Salt Lake City Quick Trip
Heading to Salt Lake City for a chance to tour various hotels.
JFK to LGB →
After a delayed departure out of Albuquerque followed by an even later hotel arrival, my schedule gets modified and I become illegal per FAR 117 rest requirements. We are at the airport hotels which are still, once again, too far from NYC so I find myself just heading back to the airport for the ride back home.
[117.25.(e)] No certificate holder may schedule and no flightcrew member may accept an assignment for any reserve or flight duty period unless the flightcrew member is given a rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours immediately before beginning the reserve or flight duty period measured from the time the flightcrew member is released from duty. The 10 hour rest period must provide the flightcrew member with a minimum of 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity.
Scandinavian Airlines Sells 2 Highly Coveted London Heathrow Slots to Unnamed Carrier →
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has sold two pairs of London Heathrow slots to an undisclosed buyer, raising $75 million from the transaction.
Before the sale, SAS had the sixth largest Heathrow slot portfolio with 19 daily slot pairs. This has now been narrowed to 17 pairs, although under the deal SAS can continue to use the two pairs for up to three years.
Let's the rumors swirl. I'm crossing my fingers for this one. Emphasis are my own.
Day Sleep and Lunch with Matt →
Arriving early AM, I uploaded the last two videos from the weekend then slept hard. Matty P came over and picked me up and we headed out to Tum Thai in Rockville Center ~ 15 minutes away. Since the city is just too difficult and time consuming to get to, this was a great find. Flew to Albuquerque and back in the hotel. Short day with a full day of rest tomorrow.
End of Lake Jennings Camping & Beginning of a Rare 4-Day Trip →
Day 3 of 3 camping at Lake Jennings. A definitely better night's sleep for all. Missed out on some awesome fireside chat since I fell asleep putting Benji down. Snoozed a bit longer than intended but we all had an awesome pancake breakfast brought to you by one of the awesome camping moms. This trip couldn't have been as successful without the planning of one of the most organized camping moms!
I found out I got assigned a four day trip so after packing up, went home, had lunch, took an awesome shower then napped up until I had to go and drive to Long Beach. Took an extra hour because of traffic and of course the plane was late so I was on time!
My Life at Work... in HD
The way it works here in the US is that rules disallow crewmembers from using an electronic device that is non-essential for duty while on the flight deck. Good thing another guy filmed it for me at his seat on his plane or his airline or made a compilation (read: it's not me) but a job has to be cool enough in order to be away from family right?
This is my life. (the music helps a lot too)
I still miss my family everyday I'm gone.
Avoiding Turbulence
Stronger computing power, improved satellite and radar technology and more sophisticated scientific models have all given airlines a more detailed understanding of flying conditions. This means they can better plan their operations before flights — for instance by canceling flights early and avoiding stranding passengers at airports. During flights, they can better navigate around storms and avoid turbulence.
Just so you know, we definitely try our best to analyze and determine the best flight path for our guests. You're welcome and thanks for flying with us.
A Beautiful Approach Flying into Queenstown, New Zealand
If I had flying views such as this, I might never land. Heres an amazing video of a beautiful approach into Queenstown, New Zealand (ZQN/NZQN) via the RNP-AR arrival to Runway 5 which is no longer in use. http://youtu.be/7mxmFCw-Dig
via Flying Magazine
How and why...
"How did you become a pilot? Did you become an airline pilot via the military?" These are two of the most asked questions that I get when among friends or at the airport in uniform. Since @TimChoi89 asked them a while back via a comment on "4 on, two off, 4 on – part 2 / my printed schedule after the fact" and my response wasn't posted (error maybe or private, bugs, lost on the internet...) I decided that I'd answer them with a brand new post. It's Friday, the 13th and raining so why not.
