Updates from peeps.

There are some people on here who have just gotton hired or are training for a new airplane. It would be nice to get updates from all of them. Some people who come to mind are Dave the flyer, the flychicaga guy and some dude who got hired by Chitaqua. I think I speak for everyone that we would like to know how things are going. And come to think of that all the pro airline pilots out there give us some updates or stories or whatever from the road. People like Doug, De727ups and all the others, I think everyone always enjoys reading them!
 
I agree! It would be cool if people could give us updates more often as I also like to read how those people are doing and what they are experiencing!
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I can tell you about my last trip!

We had a nasty TCAS RA (Resolution Advisory) and it started screaming DESCEND!! DESCEND!!

On depature from Louisville, departure wanted us to climb to 10,000, just as we were popping out of a cloud, I see this Piper Navajo at our same altitude, then the TCAS screams "DESCEND!! DESCEND!! MONITOR VERTICAL SPEED! DESCEND!!" so we told ATC that we're going to follow the RA. ATC says, "The traffic is at 11,000, there's no conflict, climb and maintain 10,000"

The TCAS stops alerting about 9000 feet and says "CLEAR VERTICAL CONFLICT" as the Piper zips overhead. We level off and ATC offers a telephone number that we can call upon reaching CVG.

It turns out that the controller made an error and the Piper was at 10,100 feet and misinterpreted the data tag.

Makes me a true believer in TCAS!
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Speaking of TCAS fun, going into Ontario CA we were sandwich over the Paradise VOR with helicopter 400' below and piper 500' above with TCAS screaming "traffic, traffic" (TCAS 1), then having to avoid a lost com aircraft on the final approach course. It does keep things interesting.
 
TCAS has startled me more than once. I can't think of a time when I actually got an RA that was accurate or unpredicted, though. Several times we got them after already seeing the traffic.

One time in a Shorts near MIA we got on telling us to climb, as there was a baron climbing over us at 1 o'clock. Oops!
 
Hey all,

My update is that I'm now done with training (as of tonight... off OE!) and probably will be sitting reserve for a while. I flew two two-day trips on Thurs/Fri and Sun/Mon for a total of 22 hours. Sim training, although difficult and nerve-racking, was VERY fun! It lasted 1 1/2 weeks, I took my checkride, and started OE the day after my "Line Oriented Flight Training" sim ride. So now I'm out there doing 7 legs a day to far off destinations like Milwaukee and Flint, Michigan!
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Funny Doug mentioned the RA... today flying at 10,000 enroute from MDW-DSM we were given a traffic advisory for someone VFR 1000' below us heading north. We spotted the plane, and noticed it was turning all over the place... figured it was chandelles or something. Well this MORON decided to turn RIGHT at us, thinking he was funny or something, so we got an RA and started climbing at 2500 FPM (not easy in a heavy Saab 340 above 10,000 feet in summer). I could see the pilot in this T-6 warbird as he passed. We were seriously pissed about it, because it wasn't like we were difficult to see in clear skies. We just told center the colors and type of the plane and how the pilot obviously wasn't paying attention up there, so steer other traffic clear. Fun stuff.
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Oh yeah, then when we got to DSM it was like 100 degrees.
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Ya know, Chicaga, I'm going to be pimping you to be my regional airline contact since I haven't updated that information in, oh, six years?
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So don't be getting all shy and distant once you're done with IOE and have some spare time because we're going to want explicit details, schedules, "a day in the life" and stuff like that!
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Ya know, Chicaga, I'm going to be pimping you to be my regional airline contact since I haven't updated that information in, oh, six years?
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So don't be getting all shy and distant once you're done with IOE and have some spare time because we're going to want explicit details, schedules, "a day in the life" and stuff like that!
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[/ QUOTE ] Absolutely!
 
Haha Doug, anytime! Just let me know what you need, and I'll be happy to throw as much info I can your way. I actually asked my DO if it was cool to write some stuff for the web site (when you mentioned the training thing), and he said it was no problem as long as I didn't rag on the company.
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Just e-mail me, and I'll help with whatever I can. flychicaga@att.net
 
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It turns out that the controller made an error and the Piper was at 10,100 feet and misinterpreted the data tag.

