October | 2019 |

Month: October 2019

Six things I’m most excited to share during the polar circumnavigation

There are several things that I’m most excited to share with my friends and fellow pilots as almost two years of complicated preparations come to a conclusion before the Citizen of the World embarks on a record-setting polar expedition over the South and North Poles. First and foremost:

Antarctica. The highest and most mysterious of all the continents, Antarctica is known to have the worst weather on the planet. Add to this, Antarctica offers some of the most challenging navigation on Earth, where the meridians converge and everywhere is north from there! One of the least traveled places on the planet, Antarctica has exotic places I have never heard of before like Elephant Island, Hercules Dome, Ronne Ice Shelf, and the Weddell Sea. This anticipated wonder has even piqued the interest of Smithsonian Magazine editors who asked for photographs of what I see. Because of the heavy fuel load it’s unlikely I’ll be at Citizen’s maximum cruising altitude of 35,000 feet on the outbound leg so everything I see will be up close, raw, and very personal.

Performance. We performed more than 50 modifications to Citizen over the past three years. The airplane was one of the early Gulfstream models with a longer 52-foot wingspan, higher pressurization, and a longer and deeper cabin. Later, the Twin Commander was upgraded with high-altitude Dash 10 engines, five-bladed nickel-tipped scimitar props, and reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) so Citizen can fly higher and faster at 35,000 feet. We added ceramic coating over the paint for speed, we installed a Peter Schiff Environmental System to reduce weight, for better fuel heating capacity, and to provide non-contaminated bleed-air for pressurization and more speed at altitude (since the system uses less bleed air). To extend Citizen’s range we added three fuel tanks—for a total of seven—to extend the range out to 20 hours of flight time and 5,000-plus nautical miles. Other modifications include Whelen LEDs, higher ply tires with inner tubes from Desser, and an Avidyne/L3 panel with MaxViz Infrared that would beat any kid’s home computer simulator—hands down! For the complete list of modifications, please see more details on our Flying Thru Life website.

Self-confidence. The personal growth that comes from flying solo to remote parts of this beautiful, mystical, and wondrous planet in a highly modified airplane is terrifying but rewarding as well. Taking yourself and your aircraft to their limits is something that a pilot/person never forgets and is loaded with moments that teach us what I refer to as “Zen Moments.” Executing on a mission like this builds a fierce survival instinct, confidence, and a can-do attitude despite all odds. Knowing you are supported by those who believe and trust you unconditionally allows you expand your horizons and push the limits of what you thought was possible in yourself and the world around you.

Civilization. The Citizen of the World will stop in over 26 countries on this polar circumnavigation, giving me the opportunity to meet new and interesting people in exotic places like Tunisia, Madagascar, Dakar, Patagonia, and Antarctica. The differences among people will fade and the similarities will become more prevalent as it becomes more and more obvious that we are all one. We are all are made from the same cosmic stuff and we want the same things—like safety and security for our families, health, financial security, joy, and unity.

Impact on the world. Our mission of “One Planet, One People, One Plane: Oneness for Humanity” has the potential to change mindsets for the better and is already having tremendous impact on the world. Articles, interviews, and partnerships have been documented globally in over 20 magazines, newspapers, and internet sites. The flight will be tracked in real time globally by over 12 million followers on FlightAware.com using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out (ADS-B Out). Our videos are scheduled to be seen by over 20 million people on various TV networks including NBC, ABC, CBS, Dish, Apple TV, Sling, and 36 others starting in November.

Life-changing. The trip will be transformative and packed with lessons that only come from pushing one’s limits, taking calculated risks, dreaming impossibly big and then overcoming all resistance and making it happen (or going with the flow and letting it happen). I recall when I first spotted San Diego after my first trip around the world along the equator back in 2015—it felt like my first step toward what I was put on the planet to do. While I pray for ease and grace, I often find that struggle is what I must overcome. Never have I struggled so hard with professional relationships, timelines, patience, equipment, and technical issues. I find comfort and deeper connection because these challenges also seem to be what helps others see how hard someone is willing to work to make the world and themselves better—and hopefully it will motivate them to do the same with their own lives.

Ultimately, we find that our journeys are best shared with others. We go out into the world, overcome obstacles, persist when our goals seem so far away, learn what we can, and then come back and share what we have discovered. It’s my hope that some of these Zen Moments will help inspire you to stretch and grow beyond your comfort zone and not only go for your impossibly big dreams, but keep going when you want to give up because what you believe in is so much bigger and brighter and life-affirming than what you’re afraid of or struggling with. My prayer is that in the end humankind realizes we all breathe the same air and are, in fact, all connected as one —One Planet, One People, One Plane. Oneness for Humanity.

