Training behind me and on to the Reserve life!

Well, last month I finished up my 757/767 training. It was fast, but got me where I needed to be. After 2 weeks off, I started flying domestic with a great instructor. After a 4 day trip I was signed off, and ready to try international on the 767. The actual plane (757) is beautiful to fly and easy to land compared to the DC9. The 767 flies even nicer, and the next week I had my first ever 400,000 + lb. takeoff out of Stuttgart. This instructor was "very thorough" which in aviation terms means "pretty anal"! The following week was to Zurich, which totally rocked. My instructor was awesome and polished off the last few edges I needed to be confident and qualified to cross the pond on my own. Total hours for August: 86+..... Total sweet landings: all of them!

And then reality sets in.... sitting on call, waiting for a trip on reserve. After my first 3 days, I managed to get some painting done, spent some time at the shooting range, and worked on my pilot ball caps stuff. Then I get a 3 day trip to Phoenix (twice) and got to fly with an excellent first officer, who I knew from flying the DC9. Had a great trip, even though it was 108 degrees for my layover. That was my last trip though. Since then I've had a little bit of vacation, got to see Charlie for 2 weekends, and generally decompressed from the hectic Summer. This morning I got off of my 2 hour on-call "leash" and go on long call. Long call is nice because you have a minimum of 12 hours notice before your next assignment. From my notification to my flight will be at least 13 hours, but usually more. That means I can have a beer with my burger at the Rusty Nail today.

Sitting around on-call isn't so bad after all. I get stuff done, and get to fly once in awhile. The only drawback is that I have to be on long-call or off duty to pick up Charlie. It may work out next month, with my schedule and his.... but I haven't been able to get more than 3 weekends off yet, and holidays will be sketchy at best.

You can check out my aviation pictures at : http://pilotballcaps.com and look for "Random Flying pics!

Until next time, fly the airplane - do not hurry - silence the bell - read the checklist!

Training

Well, I'm back in training..... Hopefully for the last time in my career. It's always good to re-boot the brain (or what I have left of one), and as is true throughout an aviation career..... training is where you reconnect with the same folks that went through it last time.

After flying the DC9 for 19 years, it was probably time to move on. I did a short stint on the A320 (so I learned that "language"...probably something close to French), and now I'm learning to speak Boeing FMS. It makes sense, but sometimes getting through the pages on the MCDU is like navigating the Pentagon with a visitor's pass. Three weeks into it and I'm done with systems. I only got a 96%, but passing is all that matters. I'm not a big fan of computer generated tests. Tomorrow is my procedures validation. That's where I get to prove that I can not only confuse the computers...but also confuse the evaluator. Wish me luck. Full flight simulators start next week.

The 757 is a beautiful airplane, and I hear the 767 is one of the nicest passenger jets you'd ever want to fly (but that comment comes from 75/767 drivers). Short of the T38, I've never flown an aircraft with this much power. This should be something.

Well, three more weeks to go and then on to my OE flights. With any luck I'll have a few weeks off to spend with Charlie and Connie.... maybe even Sam (my oldest) if he's up for a visit.

Connie.....thanks you for all of your love and support through all of this.

SPUD