Monday, May 28, 2007


The first pic is the divert, and the second is when we finally got in. Fun stuff.

advise ready to copy....

We departed Jackson Mississippi on a routine flight to Houston. We took off with a concern for our landing weight so we opted for a lower altitude to get a better fuel burn and make sure we were below Max gross landing weight when we reached Houston. As luck would have it we couldnt have had enough fuel on board. ATC advised us that Houston arrivals were holding and we could slow it up as much as possible. A huge thunderstorm was hammering the field as we approached it. We were given the dreaded, "Jetlink, I have holding instructions, advise ready to copy." We held at an intersection on the arrival, about 100 miles from the airport. We held as long as we could before we (along with everyone else) was forced to divert for fuel. We chose Alexandria, LA. It was my leg so I prepared for a visual approach to the south runway. A routine landing and a load of gas, and we were on our way. Sure enough we held for another 20 minutes, before being released from the hold and sent through some nasty weather and onto a downwind for 8L at Houston. I shot the ILS to near mins with rain and mist. It was a real challenge.

Anyhow, moral of the story is, during thunderstorm season, dont leave any gas behind, and make sure your weather radar is working properly. Lesson learned.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Choo Choo

Sitting in Chatanooga Tenn waiting for my 230 van ride to the airport. We arrived last night around 10pm....15 minutes early. We touched down on runway two...flew a nice visual approach in night conditions. It was the captains leg, which was fine with me. I was exhausted. It was a 5 leg day. The only thing that made life easier was that we kept the same aircraft all day, so no lugging my bags around all over the terminal. We started with a brownsville turn. Then it was up to Mobile. Thunderstorms were once again all over so we picked our way through them. The arrival back into Houston was intense. The frequency was so busy, and I think I counted 12 guys in front of us between the two runways. We were put on a 40 mile final. Fun stuff. Its nice to be able to fly into the relaxed atmosphere of a class c or d airport, and then come home and mix it up with the big guys. You have to be on your A game or you will get a stiff tounge lashing by the controllers. Its always funny to hear, unless its you.

Today we leave KCHA at 330 back to Houston. Then its down to Saltillo Mexico for the overnight. Mexico is fun to fly into, but Saltillo is a "special" airport so itll have to be the captains leg untilI get off high mins. Ill get my 100 hours and off high mins within a week so I am not worried. Until then........

Thursday, May 10, 2007

On the Road

Ok, so at last an update. Finished IOE last week. Did a trip out of Houston. It included a pretty low ILS at Jackson, Miss. A really fun visual approach to Little Rock, and a trip to Mexico. I started reserve this past Tuesday in Houston. I was originally assigned Newark, but got switched to Houston for May. No problem, the flying is just as fun. The first day was a deadhead to Nashville. We grabbed a plane from there and headed up to Newark, then down to Raleigh for an overnight there. We left Raleigh and flew up to Cleveland, down to Knoxville and back to Houston. Then we headed to Kileen Texas for an overnight. What a great night flight. A light show like I havnt seen in a while from 18000 ft. We snuck in just before the heavy stuff started on the field. Kileen is also Ft Worth regional. Alot of military aircraft in the pattern this morning. Interesting. Today we started the day by heading back to Houston. Then we were down to Monterey Mexico for a quick turn back up to Houston. When we sent the in range report in flight, I was notified that I would be headed to Wichita. Unfortunately it was a deadhead up to Kansas. So, here I sit. I have a 620 am showtime for a 720 departure back to Houston, where I will rejoin my original crew. I guess they needed someone to bring an airplane back to Houston. The original crew must be tight on flight times.

Reserve is rough. You dont know your flying schedule, and you never know where you will end up. So, you live out of a suitcase and put in your time. I should have a line in 2 or 3 months, and an easier commute when I am in Newark. Lets hope so.