Showing posts with label formation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label formation. Show all posts

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Blogging in Formation My Favorite Destination

Blogging in Formation My Favorite Destination


#blogformation #blog #avgeek #aviation



Its Blogging in Formation Week—
Posts all week by your favorite Pilot-Bloggers!

This months theme:

My Favorite Destination
—  —  —  —  —  —


But First . . .
Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Flight Blog, by popular demand,
Im proud to announce the upcoming world premier of my new video vlog, 
"Livin the Dream: Another Day in the Life of an Airline Pilot"
Premiering February 6th at 0900 PHX time, right here on Capnaux.com!


Until then, please enjoy this 20 second trailer!


Trailer to Livin the Dream! from Capnaux on Vimeo.

Direct link: http://vimeo.com/capnaux/dreamtrailer

And now . . .

My Favorite Destination

I know I dont get there often enough
But God knows I surely try
Its a magic kind of medicine
That no doctor could prescribe

Glacier Bay; on Final approach into JNU

But theres this one particular harbor
So far but yet so near
Where I see the days as they fade away
And finally disappear

"One Particular Harbour"—Jimmy Buffet

Theres been a vision in my head all my adult life. A very vivid dream, I think. But it may very well be a real memory. A vague picture of a secret destination that I stumbled upon while flight training in a small college nearby.

To this day, I havent figured it out.

Nestled in the rugged Chiricahua mountains in southeastern Arizona is a tiny dirt strip that only the most intrepid, determined pilots can find, let alone slip into.
You must take the base-to-final turn on faith that somethings actually there. It takes all of your skills to safely land. But once you do, the camaraderie you find there is magical. You are part of a family.

Theres picnic tables, fireplaces, a beautiful mountain stream, all covered by a lush canopy of Ponderosa pines. Indeed, the strip itself is surrounded by pines, all the more tough to spot and land.
_______________
Lakes below the mountains
Flow into the sea
Like oils applied to canvas
How they permeate through me
_______________
You roll to a stop, kill the engine, hop out. The warm sun greets you from a cloudless blue sky. Children laugh and play. Barbecue wafts on the dusty breeze. Somewhere, somebody plays a guitar. And of course, the sound of prop planes buzzing in and out fill the air like dozens of magical fairies.

Its the warmest, coziest, most peaceful feeling my mind can conjure.

And perhaps conjure it has. As I said, I cant be sure if its a dream or an actual memory. It may even be mixed with my most cherished childhood memories, of backpacking with my family deep in the wilds of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, south of Yosemite.
Dad fishes at Frank Lake (named after my grandfather.)
The epicenter of my familys most cherished spot on earth.
_______________
And theres that one particular harbour
Sheltered from the wind
Where the children play on the shore each day
And all are safe within
_______________
In my travels, Ive racked up many particular harbors: Juneau Alaska, St. Croix USVI, Interlaaken Switzerland, Telluride Colorado, and St. Barts, Antilles (rumored to be Jimmy Buffetts famed "Cheesburger in Paradise.")


Playin hookie in Paradise!
(Thats me on the left, with Capns Brian & Kevin, & Randy.)
These 3 may know the answer to my riddle; Im afraid to ask.
And perhaps my favorite, a sleepy little coastal fishing village tucked way back in the wilds of Venezula, with no paved roads, no phones, and not a soul who speaks English. My commuter pilot buddies and I went there for a weekend, and stayed for a week. (We hitchhiked 30 miles to the next town to call in sick. Crew scheduler Paula, God rest her soul, covered our a$$es for the price of a 5th of rum.)


_______________
Ive seen enough to feel the world spin
Mixin different oceans meetin cousins
Listen to the drummers and the night sounds
Listen to the singers make the world go round
_______________


St. Barts. I could land my Aztec here in half the runway...
but I always rolled out to the end to check out
the nude beach!


But today, decades later, if I detect a slight dust in the air, Im instantly transported back.

Back to that magical land, that One, True, Particular Harbor.




And I am  completely  at peace.


_______________
A most mysterious calling harbour
So far but yet so near
I can see the day when my hairs full gray
And finally disappear
_______________

In some ways, it doesnt matter whether my destination is real or imagined. Because it exists in my head, its real. As real as the oatmeal I had for breakfast.

And the world is a better place, knowing it exists.

One Particular Harbor, by Jimmy Buffett
(accompanied by some random, Islandy pics)

Direct Link: http://youtu.be/f0fj-UevS0s

Have you found your particular harbor? Share it with us if you have. If not . . . find it! Its out there. Out there waiting for you to discover.

Remember, Capn Aux always sez:
The world is a Disneyland made just for you!
—  —  —  —  —  —  —
                        POST-FLIGHT CHECKLIST
  1.  JOIN THIS SITE....................VERIFY.............................JOINED
  2.  COMMENT............................VERIFY.............................MADE
  3.  FACEBOOK...........................VERIFY.............................LIKED
  4.  TWITTER...............................VERIFY.............................TWEETED
  5.  EMAIL....................................VERIFY.............................MAILED
  6.  OTHER NETWORKS............VERIFY.............................SHARED 
          POST-FLIGHT CHECKLIST.......................COMPLETE!      
    — — — — — — —


    Feb. 1: House of Rapp - Ron Rapp
    Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier
    Feb. 2: iFLYblog - Brent Owens
            Aviation Author - Mark L. Berry
    Feb. 3 Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley
    Feb. 4: Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt

    And Introducing our new fighter pilot team!

    Available link for download

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    Wednesday, August 2, 2017

    Blogging in Formation Dealing with Passengers Part I

    Blogging in Formation Dealing with Passengers Part I


    #blog #blogformation #avgeek #aviation

    Its Blogging in Formation Week—Posts by your favorite Pilot-Bloggers!


