Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Twinkie Time!!!--February 15, 2010

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I woke up at 5:00 A.M.  It was pitch black.

I had slept very poorly.  I had so much on my mind going to bed (airplane stuff mainly)...actually at one point, I lay there in bed thinking, "Most people are having sex right now in this hotel...celebrating Valentine's Day.  And here I am, studying multi-engine checklists and procedures."  How fitting it was to my life.  Others are focusing on relationships, I am focusing on metal.  And I don't know who is the better off.   I also woke up several times with incredibly sore shoulders...every time I went to reach my hands behind my pillow, I was in extreme pain.  I guess that's what watching the Olympics does to you...the same night you lose a friend...I was so full of energy that I needed to release.  It happened to be in push-ups and pull-ups.  And now I was paying for it.

I should also mention that I had my FIRST dream of crashing an airplane.  I've heard the other guys talk about it, but this was scary stuff.  I was flying at night, watching the light gun from the tower, when my airplane started shaking violently.  I suspected a stall, so I lowered the nose, and the airplane continued its terrible shake.  I was going down without knowing what to do.  I woke up terrified.  I really hope I don't start having these dreams.  I hated that one.

Well, I packed up, went downstairs, and looked for my taxi.  Nothing there.  Hmm.  The front desk had assured me they would take care of this last night.  Nothing.  I asked about it, and it appeared that no phone call had ever been made.  I was not happy.  So the front desk called a taxi for me, but the woman said she would pay for it.  I was now 20-25 minutes later than I had expected.  And I was not going to be wheels-up by 6:00 A.M. anymore.

I grabbed a couple muffins, then headed for the airport.  As I went to tip the driver at the airport, I set down one of my muffins on the bumper (I had eaten the other one).  I had already pulled my bags out, and before I knew it, he shut the trunk!  I squirmed and said something, and he thought he had smashed my fingers!!!  No, no, I said...you smashed my muffin.  Quite literally.  Right down the middle.  He unlocked the trunk, and the muffin went right into the air with the trunk.  I told him he could keep it.

I was off to fly an airplane.  It was still pitch black out.  I liked it.  I loaded up my gear, paid the front desk, then headed for the skies.  This bustling airport was eerily quiet.  It was kind of beautiful.  I got my clearance, then went airborne.  Man, I love night flying.  It was so smooth, and the lights were nothing short of beautiful.  I can get used to this!

I only had an hour and a half flight to Sanford, and the sun rose about 40 minutes into it.  A very enjoyable flight, although I was already yawning like crazy.  I just don't do mornings very well.  Especially if I'm not in the routine.

Well, I landed at Sanford, and tried to catch 20 minutes on the couch.  I seriously think I would have been under had it not been for a guy that walked in for flight planning.  DANG it!!!  So close.  The boss showed up with the other pilots soon thereafter, and we talked for a bit...but we had work to do.  So they took me into a classroom, and we went through the POH of this Piper Aztec.  I then had to explain to them the characteristics of a twin...it was pretty much my MEI oral all over again.  Which was good.

Finally, we went out, and I hopped in the plane!  I couldn't believe it!!!  I was pretty excited.  This has been a long time coming!!!  Although at the same time, I am getting this opportunity pretty quickly in terms of my flying career!  So that is nice.

I learned all of the gauges, their locations, etc...and then I started the airplane.  My boss took over the radios, and he let me focus on flying the airplane.  We taxied out to the runway, and I was eager...and a bit nervous!...to get flying.  And sure enough, we were cleared for take-off.

I revved up the two 250-horsepower engines, and we were off.  This thing has some POWER!!!  It climbed very easily, and I was impressed with its handling in flying.  It was big and beefy, but it was fairly responsive in controls, too.  Not sensitive at all...but just nice to fly.  The winds were starting to act up, and we had some bumps up through a few thousand feet, but nothing major.  Yet.

I just flew around...getting a feel for an airplane.  My boss had me do level turns to a heading...then climbing turns to a heading...then power-on stalls (VERY hard to do...this plane wants to fly!)....then power-off stalls...then a Vmc demo...then steep turns...and probably some more stuff in between.  I was simply getting a feel for the aircraft...AND trying to get my mind ahead of this beast!

Admittedly, I was behind the airplane, especially on the engine-loss checklist..  Miiiiixtures........Props....Thrott...

NO, NO, NO!!!  You have to be quick, Andy.  Quick.  Right away.

Mixtures, Props, Throttles, Flaps Up (first), Gear Up, Fuel Pumps On, Identify, Verify, Feather.

Ok, ok.  I became more and more confident...getting back in the swing of things...but wow...what a LOT of airplane!!!  This was no Cessna 172!

Frankly, it was nice to be challenged again!  I didn't feel too overwhelmed.  Granted, I DID feel like my plate was full, but having the training and experience behind me, it wasn't so overbearing.  Everything we did made sense, and I knew why the airplane acted as it did.  So that was nice.  Actually, that was really nice.

We headed in to Daytona Beach for a landing...and it was BUMPY all the way down.  Winds were 17 knots gusting to 20...and we were landing on Runway 26L.  They sent us several miles out over the ocean (I kind of hate that...but I think it's because I'm cautious of losing an engine!!!  I didn't have the confidence of two grilled into me yet!...I am so used to one!).  And I lined up for the runway.  My boss asked me if I would take the landing...or if he should.  I thought about it, and I said I would give it a go.  I was in the left seat...I knew what I had to do...and this would be great practice, too.  So I got on it...but wow...what a bumpy ride down.

We were sideways coming in with my crab, but the landing was good...and quick.  The boss helped a bit, I think...both our hands were on the controls or rudders...or something...but that was fine.  It's his airplane, and it's my first landing.  I would say I had 90% of it.  With some nervous/cautious back-up!  ha!

But what a good feeling.  I do NOT have the confidence of taking one of these on my own just yet.  It will get there, but there is just a lot to be responsible for...including my life!  You simply cannot toy around with twins.  As soon as you get behind it, it could be your life.  I want to be confident.  I want to fly a few more hours before I am released.  I flew 2.1 today in the Aztec.

I hung out in the shop the rest of the afternoon and early evening.  Several games of ping-pong and a couple of interviews for other candidates (one of our pilots was fired a few days ago).  I sat in on a couple of the phone interviews, and it's really quite weird to hold someone's fate in your hands.  Each of the candidates was eager to take the job...and yet it's not them that gets the say.  Of course, they DO pretty much determine if they will get hired or not...but at the same time, they don't.  They are simply on the other line...miles away...and they have no control over what the interviewing person decides.  It's just weird to think about.  A REAL PERSON is on the other line wanting to work with me!  With us!  Kind of crazy.  It was also enlightening to watch how the whole process works.

I talked with one guy they flew in for the position.  More or less, he has the job if he wants it.  We'll see what he decides...he asked to think about for a night.  Run, boy, run!!!!  Run far away!!!!  haha.

I'm only half-way joking!!!  ;)

Well, I did some supper, some Olympics, and then bed at 10:00 o'clock.  I was exhausted.

But I flew a twin today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Woo hoo!!!!!!

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