Robert DeLaurentis

Robert DeLaurentis is a successful real estate entrepreneur and investor, pilot, speaker, philanthropist, and author of the books Flying Thru Life, Zen Pilot, the children’s book The Little Plane That Could, and the upcoming book Peace Pilot: To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond. A complementary 12-part worldwide docuseries, “Peace Pilot to the Ends of the Earth,” will be simultaneously released. A Gulf War veteran, Robert received his pilot’s license in 2009, completed his first circumnavigation in 2015, and recently completed his second record-breaking circumnavigation from Pole to Pole in his aircraft “Citizen of the World,” on a global peace mission, “Oneness for Humanity: One Planet, One People, One Plane.” For more information, visit PoletoPoleFlight.com.

http://poletopoleflight.com/

Challenging the Weather in the Alps

October 11, 2019 / Garrett Fisher / 2 Comments

From the very first conversation with a European pilot to each ensuing one thereafter, I have been warned about the “Föhn.” The word is a fancy German equivalent to “Chinook,” which implies what is ultimately a simple witch’s brew of meteorological malfeasance: mountains and wind. While Europeans tend not to be as cowboyish about these subjects, the gist was to be careful, as the Föhn is a nasty beast that will devour me and my airplane.

The Pyrenees enter into the picture. With no such warnings, I plunged into the mountain range and got beat up on the first time, a sunny September day. I would then learn that the Pyrenees are a mountain wave factory, with its own Föhn. Surely, I had mastered the skill, because a Föhn is a Föhn, no matter where it happens? Oh, how little the foreigner knows! Pilots continued to warn me about the Alps Föhn, even though I was living in a factory of mountain turbulence.

The thing is, nobody gave me specific warnings about said Föhn, it was just that “it’s there” and it can’t be good. I appropriately decided to make my initial forays into the Alps with significant caution, leaving wind out of it. It did not help that there were three fatal crashes in the week of my first trip here in 2018, and there have been many since. While I read to the extent I can in depth about crashes to learn from them, the fact with most of them was some other issue was in play. Surely the Föhn didn’t cause a midair collision?

As I got a bit friskier in the later part of the 2018 trip, I found that I was bereft of deadly wind, even if I wanted to find it. Curious. The weather actually seems to be structurally good in the Alps for quite a number of days. Now fast forward to 2019, and I found a similar situation…. the wind seems not to blow so fiercely on nice days.

Bit by bit, I have been toying with more upper level wind, and have come to find that it differs little from comparable speeds when in other mountain ranges. Updrafts, downdrafts, rotors, and turbulence have the same effect on an aircraft. The secret sauce is in figuring out what invisible air is doing, navigating accordingly. I decided to translate Rockies and Pyrenees knowledge here, and it seems like it’s working well. In fact, the Alps feature something that the aforementioned ranges lack: low valleys and passes. On days with stiff upper level winds and soaring mountain wave clouds, Swiss pilots are regularly flying at the lower levels of the atmosphere, avoiding the worst of it.

I decided to catalog some of the change of seasons and meteorological exploits from the past month. It starts out with the first snow in early September.

Second week of September. First snowfall! West of Zermatt, looking southeast.

Southeast side of the Weisshorn (4505m / 14,780′). It has enjoyed morning sun, so snow is beginning to melt.

North side of Wildhorn (3248m / 10,656′) with Mt. Blanc sneering from behind. Sheer white areas to the left are a glacier.

Enough of the snow. A few days later, most of it had melted. The lesson here is the clouds. At 5:30PM, the extent of clouds is as in this photo. Spitzhorn (2807m / 9,209′).

50 minutes later, Glacier du Mont Miné. No real clouds to worry about.

Back to the Bernese Alps, and some interesting formations over the Plane Morte Glacier, but not anywhere else.

Hmmm….

Southeast of Gstaad. What is this? 50% cloud cover that was not forecasted, nor was there when I took off two hours before. I’d like to understand how this works.

