Cessna 182--The "Skylane"

Today was absolutely gorgeous. I woke up at 530 am and left in the dark for what I figured to be a windy and cold day. I was dead wrong. Temps topped 65 and winds werent any stronger than an occasional gust to 12...right down the runway. After the last couple of days and the massive nor'easter that moved up the coast I figured today would get the backlash of wind that usually follows. As it turns out there really wasnt a frontal passage associated with that.....so...no wind. nice.

I started the day with some pattern work with Gene. We worked on his landings for an hour or so. Then I had the opportunity to fly the Cessna 182 Skylane over to Front Royal. Jim has been kind enough to let us fly his airplane out at Leesburg while hes been too busy to fly. So, the nice weather was here and he wanted to fly so I took it back out to FRR for him. What a great day. The winds were mellow, the temps standard, and visibility was greater than 30 miles. I knew I needed to make a short field landing at FRR so I took the opportunity to do some slow flight, a power off stall and some maneuvering to get used to the heavier feel of the Skylane. I did a couple touch and goes at Winchester and then headed over to FRR. Before I landed I needed to figure out how to get home via the public road system, so i flew the route Id drive from the airport to I66. A good idea as it turned out to be confusing enough. Some solo stick time in a different airframe was just what I needed. Break me out of the routine.

The afternoon sent me out with Sean to work on ground reference, steep turns, and forward slips and traffic patterns. We hammered out some problems he was having with his landings. Winchester was a bevy of activity and it made it tough to work the pattern. Touch and goes were the only option since there was a line of aircraft waiting to depart. I usually try to do full stop and taxi back when working the pattern to give them a chance to breath. It worked out though.
The rest of the weekend is looking good. Not alot on the schedule but Im sure something will materialize. I am about 15 hours from part 135 single pilot mins. Good stuff.

Read a news article stating that comair lost 12 of its jets. What that means is that Delta outsourced its regional flying for 12 of those jets. All just another cog in the wheel to get out of bankruptcy. Maybe things do really work out for the best after all. At this pace Comair furloughs could be right around the corner. hmmm.....

Interview #2---NOT

Anyone seen Borat?.....................Not. If you saw the movie you will know the reference I am getting at. Anyways, Got a letter today from Comair....Thanks but no thanks is the basic gist of the letter. I suppose there is solice and Cliche in the fact that the experience of the interview was worth the trip.....but geez. What do they look for in these interviews. I felt that most of my answers were pretty straightforward and correct, but I guess it wasnt good enough. So, its back to the drawing board. Third time is the charm right?

I flew with a guy tonite that hasnt flown in 10 years. He is a retired airline captain from a major airline flying airbus 310's. He loved flying and when he retired he got into sailing. Now he misses aviation so much that he wants to get back into it. We hopped into a cessna 172 and took off into an overcast sky but with decent vis. Somehow he had a way with Potomac approach control and they treated him to a class bravo clearance and flight following for the 25 mile flight to Winchester regional. Arrival into Winchester was interesting. He flew a downwind wider than I have ever seen....Airbus 310 style. He wanted to fly final alot faster than 65 knots, and he wanted to flare 50 feet in the air. All classic mistakes made by former airline pilots. I also had a hard time getting him to set power to idle once we were over the runway.

Anyhow, one of the last things he told me what to never quit. He said he was in his 40's flying charter work before he got his dream job. To keep working hard and keep pushing forward and it will pay off. Right now it sure feels like I am sitting idle, but maybe the old saying of "its always darkest before the dawn" is about to ring true. I sure hope so.

The Dream

I have met many different people while instructing, but there is always one thing that we all have in common. People come to the airport because they love airplanes and they love to fly. Some people are luckier than others. Some get to take lessons while other watch, some get to own their own aircraft while others rent, and some get to pursue the dream of being a pilot of something larger and faster while others have to settle for weekends in a cessna or diamond airplane. A student of mine told me other other night that I was getting to do something that he always wanted to do....become an airline pilot. I suppose I have been fortunate enough in this life to be able to easily attain my ratings, safely fly over 1100 hours, and spend my nights and days at the airport introducing others to aviation. Its a dream of a lifetime, and I am getting to live it....however, I have had to make significant sacrifices enroute to where I am right now. Money is only the tip of the iceberg. CFI's are routinely underpaid, and for what we do on a daily basis it is hard to make a living. CFI's are also routinely asked to put their license on the line while giving instruction and signing logbooks. From students that go out to solo, to people you sign off to fly the flight school aircraft, to people whom you arent even giving instruction but find yourself in the right seat.

