Insomniac Blogger Theatre

I just woke up at 2am and was completely confused about where I was. I was in my bed, but was still clothed and had my glasses on. I didn't remember going to bed. In fact, I couldn't remember any of last night. And I was pretty sure I didn't drink until I passed out. Then I realized that I must've fallen asleep around 7pm. Crap.

Sunday was day number three of a three day trip. All three days involved 6am show times. Today is my additional day of reserve, which was scheduled to be AM home reserve (4:30am-6:30pm). So what does the company do, now that I've been getting up early all last week? They rescheduled me for PM home reserve (10:30am-midnight). I resolved to stay awake as long as possible so I could sleep in. I then promptly layed down in bed to rest for a few minutes, and slept for 7 hours. I'm so screwed if I get a trip that ends around midnight. My plan for now is to stay awake until about 6am and then try to get a few additional hours of sleep. Which is why I'm blogging at 3am.

*****

Ah, the dangers of music piracy. I downloaded a mp3 that was labled as the "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" LP by the Chemical Brothers, and completely fell in love with it. It's one hour, thirteen minutes of very good techno. But when checking out the amazon.com listing of that album, I listened to the samples, and realized that I've been listening to something completely different. So now I have no idea whose music I like so much. It seems like every other mp3 on morpheus is mislabled. The upside is that if the original artist happens upon this post, they won't know that they should be sueing me.

*****

I just finished reading "The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mt. Rainier" by Bruce Barcott. I enjoyed it immensly; it's an informative and enjoyable read. Barcott is an unlikely, reluctant mountaineer (gangly, anti-macho, bookish) who nonetheless is smitten with Mount Rainier and spends an inordinate amount of time on and around "his" mountain. What results is a beautiful portrait of (and paean to) the mountain. Barcott dives into biology, geography, theology, entomology and etymology, plate tectonics and volcanology, history, alpine literature, and climber culture, yet the book is never erudite. Wry, self-depreciating humor prevails throughout, and Barcott manages to expound on his own feelings towards the mountain without sounding self-indulgent. Some of the cultural references, such as Barcott's spot-on description of the "REI Army," might be lost on a non-Northwesterner, but it should be an enjoyable read even for one who has never laid eyes on Mt. Rainier.

*****

Now this is a funny story, although I don't think AFP meant it to be. I mean, the death of the photographer on Greenpeace's ship was tragic, but every bit of the remembrance ceremony is a little...crunchy, shall we say.

*****

A good friend of mine is in class at Skywest right now. They are growing like mad, hiring something like 400 more pilots before the end of this year. This is Brad's third airline: He flew the Be-1900 at Great Lakes, then for my airline. He couldn't stand how GL treats their pilots, and couldn't bear the slow movement here. Hopefully he finds a happy medium at Skywest.

I've had a few captains ask me why I don't go to Skywest, since I'm so disillusioned with the lack of growth here. There are a few reasons. First, this industry changes quickly. My airline probably won't always have a six year upgrade. Skywest's upgrades will certainly not stay at two years. The only certainty is that today's upgrades are 6 year FOs here and 2 year FOs at Skywest. This industry has seen many a pilot get burned when they gave up a seniority number to go chase faster growth. Secondly, I couldn't afford to go to Skywest. You aren't paid in training and make $19/hr the first year. After that, pay increases dramatically - particularly when you upgrade - but I'd lose my house long before I upgraded. Third, I don't want to move and don't want to commute right now. Of course, if my airline opens a LAX base for my airplane (it's been rumored), I'll be commuting anyways.

Of course, it comes to mind that the above three reasons are why there are so many lifer captains in my airplane. This last trip, I flew with Yokko. She's a younger Japanese woman who is married to an American corporate pilot. I think she could get hired at any major in a heartbeat (well, the ones that are hiring, that is.) She's not willing to give up this gig to risk it, though. Oh well - I enjoy flying with her, as she's an exemplary captain and a good person as well.