The second question is easy; no, I did not have a military background. I did originally look at the Navy after graduating UCSD but flight slots were too few and in demand making my chances slim to none. I also wear some thick eye glasses so that was another obstacle in and of itself. I can't say that I looked into the other military branches as I grew up in San Diego. My father and uncles too were all in the U.S. Navy so yes, I was blinded and partial in my decision. It's Top Gun U.S.A.! That leads me to the first question which is a lot more complicated.
I started flying as a hobby after I graduated college in '03. It was also a time in my life where I was started to feel compelled to "do something else." I started taking lessons and thought that I was going to make it a side project, maybe instruct or fly people around for fun. I started receiving AOPA Flight Training Magazine and in it had ads scattered throughout boasting various flight schools and programs that could lead one to a commercial airline job. I thought to myself, "Why not?" I read about a few schools at the same time deciding if I really wanted to do a post-bac and go to med school. I ended up choosing an advanced ab-initio program which gave me a jet type rating along with whoever else I needed to get hired. The program was launched and closely associated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and called CAPT (Commercial Airline Pilot Training). Unfortunately, while the program and its vision remained idealistic, fuel costs and enrollment coupled with a downward spiraling economy led the university to sell it off to the private corporation, FTSI, which has since then closed its doors. (Phases out / FTSI New Release) I was in the middle of the program when they accounted its transition but they promised to make good on their word and see us to the end.
I graduated in May of 2006 after 16 months of training and was offered a job with Focus Airlines. They operated as an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) 747 cargo carrier and their contract with CAPT was extensive; totaling a five year commitment, the first year one would serve as a "cadet" placed in the office helping with various tasks from scheduling, hotel reservations, tech publications, IT, etc. basically an intern type year learning the ins and out. The second year would entail upgrading to the second officer / flight engineer position on a classic 747 followed by three years as a first officer. Unfortunately, this program ended when the first couple of CAPT cadets were not allowed to upgrade to first officers alongside the face that Focus Airlines never had a program in place. Coincidentally, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (now officially called ExpressJet) was in the beginning stages of a hiring spree and our amazing director helped us get an interview. I scored my first flying job and the rest is history. Knowing and keeping ties along with timing is key in this industry and it panned out.
It's funny how people end up visiting my site. Mr. Tim ended up here,"...by searching "the verge vs. gdgt" then I stumbled upon your twitpic and saw that you're a pilot + tech enthusiast..." Thanks for stopping by Tim and keep the questions coming.
Whirlwind of Work
This post is brought to you by:
It's been a crazy tour of duty / flying the last couple weeks. From jumpseating almost every week back and forth to San Diego, taking care of the honey who caught the flu bug, food tasting for the wedding and the latest drama with my car's battle against a pole traveling at 5MPH and don't forget doing some work for my podcast, peak interest, I'm a little over-worked. I'm loving every minute of it without a doubt but my personal time has been limited as of late. I'm just glad that I'm able to use some inflight WiFi brought to you for FREE by eBay, Delta and gogoinflight! Thanks guys!
Here are some pictures from work over the last few days. (make sure to click on the pics for a larger / full photo)
I finally had some time and configured an affiliate link to introduce you to Coradine's LogTen Pro for Mac and iPhone! If you plan on buying it, it'd help me out if you used the link below. Check it out! It's the best in the ENTIRE industry. I'd even recommend that you buy an Apple / Mac computer just to use this awesome piece of software and an iPhone to pair it with for immediate logging of flight time!
July Schedule
I think that I'm finally finished moving around my schedule swapping and trading around. What I have posted at www.elijahnicolas.com/wp/img/08Jul.jpg should reflect all my recent changes and modifications. Should be a pretty easy schedule giving me time to head back to San Diego to hang out with family as well as Palm Coast to tidy up the house and get it ready for tenants. I'm finally up and running at 90% again and probably can safely say that I'll be 110% buzzing in no time. Flying is going well, the birthday month is here and things can only get better, right? Thanks to everyone who found the time to chat to me about the randomness.