A couple of days later, I discovered Switzerland’s illustrious network of webcams. There is one 5,000 feet above the house on the hill behind us, so I checked to see if the stratus layer had a top. The webcam was above it, so after 30 minutes of curvy mountain roads and a 20 min jog up a trail, I was above the clouds. Dent du Jaman (left) and Massif du Chablais (horizon right). I had left the webcam open on my computer and when I returned it showed what I thought was impossible: the entire Bernese Oberland, in the direction of the airport, was suddenly socked in overcast! In a matter of 20 minutes, the whole thing clouded over. I checked Gstaad Airport webcam, and other than a few holes, socked. I emailed a bunch of people and they basically said, “yeah, that can happen in the evening.” Note to self: carry more fuel. I would rather not return to base above a solid stratus deck.

Next flight: Simplon Pass, with Italy about 5 miles away. Now the south side of the Alps gets the cloud deck, whereas the north side is entirely clear, with no mysterious clouding over upon my return.

I know I whined for quite a while about the inversion in Spain. I take it back now! I never expected a glacier, mountains, and a glorious inversion. Still in Switzerland, with Italy as the farthest island in the sky.

Next flight. I needed to move the plane before the runway was closed for a bit. It was windier than I liked, though I could stay low if I wanted and avoid it. A high-time pilot seemed nonplussed (“There is no point flying backwards”), other than to indicate that “its usually rough over Martigny.” So I went there on the way to Mt. Blanc. Over the pass to France, I broke my record for the slowest groundspeed yet: 35kt with 39kt winds. It was smooth over the pass and upwind of terrain. Before someone gets too carried away with my apparent silliness, I got passed while in the pass (aircraft in the image below). There was a lot of air traffic for a windy day.

Blowing snow on north slope of Mt. Blanc. Just don’t get close…..or downwind of it.

Next flight. Third snow of the season. Climbing out over Dent du Morcles.

Mt. Blanc (4809m / 15,777′). Highest in the Alps. Note blowing snow below. Winds at 15,000′ were 50kt over Grenoble and 20kt over Turin. I came across another airplane and a helicopter here, all of us intelligently upwind. The wave was perfectly smooth, giving climb rates above 12,000 feet in excess of engine power at 4,000 feet.

Grandes Jorasses (4000m+). Italy right rear, Switzerland left rear, France foreground).

This flight was the coup de grace! Massif du Chablais below (10,686′) with Mt Blanc on the horizon).

Dent du Géant rear left (4013m / 13,166′) with Aiguille du Midi below. I had dreamt of wave clouds like this since the first flight over Mt. Blanc.

While I’d like to believe that’s blowing snow on the summit of Mt. Blanc, I think part of it is orographic cloud formation.

Above the wave, sloped to the left above the Aiguille Verte (4122m / 13,524′). It was an illustrious flight.

I have now released book #19 “Mountain Texture: The Pyrenees from the Sky.”

Garrett Fisher

Garrett Fisher is an aerial adventure photographer, having photographed some of the most rugged and wild terrain in America from his 1949 Piper PA-11. After living in Germany with the Cub, he recently moved to the Spanish Pyrenees to continue the flying adventure. He has published six aerial photography books covering the Colorado Rockies, Wyoming, high terrain in the Southeast, and the Outer Banks, with more US and European books in the pipeline. He blogs regularly about his flights at www.garrettfisher.me.

http://garrettfisher.me/

State of Alaska Capstone Aviation Loan Program to Sunset

October 10, 2019 / Tom George / Comments Off

Alaska may be the only state in the nation to make financial loans available to encourage aviation safety. This unique Capstone Program helps individual aircraft owners and aviation businesses finance avionics upgrades to take advantage of ADS-B and the WAAS GPS instrument approaches that have become key elements of the NextGen air transportation system. After being available for a dozen years, however, only 20 loans have been approved, and the program will sunset on July 1^st 2020. It may still be worth considering, if you are planning upgrades that meet the program criteria.

Information on the loan program is available at: https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/ded/FIN/LoanPrograms/CapstoneAvionics.aspx or google “Alaska Capstone Loan”

Background
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Capstone Program pioneered the use of ADS-B and other technologies to improve aviation safety. From the time the demonstration project became operational in 2000 until 2006, the program demonstrated a 47% reduction in the accident rate for aircraft operating in southwest Alaska that were equipped with ADS-B, WAAS GPS navigators, and moving map displays compared to the non-equipped aircraft. Those technologies along with the installation of additional weather stations to support instrument approaches in the area contributed to this change. But it was recognized early on that the cost of equipping aircraft would be an issue. While the demonstration equipment had been funded by the FAA, subsequent equipage would be a financial burden on aircraft owners and operators.