*****

This faux-Chemical Brothers album thing is really bugging me. Maybe somebody can help me figure out who it is that I'm actually listening to. Around 40 minutes there is a track whose sole lyric is "no more mind games - don't waste my time." The last track features a sample of a tv program narrator - BBC, maybe - asking: "Is this the face of Christ, perserved by a miracle?" Does this ring a bell for anyone? Lemme know.

*****

Dawn went with me on my Sacramento layover on Saturday. We spent about three hours by the pool, just reading and soaking up those wonderful California rays. Yesterday morning she flew Southwest from SMF to Burbank. She'll be spending the week in Glendale, visiting her friend Taline. So in the meantime I'm once again living the bachelor life up here in P-city. Tennis and hiking partners may apply here. Readers with regular entourages of hot women are encouraged to come over for hottubbing. And I'm ever willing to get together at McMennamin's to share a pitcher of Ruby Ale.

Update 7.13.05: I found it! The DJ is Tiesto, and the album is Forbidden Paradise 7: Deep Forest. Noteable tracks include The Face (Heaven Remix) and The Wave. I'm off to download some more Tiesto tracks....

Procedure vs. Technique

As I've previously noted, the modern airline expects its pilots to know and follow the published procedures for the airplane they fly. There is little use for mavericks that do it "their way." This lesson has been learned the hard way, through wrecked airplanes and lost lives. Everybody recognizes that there's more than one way to fly an airplane, but flying "by the book" keeps everyone on the same page and prevents crews from inadverdently becoming test pilots. Doing so is not as restrictive as you might think; there is a lot of leeway given for individual technique. Here's an example of how "by the book" pilots can use widely varying techniques, even while adhering to the letter of the procedures.

At my airline, each airplane has published profiles that will normally be followed when flying an approach in instrument conditions. For example: when flying an ILS in my airplane, you should be at 170 kts and Flaps 5 when joining the localizer; crossing the outer marker, you should be gear down and Flaps 15. Landing flaps must be set by 1000 feet above ground level (AGL). When in visual conditions, the requirements are considerably looser: landing flaps should be called for by 1000 feet AGL, and by 500 feet the airline should be at final approach speed (Vref) with the landing checklist complete. How one meets these requirements can vary from person to person and situation to situation.

Down low, my airplane is very flexible. With 50% torque, you can tool around at redline (245 kts below 8000'), but when you need to slow down, moving the power levers to flight idle will add a lot of drag. High gear and flap extention speeds mean that you can go from 245 knots to 120 knots (landing configuration) in a very short distance - if you keep the airplane level. No jet can do that. They have less drag, so they require early slowing if you want a stabilized approach.

One of my techniques for long visual approaches is to keep the speed at 240 kts while descending to pattern altitude early, in order to intercept the glidepath from below. When about 3 miles from glidepath intercept, I'll go to flight idle. By the time I've intercepted the glidepath, I'm at 200 kts and can go Flaps 5/Gear Down. Following the flap schedule, I'll call for landing flaps by 1000 feet and be at Vref before 500 feet, at which point I bring the power levers back up to maintain Vref. It's a slick technique that will smoke a 737 or MD80, but can only be used under the proper conditions. You wouldn't want to get below glidepath when wake turbulence is a factor. Speeding up on traffic ahead of you is a bad idea. Actually blowing by a 737 that's approaching a parallel runway will get ATC hopping mad at most airports (it's okay at SMF, though!).

The other day we were running late into Seattle. When approach cleared us for the visual approach we were 20 miles out and number one for the runway. I used the above technique, minding a crossing restriction over Boeing Field. I'd just decided to bring the power levers to idle when the captain growled "I wouldn't be this fast at this point!" He'd been tensing up as I got closer to the airport. After we parked at the gate, I apologized for making him nervous. He said he didn't mind, it was just the first time I had used that technique in front of him and he wasn't sure if I really knew how fast I was going. This captain usually descended on the glideslope, slowing gradually from about 15 miles out. If wake turbulence was a factor, that'd be how I'd do it, too. Under the actual conditions, the FSM contained enough leeway for both techniques to be acceptable. That said, it's important that the captain be comfortable with what his FO is doing, and the FO should adapt his flying accordingly.

