Owner: Sulako's Blog URL:http://sulako.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:24:43 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Existential angst, with airplanes! Site statistics:Click here
Things I want, in random order:
1. A Nintendo Wi... 2007-03-29 04:30:00 Things I want, in random order:1. A Nintendo
Wii. It looks like a really cool, cheap system but they are always sold out.2. Abs. I blame the movie '300'. Damn you Gerard Butler!3. My own Twin Otter on floats with custom interior featuring fridge and massive stereo system and grill that attaches to one of the floats.4. Good health right up until I croak5. Six-figure salary and good lifestyle in a stable job6. While I'm wishing for #5 above, I might as well wish for a unicorn too7. Zero debt, or at least less debt.8. Some solution to what appears to be the imminent environmental end of our planet9. A steaming hot shrimp / bacon / swiss cheese with lettuce and fiery plum sauce on a baguette10. Live closer to my family. I miss them.11. See 'Tool' live in concert again12. Select invisibility so I can walk around naked in my house and not have to draw the blinds. You're welcome for the visual ;)13. Watch a good new zombie movie - like maybe zombies downtown in a major city vs. the
I'm being lazy again, enjoying Lisa's company and ... 2007-04-02 03:19:00 I'm being lazy again, enjoying Lisa's company
and not blogging.Lots and lots of flying this week, and I have been thinking of a specific flying story that needs to be put in writing, so I think things will be a little more exciting shortly.
This is pretty cool. It's cockpit footage of the ... 2007-04-05 01:15:00 This is pretty cool
. It's cockpit footage of the final 3 1/2 minutes of landing at Hong Kong's old Kai Tak airport. This is a Boeing 747 shooting the famous checkerboard approach and landing in rain. The instrument approach was set 45 degrees away from the airport, so when the pilots broke out of cloud instead of seeing the airport they'd see a large checkerboard sign set into a hill. Rather than hit the hill, the crew would turn 45 degrees to the right at 2 miles from the airport, then land. I imagine that would be tough to do in a large jet. The airport has since closed and been replaced by Hong Kong International Chek Lop Kok, an airport with a conventional instrument approach.
The closest I have come to death is aviation-relat... 2007-04-03 20:15:00 The closest I have come to death
is aviation
-related. The closest I have come to death is NOT aviation-related.It was 1997 and I was working for Northern Dene Airways. I was based in Stony Rapids, but had taken a weekend off to head "down south" to Saskatoon. I was returning on the Monday morning, along with a company mechanic and another pilot, my friend and roommate Daryl.Northern Dene Airways had an agreement with Air Sask, and we were allowed to fly non-rev on their Jetstream 31's to/from Stony Rapids. The only downside was that if the plane was full, we'd be the first to be bumped off so that paying customers / freight could be loaded on board. Added to that, on hot summer days the Jetstream was frequently weight-restricted on the northern runs due to the short runways.Anyhoo, it was Monday morning and the three of us were heading back to Stony Rapids. We made it as far as Prince Albert before being bumped off for cargo. Fortunately the owner, Dave Webster, had a trailer
In 5 days we expect to do 28 hours flight time. T... 2007-04-07 02:14:00 In 5 days we expect to do 28 hours flight time. That's time spent sitting in the jet with the engines running. Not bad for corporate / charter.I have to be in bed in 15 minutes, so I'll make this quick.Kitsch and I have been flying a lot lately, doing multiple runs to a popular event. It takes us about 3 hours to get there, but only 2 to get home as we can do a direct flight home rather than stopping for customs like we have to do on the way to the event.Here's what we do for a single trip:1. Get passenger names, details. enter them into our flight planning system.2. Call US Customs at our destination to make sure they will be able to attend our arrival.3. Print out various Customs forms, fax them to US Customs.4. Enter the same information into the eAPIS internet reporting system.5. Call US Customs again to make sure they have received the forms, and the eAPIS electronic transmission.A quick aside : This popular event means that the normally sleepy local airport is very busy fo
Random Post #1:
I'm sure you have heard about the... 2007-04-10 22:07:00 Random Post #1:I'm sure you have heard about the latest bullet train in France that will do 350mph.In the 1970's the Russians experimented with their own bullet trains.This one was powered by two engines from the Yak-40. It could do a max speed of 180mphThe Russians also put jet engines from a TU-134 on a passenger ferry, enabling it to do 60mph on the water.Sadly, none are in use these days. Read more:Random
When I posted about our busy schedule a few days a... 2007-04-10 04:07:00 When I posted about our busy schedule a few days ago, it was before more trips got added last weekend. 36 flight hours in the past 6 days makes for a tired Sully. I have one more flight tomorrow before the planes go down for routine CAT scans and Thorazine injections (known as Phase inspections by mechanic types), so I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Well, I'm enjoying every part except for the chapped lips I now have due to the dry air in the cockpit.Kitsch and I took some nice pics today, and I'll post them tomorrow during my layover. But now I really have to sleep.While I snore, watch this 60-turn spin in a 172.
