When dreams come true... (long)

[JoseCuervo]

I sent a note to the captain I flew the challenging three-day trip with earlier this week asking if she'd be kind enough to provide an evaluation. Since my one-year anniversary is approaching I figured getting some fresh evals in wouldn't be a bad idea. I got the following response from her:







It's always nice to hear you're doing okay! Happy New Year, everyone!



Loren

It has to be quite the contrast for to fly with someone with life experience and problem solving skills compared to a youngster just out of a training facility without life scars.


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[LDJones]

It has to be quite the contrast for to fly with someone with life experience and problem solving skills compared to a youngster just out of a training facility without life scars.

She did comment that on a number of trips she has felt like she was flying single pilot. She related one example: During our pre-start check we review the V-speeds that have been set for our takeoff (V1, Vr, V2, Vfto). When first powering up the aircraft they default to 90,90,90,120. The lowest I've seen for V1 when we're light is around 123 and typically is in the 130s.

She said during the Pre-Start checklist the new FO began reading out the numbers: "90, 90, 90..." at which point she said she interrupted him and said, "Seriously? Do those numbers sound right to you??"!!

In fairness, the learning curve is pretty steep and feels overwhelming early on, so I sympathize with the young FOs who maybe haven't had a lot of flight experience outside of flight training or instructing.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

So for what it's worth, now that I'm done with OE, the plane doesn't fly too bad. Not great, but it's easy enough to fly, I can't complain. Off to the world of reserve and airport reserve.

 

[LDJones]

So for what it's worth, now that I'm done with OE, the plane doesn't fly too bad. Not great, but it's easy enough to fly, I can't complain. Off to the world of reserve and airport reserve.

Congrats! Personally, I enjoy the airplane more every day. We've had some nice VFR the last two days and on my legs I opted to forego the automation and fly it like a Cherokee. While it will be awhile before I "wear it like a Cherokee", I'm much closer to that than I was three months ago.

I've been collecting more stories for here but have been too busy to sit down and write! I had my first 1/4 sm FZFG takeoff yesterday...that was interesting. We also had a deferred APU so had to do an unpressurized takeoff, which was a first for me, too. Still learning a lot!

Enjoy!

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Congrats! Personally, I enjoy the airplane more every day. We've had some nice VFR the last two days and on my legs I opted to forego the automation and fly it like a Cherokee. While it will be awhile before I "wear it like a Cherokee", I'm much closer to that than I was three months ago.

I've been collecting more stories for here but have been too busy to sit down and write! I had my first 1/4 sm FZFG takeoff yesterday...that was interesting. We also had a deferred APU so had to do an unpressurized takeoff, which was a first for me, too. Still learning a lot!

Enjoy!

Ah yes, that was a blast for me yesterday as well. 2 turns up to North Dakota out of MSP with no APU, unpressurized takeoff is a blast, not...

 

[LDJones]

Ah yes, that was a blast for me yesterday as well. 2 turns up to North Dakota out of MSP with no APU, unpressurized takeoff is a blast, not...

I think the arctic blast we've had the last week or so has been very hard on equipment. I HATE not having an APU! It makes EVERYTHING more difficult all the way around.

So are you hanging out in Minnie these days? Let me know when you have time to meet for lunch or a beverage of your choice.

Loren

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

I think the arctic blast we've had the last week or so has been very hard on equipment. I HATE not having an APU! It makes EVERYTHING more difficult all the way around.

So are you hanging out in Minnie these days? Let me know when you have time to meet for lunch or a beverage of your choice.

Loren

I'll hit you up, only MSP based for the remainder of the month, then I get to stop commuting for reserve. Don't know my schedule yet for the rest of the month, OE paperwork isn't even done yet. I see lots of ready reserve in the coming week and a half in MSP.

 

[LDJones]

I'll hit you up, only MSP based for the remainder of the month, then I get to stop commuting for reserve. Don't know my schedule yet for the rest of the month, OE paperwork isn't even done yet. I see lots of ready reserve in the coming week and a half in MSP.

