KCHS

Today was a short day.....Woke up in Buffalo to a gorgeous sunrise. I did my morning walkaround and was treated to a gorgeous sky. My first flight duties include opening all the access panels on the aircraft to look for who knows what. It is actually a TSA rule, and I have never found anything, but I do it daily. I made my way around the aircraft, looking closely at the skin or the plane, checking all the static wicks, checking the brake wear indicators...checking the tires for thread showing.....making the sure the engines are both there....and finally making sure the lights work. Its a routine by now, but one that I cant do half-a$$. I have found missing static wicks, tires that needed to be changed out, and a fuel leak from the number 1 engine. Always something as these aircraft get older.

We departed BUF and headed down to Newark. I had an hour to grab a coffee and a bananna and headed down to the gate to meet my new captain. Crew scheduling woke my original capt up at 430 to tell her that she was reassigned and was going to be leaving us. I got lucky as my new captain is a really nice guy. We sat in line in Newark waitin to go to Charleston SC. I think we were probably 20th or so in line for departure. The major airline at NEWARK has a large bank of departures that leave around 9 am so it was rush hour when we were set to leave. Once airborne it was a nice ride down the coast. We went out on the NEwark 7 Departure to white intersection, then to Salisbury VOR, down over FRanklin VOR and cleared direct to Charleston. Coming through 8k we had the field in sight. The capt anticipated a chop and drop for the visual appproach, so he slowed down below 250, dropped the gear, put in flaps 9 and opened the speed brakes. One below 200 knots we put in flaps 22 and were ready to accept a visual approach clearance. A "bug smasher" ahead of us said he couldnt see the field so the approach controller assumed we couldnt see it either, but since we were higher and on a steeper angle we were able to see down on the field fairly well. So, he gave us that clearance as we slowed to flaps 45 speed and configured to land. It worked out really nicely. I was impressed. Always something to learn on each leg.......My turn to fly tommorrow, then up to Halifax for a turn and home. Goodbye Newark...hello Houston.