Well, we are done our busiest week ever, and today... 2007-04-11 19:42:00 Well, we are done our busiest week ever, and today I'm back in the office, coding invoices and making sure the bills for the flights are getting paid. Both our jets are in for scheduled maintenance, so I have a few days to relax, do laundry, buy groceries, and make sure our paperwork is complete and correct.I really enjoyed the last week except for the part where my lips are very chapped due to the dry air in the cockpit. I haven't had chapped lips before, and I kind of hate it. Random thoughts looking back on last week: Toronto - Raleigh - Augusta - Toronto. We did the same route every day for a week, and I was pretty freakin' bored by the end of it. With corporate flying we generally mix up our destinations, and it's rare that we'll do the exact same trip twice in a row. This tells me that perhaps I'm not cut out for airline flying - I really enjoy the variety of places we go to while flying corporate. Don't get me wrong - I have been to Teterboro maybe 50 times in the
Who is this man and how did he get so good-looki... 2007-04-15 23:31:00 Who is this man and how did he get so good-looking? Clearly he's thinking about a lot of things, like maybe a solution for world peace, or a cure for cancer. Some might say his expression is due to excess gas, but those people are wrong. Wrong and bad. Clearly this man is pleasing to all 5 senses. Oh, and I think there's an airplane in the background or something.When we were passing through a resort area in Georgia last week we came upon this remarkable beast, a Boeing Stearman, which was built as a military trainer around World War II. This one is a total creampuff and is privately owned by some rich guy. Apparently the owner flies down in a Gulfstream and uses the Stearman to play around when he's here on vacation. Yeah, life is fair.The Stearman has a beautiful old radial engine that provides 450 horsepower, which is twice what they originally came with, and I presume is more than enough to get this airplane up in the air and around the patch at a good clip even though i
Kitsch took these pics when we got de-iced last mo... 2007-04-14 20:22:00 Kitsch took these pics when we got de-iced last month.It's the law in Canada that we can't attempt to take off if there is any contamination on any critical surface on the aircraft. Contaminants are anything that sticks on the wings, like snow, slush, ice, freezing drizzle, hordes of winged monkeys, etc. Critical surfaces are those used for lift, like the wings, elevators, and tail.So suppose we want to go flying when it's snowing outside; at Toronto Pearson, we will incur some time and expense. First, we fax in a request to use the central de-ice facility at Toronto. That costs $455.00, and that's just the cost of us showing up. We then taxi down to the central facility and get in line to get de-iced, like we did in these pics a few weeks ago. The ground controller will pass us off to the de-ice controller, who we call Iceman even though she's a woman (with a really sultry voice actually). She tells us what de-ice bay to taxi toward, and gets us all set up for the de-ice tr Read more:Kitsch
At least 33 people have been confirmed dead this m... 2007-04-16 19:05:00 At least
33 people
have been confirmed dead this morning in a shooting at Virginia Tech .CNN has updated news.My heart goes out to the friends and families of those killed. A lot of families in Virginia are going to be getting terrible news today.
