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.

Go Time - Big Time

Well here I sit at Sky Harbor waiting for my a flight. Wednesday will be a day to regroup with some friends in Cincinnati. Thursday is Initial Operating Experience (IOE) class. It is conducted at my airline's flight ops and lasts just one day. I'm sure it will be a refresher on how to read schedules, how to check in, a little flight and duty and whatever else is necessary for the newbie first officer.

Friday is my first day on the line. Nope, I won't be flying. We are all assigned one day of observation flights. I will be sitting in the comfy CRJ jump seat for four legs. Cincinnati (CVG) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and back, then CVG to Milwaukee (MKE) and back. The purpose of the observation legs are to become familiarized with the real world vs. the simulated world. CVG-ORD should be a pretty good start. Some guys are doing Appleton, WI and Des Moines, IA. I am thankful to be heading to O'Hare for my very first flight in the cockpit.

I'll spend one last night in Cincinnati on Friday before heading to JFK on Saturday for my FIRST ACTUAL LEG! Just like my observation flight to O'Hare, my first actual flight as a First Officer will be baptism by fire. My first leg is JFK to Washington, D.C. Reagan National (DCA). That's a pretty tall order for my first leg and I am 100% ready for it. Again, some of my other classmates first legs are to Birmingham, Lexington and Grand Rapids. I'm sure those will be exciting too, but JFK-DCA is just over the top exciting. WOW. Flying from one of the most notoriously busy airports to one of the most restricted in the world should really keep me on my toes.

I feel kind of like someone that decided to take up jogging by running the Boston Marathon. Speaking of Boston, after an overnight in D.C., I'll be spending two nights in Boston. My mouth is already watering for some crab cakes and clam chowder. Yum. The remainder of the flying on my first trip will have me on several out and backs from Boston with one trip to Louisville, KY (SDF) and many to Philadelphia, PA (PHL) before the last leg to JFK on Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll get in early enough to make it home Tuesday night.

This has been a long time coming and the excitement is really starting to build. I'll try and post some photos on the next post.