Well, if nothing else, I've got stand ups Sunday-Thursday next week. I could come out a little early and we could have a Coke and visit a bit. Keep me posted.

Loren

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Well, if nothing else, I've got stand ups Sunday-Thursday next week. I could come out a little early and we could have a Coke and visit a bit. Keep me posted.

Loren

Look like I'm on Friday for 5 days, so who knows what I'll be doing. You know how it is.

 

[jordane93]

So for what it's worth, now that I'm done with OE, the plane doesn't fly too bad. Not great, but it's easy enough to fly, I can't complain. Off to the world of reserve and airport reserve.

Any chances on getting NY at 9E? I'm at 1300 and should be applying soon. I know for new classes they go by age for seniority and I'm only 22 so I know I'll get one of the last picks.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Any chances on getting NY at 9E? I'm at 1300 and should be applying soon. I know for new classes they go by age for seniority and I'm only 22 so I know I'll get one of the last picks.

Really depends on how the makeup of your class is really and the demand of the company at the time. We had guys in my class who live in the NY area get the 900 and either JFK/LGA and we had guys who live in the NY area get the 200 in MSP or DTW.

With the addition of 200's to the fleet, I would expect more of the hiring to be pushed towards it, and with that comes MSP and DTW bases.

 

[jordane93]

Really depends on how the makeup of your class is really and the demand of the company at the time. We had guys in my class who live in the NY area get the 900 and either JFK/LGA and we had guys who live in the NY area get the 200 in MSP or DTW.

With the addition of 200's to the fleet, I would expect more of the hiring to be pushed towards it, and with that comes MSP and DTW bases.

Yea in thinking I'm going to get DTW as a base. Not a big deal though as I'd probably be able to get NY in a few months I'm guessing?

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Yea in thinking I'm going to get DTW as a base. Not a big deal though as I'd probably be able to get NY in a few months I'm guessing?

Probably something like a few months is fair. You'll have to finish training entirely on the 200 before you could bid over to the 900, which would be required to get back to NYC.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Look like I'm on Friday for 5 days, so who knows what I'll be doing. You know how it is.

The ability to drop reserve and pick up flying is great. Got myself out of 4 of the 5 reserve days in MSP and picked up flying out of DTW, less commuting expense!

 

[LDJones]

The ability to drop reserve and pick up flying is great. Got myself out of 4 of the 5 reserve days in MSP and picked up flying out of DTW, less commuting expense!

Excellent. We always have trips posted in Open Time on our scheduler. I had six days off early this month so picked up a three-day that paid 130%. It was a nice bump to the paycheck!

 

[jspilot]

I'm still really enjoying reading this thread. It's provided a lot of great insight into the airline pilot world and made me think about joining the ranks hopefully in the not to distant future( alright likely a few years!)

 

[LDJones]

I'm still really enjoying reading this thread. It's provided a lot of great insight into the airline pilot world and made me think about joining the ranks hopefully in the not to distant future( alright likely a few years!)

I'm glad you've enjoyed it. It's been a fun ride. As I've told several captains, I learn something on every trip....some are good, some are bad!

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Excellent. We always have trips posted in Open Time on our scheduler. I had six days off early this month so picked up a three-day that paid 130%. It was a nice bump to the paycheck!

I think all of our pay a minimum of 150% with some being at 200%, depending on how badly they need people. It's a nice chunk of extra pay for sure, especially when you know it's sit around and probably do nothing vs flying something

 

[LDJones]

I think all of our pay a minimum of 150% with some being at 200%, depending on how badly they need people. It's a nice chunk of extra pay for sure, especially when you know it's sit around and probably do nothing vs flying something

Ours go up to 150% depending on how close to the day of the trip they get picked up. I think it's 150% if less than 72 hours from departure time.

 

[Cpt_Kirk]

I'm glad you've enjoyed it. It's been a fun ride. As I've told several captains, I learn something on every trip....some are good, some are bad!