This is New Jersey. I could take a pic of any par... 2007-04-18 16:41:00 This is New Jersey
. I could take a pic of any part of the entire state from any angle, and it would look like this.Yesterday we had a charter - we flew a couple of hours west, then a couple of hours east and ended up overnighting in scenic, fresh-smelling New Jersey
. Not Teterboro airport (it's underwater at the moment due to recent rainfall), but Newark, another major airport that feeds New York City along with La Guardia and JFK. We head home this afternoon, then tomorrow we are off again on a charter, heading south to spend a few days in Florida.Yesterday was uneventful with one minor note; it was a wee bit bumpy coming into Newark yesterday, with some clouds and rain, and we had to hold for about 20 minutes before landing. Everyone was calling it "light chop" and that's actually all it was. Anyway, when we landed, one of our pax pointed at the other pax and said "This guy needs an ambulance". I laughed, thinking it was a joke. But apparently the other guy got really motion
I was thinking about this after my initial writing... 2007-04-21 01:26:00 I was thinking
about this after my initial writing
, and I wanted to add a few words. So here goes, this is my final draft of this post as of 11:30pm on Friday night.I'm in Florida for a few days. The flight down was uneventful with the exception of seeing a HUGE forest fire in Georgia; the smoke stretched for at least 200 miles. Kitsch took a few pics which I'll post shortly. Our rental car is a Fusion, which is a zippy little car with a bass-y stereo system, but a pretty cheap-looking interior. Yesterday Kitsch locked me in the trunk of said car to see if the trunk escape mechanism works, and I'm pleased to report that it does. Last night we went to some downtown restaurant and feasted while sitting out on the patio, which is something I haven't been able to do in Toronto since last September. Today we went to the beach and I saw a guy wearing a hair suit so that was interesting. From a distance it looked like he was wearing a shirt, but as we walked closer I saw he was we
Today's post is all about pictures of the trip we ... 2007-04-23 18:57:00 Today's post is all about pictures of the trip we did over the weekend. Sunny skies as we departed Florida yesterday. Thanks to Kitsch for the pics.Letting our minds wander, as referenced in yesterday's post:The Air Canada 767 I mentioned in yesterday's random thoughts about contrails.We were at FL370, and I think this was a Canjet 737 at FL360.A few pics from the shooting range:With the laser sight, just put the red dot on where you want the hole to go.Kitsch chose the target titled "Keith Richards takes Juliana Margules from ER hostage"Playing with the AR-15, a civilian variant of the M-16.The last remaining ice floes around Buffalo, as mentioned in yesterday's post:Clear skies and a good view as we circled for runway 23 in Toronto. Read more:Today
I'm back in Oakville now, after a 3-hour routine f... 2007-04-23 03:36:00 I'm back in Oakville now, after a 3-hour routine flight. The view was pretty spectacular and the haze wasn't too bad so I'm sure we could easily see a hundred miles in each direction.That's one of the coolest things about this job - it offers a mindset and a visual perspective completely unlike anything else. We are tiny little bugs in the skies, completely dwarfed by the size of our view. If that makes any sense, and it probably doesn't. I'll explain a little; today was a three-hour flight in completely perfect, smooth flying weather, with zero headwind and nary a ripple in the air, the jet was well-behaved, and overall the flight didn't require a whole lot of effort or worry. So I pondered the state of things. The passengers were content and quiet, reading and watching movies, and from time to time our minds were left to wander here and there as the dual hell-fires bolted to our fuselage kept us whooshing effortlessly forward. I mean, really, isn't that nuts how easy i
One. I flew a B-58 Baron for a few years in Gode... 2007-04-29 01:13:00 One. I flew a B-58 Baron
for a few years in Goderich, Ontario. The company had a contract with UPS to fly road grader parts from Goderich to Hamilton 5 nights a week, and the loads mostly consisted of a few boxes weighing maybe 50 pounds total.I took Lisa flying with me one night, and on the way there I decided to demonstrate the zero-G manoeuvre by pulling the nose up and then pushing it over so we could float for a few seconds. It was pretty fun, and after that we went on our way to Hamilton to drop the freight off. We landed and taxiied into the UPS ramp, and presently were greeted by a crew of baggage handlers. I walked to the nose of the Baron and unlocked it, as that's where the freight was. But when I showed off to Lisa with the zero-G trick, the freight in the nose shifted and wedged the door shut. We tried for at least 40 minutes before I ended up putting my tail between my legs and flying home. Our AME got the cargo door open with a crowbar the next day and told me h
