PPINE -- A pilot's journal

The only game that matters

2009-11-18T21:38:00.002-06:00

It is a week of distraction.I care not about the weather, nor about my schedule, nor about if I am on time or not.At 1800 zulu on Saturday, 11/21/2009, The Game begins.It matters not at all that The Ohio State University Buckeyes have clinched a Big 10 title and spot in the Rose Bowl and That School Up North has had a miserable season and is playing for an outside chance at playing in a loser

Enceladus

2009-10-30T18:20:00.004-05:00

How easily I forget that within the meager range of my company's airplanes lies stark, beautiful,other worldly desolation.Twenty miles northeast of North Platte, Nebraska. I have left my home planet and am cruising over Saturn's Ice Moon, Enceladus, at 11,000 feet.I am doing something with which I am relatively unaccustomed: I am saving fuel.Normally our scheduled runs are within easy range of

St. Elmo

2009-10-24T18:50:00.006-05:00

It is 5 a.m., somewhere in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, IA. The altimeter shows 9,000 feet and the company has been good about making sure I've had an autopilot for a pair of long, hard charters. I started my engines in Omaha an hour earlier and Lansing, my destination, is still two hours away. Yesterday I departed home base for Omaha at 3:35 a.m. then flew to Denver, dropped my cargo and

If I'm headed West it must be morning

2009-07-17T14:30:00.001-05:00

Time, in the strictest sense, has ceased to matter. Wake up, head to the airport, fly to points West. Sit for the day. Fly to the East, and home. That's been the routine for the past several weeks. Vacations and illness among other pilots in our company have meant a busy schedule that continues into August. This is fine with me. More flying is almost always welcomed. The weather has been

Wind shear

2009-06-05T14:34:00.002-05:00

The last two weeks have been totally routine. Even the weather has barely changed.A steady diet of clear skies and light winds has taken some of the sting out of spending more than week living out of a hotel, covering for a pilot whose normal run starts and ends in Aberdeen.Only the afternoon turbulence intrudes on flying Nirvana. The 310 is notorious for it's annoying dutch roll tendencies in

Routine

2009-04-26T16:52:00.002-05:00

With thunderstorm season approaching I've started flying with my handheld GPS as a means of getting weather, in particular thunderstorm cells and lightning strikes, on board.The GPS is certainly useful although due to the inherent delays in the way weather is datalinked it's best used as a strategic tool and not a tactical one.But I do love it and it's just one of those things that I don't want

Hot plate

2009-04-07T11:12:00.003-05:00

Finally, the ice has stopped building.I've changed altitudes three times looking for a sweet spot that will keep more ice from sticking to my airplane. Eventually, Minneapolis Center graciously gave me a block altitude so I can work my way over and under the clouds at will.A strong low pressure system is centered almost directly above me and has brought with it many of the associated evils that

Muffins

2009-03-18T09:43:00.001-05:00

It is a break from the routine. Another pilot is stranded in Fargo. The poor guy landed in a snowstorm the previous morning covered in ice, unable to see forward then got stranded when the airport shut down because of the weather.The snow was so bad he couldn't get to a hotel, despite three valiant attempts, and wound up spending the night on the floor at the FBO. Flying freight is a glamorous

Snow

2009-03-04T09:49:00.002-06:00

The first two days of a three-day trip have been routine. Clear skies, good visibilities and relatively warm for this time of year around these parts. Heaven. I've been living out of a hotel, filling in for a vacationing pilot whose normal run begins out in the Dakotas, comes home and finishes back out in the hinterlands. Two days of being spoiled is enough though and I wake up to a snowstorm

Academic no longer

2009-02-11T10:39:00.001-06:00

I'd always considered the answer to the question “How low can you descend on an instrument approach if you have just the approach lights in sight” to be an academic one. Until yesterday. Usually, this trip is a piece of cake. Wheels up around 6:45 a.m., land at Fargo around 7:45, sit around for a bit and back home sipping a beer by 5:30 p.m. It's one of my favorite routes because it's the only

Milk runs and hard work

2009-02-06T11:08:00.003-06:00

At 200 feet everything is white. The clouds, whose bases I am still in and out of. The ground, covered in snow. The runway, covered in blowing snow. The approach lights. There is virtually no contrast. Everything I need to land is white. Only the shade of white varies and not by much. The ASOS had been reporting 200-foot ceilings and 2-mile visibility. More than enough under normal circumstances

Bird strike

2009-01-16T14:19:00.002-06:00

Like most pilots I've been riveted by the remarkable story of USAir 1549's ditching in the Hudson River. While it will be months before there is a final report from the NTSB as to the cause, the end result was a wonderful feat of airmanship and my hat is off to the entire crew – captain, co-captain and flight attendants -- for getting everyone out alive.The flight attendants so far have been

