The airport

Did you know that Salt Lake International Airport (SLC) is the number one airport in the country for on time arrivals/departures. Yes people, we should be proud! I had the opportunity as recently as earlier today to go up to the airport and drop off my sister-in-law and her family. What a treat it is to be in the immediate vicinity of such amazing aircraft.

Mark my words people, I WILL be the captain of a Boeing 787 one day. For those of you who don't know the significance of that last statement, allow me to enlighten you. The Boeing 787 is the latest in modern technology for commercial airliners. It's composite construction, new engines, unique nacelle design, and impressive (redesigned) passenger cabin are among the improvements coming with the 787. The part that interests me the most of course is the cockpit.

All you have to do is look at it to understand what I mean. I won't go into details about what makes it so great, but I will say that the technology that is becoming increasingly available for all aircraft (small as well) is monumentally increasing safety and situational awareness. I can't imagine how those guys flew back in the 60s and 70s with just the standard 6 pack, a few VOR receivers and NDB.

What do you think? Wouldn't you enjoy being seated in such an ergonomic passenger-friendly environment?

Green River

A friend of mine invited me to fly down to Green River with him. How could I pass that up? I mean Green River is such a hot spot for entertainment and fine dining. Ok, since sarcasm is nearly impossible to perceive through the written word, let me enlighten you. The airport is not continuously attended. There was no one there when we landed, and there were probably more people in their cars driving on I-70 than the entire population of Green River. But hey, it was a fun flight.

We flew a Diamond DA20 C-1 Katana Eclipse.

Please enjoy some short videos from my little jaunt to Green River, UT.

Air National Guard

I work with a guy who is in the National Guard. His enlistment is up in 3 months and he is going to re-enlist into the Air National Guard. We spoke for some time discussing the possibilities and I became somewhat intrigued. I did a little research (again) into the Guard. Considering the fact that I already have an Associate's Degree, Bachelor's degree and nearly 250 hours of flight time I thought that I may qualify to get into some kind of flight job with the Guard.

I spoke to a recruiter and yep, sure enough I'm too old. Yes people I am too old to fly planes apparently. One foot in the grave you might say. I was a little disappointed to be turned down flat like that, but I guess that's not the avenue for me. I'm still waiting to find out I have some rich relative somewhere who wants to pay for the rest of my flight training. If anyone reading this is rich, you DON'T have to be my relative to donate! I'm not that particular.

Well, things are kind of stagnant at the moment. I've been pushed around and ignored by my current flight school. I am in the process of pursuing some type of reconciliation. I have a member of the State Board of Regents on my side, so hopefully SOMETHING will come of it.

I miss the music I was involved with teaching. I miss my students, but as a whole I don't miss teaching. There are a lot of "behind the scenes" things in teaching that outweighed the joys for me.

If any of my former students are reading this, let me say "Hello" and "the metronome is your FRIEND." I still practice my violin, and the piano. I actually just did two gigs a couple of weeks ago. So I'm still involved somewhat. If anyone reading this is still in orchestra or choir please leave a comment. Let me know when your concerts are. Let me know if you need someone to come to Lagoon day with you.

"The Future. I gotta check this out Doc!"

If you don't recognize the movie quote, then your life is most definitely incomplete. Anyway, the future is here. All those dreams and fantasies that spawned from watching Back to the Future Part II (that's the movie quote) are finally becoming reality. On March 5, 2009 The first "street ready" roadable airplane took a test flight. That's right people, FLYING CAR! It's freakin' awesome! (pardon my French)

While I look forward with eager anticipation to be at the controls of a superior aircraft like the Boeing 787, I look forward with equally enthusiastic excitement at the possibility of commuting to the airport in my flying car.

Check out the video people!

Click here to see the Terrafugia Transition

Ah the future is bright folks! And that's because we'll be able to fly above that horrid commuter traffic!

January update

I thought that I needed to put up a short post and update both of my readers on how things are going. I met with the Director of Flight Operations down at the Airport today. He was very empathetic and quite accommodating. Things have not been finalized as of yet, but it looks as though I may be able to finish my training and be well on my way to acquiring my CFI, II & MEI.

I also learned that the flight school is going to sell all of its Piper aircraft. That will make it so you can only get your commercial certificate in the twin initially, and then get the single-engine add-on after that. It's actually cheaper to do it that way. That's why I chose to do it that way in the first place.

And I really like the Bombardier Challenger 850. Wouldn't anyone?

I received an interesting phone call...

I was driving the other day to the grocery store when I received a phone call from a certain pilot/employee of the UVU Flight school who happens to be in charge of all Certified Flight Instructors. After a few minutes of interesting conversation I learned that he is in fact a BYU graduate with a piano performance degree. Anyway, the reason he called was that he wanted to recruit me as a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) with UVU.

This may seem somewhat trivial, but the prospect of teaching flight lessons over the next year or so is quite enticing. Remember that if I become a flight instructor, I don't have to pay for my flight time AND I get paid for flying. There are still some things that would need to be done before I could begin such as get my commercial single add on and complete the required written and flight tests for the certification. Essentially all I would need to do for the flight portion is complete the commercial pilot checkride from the right seat instead of the left.

One other perk of the job is that I would get to wear those cool shirts with the epaulets. I know you're jealous. It's ok, anyone would be. Any comment?

Does anyone know any pilots?

One of the most important lessons I've learned in my life is that you need to know people. No matter how wonderful my skills may be, getting a job is nearly impossible without knowing someone. To that end, I am posting this little message in the hopes that all 4 of you who read this blog will be forthcoming with your knowledge and relations.

Do you know any pilots? Do you know anyone who owns a company that uses aviation? Do you know someone who is associated with aviation in any way? Do you know someone who works for a company that has a private plane? I have been most fortunate so far as to have met some wonderful people in the industry (names withheld) Regional Vice President for the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers; Corporate pilot of a Cessna Citation CJ3; Corporate pilot of a Cessna Citation Bravo; Reserve pilot (FO) for Delta Airlines; Director of HR in charge of hiring at SkyWest; Reserve pilot (CAPT) for SkyWest Airlines; Line Pilot (CAPT) for SkyWest Airlines; and Reserve pilots (FO) for the following airlines: Express Jet, Mesaba, SkyWest.

I hope you enjoy the photos I've included (I know I enjoy them). Planes are just freakin' awesome aren't they? If you agree, you should see what it's like to actually FLY them! Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!