Stories from FL280...

[Mister Fork]

I always thought that I could tell when a pilot lands the airplane and when the computer lands lands it.  Usually landings so smooth I couldn't tell we landed were done with the pilot. Lands that felt like we slammed down were done by the autoland ILS IIIa/b systems, particularly in crappy weather.  I didn't think that the III lands particularly soft (too bad it's not a setting).

Serenity - good luck and god speed with your trap training! The rest of us have been vicariously living through you ever since you started flight school.

[Serenity]

Thanks Fork! I'll keep you guys up to date with the shenanigans, and if anyone is near Key West FL, I'll buy a round!

[Vraciu]

  

That was me going in to Kigali, Rwanda the first time and being given the DME Arc at the last minute.   There were about twelve options in the box and we had a major finger fire tapping on iPads and the FMS looking for the one that matched.   

I asked the controller for a turn to buy us some time and entered the approach in green needles the old fashioned way like a 172.    I hadn't flown a DME Arc in ten years.   

[colmbo]

......

So the story: My buddy was in the cockpit as the NALO was coming in to El Centro chatting with the pilots (Both Hornet guys) and watching the approach. Well, the Blues were over the field practicing, so the NALO was given holding instructions until the Blues were done. The pilots start busting out iPads, flipping through pubs, and finally one of them turns to my buddy and says "F*** man, you're a student right? What are the holding rules and entries?!"

Works for system familiarity as well.  In the B-17 going into Elmira, NY we hear approach put the Mooney (A WWII B-17 pilot that travelled with us) ahead of us in the hold for a big t-storm cell over the airport.  We realize we're going to have to hold behind the Mooney -- the PIC I'm flying with had a real job flying a glass cockpit Falcon for a corporation, the B-17 had two VORs, ADF and a IFR certified GPS.  He looks at the panel and says "How the f*^ to you fly a hold in this thing?!"

[Vraciu]

Works for system familiarity as well.  In the B-17 going into Elmira, NY we hear approach put the Mooney (A WWII B-17 pilot that travelled with us) ahead of us in the hold for a big t-storm cell over the airport.  We realize we're going to have to hold behind the Mooney -- the PIC I'm flying with had a real job flying a glass cockpit Falcon for a corporation, the B-17 had two VORs, ADF and a IFR certified GPS.  He looks at the panel and says "How the f*^ to you fly a hold in this thing?!"

 

Yeah, nothing is as much fun as going from glass to steam gauges.     At one point I was dual qualified in just such a situation. I dreaded having to go fly that ancient piece of junk without even a single bit of "modern" avionics anywhere, especially considering we almost never flew it.    "Any chance for direct to...?" was our most common phrase on the radio.

[eagl]

On his type rating checkride, my A320 training partner set the plane up direct to a holding fix, gave me control, then went heads-down to set up the next approach.  About 7 miles from the holding fix, he accidentally activated the next approach which deleted the holding fix we were supposed to go to. 

Deeeeeeeep breath

Dude you deleted the holding fix.  You got... uh... 69 seconds to fix that or I'm gonna have to enter it on needles.

Oh btw I haven't done that in 5 years.  No pressure though.

Oh.  No, the holding fix we're cleared for is the missed approach hold from the previous approach, not the next approach.  It was called biteme.

Bravo
India
Tango
Echo
Mike
Echo

Yea, just type it in and hit direct.  k-thx.

Got it typed in and the holding pattern set up about 15 seconds before we crossed the fix 

Check airman said my buddy owed me a beer LOL.  I thought maybe he owed me a year's salary at his previous job since that's at least how long it would take to recover from a checkride bust and get another chance to get hired somewhere else, but of course I didn't really say that.  He was a good dude, we worked well together during training, and of course we made mistakes on the checkride that we'd never seen before.  Typical.

[Vraciu]

 

[Serenity]

So, on the one hand I feel like a tool for this, but on the other, enough people have told me to go through with it that I guess I might as well!

https://www.gofundme.com/scotch-for-wings

Basically, I think it would be really cool to have a bottle of scotch from my birth year at my winging, and drink it sparingly at the major events throughout my career, to finish it off at my retirement. But there's no way in hell I can afford $1,200 for a bottle of scotch! So if you've got nothing better to throw money at, I would certainly appreciate help!