On the strength of these results in accident reduction, to encourage use of this safety equipment in the state, the Alaska Legislature established the Capstone Avionics Loan Program in 2008. For the past 12 years, the program has made it possible for Alaskans to obtain a 4% fixed rate loan that will pay for 80% of the cost of installing ADS-B, GPS/WAAS navigation equipment and a multifunction display in aircraft that are principally operated in Alaska.

Not Many Takers
During the life of the program, only 20 loans have been approved. Seven of those went to private individuals and the remaining were taken out by businesses. I was one of the individuals that used this program to install ADS-B, and a WAAS GPS in my aircraft. The loan application process was straight forward. It required filling out a financial statement, information about the aircraft, providing a copy of my preceding year’s tax return and a $50 application fee. One detail that is worth noting–many people that are making upgrades choose to change out other components of their panel at the same time. In my case, I installed a Garmin G5 attitude indicator and directional gyro so I could ditch my vacuum system. It was no problem to have the avionics installer split the items that were eligible on a separate invoice from those that were outside the scope of the loan program. Once approved, the check was sent directly to the installer, and I only had to come up the remaining 20% at the time the bill was due.

Loan Program Sunsets Next July
The legislation that established the program has a sunset clause, and unless further action is taken it will be terminated on July 1^st 2020. There are two important details related to that deadline:

First, if you haven’t yet equipped with any of this suite of equipment, there is still time. But don’t put it off much longer, as it does take time to have a loan application reviewed and approved. I would recommend calling the folks that run the program at the Division of Economic Development and review what you are planning, to figure if it fits your circumstances. They have offices and staff in Anchorage and Juneau that are a phone call away. They can be reached at (800) 478 5626 (toll free in Alaska) or (907) 465-2510 and ask to speak with one of their loan officers. Their office hours are 7:30am – 4:30pm, Monday – Friday.

Second, the low use of the program makes it hard to justify an extension. Please take the one-question survey to express your needs regarding this program: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/323WWR2

If you are considering purchasing ADS-B or WAAS GPS navigation equipment for your aircraft, this opportunity may be worth exploring. Don’t let a lack of current funds stop you from making technology upgrades that can help keep you and your passengers safe.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This article was initially published in the Alaska Airmen Association’s Transponder

Tom George

SNF Volunteers Rock

New Me, New We

October 8, 2019 / Jolie Lucas / Comments Off

A future Aviatrix at Fresno/Chandler Airport day

When we start off our training in aviation we become new. In many ways, instruction and experience transform us into an aviator. The training syllabus takes us from ground school, to first lesson, written exam, medical, first solo and on to checkride. For many, trying to think about our life before aviation is difficult. We press on for advanced ratings, type certificates and aircraft ownership. The transformation from the person gazing skyward hoping for wings, to the certificated pilot ensures a new “me”.

This young man is studying to be an airplane mechanic

Now I am going to say something dramatic, stop just going to aviation events. Instead I challenge you to join the “we” culture versus staying in the “me” culture. As aviators committed to being lifetime learners, we are constantly focused on ourselves as individuals, and rightly so. When we are focused on “me” we fly to an aviation event for a fuel discount, or to hear a favorite speaker for free, or to buy some raffle tickets for donated prizes. There is nothing wrong with that. I love to support GA events especially the smaller ones. But I want you to take a moment to think about how you could connect with the event, become part of the “we”.

Over the past week I attended “Remember When 5th Annual Airport Day” at Fresno/Chandler airport in the Central Valley of California, presented Exit the Holding Pattern: Achieve your Aviation Goals in San Diego for the San Diego Aviation Safety Counselors, and will attend the Central Coast AirFest this weekend in Santa Maria, California The thing that all three of these events have in common is the We Team, of volunteers. Volunteering doesn’t have to be particularly time consuming or technical. Most events need volunteers in all capacities. Think about your talents and get involved.

The Remember When event was a nice combination of two of the three tiers in airport protection and GA promotion: grass roots local level plus the state level. I attended as a Vice President of California Pilots Association. We had a fun booth that drew in current members, prospective members and those wanting to learn to fly. The whole event was quintessentially GA, airplanes on display, awesome fuel discount, car show, good food and educational seminars. It takes nearly 100 volunteers to put on this annual event.