That goes in line with something my grandfather says - "you can learn something from everybody, good or bad."

I hope to be as smart as he is at his age.

 

[LDJones]

Greetings all! It's been a busy few weeks so I apologize for the lack of updates. I've been doing mostly stand-ups, but have sprinkled in a couple of multi-day trips. I actually had six days off in a row in January. I figured I'd get really bored with six days of no flying so checked out Open Time listing and found a nice three-day trip in the middle of those six days that was paying 130%. So I picked it up and had a fun trip that included Ithaca, NY and Binghamton, NY overnights.

A few weeks ago we were headed to Rapid City, SD on a stand-up. Weather there was a minimums but was holding steady so we launched with an alternate of Denver.

A little over halfway there the ACARS went off with a message from dispatch. The message was "RAP just dropped to 1/4SM FZFG VV001 M13/M13. Return to MSP." So, a big U-Turn ensued while I got on the PA and made the dreaded announcement. Folks were obviously disappointed, a few upset, but you can't control the weather and most travelers understand that fact. One asked the flight attendant why we didn't at least try to make it in. She obviously didn't understand that we cannot even commence the approach unless it's at or above our legal minimums.

I think I freaked out my wife when I crawled into bed about 1:30 a.m.!

In other news, I'm rapidly bearing down on my One Year anniversary of this adventure. It was one year ago TODAY that I first heard of SkyWest via a thread here on POA and wandered out to their website to find out who they were. Every web page I navigated to flashed a banner ad telling me they were hiring and urging me to "Click Here!" That click took me to an on-line application which I only completed out of curiosity for what they were looking for in a pilot. 20 hours later they called, five days later I interviewed in Denver and eleven days after that I was sitting in my first day of CRJ ground school!

The one year anniversary is huge because it: 1) Officially ends probationary period; 2) Second Year pay kicks in (a 20% bump); 3) Quarterly bonuses take affect; and 4) 401K match kicks in. While it's still a "cute little salary", it's slightly less "little"!

I still find the past year a bit hard to believe sometimes. It's been an amazing ride so far!

 

[Ghery]

We've enjoyed reading about your adventure. Please continue writing.

 

[JoeSelch]

Congratulations! Thanks for taking us along on the ride!

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

You bid highspeeds by choice then, I take it? They're great if you can handle them, but I've done a couple back to back and quickly realized they aren't my cup of tea.

The one thing I wish we had at my place that you guys have is long call reserve. Just being short or ready reserve kinda sucks, but oh well, with the movement that's going on, its only a few months.

 

[LDJones]

You bid highspeeds by choice then, I take it? They're great if you can handle them, but I've done a couple back to back and quickly realized they aren't my cup of tea.

The one thing I wish we had at my place that you guys have is long call reserve. Just being short or ready reserve kinda sucks, but oh well, with the movement that's going on, its only a few months.

Yeah, I do actually bid the stand-ups ("highspeeds" at some airlines). I like the flexibility they offer and getting paid to sleep! But five in a row (which I had twice last month) is a bit brutal. I inadvertantly fixed that this month by bidding for all Saturdays and Sundays off, which I got. By doing so it automatically limited the stand-ups to a maximum of four since a fifth would have to either start on a Sunday or end on a Saturday.

Plus most of the ones I'm getting are 5-6 hours of sleep. I normally live on about six so a catnap sometime during the day (or after supper before heading to the airport) works pretty well.

It's tough to argue with the pay premium. I got paid for 100 hours of flying last month while blocking about 62 hours.

I am trying to work in some three-days, too, just for the extra flying. This month I was awarded two three-days that I wasn't overly thrilled with due to a long sit in Peoria on day two. I would fly five legs day one, sit in Peoria all day on day two and fly five more legs on day three. It paid about 15 hours so you were being paid to sit. I figured I'd work on our quarterly CBT modules during the long sit.