I wont go into details right now because of pending legal action, but I can tell you that life isnt fair at times. As a country song I listened to tonite said, "god is great, but life aint always good". An incident took place recently involving an aircraft, a brand new owner and a relatively experienced flight instructor. By the grace of god noone was injured, but a mechanical annomaly caused something very serious to happen. Even though this particular instructor had zero time as PIC in this particular make and model, and the pilot/owner had at least some time in this make and model, the CFI is still going to take the heat. A very unfair practice, but oftentimes takes place in the world of GA. In this situation the FAA hasnt placed blame on the CFI, but other channels are trying to do just that. I am hopeful that this will work itself out, but its still hard to say at this point.

I guess what I am trying to get at is that I have given up alot to chase "the dream", and I work hard and try to be safe in what I do. Its just not fair for me to have to deal with situations such as this, but I guess its part of the gig. I didnt make this bed, but I am being forced to lie in it.

So, any new cfi's out there that are willing to hop in an airplane to log the time be wary. Go get some instruction of your own in new makes of aircraft. A couple extra hours is not worth the heartache and hassle of something mush more serious happening. And those that are out there just flying around on the weekends, enjoy and savour the experience. It gets very routine at this level and some of the magic has left what we do. I would give anything to restore that "feeling" again...the feeling of being excited at flying traffic patterns for an hour or just making a trip to the practice area for a short flight after work. Be safe out there.

Interview #2

The trip started out of Reagan National Tuesday afternoon. I boarded a Delta MD88 and departed off of runway 1 into an overcast sky of around 5000 ft. A nice smooth flight and a left downwind and visual approach into the Cincinatti Northern KY airport. I quickly grabbed my bag and boarded a van to the Hotel. I settled in and ordered some dinner and hit the books.

The next morning I met in the lobby for the van to the Comair headquarters. There were 9 others also headed to the interview; all with their blue/black suits on and an armful of paperwork. We were greeted at HQ by a senior captain/ IOE checkairman/part time recruiter. He gave us about an hour long briefing on the company, benefits, the hiring future, and what would go on that day. He did his absolute best to make us feel comfortable and relaxed. With a room full of male pilots going for an airline interview....thats a hard thing to do.

I was scheduled to interview in the morning, and take the cognitive eval test in the afternoon. The other half of the room went to the cog portion first. I was glad to interview before lunch.

A very pleasant senior Captain called me in. I met with her and a guy from HR. They were both awesome and made me feel comfortable. They started in with questions on "why comair?, "tell me about a time you had to think quick in the airplane..", "what would you do if the captain was drinking within the 12 hours rule?" "how would you continue to have success at the regional level?", "Would you ever take the controls from the captain if he was flying and you felt unsafe?". All very basic questions that they used to gauge how your thought process worked. Then it was on to the approach plate questions. She showed me a plate from the arrival into Laguardia. Asked me about holding speeds, and tried to trick me up with some information on the chart. She failed. I knew exactly what she was getting at. Then it was a departure procedure out of JAX, radar vectors to SAV....whats the Departure frequency? Easy. Then, brief me on the ILS runway 4 into LGA. I was a bit flustered at this point due to nerves but I think I did ok. It is all stuff I know how to do. Then she asked me about the fuel system on the Duchess. Lucky for me I had reviewed the schematic on that the night before so it was no problem.

Anyways, it was back on a 737-800 out of Cinci to DCA. I was glad to be home. Anyone who reads this please think about this in the next week. I will find out If I was succesful in the next week, or later if I wasnt successful. I really wouldnt mind working for Comair, and even though the current situation isnt the best, it cant get any worse, and can only get better. AMEN.

comair

Been busy......stll flying alot even though the weather has been getting bad. I got an email last week for another interview...this time with delta connection Comair. They operate the CRJ 200 and 700....50 and 70 seat regional jets. It would be a great place to start a career...not my number 1, but I wont be picky. I soloed Katie last week. She was probably my easiest pilot so far. Very sharp young lady. Did some flying in the cougar with 20 knot winds...hit my head on the ceiling a half dozen times. The heavier twin handles the crosswind a lot better than the cessna. Went with a guy IFR to hagerstown the other night in the Seneca. That was a blast. Its business as usual at the flight school though. One of the instructors has left and another one is part-part time so I am handling most of the students....not a bad gig.