Hard to Beat...

Well, I'm officially in Season Two.  I started exactly two weeks ago (November 1, 2009).  I spent the first few days at company headquarters in Daytona Beach.  I basically just hung out at the airport all day.  I did a couple of flights in the airplanes, made sure the cameras were up to specs, and trained the new guy that is going to be on the road with me.

Actually, that's what officially started Season Two...the flying part anyway.  I was asked to train a new guy, and so we did just a couple of training flights in Florida.  After a couple of hours, we landed, and then we were told to get out of there!  It was already 6:30 P.M.!  Ah, I love this company.

So the new guy and I headed for Texas where we had a project waiting for us.  A quick stop in Jacksonville for charts, then to Destin, FL, for a hotel.  The season had begun.  Of course, that was all at night.  We woke up the next day, flew over the Gulf of Mexico a little bit, then started our northwest flight towards Dallas.  One fuel stop was all it took...somewhere in the middle of Alabama.

All in all, it's been great.  I've been "on the job" for 15 days now...but only 11 of those days have been "on the road," and I've already racked up 40 hours.  That's hard to beat.  Plus I flew along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean...and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico...and now I find myself just south of Fort Worth.

The new guy is pretty easy to get along with.  He's a real smart guy...and very methodical...which can be good (and safe) in aviation.  I'm takin' off, and he's still makin' sure his plane is in order...charts and all.  That's not a bad thing.  I think we've flown 6 out of the 11 days...a pretty good ratio if you ask me.  I'd be happy to keep that throughout the season.

And Texas is the place to start.  We fly a lot when we get the Texas projects, and so I'm thrilled to start out this way.  We've already finished Palo Pinto County, and we only have an hour and a half's worth of work on Parker County.  We just found out yesterday we'll be stayin' in the area...mapping two more counties south of Dallas.  So we'll stay here in Cleburne, Texas.

Two weeks.  Flown halfway across the United States.  40 hours.  Numerous new friends.  And even a free ride in a Cessna 120...I'll have to share more on that later.

This job sure is hard to beat.