Trip One, Over

Warning: This post is kind of long-winded.

The first trip is finally complete. In the course of 4 days and 3 nights, I was able to experience more than could have ever been expected. As a bonus, a good friend came all the way to Boston for a brief visit.

Saturday has already been summed up, so let's begin on Sunday. Knowing better than to count on a hotel to properly program a wake-up call, my cell phone woke me up on time. Good thing, the wake up call that had been requested never came. Other than that, the Crowne Plaza Old Town Alexandria was pretty nice.

After convincing the van driver that we did indeed need to go to DCA, not Dulles (IAD), we made our way through security and out to the plane. The weather was great; above freezing, clear, blue and a million. We decided that I would fly this leg. We took departed from runway 01 and made the early turn to avoid area P-56, the prohibited area to end all prohibited areas. When departing visually, the procedure calls for a left turn "as soon as practicable" to avoid P-56. This means starting the turn about 50 feet AGL. Normally, most turns are not initiated until at least 400 feet AGL. After the turn, maintain a ground track directly above the Potomac River. This puts the Pentagon on your left and P-56 on your right. Good times.
It was severe clear all the way to Boston. Our route took us directly over Baltimore (BWI), Atlantic City, Manhattan, Bridgeport, CT and Providence, RI before landing in Boston. We had a 2 1/2 hour layover before heading for Louisville, KY (SDF) so I took advantage of the time and enjoyed a nice lunch at Legal's Test Kitchen. Yum. Weather en-route wasn't too good and the radar kept us clear of a pretty sizable line of thunderstorms. Once on the ground, the weather delayed our departure and we arrived in Boston later than scheduled. After checking in to the very nice Hilton Boston Logan, it was time for room service and bed.

Monday morning, I was the first to arrive at the aircraft. I went ahead and did the security check, cockpit safety check and started the APU to get power to the aircraft and warm it up for everyone. The captain and flight attendant arrived soon after and before we knew it, 50 passengers we aboard and ready to go to Philadelphia (PHL). The performance data and weight & balance had been calculated and we were just about to call for push when there was a loud knock on the flight deck door. The flight attendant's inter-phone was inop. The captain called maintenance and was just finishing up the paperwork so we could depart when...another maintenance issue came up. This one was a no-go.

After nearly 2 hours of chatting with maintenance and operations, we were expecting to have to ferry the aircraft to Cincinnati. It was decided that we would move the passengers to a new aircraft and still continue to PHL. We finally made PHL and turned around. On the second trip to PHL, we ran in to another maintenance issue with a funky landing light. Our day that was supposed to end at 2 p.m. didn't end until 5. So much for a nice afternoon in Boston.

My friend Teller, a fellow pilot who flies a more manly Beech 1900 for another carrier, flew down to Boston with his fiancee to have dinner with me. We had a nice visit, told a few lies and before too long, it was time for Teller & Co. to head back to Maine. Teller has an interesting blog called Journey In Flight. If you haven't been there, I highly recommend a visit.

I was pretty tired and a nice relaxing evening watching the nice flat screen TV in my room was in order. Unfortunately, the TV was out of order. My stuff was already unpacked and I was too tired to change rooms and went to bed early. That would prove to be a very good move...

Tuesday started off smooth. Almost too smooth. The aircraft was ready, en-route weather looked good and it was the last day of my first trip. Almost time to go home. The first turn to PHL was smooth. The second trip to PHL was smooth, other than a short hold. We were ahead of schedule and had a three hour layover to enjoy cheese steaks and pretzels (yeah, I'm a foodie and this occupation is really going to make me fat).

The final leg had an unusually low passenger count and everyone had checked in early. We boarded everyone early and pushed back ten minutes ahead of schedule. In my best Ron White voice, I turned to the captain and said, "It's gonna be a good day, Tater".

We were cleared to taxi to runway 27L. Just as we were crossing 27R, PHL advised us that JFK was issuing ground stops. Our EFC was in 30 minutes. Oh well, we had plenty of time. Ground came back and cleared us to proceed to 27L. Just then, the aircraft advised us of a problem with the anti-skid braking system. Not good. We lost our takeoff slot and had to taxi to a holding spot while the problem was sorted out. Minimum takeoff fuel requirements necessitated the shutdown of both engines. When we finally had the problem sorted, ATC advised us that another 45 minute ground stop was in place.

After 45 minutes, ATC cleared us to taxi again to 27L. However, it was now busy in PHL and we were 8th in line. Before we could get to the hold short line, we were given an indefinite ground stop. Ground cleared us to park at the hold short line of 27R and advised us to shut down again. They would call us when they had an EFC time. We finally were cleared after sitting on the ground for 2 1/2 hours.

I finally took off and departure put us on course to JFK for the CAMRN4 arrival. PHL to JFK is about a 25 minute flight (only 80 nautical miles) ... unless ... a hold is issued. XXXair 123, climb to one-four thousand, proceed direct CAMRN and hold as published. EFC in 45 minutes. CRAP. Now I was beginning to worry. I had a 7 p.m. flight home to catch.

What made it extra frustrating was that the weather was clear and we could see both PHL and JFK from CAMRN, which is just north of Atlantic City, NJ. We did 5 turns in the hold before being vectored in for an ILS. JFK kept us fast until the marker and then just as we were grabbing the localizer, switched us from 22L to 22R. CRJ-200's are Category D aircraft with higher approach speeds than most other transport category aircraft. There was a 777 on final ahead of us and that necessitated the side-step. Any closer and we would have been surfing its wake, which isn't a lot of fun when the aircraft is configured for landing. My last landing of the trip was on center and smooth, or maybe it was just my numb butt. 3.5 hours is a long time to be sitting in a CRJ seat.

We taxied back, deplaned the poor passengers, shut down the plane and headed back to operations. It was 6:55. The Phoenix flight was closing and the gate agent refused to allow me to board. I know there were at least 45 open seats. Nice.

Luckily, I found a Las Vegas flight that left 20 minutes later. The last flight to Phoenix left Vegas at 11:55 (12:55 Arizona time). A big "thank you" to the Mesa crew that gave me a ride home. I didn't get home until 3 a.m., but it was better to be awake for 24 hours and make it home than to spend the night at JFK.

First trip: 12 legs total. I flew 9 out of 12. Nine takeoffs and landings. 4 ILS approaches, 5 visual approaches, 2 holds, thunderstorms, ice, rain, fog and some healthy crosswinds, clearance amendments and many crossing/speed restrictions. I think a lot was accomplished. The check airman said that I did a great job and he never felt that he needed to shadow the flight controls. He said his best advice would be to slow down a bit. Speed comes with proficiency. I can definitely see that.

The next trip starts in two days, then I have the entire Thanksgiving weekend off! That's one advantage of IOE. All of the check airmen are senior and get the holidays off. After Thanksgiving, I have two more four day trips with a JFK class in between. By then, IOE should be over and it will be prime time.