Then I got a notice from training that the first of those three-days got swapped out for an awesome 700/900 trip to get me checked out in both types! Plus it has two overnights in Nashville, which is one of my favorite overnights....so much music to be enjoyed! And we get in early enough both days to enjoy lots of time down on broadway.

So that left only one of the bad three-days. Then late last week I get a notice that the second one was pulled to give to someone else for training. So now they have a couple of weeks to find something else to fit those three days or, if they don't, I get paid to not fly! If that happens, I'll pope out to Open Time and pick up a trip from someone else and double-dip those days!

Little by little, I'm figuring out the system!

 

[LDJones]

Last night a flew a CID stand-up with a DEN-based captain who happened to picked up the trip because he had a couple of days off.

It started with a gate swap and aircraft swap as soon as we arrived at the gate....not usually a good sign! The inbound plane was delayed an hour due to a fueling issue. So we were assigned a new aircraft that was to be towed over shortly. Strike one.

The replacement aircraft had a couple of minor items deferred (one coffee maker and the forward potable water), but no major issues. Since we were headed south out of MSP they sent us to runway 30L. We had pretty frosty wings so had to deice.

Because of the long taxi the captain opted to go out on one engine since they gave us pretty much the exact fuel called for on the release and not a gallon more. Usually they're pretty good about giving us an extra 100-200 lbs, but not last night. So, I crank the #2 engine and we commence the taxi all the way over to the 12R deice pad (which is at the north end of 30L, obviously) and wait in line for our Type I deice application.

Once deicing completed we start taxiing for 30L. The captain calls for the start of engine #1. I go through the start process confirming pumps are one, packs are off, ignition is armed and then press the Start button, holding it until I get the EICAS message that the engine starter has engaged at which point I start a timer. We have limits on how long we can run the starters and how many attempts we can make on them. After initiating the start sequence we and watch the N2 rotation speed, moving the thrust level from the cutoff position to the idle position once it reaches 20% N2.

Well, it spooled up to 16%, then spun down. I'd never seen that before so I double-checked my configuration and tried it again. I got the same response.

I asked the tower for a place we could pull off and trouble shoot. Since it was now close to 10:30 p.m. the stand-up push was almost over and things were quieting down so they just had us pull onto the ramp area to work on our trouble.

We tried everything we knew, including a cross-bleed start from the #2 engine with our mx guys on the phone. Nothing. So they notified our mechanics and we headed back to the gate. I hate having to make THOSE announcements!

Our mechanics were waiting for us back at the gate. They climb aboard and we show him what it's doing. He then does the start, but holds the start button down an extra 3-4 seconds. It starts.

What the....Seriously?! None of us are convinced that could possibly have anything to do with it, but it worked. We even shut down and restarted it. (I wonder what that cost?!) I'm guessing some valve was sticking because of the cold and we just happened to hit the right number of attempts to warm it up! Whatever.

They sign the maintenance paperwork and we start the relaunch process all over. At least by this time the night push was over and they allowed us to take 30R for departure, which was a few hundred yards off our tail. We had done both Type 1 and Type 4 deice fluid so we had over two-hours on our our Hold-over Time (HOT) without deicing again, plus the light snow had stopped. We quickly ran through our checklists, taxied out and headed off to CID, an hour later than planned.

Better late than never, I guess! I'm still learning something new every trip!

 

[LDJones]

A follow-up to last night's story....

After a slightly shorter than expected night, we reconvened for a 6:05 limo to the airport. CID is one of the airports where we have to go through TSA security, which is always a bit of an extra pain. Detailed screening of the guys who will be at the controls still strikes me as a bit silly.

During the walkaround I noticed there were a few flakes of snow on the wing. Even though it could be considered 99.999% clean, we still opted to deice because we operate on a "clean wing" concept and "clean" doesn't allow for any contamination. If it were your or my plane taking off on a part 91 flight no one would have given it a thought, but the stories of pilots getting busted for departing with the slightest amount of contamination are legion so no one is going to take a chance. The pilot related a story of two guys he knew who took off with a small amount of frost in one corner of the wing. There happened to be a check airman riding in the back who observed the frost. At the destination they were immediately pulled off the line and sent back for retraining! Ouch!