[Golfer]

You'd come so far from the pineapple pocket knife days, too.

[JimmyC]

I've put in for a wee dram..

[BFOOT1]

If I help ya out a little bit I only ask this.

If you are ever near North Carolina please let me know, but one I ask for one small sip. Two I ask that you let me buy you a quality NC beer and you tell me stories of being a naval aviator.

[Nefarious]

Got ya TxSailor, also sent you a friend request. <S>

[Serenity]

If I help ya out a little bit I only ask this.

If you are ever near North Carolina please let me know, but one I ask for one small sip. Two I ask that you let me buy you a quality NC beer and you tell me stories of being a naval aviator.

Absolutely! That offer stands for anyone within 100 miles of me!

And thank you so much for the support everyone!

[Serenity]

So I just landed from my first night-formation flight...

F*** no. F*** that. F*** this. I don't ever want to do that again lol. That was hands-down the most uncomfortable experience of my life. For the first time in my career, I spent the whole flight just wishing it was over.

I can't describe exactly why it was so uncomfortable. In theory, it's exactly the same stuff we do during the day. Just... at night.

So it starts with a TACAN Rendezvous. Lead takes off about 30 seconds ahead of Dash 2. He trucks out to a predetermined FRD (225 radial off of NQI at 25 DME). At his fix he starts a left 30 degree angle of bank turn. I truck out to the same point, and start a turn 500 feet below him, and use angles for a CV (turning) join up. Nothing new. So there I am, trucking out to the fix. I see his strobe and anti-collision light. Cool. No sweat. I get to Point 1 and make the call. "Password 12, point one, strobes". He shuts his strobes off as he's supposed to. No worries, the anti-collision light is still clearly visible. I start my turn. As I'm trucking along, I start to see his navigation lights, and I start trying to form the "light triangle" that shows us we're on bearing. Okay, figuring out if I'm acute or sucked and how much is a bit harder. But I'm getting there. And I start closing in. All I see is a couple of lights... and hes turning, so they're at odd angles, making judging distance and closer much tougher. I keep closing. And closing. I still can't see any lines of the jet... closer... Holy crap, suddenly he's filling the canopy! I start the crossunder, and my IP in the back is screaming "Get closer!" Yeah, easy for you to say! You're from a night-attack squadron, you've done this a thousand times. Everything in my brain is screaming "NO! Back off!". We proceed to do several turns into and away, and it doesn't get any better. Things aren't helped by the fact that I somehow have the dirtiest canopy I've ever seen. But it feels like the line between being able to see the jet and him disappearing is only a foot thick, and it's PAINFULLY close to lead. We finish the high work, and come in for a section approach. Thank god, I can finally back off a bit, because the proper position is so close, it pushes lead to the side, making the ground track painful to maintain. We do the approach, I make my touch and go, and as I'm coming back up for the rejoin, I can't see ANYTHING through the canopy. Thinking it's fogged, I turn the heat up to defog it, and it just gets exponentially worse. Turns out it was just THAT dirty. As I'm trying to manage the rejoin, I'm finger [blasting] the hell out of the Environmental Control System trying to get rid of the REAL fogging I'd now caused. I get back aboard, and we start the turn to come back in for the break. THANK GOD! It's only now I realize that my legs have completely locked up out of tension, me applying a LOT of force to the right rudder pedal (The direction AWAY from lead! lol) but it's almost over! Just have to get to the break, and I'm alone with my jet in the pattern. Well, lead starts to wrap it up in a bit of steep turn... we're down low. We're near civilization, so the light pollution is real. You'd think that would mean lead would be EASIER to see, but in reality, it's the opposite. As he's wrapping it up, I start to slide out of position, and I can just see him slowly fading into the abyss of the night, thinking "NOOOOOO! Come back here! I don't wanna die!" and I want to make an aggressive play to get back in position like I would during the day, but it's too late, I can BARELY make him out in the flash of my own anti-collision light (His is now off, so all I have to go on are the formation lights)... as I gingerly try to ease it back in, he levels out, and we're in the break... Thank god...

When it's all over, I can barely get out of the jet. My legs have been tensed for the last hour and 15 minutes straight, and they've completely cramped up. I'm not looking forward to doing this solo a couple of flights from now...

[Easyscor]

Geez, I was terrified reading that.

I hope it gets easier.