We took this week off as best we could - the plane... 2007-04-27 19:02:00 We took this week off as best we could - the planes are quiet and Kitsch and I have accumulated a fair amount of days off in lieu of weekends worked. I have also spent the last couple of days moving Lisa from London to here, and integrating our possessions. We now have more towels than we will be able to soil in a year!I have a good post planned for tomorrow, so come on back then. Today is all about unpacking Lisa's stuff.Oh, and I bought a Nintendo Wii, which is the source of endless amusement. It's the perfect video game system for people who don't play video games. More on that later.
While I'm being a link-skank, here's a set of the ... 2007-04-30 16:29:00 While I'm being a link-skank, here's a set of the coolest airplane pics from Russia you'll see today. Normally I'd just copy them to the blog, but there are so many. Extra points for pics of the Russian Amphibious jet I mentioned a few months ago.Awesome Russian Plane Pix
This Boeing 757 breathes in a couple of birds just... 2007-04-30 12:36:00 This Boeing
757 breathes in a couple
of birds just after rotation. A new engine is millions of dollars, and new seat covers for the pilots would be an additional couple of hundred bucks.
We went south today on a charter, into the heart o... 2007-05-04 01:13:00 We went south today on a charter, into the heart of the southern US. The city I'm in is plastered with billboards for bail bondsmen and pawn shops, but the rest of the place is remarkably nice. Waaay back when, the city here was originally planned for 20,000 but only 3,000 people showed up, so the planners did some quick thinking and made every third block a park. The city is a lot nicer for it; Kitsch and I did a quick tour of downtown this afternoon, marveling at the huge mansions and the omnipresent creepy trees with the long stringy moss that hangs off them like Fu Manchu's beard. Lots of nice shops and things to see, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow afternoon, once I'm done some paperwork and can venture forth to explore further.On the way here, we got to fly in this:1 sm FU SKCThat's not a curse, it's pilot geek weather-speak for "sky clear, visibility 1 mile in smoke". There are some humungous forest fires going on now, with the smoke stretching for hundreds of mile
I don't know how it turned out this way, but this ... 2007-05-01 22:55:00 I don't know how it turned
out this way, but this post is sort of raunchy, so you have been warned.My medical is coming due shortly. Lisa is certainly getting into the spirit of things (if not the actual procedure) in this pic.I am under 40, so I only have to do a medical exam once a year to keep my pilot's license. Once I turn 40, the doc will get 2 tries per year to take my medical away and leave me jobless, but until then he only gets 1 attempt per year. Aviation Medical Examiners (AME) are doctors who take an additional course so they can certify that pilots are unlikely to die whilst airborne. They usually have an aviation background, and I'm guessing that's mostly why they do it, as the average rate for a pilot's medical is only around $110, and I'm sure a doc could make more money during that time if they did other medical stuff.The actual medical takes about an hour - I fill out some forms and indicate that I haven't had an open head injury or seizures in the past ye
Today I had an experience in aviation that I had n... 2007-05-06 03:26:00 Today I had an experience
in aviation
that I had never had before.We arrive at the FBO today to get our plane ready to return home to Toronto. I go to the front desk and ask the guy to pull the plane out front, and for a gpu."Yes sir, your plane is already pulled out front and fuelled, and I'll get a gpu for you" says the guy."We haven't ordered fuel yet, but I'll let you know how much we need" Says I.He gives me a funny look and shows me a piece of paper."But I have a fuel slip for 541 gallons here, for the Canadian plane"I start to sweat a little, even in the air-conditioned building."With what we had remaining in the tanks, that would give us full fuel, and make us very overweight for this flight. I say again, we have not ordered fuel"Another line guy, a young fellow with wide-set eyes, comes up and interjects himself into the conversation."Yeah you did. I got a call at 6am this morning from the guy in the Canadian plane, asking for a pullout at 1pm and for a top-off of fuel" Read more:Today
This isn't my 'real' post for the day, but it's so... 2007-05-05 16:48:00 This isn't my 'real' post for the day, but it's something I wanted to share. I just got back from the Publix supermarket, getting some plane supplies, and I happened to park next to a tired old Ford Escort.It had 2 bullet holes in the driver's door, and one in the passenger's door on the left side.Welcome to the South!