30 Below

2009-01-15T12:01:00.002-06:00

It is the coldest night of the winter so far. Hopefully it will only be warmer from now on although I doubt it.Sioux Falls, SD, lies behind me. Ahead is home. In between there is the cold.My friend the moon is rising. Unlike the spectacularly abstract crimson moon rises of fall this one is a brilliant white and sharply defined. It is also rising well to the south of the last moonrise I observed

Grounded

2008-11-22T17:26:00.002-06:00

For the first, and hopefully last, time in my flying career I've had to ground myself for medical reasons.I wish there were some dramatic story I could tell (rescuing a family from a burning building, taking a bullet to save the president-elect, a freak beer-keg explosion, etc...) but it all boils down to an 8-year-old.Turns out, much to my surprise I am no longer 8-years-old. I found this out

Downs and ups

2008-11-03T09:41:00.003-06:00

It is a beautiful day. Light winds, warm and clear. The flight from Minneapolis to Pierre was routine and after spending the day taking a long nap at our company apartment I'm headed home after a long week of flying. From Pierre it's a quick flight down the Missouri river to tiny Chamberlain, SD, then Sioux

Moonrise

2008-10-17T22:00:00.003-05:00

Anoka lies 160 miles ahead of me. Less than an hour left then as we lope along covering three miles every minute.Myself, my airplane, fuel and cargo weighed 5,430 pounds on takeoff, a few hundred pounds under our maximum gross weight.It was still daylight when we left Rapid City but as we hustled eastward night fell quickly.As is my custom, I've turned all the interior lights down as far as they

Black Hills

2008-10-17T15:25:00.002-05:00

I set my alarm clock for a 3 a.m. wakeup to give me time for a shower, a quick breakfast and an easy drive to the airport for a 4:30 a.m. departure.At 2 a.m. I was wide awake and knew if I went back to sleep I'd be in bad shape when the alarm finally went off at 3.So it was up and into the shower, then bacon and eggs and even coffee. All a luxury as breakfast is usually a quick bowl of cereal or

West

2008-10-03T17:50:00.012-05:00

The South Dakota badlands are still tinged with the pink of a lingering sunrise.The Missouri River is behind us, ahead lies Rapid City and a 10-hour wait before it's time to load up with freight and head for home. Next to me is a rare treat; an employee has hopped a ride from FSD to RAP so I have a passenger and somebody to talk to. Except he is asleep so I am, effectively, still alone. I envy

Radar Love

2008-10-03T15:03:00.009-05:00

“I'm showing heavy to extreme precipitation north, south and east of Anoka. West of the airport I'm just showing heavy precipitation. If you can't get through, what are your intentions?” Decision time. Whenever an air traffic controller asks “what are your intentions?” it's time to sit up and pay close attention. Saint Cloud, just a few miles behind me, was in the clear and likely to stay that

Morning rainbow

2008-09-21T12:52:00.003-05:00

My preflight started in darkness. Between the flood lights on the ramp and the glow of my FAA-required 2D-cell flashlight I was able to determine there were 11 quarts of oil in each engine, both the main and auxiliary fuel tanks were brimming with gas, all the external lights worked and the airplane's paperwork was in order.A good airplane to fly then. And a luxury, being one of a few we operate

Stealing

2008-09-17T10:57:00.005-05:00

The weather at Iron Mountain is clear with good visibilities. At Oshkosh, from where I departed just 40 minutes ago, the ceilings were 500 feet with 2-miles visibility in mist. Even better the forecast for Anoka, where I will be 90 minutes or so after I land at IMT, load on 400 pounds of freight and add 240

The sound of democracy

2008-09-01T10:41:00.002-05:00

A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter has been hovering more or less over my house for the past 90 minutes. Every now and then it moves off for a bit, only to return. Apparently, 500 feet above my normally quiet home offers a good vantage point from which to observe the demonstrators assembling for their march on

Inheritance

2008-05-31T10:34:00.002-05:00

Taking over a student who has been working with a different instructor presents an additional set of challenges that aren't there when you're lucky enough to start with them from scratch. Each instructor teaches things in their own way and the challenge as the new instructor is to understand that just because a student was taught to do something differently doesn't automatically mean it's a bad

Spring has sprung

2008-05-29T22:06:00.004-05:00

The dog days of winter are over, replaced by the spring flying frenzy and soon to be replaced by the more traditional dog days of summer. After four solid months of truly awful weather it has stopped snowing, the slow moving low pressure systems that hung over Minnesota for what seemed like weeks on end bringing with them days of rain, snow, low clouds and general malaise have, for the most part

Threading the needle

2008-03-18T10:42:00.009-05:00

We have just passed Ft. Wayne, Indiana and the wind is starting to shift to the left and increase in velocity. The temperature has dropped a few degrees and we are eyeing the datalink weather.We are burning $90 worth of 100 octane, low-lead aviation gasoline every 60 minutes as 74% of 310 horsepower pulls us through the air.Outside, it is fine VFR. The ride is smooth and we've enjoyed a brisk