On Thursday I presented Exit the Holding Pattern: Achieve your Aviation Goals for the San Diego Aviation Safety Counselors monthly WINGS event. I am sure many of you attend safety seminars in your community, but how many of you volunteer in some capacity? In the case of the San Diego event there were numerous volunteers who arrived 30 minutes before and stayed the same after. Organizing speakers for a monthly event is a big job. Think about who you know who presents workshops, or how you can help with your local events.

Large crowd at Exit the Hold: Achieve your Aviation Goals presentation

This coming weekend is the Central Coast AirFest in Santa Maria, CA. This is the second year of the event. The AirFest is in collaboration with the Santa Maria Airport District and many community sponsors. The two-day show offers aerobatics, military, and radio-controlled aircraft demonstrations. This year’s headliner is the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. The Viper demonstration will end with a dazzling pyrotechnics display. The event is expected to attract over 15,000 over the weekend. An event this size cannot happen without a team of hundreds of volunteers. Aviation lovers who simply sit back and merely attend events will miss out on the camaraderie, behind-the-scenes access, and the satisfaction of bringing an event to successful fruition.

Five-Cities Fire brings toys for the kids at Toys for Tots

The flying season might be coming to an end due to weather for many around the country. But it’s not too late to check out the AOPA calendar or sites like Social Flight to check out remaining 2019 events, such as December 7th Oceano Airport Toys for Tots. Better yet, contact the organizer and volunteer. Let your new “me”, turn in to a new “we”. Come be part of it all. See you all out there!

Jolie Lucas

Jolie Lucas makes her home on the Central Coast of CA with her mini-Golden, Mooney. Jolie is a Mooney owner, licensed psychotherapist, and commercial pilot. Jolie is a nationally-known aviation presenter and aviation writer. Jolie is the Region 4 Vice President of the California Pilots Association. She is the 2010 AOPA Joseph Crotti Award recipient for GA Advocacy. Email: [email protected] Web: www.JolieLucas.com Twitter: Mooney4Me

http://www.JolieLucas.com

Learn your airplane on a different level

October 8, 2019 / Chip Wright / Comments Off

If knowledge is power, education is the fuel. Pilots have myriad avenues for increasing their knowledge. Before I got hired at my first airline, I had already devoured countless books on aviation safety, accident analysis, accident investigations, human factors, and related topics. I had an enviable library, to say the least.

Once I started flying, I became more and more interested in accidents that involved the airplanes that I was actually flying. Let’s face it: Accident reports on Cessna 172s almost never involve a problem with the airplane. They almost all have their roots in poor pilotage/airmanship, bad ownership decisions, and occasionally a maintenance issue. But by and large, the person flying the airplane does something they shouldn’t do, and the result is an accident or a fatality. Further, the systems are so simple that systems knowledge isn’t really a factor.

In turbine equipment, there are a lot more variables at play. The pilot is still the most important, but systems knowledge, fatigue, maintenance practices, and the like play a bigger role. As a pilot new to a particular airplane, some of what may be involved may be difficult to understand in great detail, but once you have a bit of experience, it will be easier to digest certain accidents or discussions.

With certain accidents or aircraft, it’s not uncommon to come across superstitions about how dangerous certain systems are or how difficult the airplane is to operate. The Mitsubishi MU–2 ran into this because of a relatively high accident rate, but there was a realization that a more rigorous training program could decrease the number of incidents and accidents. And guess what? It worked.

Given that I was flying a turboprop as my first airliner and my first turbine airplane, I wanted to know what was going on in the fleet as a whole. So, I continued by quest by downloading and reading a number of NTSB and FAA summaries and reports. I didn’t necessarily need to read every word of every report, but I did spend a lot of time reading the pertinent sections. I also did this when I got to the CRJ, and when noteworthy events occurred, I’d do the same thing. It was amazing how many errors or mistakes a well-meaning mainstream media reporter could make (it still is).

I’ve since read more reports and books on accidents than I can recall, and while most still come down to the pilots, not all do. But there are more pieces than ever before. Human factors is often much bigger than one would expect, and weather is still the beast we can’t tame. But one of the most fascinating things to me to learn about was how difficult the investigation process can be. For proof of that, just look at the USAir 427, or even TWA 800.

Whether you go into the regionals in the CRJ, ERJ, or E-Jet series, or eventually make it to the majors flying Boeings or Airbuses, it behooves you to educate yourself as much as possible on common causes of confusion or incidents on the airplane you fly. You’ll be surprised at what you learn, what you may not have been taught, and how the past changes what we do in the present or the future.