At pushback they pushed it right into the deice location, making it quick and easy. Thankfully the #1 engine lit off without a hiccup. After a quick spray with Type 1 we taxied out well ahead of schedule. With figured with a little extra cruise speed we should easily be back in time for the captain to catch is 8:25 a.m. flight home. I told him I was comfortable with the shutdown procedures so he could bolt for his flight as soon as we arrived if that helped him make his connection. I was just going to be headed home for a few days off, so was in no particular rush. He appreciated the gesture.

Just as we got to the end of the taxiway the tower informed us there was an 11 minute delay for flow control out of MSP. Huh? It's clear and a million at MSP....why flow? I'm convinced they do it to make them "feel" like a really big airport!! The captain was clearly disappointed. I let the passengers know of the slight delay.

Finally we got our takeoff clearance, I took the controls and off we went. As we turned north we watched the headwinds grow. It's less than 200 miles between CID and MSP so our final cruise altitude was only 26,000'. The average headwind component for our trip was 102 kts! To add insult to injury, ATC told us, "Maintain 250 knots or slower."

Seriously??! We're normally 290 in the climb and can push that to 320 if we're running behind! Holding it at 250 headed into that headwind felt painfully slow, especially for the captain as he saw his connection chances steadily fade away!

Such is life. It was a clear, cold morning looking over the snow-covered upper-Midwest plains. I never get tired of the view from the flight levels!

I flew the BLUEM TWO arrival procedure, garnering kudos from the captain for how I flew my arrivals. I hand flew the visual approach to runway 35 (which added more taxi time to our block time), land with a pretty gusty crosswind which made for a good workout. I touched down on the upwind wheel on the center line for a smooth arrival, picking up another compliment from the captain.

After a long taxi we arrived at our gate about the time his flight was departing, giving him time for a leisurely breakfast before heading home.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Because of the long taxi the captain opted to go out on one engine since they gave us pretty much the exact fuel called for on the release and not a gallon more. Usually they're pretty good about giving us an extra 100-200 lbs, but not last night. So, I crank the #2 engine and we commence the taxi all the way over to the 12R deice pad (which is at the north end of 30L, obviously) and wait in line for our Type I deice application.

They fuel you guys that tight on the ramp to brake release fuel? That's surprising

 

[Kritchlow]

They fuel you guys that tight on the ramp to brake release fuel? That's surprising

Yeah... We're always fueled for taxi. Sometimes way more if they opt to tanker.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Yeah... We're always fueled for taxi. Sometimes way more if they opt to tanker.

Still, a few extra minutes of taxing with both engines on is going to put you under min fuel? That's surprising to me, we often have 700 pounds or more difference between ramp fuel and min fuel.

 

[Kritchlow]

Still, a few extra minutes of taxing with both engines on is going to put you under min fuel? That's surprising to me, we often have 700 pounds or more difference between ramp fuel and min fuel.

Yeah, that seems surprising. I'm also surprised the capt didn't bump fuel. It's a mystery how it was dispatched as such.

 

[LDJones]

They fuel you guys that tight on the ramp to brake release fuel? That's surprising

Not sure if I understand your question. Our release fuel includes a taxi allowance, typically 300 lbs but the other night with a snow squall passing through I saw 750 allocated to taxi. They must have expected long deicing delays.

 

[Kritchlow]

Not sure if I understand your question. Our release fuel includes a taxi allowance, typically 300 lbs but the other night with a snow squall passing through I saw 750 allocated to taxi. They must have expected long deicing delays.

Not sure about KSC, but I just reread everything and now understand what you are saying.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Not sure if I understand your question. Our release fuel includes a taxi allowance, typically 300 lbs but the other night with a snow squall passing through I saw 750 allocated to taxi. They must have expected long deicing delays.

