Baptism by Fire, Complete
Well today was the day I had waited thirty years for. It was also 1 year, 7 months and 10 days from the day I started training. Today I flew the CRJ from JFK in New York to DCA in Washington D.C.
We pushed back from the gate 15 minutes late (no, it wasn't my fault). That put us 10 slots behind where we should have been. Luckily, it was Saturday afternoon and traffic wasn't too bad. When we finally taxied to our position in line, we were 17th for takeoff. We shut down an engine to conserve fuel and about 20 minutes later, it was finally out turn for takeoff.
We took off on runway 31L and were assigned the Kennedy One Departure, Canarsie Climb. The Canarsie Climb is somewhat of a legend and is responsible for more than a few airspace violations. Between Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark; New York airspace is very tight. Basically, when departing runway 31L on the Kennedy One departure, Canarsie Climb, many things must be accomplished in a relatively short period of time to avoid busting La Guardia's airspace. After takeoff, turn at 400 feet direct Canarsie (CRI) VOR. Make sure to complete the turn before crossing the CRI 039 radial. At about 1.5 DME from CRI, start a left turn to intercept the CRI 176 radio outbound. Cross CRI 2.0 DME at 2,500 feet or above.
I managed to fly the procedure without incident. Thank goodness for small miracles. Here is a sample of the NACO procedure charts for the Kennedy One departure in case anyone wanted to know more about it. ***Disclaimer*** Charts change frequently. The ones below are an example only and are not intended for navigational use.
One hour later, we were descending in to the terminal area for DCA. Potomac approach gave us vectors for the ILS runway 01. It was a beautiful night. We broke through the cloud layer at 5,000 feet and had a beautiful view coming in. I let the autopilot take us down to 1,000 feet and then clicked it off and hand flew the final segment of the approach. I actually greased my first CRJ landing and it felt damn good, too. At 70 knots, I transferred the controls back to the captain and he taxied to the gate as I did shut down the number 1 engine, started the APU and ran the after landing checklist.
We ran in to another crew from our airline waiting for the shuttle to the Crowne Plaza. When it arrived, the driver kept trying to take us to the Holiday Inn. It took 2 phone calls and some flared tempers to convince him that we were indeed assigned to the Crowne Plaza. Duh.
The captain, flight attendant and I decided to walk a few blocks to Old Alexandria for dinner. We ended up at Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria. It was ok. None of us had pizza, which was probably the first mistake.
My first day in the real world and my poor wife is at home with the stomach flu. I really wish I could be there right now to take care of her. I know she's miserable :(
Day one was good. Everyone at JFK was friendly and outgoing, the flight went well and I never felt like the plane was ahead of me. Tomorrow is a meat and potatoes day. Washington DC to Boston, Boston to Louisville then from Louisville back to Boston for an overnight. Time for bed, the anxiety and stress of today really wore me out.
5 comments:
And you greased it, too! Congratulations. Onward & upward. ;-}
Awesome! Congrats, Mike.
One question: Do they let new FO's like yourself fly the 100/200 and 700 models interchangeably? Or do you have to work up to the 700 with more experience? I imagine Boston-Louisville is a long trip in a 200.
Tom,
Although the CL65 is one type, the 100/200 are interchangeable as are the 700/900. At my airline, pilots either fly the 100/200 or 700/900.
To transition from the 50 seat a/c to the 76 seat aircraft requires about a week of differences training and a proficiency check.
I have put in a bid for the 700/900 and expect to go through differences training in the Spring.
I rode in the cockpit of a 700 yesterday and the performance difference is astounding.
And yes, Louisville-Boston in the 200 is a LONG trip. It took 50 minutes to get to 35,000 feet.
Mike,
that's really interesting stuff. I recently flew on a Comair 700 from CVG to MIA and it seemed like a much more comfortable aircraft than the 100/200 as well. I'm average height (6 feet) and I have to stick my neck down just to look out the window in the 100/200 but the 700 is much bigger inside. I also noticed (I could be wrong here) that the 700 has leading edge slats so I imagine it has better takeoff performance?
Tom,
The difference in passenger comfort is huge between the 200 and the 700/900 aircraft. The floor is 6 inches lower in the 700/900, which allows for more headroom and makes it easier to see out of the windows.
The 700/900's do have leading edge slats. They allow for better takeoff performance and landing speeds that are about 10 knots lower than in the CRJ-200. The 700/900 models land with a nose up attitude like other airliners, unlike the lawn-dart like landing profile of the Barbie Jet.
The new CRJ-900's in the fleet are next-gen models with larger interior windows, larger overhead storage bins and LED interior lighting. In addition to 64 coach seats, they feature 12 first class seats.
If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at rjwannabe@gmail.com
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