Ready...Set...Wait

This has been a weird trip. First the random line check. Then 30+ hours in Allentown. When I landed this morning in Cincinnati, the snow wasn't the only thing blowing. The other thing was my day.

As we taxied to the gate, the RIDS (display screen that shows various flight info) had my name displayed and call crew scheduling. Great. What would they want from me? A quick phone call would answer that.

They took me off the last two legs of my trip and put me on ready reserve for the rest of the day. The first officer that replaced me was displaced from a canceled flight and was not thrilled to be there. I was definitely not thrilled to go sit ready reserve. Now I'm stuck sitting here in ops, hoping my phone doesn't ring so that I can make it home tonight to see my wife and kids.

Based on my last ready reserve, I can expect a call from scheduling during the last 5 minutes of duty. This is the part of being a first year F.O. that is just no fun.

---

I'm not really a neat freak, but do like the place I work to be free of trash and fairly organized. This is my biggest cockpit pet-peeve: someone leaving their cup/bottle/can with chew spit in it. Nothing is more gross. Kind of a random thought, but truly a disgusting thing to come across.

You're Who? You're Here For What?

I'm currently on a 4 day trip. The first day was Cincinnati-Savannah-Cincinnati-Toronto. Yesterday we flew from Toronto to Atlanta and then Allentown, PA where I'm currently spending my second night. Yeah, two nights in Allentown...in January. The crew and I made the best of it by seeing a movie at the cineplex next to the hotel (I Am Legend...C-).

Tomorrow morning, it's off first thing for a flight to CVG, then an out and back to Rochester to end the day by noon. If all goes well, I'll be on a flight back to Phoenix and home by 8 p.m. YES!

The trip got off to a rocky start. As the captain and I were doing pre-flight paperwork, a check airman stepped in to the cockpit. He said, "Good afternoon gentlemen, I need to see each of your credentials in full. I will be performing a randomly selected line check on this leg." With the airline's recent switch to Advanced Qualification Program (AQP), line checks are performed on every route in the system and are random. Technically, you could have multiple line checks in one month vs. one every 18 months.

A line check is basically where the flight deck crew is judged on their performance from start to finish. It is a jeopardy event and not to be taken lightly. Performing to standards is critical.

Well, being on line for only a few months, this made me very nervous. Of course all of the weight and balance had to be worst case scenario, meaning Cg and weight issues. We had to move passengers and add ballast to put the aircraft center of gravity withing tolerances. It's not really difficult, just time consuming and easy to make mistakes...especially with a check airman in the jump seat looking over your shoulder. I ended up doing the W&B twice just to make sure it was 100% accurate and legible. Normally I do it right the first time. This had to be the time for a Cg issue.

W&B issues solved, we headed out. Thankfully, the flight wasn't too eventful other than some thunderstorm dodging. The most difficult part was hearing ATC calls while listening to the check airman "critiquing" our flying. In the end, after a few small comments and suggestions, we passed and breathed a sigh of relief. I only wish it was guaranteed to be another 18 months before another line check.

---

Yesterday on the flight from Toronto to Atlanta, there was a nice old woman from Hungary on our flight. She spoke just a few words of English and I helped her figure out how to go about getting to Los Angeles from Atlanta. At the end of the flight, I was outside the aircraft at the bottom of the stairs when she came down. She turned to me, grabbed me with both arms , gave me a big bear hug and a kiss on the check and in broken English said, "Thank you". That made my day.

Time Is A Precious Commodity

Being a reserve pilot gives me new respect for time. There just isn't much of it.

December was an incredibly busy month with over 95 hours flown. The best news came on the last Friday of the year. When checking out, I found that the transfer to Cincinnati happened a month earlier than expected.

How can anyone be excited about Cincinnati? After a month of riding a bus 50+ minutes each way, plus rain, sleet & snow along the addition 1/2 mile walk to the crashpad in Jamaica, Queens, it is welcome news. Cincinnati isn't a bad place and is certainly a much easier and more affordable place to be based.

The downside is longer reserve and more ready reserve schedules. I'm sitting ready reserve right now. The upside of being a prisoner for 6 hours is allowing time to blog.

This post was interrupted by a call to scheduling for fly an out and back from CVG to DFW due to a maintenance problem with a CRJ-700. The phone call came with FOUR minutes to go on my ready reserve schedule. At least the trip was good for 4.5 block hours.

---

I'm up to almost 150 hours in the jet now and things are becoming much easier. Techniques are developing, muscle memory is burning in and, most importantly, I'm beginning to feel more relaxed.

Approaches down to minimums, gusty crosswinds, 250 knots to the final approach fix, fog, ice and snow are now just everyday occurrences. Life on the line is starting to settle in.

Time away from home is the biggest challenge. I am really missing being home with my wife and kids.

Not much else to post about right now. Too many thoughts, too little time.