God Save the Queen

...and bless the peoples of Great Britain as they once again face the scourge of terrorism.

Helena, Montana

The last two days I was on an overnight trip to Helena, Montana. I was hoping to stay home on 4 July, but flying during the fireworks was pretty fun, too. We departed Seattle at 8:30pm, with a stop in Great Falls before continuing to Helena. The timing was just right to catch the official fireworks displays in Coure d'Elene, Kalispell, and Missoula. In Montana, though, the official displays are nearly matched by the citizenry. When we landed at Great Falls around 11PM, there were huge fireworks being shot off all over the city. We departed on Rwy 3 twenty minutes later, over the city, and as we lifted off, fireworks completely filled the horizon. Landing on 27 in Helena at midnight, we passed low over some developments that were so thick with mortars and bursts that I though we were going to get hit. Apparently, they take fireworks very seriously in Montana!

The next morning I set out on a walk across town and then a hike up Mt. Helena. On the way back, I snooped around in the Montana State Capitol building a bit. Here's some pictures.





The Cathedral of St. Helena.



Midtown Helena with 5400' Mount Helena behind.



The city of Helena as seen from the summit. It's a pretty easy hike up the 1906 trail, and I ran the steeper shortcut down.









Respectively: the Capitol exterior, an atrium, bronzes in the rotunda, and the House of Representatives chamber.

Alpine Lakes Backpack Trip

For the second part of my week's vacation, I had a brilliant idea: having completely exhausted ourselves with 26 straight hours of driving, let's go backpacking in the Northern Cascades! Over Memorial Day, Dawn and I had camped just outside the boundaries of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, and I was itching to explore it more. We decided to hike in the Cle Elum watershed, on the south side of the Wilderness.



We arrived at the Tuaquala Meadows trailhead around 6PM on Thursday, having slowly bumped over 11 miles of horribly potholed gravel road to get there. Our plan was to make the short hike to Hyas Lake and camp there for the night. Friday, we'd make the strenuous hike (and 3000 ft climb) to Robin Lakes, 6200 feet high in the alpine zone.



The hike to Hyas Lake was an easy two miles, since it followed the valley floor. We didn't see anyone until the next morning; all the campsites around the lake were unoccupied. We pitched the tent, made supper, strung up the bear bag, and enjoyed a nice sunset over Cathedral Rock before going to bed.

The next morning, we had breakfast and broke camp fairly leisurely before setting out for Robin Lakes. Our hike was compised of three roughly equal sections totalling 6 miles. First, we followed the Deception Pass trail from our campsite to the Robin Lakes Trailhead, climbing about 800 vertical feet in the last mile. The Robin Lakes trail climbed another 1100 feet of steep terrain to Tuck Lake; this section was, at parts, little more than a deer path. Above Tuck Lake, it became part goat path, part granite-strewn scrambling route marked only by cairns; this final push to the top was around 1000 vertical feet. It's a tough climb, particularly for inexperienced backpackers. My pack was also grossly overweight, thanks to equipment that I had been purchased for car camping. Still, the views were quite rewarding. Here, I rest about halfway to Tuck Lake on the second section of trail:



From slightly below Tuck Lake, a view of Hyas Lake and Little Hyas Lake with Cathedral Rock towering overhead:





Dawn and I stopped at Tuck Lake for lunch. Above, fallen logs choke the outlet from Tuck Lake; Below, Dawn and I enjoy the expansive views of Cathedral Rock and Mt. Daniel.



Almost there! Having scrambled over numerous boulders and crags on the hike up from Tuck Lake, Dawn makes the final push up the granite face just below Robin Lakes.



As we were about to crest the rim, Dawn and I walked hand-in-hand, anticipating a gorgeous view. Instead, we found ourselves facing a mountain goat about 40 feet away. We were upwind of him; he may have smelled the food in my pack, because he started coming my way. I didn't feel like having to fight a mountain goat for my food; his horns and the terrain gave him a bit of an advantage! I tried to make myself look larger and growled "Go Away!" in my most threatening voice. The goat and I stared at each other for a few moments, then he turned and trotted away. I managed to get a nice snapshot of him.