This afternoon was really quite nifty. I got a ... 2007-05-04 23:02:00 This afternoon was really quite nifty. I got a call from our FlightSafety representative, offering to have us attend the local FlightSafety training center to try out their Gulfstream IV SP simulator. Kitsch and I were downtown when I got the call, and we dropped everything and drove straight to the facility at a great rate of speed. The complex is freakin' huge here, far larger than the one in Toledo where I got my 550 type rating. The guy said they trained about 8,000 Gulfstream pilots here last year.They have a swimming pool where you can practice emergency egress training, which is fancy talk for getting the hell out of the airplane if you end up ditching it into water. Gulfstream IV aircraft are large, long-haul business jets, so a fair amount of their time could conceivably be spent over various oceans.There are full cabin mockups for training flight attendants also. They have sims here that they can pump smoke into to simulate electrical fires, and pilots can wear oxygen
Wow, I'm batting 2 for 2 as far as new experiences... 2007-05-08 03:47:00 Wow, I'm batting
2 for 2 as far as new experiences
go. I am in Ottawa for a Company Check Pilot course, and I got a phone call this morning. It was about one of our jets, which is back at Pearson, and was scheduled to go out today on a trip.Things you don't want to hear at 11 am on the phone:"Hello, this is xxx from your FBO in Toronto. First of all, I'm really, really sorry. We sort of had an accident while towing your plane from the hangar to the ramp..."Sigh.
I'm back from the check pilot course, but I'm flyi... 2007-05-11 17:16:00 I'm back from the check pilot course
, but I'm flying all day today so I only have time for a quick post.This is a pic of another classroom in the learning center where I did my check pilot course.Click on the pic to make it bigger, then take a guess what the course is. I'll post the answer below the pic.It's a sensitivity training course for aircraft mechanics. Aren't the stuffed animals cuuute? :)
The check pilot course I am on is fascinating so f... 2007-05-09 23:42:00 The check pilot course
I am on is fascinating so far; we spent the first three days in groundschool, talking about how to fill out the paperwork, about IFR procedures, and about how to conduct briefings and debriefings. Okay, that stuff was pretty boring, but it got better. At the end of the third day, the class was presented with a few dozen events that might occur on a check-ride, and we discussed the grade we would give the candidates, and why. As it turns out, it's pretty much all voodoo; there are very few cases in which a grade on a checkride is cut-and-dry, and most of them end up being grey areas in which we are expected to use our experience, judgement and discretion to arrive at grades. Our class had about 20 people in it, from all aspects of the industry, and including about 10 Transport Inspectors doing recurrent training also.I thought it was really interesting that one inspector might give a candidate a '1' (failure) on an exercise that another inspector would giv
Here's a birdstrike video with a twist - you exper... 2007-05-14 13:27:00 Here's a birdstrike video
with a twist
- you experience it from the passenger's point of view. The strike happens at 47 seconds into the video - this is an Airbus 319 out of Gibraltar. There are some serious hills outside - I bet the crew was glad this didn't happen in hard IMC.
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