the age of 8. From that moment on, I was dead set on flying for the rest of my life. I began flight lessons in high school (2003), and achieved my private on June 5, 2005.
At the end of Summer, I began college at Louisiana Tech University. I've also come to love this University even with its downfalls. After screwing around for two years on my private, I moved through my instrument, commercial, and CFI in 14 months. I still managed to have fun too! My parents were very happy as it meant the end of them paying my flight fees (Thanks mom and dad). Since getting my CFI in August 2006, I have worked for Louisiana Tech as a part time instructor and full-time student. I should graduate from the University in May with a B.S. in Professional Aviation and a minor in History.
Other than flying, I really enjoy music, history, coffee, playing a little golf every so often, and cooking. I've been dating a beautiful redhead by the name of Marghee for a year and a half. She's got some typical redhead traits, but can certainly be sweet when she puts her mind to it.

Introductions aside, this blog is mostly about my career as a professional pilot. I'm starting it to review my own perspectives about living as an instructor, and hopefully moving on at the end of my tenure at LATech. If blogs are still around for a while, someone may look back and be interested. Otherwise.... I doubt anyone looks while I create mischief over here.

Oh... and the title of my blog is "My Airplane!". Every CFI and most students should know what that's about.

2007-11-27T18:06:00.001-06:00