Convinced that we didn't have a hostile goat stalking us anymore, Dawn and I enjoyed the views of the alpine lakes below. This is Lower Robin Lake.



We camped on a spit of land between Upper and Lower Robin Lakes, with our door facing west. This was the view out of our tent flap:



During the night, the wind howled and rain moved in. By the time we got up this morning, the lakes were enshrouded in clouds. There was enough visibility to keep the cairns in sight, and the trail wasn't too slippery, so Dawn and I broke camp and started trudging our soggy selves down the mountain.

As we got lower, it became apparent that the rain was going to continue throughout the day, so we decided to hike all the way to the car and head for home. Going down was mostly easier than going up; it took us about 6 hours to hike 8 miles with a 3000 ft descent. Still, we were exhausted by the time we got to the trailhead. Our respective emotions:



It was Dawn's first time backpacking, ever. She was impressive - trucking right along with hardly a complaint. She thought it was an insane amount of work, but said the views were worth it. In retrospect, this was a tough hike to take her out on for her first time. Most hikes we do now, though, should be easy in comparison! As always, you'll see the pictures.

Roadtrippin'

My week of vacation started on Monday. First order of business was to get myself to Rosholt, SD, to visit with Dawn's parents for a day or two, and then accompany Dawn back here in our Blazer (she drove rather than flew because she had some things still back east that she wanted to bring here). I was supposed to get off work at 2:45PM, Sunday; I was hoping to get into Fargo that night.

So I had a brilliant plan: I'd run to catch the 3PM flight to Seattle, then Northwest's 4:20 flight to Minneapolis, to connect to their last flight to Fargo. At first, all the stars seemed aligned. It was a good weather day, the plane didn't break, and even the winds aloft cooperated to let us get into Portland a bit early. After running the parking checklist, I bolted for the Seattle flight's gate, getting there at 2:50PM...to watch them push back 10 minutes early! Instead, I jumpseated on United PDX-DEN-MSP, then flew on Mesaba MSP-FAR the next day.



Here, Gary and Rick (United 757 crew), review their weather avoidance systems in preparation for an arrival into Denver hot on the tails of a big ole' thunderstorm. Twenty flights from United alone ended up diverting; our timing was just right to make it in.



An excellent example of mammatus clouds, as seen from the 757's jumpseat on the way into Denver, with a nice rainbow below.



Lake Traverse is directly on the border between Minnesota and South Dakota. Dawn's parents recently sold their house in Wheaton, MN, to live full-time in their cabin on the South Dakota side of the lake. On days like this, I envy them.



I abhor North Dakota. I spent several years there while attending UND, and vowed I'd never go back to Grand Forks if I could help it. Still, the state does have it's moments of beauty, such as this sunset seen from I-29. So much for "red sky at night, sailors delight" - a few hours after this, we were driving through severe thunderstorms.



Montana, like Colorado, has a Front Range. This is on Wednesday morning, on I-90 between Billings and Bozeman. I see Montana from the air all the time; it's nice to get another perspective on the state.





Both of these pictures were taken near Missoula, where I-90 parallels the Clark Fork of the Lewis & Clark River. Montana really is a gorgeous state; I love flying there in the summer. It's winters, however, overshadow ND and MN in their ferociousness. Layovers in Butte when it's -40d F aren't too fun.



Almost home! Late afternoon on Wednesday, we enter the Columbia River Gorge east of The Dalles, OR. Notice the contrast in vegetation between this picture and my pictures of the west Gorge a few weeks ago. The Cascades act as a rain curtain, making for vastly different climates beween the western & eastern portions of Oregon and Washington.



What to do when you run out of room for your wife's stuff in the back of your Blazer: pile on and around, a la Beverly Hillbillies!

Whew!

Dawn and I drove back from MN & SD in 26 straight hours from Tuesday night through Wednesday night, then went backpacking in the North Cascades from Thursday until today. Fortunately, I have one day of vacation left to recuperate before going back to work on Monday.

I have a lot of great pics from both trips, and will be posting them tonight and/or tomorrow.