Your release has a min fuel number and a ramp fuel number, does it not? Does Skywest only fuel so that min fuel + taxi fuel = ramp fuel? We often have as much as 1000 pounds of fuel difference between minimum fuel and what we leave the ramp with, even though planned taxi fuel is only in the 200-300 pound range.

 

[LDJones]

Your release has a min fuel number and a ramp fuel number, does it not? Does Skywest only fuel so that min fuel + taxi fuel = ramp fuel? We often have as much as 1000 pounds of fuel difference between minimum fuel and what we leave the ramp with, even though planned taxi fuel is only in the 200-300 pound range.

We have two key numbers: "Release Fuel" which takes into account everything needed for the flight and "MINTO", Minimum Takeoff, the minimum we need at the moment we push the go levers forward for takeoff. That includes climb, cruise, alternate, reserves and other contingency fuel.

When I say "extra fuel" I mean fuel above and beyond Release Fuel which we can request or the fuel crew often fudges upward when refueling.

 

[kayoh190]

We usually get exactly what's listed as release fuel, sometimes a couple hundred pounds more at some stations. Our dispatch is pretty good at anticipating delays, de-icing, etc, and we usually have plenty more than we need to get to the end of the runway before Min TO fuel.

One of the first things I do when I get the release is write the two numbers down in a large size to make it easier to see them when running checklists, and at this time if I think dispatch is cutting it too tight for my comfort, I'll request a little more. But like I said, I can count on one hand the number of times I've needed to do that. They're pretty good about it.

 

[LDJones]

We usually get exactly what's listed as release fuel, sometimes a couple hundred pounds more at some stations. Our dispatch is pretty good at anticipating delays, de-icing, etc, and we usually have plenty more than we need to get to the end of the runway before Min TO fuel.

One of the first things I do when I get the release is write the two numbers down in a large size to make it easier to see them when running checklists, and at this time if I think dispatch is cutting it too tight for my comfort, I'll request a little more. But like I said, I can count on one hand the number of times I've needed to do that. They're pretty good about it.

Agree...our dispatchers are pretty conservative. We seldom land with less than 2500 lbs on board and I've only come close to MINTO once after a super long taxi out during a snow storm.

We have "TOLD" cards (Take Off/Landing Data) that sit on the upper pedastal ahead of the thrust levers. We write the MINTO and Release fuel numbers in designated boxes on those cards for quick reference during the pre-taxi and pre-takeoff checklists.

 

[Kritchlow]

We get a release fuel, and a break release fuel. The difference is taxi fuel. It can be small, but never smaller than average taxi fuel. It can be larger depending if they want to tanker.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

We have two key numbers: "Release Fuel" which takes into account everything needed for the flight and "MINTO", Minimum Takeoff, the minimum we need at the moment we push the go levers forward for takeoff. That includes climb, cruise, alternate, reserves and other contingency fuel.

When I say "extra fuel" I mean fuel above and beyond Release Fuel which we can request or the fuel crew often fudges upward when refueling.

Ah ok. We have 2 numbers which are basically similar, ramp fuel and MINF, which is brake release fuel. Different names at different places is all then.


Now that I'm 70 hours or so into the 200, it flies ok. The lighter it is, the worse it lands, IMO, but that's not unlike the DC9. Brought one back from a heavy check empty, at least then they can climb up to the FL's in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[LDJones]

Ah ok. We have 2 numbers which are basically similar, ramp fuel and MINF, which is brake release fuel. Different names at different places is all then.


Now that I'm 70 hours or so into the 200, it flies ok. The lighter it is, the worse it lands, IMO, but that's not unlike the DC9. Brought one back from a heavy check empty, at least then they can climb up to the FL's in a reasonable amount of time.

Yep, when light they'll float forever. The more I fly it the more I like it. It's biggest shortcoming is the ECS. Maintaining a comfortable, consistent temp in the cockpit or cabin is virtually impossible. The 700/900s are supposed to be much better. I'll find out later this week.