I’m writing this journal
entry aboard a 737-800 enroute to Portland.
I am really looking forward to my first break and coming home for the
weekend. I’ll just say this: I’m tired!
This week was our first five
days of systems training for the EMB-145.
Today capped off 12 straight days of training which have taken a bit of a
toll on me. Last week’s basic
indoctrination course was very easy compared to this week. Since Monday we have been learning about all
the highly sophisticated and complex systems of the jet. I mostly understand everything I have been
learning, but it is a lot of information to digest at once for a guy who has
been out of school for so many years.
I’ll definitely have to spend some time with the books this weekend.
The EMB-145 was designed in
Brazil by Embraer but a lot of consulting was provided by Boeing, so many of
the systems are alike. Everything is
controlled by computers, from the hydraulics to the engine to the electrical
system to the emergency firefighting equipment. And anything else you can think of. The cockpit is actually quite simple and uncluttered in its
layout. The main thing you are looking
at is a group of five CRT screens across the front of the panel. They contain all of your basic flight
instruments, navigational information, terrain, air traffic, weather, and
engine indications. There is not a
single regular-looking round instrument to speak of. A complete electrical failure would be a huge bummer because
there would be nothing to look at but the sky, but the odds of that happening
are about a zillion to one. In case of
any problems, all the systems back each other up in a wonderfully complex maze
of redundancy.
Anyway, enough technical
stuff. It’s VERY interesting and every
day I’m in class I get more and more excited about actually flying the big
bird. Man, it is going to be
awesome. I have a written exam next
Friday over all the systems which I don’t think will be too difficult. The harder test will be the oral exam coming
up in two weeks or so.
I should receive my schedule
for the remainder of my training late next week. From what I have heard there will likely be some significant
delays in the process due to a backlog of students, so I may get to spend more
of the summer in Oregon than I originally planned. That will be nice, but I am anxious to start flying, so hopefully
it won’t be too long. Plus, I don’t
actually get my tiny paychecks until I complete my simulator checkride, so
hopefully any big delays will come after that so I can enjoy a nice, long paid
vacation rather than producing no income.
This humidity is something
else. I’m glad I’m inside most of the
day. Every day has had a high
temperature between 94 and 96 degrees, with the occasional afternoon
thunderstorm.
My roommate and I do most of
our studying together and will be teamed up in the simulator once it
begins. I’m glad he is such a good guy
because we spend a heck of a lot of time together. I’m actually pretty glad I even have a roommate, otherwise this
training could be pretty lonely. We
have been running in the afternoons for about 20-25 minutes a day. It takes a good hour or so to cool down and
we’re not even running that hard.
A little bit of news on the
spin-off of Continental Express/ExpressJet.
It actually looks like it is going to be a pretty good deal for us
junior pilots. The company has decided
to automatically transfer our 120 most senior pilots to Continental and give
“preferential” interviews to a few hundred more, which means I’ll be moving up
in seniority faster than I expected. Hopefully,
that means making captain sooner than I expected too. Pretty cool, overall. The
complete spin-off is scheduled to be completed by April 2002. The nice thing is we will still have our
same travel benefits which means I can enjoy many more free flights like this
one.
Well, now I get a nice
weekend with Stephanie and our silly cat!
I’ll fly back to Houston Sunday afternoon to start receiving the old
“information fire hose” again on Monday.