There is not too much to
report this week. Monday and Tuesday I
flew the Ontario run (AMF 413). Let me
just say that AMF 413 is hard! Monday
wasn’t so bad with 4.9 hours, but the flight on Tuesday topped 6 hours.
AMF 413 is eight legs, four
in each direction. Coming back on
Tuesday night every leg ended in an instrument approach, and the final leg from
Pendleton to Portland was against 50-knot headwinds. I was over 30 minutes late because I was flying at Cessna 172
speeds! I was actually quite thankful
to be on reserve Wednesday and today – I needed the rest.
For the next two weeks I
will fly AMF 4000, a UPS run to Grants Pass to cover for a vacation. This was the first time they actually gave
me a choice in runs, and choosing this run over the dreaded AMF 4010 to
Tillamook was pretty easy. I’m looking
forward to it – 3 to 3.5 hours per day and home in time for dinner.
This report is early this
week because I am taking the day off tomorrow to attend an airline career
seminar in Los Angeles. I’m looking
forward to doing some research on the passenger-carrying side of the industry
and meeting representatives from airlines that I would eventually like to work
for.
Tomorrow will be my first
experience with “jumpseating”, which basically means bumming a free ride. It is my intention to jumpseat to LA and
back on Southwest Airlines, which has a two-way agreement with Ameriflight
where we carry each other’s pilots around for free. I plan to write a special report on Monday detailing my jumpseat
experiences. Hopefully, I will make it
back home this weekend on flights that will already be packed with spring break
vacationers. Wish me luck since I will
need it.