Plus, you’ll just feel better armed with as much knowledge as you can get.—Chip Wright

Chip Wright

Your first trip

October 1, 2019 / Chip Wright / Comments Off

A pilot’s first trip with an airline is a combination of both stress and excitement.

The reasons for the excitement are obvious: new job, new airplane, new cities, new coworkers, even the new uniform can be a source of a thrill. The excitement is also equal parts stress, as you try to figure out or remember where to go, learn the protocols of the airline, introduce yourself to flight attendants, gate agents, captains, and other employees who seem like they’ve been around forever. And, of course, you actually have to do your job.

The first several trips, however, are a continuation of your training. The FAA does not allow green, fresh-from-training new hires to be thrown out on the line to fend for themselves. You will fly under the watchful eye and tutelage of a line check airman (LCA), who will introduce you to the day-to-day operation of the company and provide the finishing touches on your aircraft training. This is called initial operating experience (IOE), and you go through it with each new job, each new airplane, and whenever you upgrade to captain.

In some respects, the LCA has the easiest job, and in some ways the hardest, when it comes to training. The transition from the sim to the airplane can be a challenge, and it’s the first time you are truly dealing with all aspects of getting a flight off the gate: maintenance, fuel, catering, aggravated passengers and flight attendants. This is no longer an academic exercise in the schoolhouse. It’s real, and it’s real time.

And speaking of time, the LCA also has to keep the flight on schedule without compromising the instruction. As you might imagine, when it comes to dealing with chaos at the gate, there’s a lot that will generate a “we’ll talk about this in flight” comment or two. At some point, you also have to be signed off on walkarounds.

Once you get underway, you get to deal with a blizzard of radio calls that most pilots new to the airlines aren’t ready for. Ramp control and ground will not care that you’re new or in over your head. They will simply expect you to comply—correctly and quickly. Your captain will probably have to bail you out a few times, and it is nothing to be ashamed of.

Airborne, you may or may not actually fly the first leg. Some LCAs believe in a trial by fire and will let you get into it right away. When I was an LCA, I always flew the first leg with a new pilot just to give him or her a chance to observe and catch up. But eventually, you need to get your hands on the wheel, so to speak, and the best advice is to simply fly it the way you did in the sim. You will be required to log X number of legs or hours as the nonflying/monitoring pilot, but you can expect to fly the majority of the legs so that you can get comfortable with the airplane.

In the sim, you spend a lot of time either dealing with emergencies, doing air work, or practicing all manner of approaches. There is very little time to introduce you to flying as it actually is on the line, though you will take a checkride that features a flight that is representative of life on the line. Even then, you will probably get a minor system failure to deal with on the way.

Your first trip will be an opportunity to see what the airplane is really like with everything working. Further, you will be exposed to all of the little nuances of managing a flight, from energy management during climbs and descents to dealing with the flight attendants and making public address announcements to the passengers. You’ll also see how compressed the time can get as you prepare for arrivals, descents, and approaches.

As a new hire, you can expect a lot of time with the LCA on the ground and during layovers as well. There is a lot of material to review, some of which may be a new introduction to you, depending on how the airline structures the training. You’ll also spend time going over things you have done well as well as things you need to improve upon. The learning—and the teaching—never end! If you are hitting the line during the winter months, you can expect to deal with deicing and winter ops, which is challenging enough for veteran pilots that have been around, let alone for someone who has never had to deal with deicing, holdover times, et cetera.

The first trip is both exciting and exhausting. By the time it’s finished, you will begin to feel as if you are settling into a bit of a groove. By the end of the first day, you will be ready to collapse, and you should sleep well. Every time I’ve gone through OE, I’ve had some trouble sleeping the night before the first trip, and I always sleep well after the first day is in the books.

The end of the first trip is a sign that the training process is almost over, but it’s also a crucial point, as you are now being put into the pointy end of a multimillion-dollar machine and entrusted with all the lives behind you. The company wants to make sure that you are safe, competent, and ready. You want to feel … well, safe, competent, and ready. This is a final chance to ask a lot of questions and to perfect your techniques and procedures.

If the first trip goes well, the last trip (or two) will focus more on getting your required IOE time completed before you do your final line check. Once the LCA puts pen to paper and signs you off, you’re considered ready for the day-to-day grind, and your training is complete. Now you get to embrace life on reserve!—Chip Wright