Makes me a true believer in TCAS!
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A similar thing happened to me (well, I was sitting in the back seat of a Seminole). We were passing West Palm headed in a southerly direction and about 3 miles off the coast. They were landing rwy 27 (i think it's 27) so they wanted us to keep low. First they said 1,500 then 1,000 then 500! Seemed a little freaky, but ok. We also heard them talking to a Coast Guard helicopter that was in the same general vicinity but at 1,500 ft. At least that's what the controller thought. I said, "hey what's that red dot over there? It's getting bigger." Needless to say the helicopter was actually at 500' and closing fast. We broke off to the left (they were slightly to our right), but it was a little too close for my comfort. To add to that, we were flying over a Coast Guard boat at 500', which from what I hear, they don't like too much. We were pretty happy to exit their airspace and climb back up a bit!

Dave
 
I've been off the boards since Sunday...just got home from my annual recurrent training on the 727 in SDF.

It went pretty well. As usual, I got a lot out of it and feel humbled walking away but I SWEAR that sim doesn't fly like the real plane. You sure don't want to say that to the instructor, though, or tell him how things are out on the line...sometimes I talk too much.

The one day ground school is a total blow off...hard to stay awake. Then two days of hell in the sim. Very first sim was my leg and we had smoke in the cockpit...which means you have to put on your oxygen mask and shop goggles... yeah, I think the goggles they give us are like the ones in shop class. Anyhow, you have to talk to each other via the intercom and can't see anything very well. The F/E who was reading the checklist actually said "My glasses are fogged up and I can't read the checklist"...not what you want to hear when you're on fire.

I did a GPS approach but didn't push it over fast enough at the VDP and was a bit high. Got it on the runway but past the touchdown zone...should have gone around but, luckily, the instructor didn't make me do it over. It's really hard making a non-precision approach because we can't start down until the VDP and then can't exceed 1000fpm, either. I think I could do better if we actually did them once in a while rather than once a year in the sim...

They told us we won't be legal to do ADF approaches anymore...only GPS overlays. I said "yeah"

The good news was I did about the best V1 cut, that's an engine failure on takeoff, of my life during the warmup sim. I think the instructor overlooked my kinda sloppy one on the checkride the next day cause I had a great one the day before. Also, my warm up ILS/engine out was sweet. One checkride day I flew a great ILS/engine out but made the mistake of looking too much at the runway at minimums rather than mostly staying on the gages at first. I made some ugly gyrations to get it on but it was all within limits...the instructor said "nice save".

We got to do some fun stuff towards the end of the last sim. The instructor tried to vector us too low for an approach but I happened to have a chart out that had a published DME arc at 3800 in the area where he was trying to get us down to 2500. I told the captain to refuse the clearance and the sim instructor had to tell us to go low to demonstrate the EGPWS capability...good catch on our part. We got the PULL UP call and a cool display comes on that shows the terrain you're about to hit.

I just bid the 757 out of the Ontario base...not sure if I'll get it this time but will sooner or later. I've been on the 727 for 13 years but it's slowly on the way out at UPS and there are only two schedules left I'm willing to bid anymore and they could go away any time. On the 757 I can fly out of my home town a lot or do Honolulu layovers some. I just don't like the fact I'll have to go to Louisville for two months for training.

Sorry for the long post but I guess you guys like hearing about this stuff...
 
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On the 757 I can fly out of my home town a lot or do Honolulu layovers some. I just don't like the fact I'll have to go to Louisville for two months for training.

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Honolulu layovers for a single guy? Tell you what, you get that 757, and I'm sure you'll have some long stories to share!

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On the 757 I can fly out of my home town a lot or do Honolulu layovers some.

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I heard that UPS was going to pull out of BFI and move to a bigger truck-loading facility at SEA. Any truth to that? Does it have to do with the proposed third runway/new ramp construction at SEA?
 
It's new to me. Never heard that one and if it did happen, I would say it's at least two years away. BFI is kinda small for us and, though I don't mind it, mixing it up with the Cessnas scares a some of our pilots....oh well....

The runways and taxiways at BFI have been really rough ever since the earthquake...I wouldn't miss that. Plus, I've always loved the "caution for winds off the Boeing plant" warning with the strong southwesterly winds...sometimes it gets pretty hairy.
 
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