    This Months theme: 
    Dealing with Passengers
    (original post 2/3/12)
    But First . . .

    Ladies and gentlemen, from the Flight Blog, Capn Aux is proud to present his new VIDEO VLOG!

    Coming on the heals of his viral "Livin the Dream" video, the question on everybodys mind is, CAN HE TOP IT? 

    Well . . . Id be lying if I said NO!
    But dont just listen to me ramble about . . . heres a video trailer of me rambling about the awesomeness of my new vid!


    Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/capnaux/dtrailer

    And Now . . . 

    Dealing with Passengers—Part I



       "This is an emergency announcement," the female voice calmly declared in prim n proper English accent over the PA of the British Airways’ 747—while cruising at 35,000 feet over the North Sea. "We may shortly need to make an emergency landing on water."

    Minor detail:  this “emergency announcement” was an accidentally-triggered prerecorded message. . . accidentally triggering 330 passengers to panic.
       This embarrassing debacle reminds me of the old Airbus pilots’ joke:  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are flying a state-of-the-art,  fully automated Airbus and nothing can go wrong click! go wrong click! go wrong . . .”


       While I’ve have never had to deal with trying to calm down hundreds of panicked passengers inflight, there is definitely an acquired art to the making of a passenger PA.


     Typically, flight attendants must read their briefings verbatim, but the pilots up front have much freer reign.  Oh, sure we’re required to grovel a bit to you and say, “Thank you for flying Very Fast airways.  Buckle in, there is no need to panic,”* etc.  But how we say it is largely left to us.

      While I’m always tempted to simply say, “Welcome aboard, sit down, shut up, behave,” and be done with it, that particular PA only works to cut the tension on the annual simulator check ride.
       At least for me...



       Rule # 1:  the traveling public wants to be reassured.   They want their Captain to have a deep, gruff, authoritative but soothing fatherly voice, like George Clooney with a Texas drawl.  

       Unfortunately, my voice has been going through puberty for the past 35 years; I sound more like Capn Doogie Howser.  Once, during a particularly early morning departure when my vocal chords were at their most relaxed, I thought I’d made the most manly PA of my life.  But that fantasy was quickly shattered when two college kids poked their heads into the cockpit after the flight and said, “We just wanted to see who was flying, ‘cause you sounded like you were 18!”

    Since then, I’ve been resigned to my fate.

       Rule #2:  Humor is allowed over the PA, but you’d damn well better be good at it.  If not, refer to Rule #1.  While my buddy Captain Tony can keep his cabin in stitches for hours,** I found out a long time ago I’m in the “Not funny” category.

       Once, on April Fool’s Day, I diligently kept our passengers informed of our imminent arrival into RNO . . . during our flight to LAX.  From the first announcement on, the flight attendants plagued the cockpit with pleas to correct the destination . . . the passengers were on the verge of mutiny!  It was then that I learned:  the Captain’s voice over the PA is the Voice of God.

    Barney Fifes Capn voice?  EPIC FAIL!

    —————
    The strength of the turbulence is directly
    proportional to the temperature of your coffee.
    — Gunters Second Law of Air Travel 
    —————



       The age old turbulence/seat belt sign bit is an art unto itself as well.  It boils down to this:  one man’s gentle rocking, nappy-time turbulence is another’s “my God, my God we’re all going to die!” . . . it’s simply a matter of opinion.  And the forecast of turbulence is just that: a prediction.  Personally, I use the SWAG method:  the “Scientific, Wild-A** Guess.”  Oh, sure, we can guesstimate by reading the clouds, listening to other aircraft’s reports, etc.  But in reality, there’s no telling just what Mommy Nature has up her sleeve.  In fact, it’s so random, that we call the Seat Belt switch the Turbulence button:  turn it off, get instant bumps.  Bottom Line, we err on the side of caution.  In the end, really, the seat belt sign is nothing more than a Liability Switch:  if it’s on, get up at your own peril.

    (Note: A portion of the following paragraph was quoted by BBC online—Capn Auxs big claim to fame! See link, below)

       There is also an art to revealing just what’s going on without giving away TMI.  While I can’t exactly jump on the PA and say, “Folks, pay no attention to the burning wing,” I also must avoid describing ad nauseum exactly what the mechanics onboard are fixing.  For example, I cant launch into a five minute dissertation of just why our our IAE V-2533-A5 Engine Number 2‘s ECU (Engine Control Unit) on the FADEC (Full Authority Digital Electronic Control) is triggering spurious warnings from the SDAC (System Data Acquisition Concentrator) to the EWC (Engine/Warning Display) without sounding alarmist.  And I certainly can’t say, “The doohicky on the whatchamajig is causing quite a nasty ruckus with that gizmo thingy.”  But I can say, “Our ace mechanics are onboard resetting one of our black boxes.  We should be under way in a few minutes.”***

    Bottom line:
    Trust us.  It’s OUR butts in the plane, too, and we ain’t gonna risk it, PERIOD!





    Capn Aux, in the middle of one of his exceptional—if rather non-humorous—PAs.


    But he still sounds—and looks—like Capn Doogie!









    For inspiration, look no further than this stellar pilots PA, brought to you by the folks at Barely Air!





    Direct link: http://youtu.be/IqkOi2AdjLw

    ** Example of classic Tony PA:  “Attention K-Mart shoppers, we have a blue light special on aisle . . . oh, sorry, that’s my day job.  Ahem!  (deep, gruff George Clooney voice with a tinge of Texas drawl) This is your Captain speaking . . .”
    Article links:
    • Inadvertent Emergency Passenger PA
    • Things You Cant Do on a Plane
    • BBC Link

    —  —  —  —  —  —

    Catch ALL of our Formation Bloggers this month!


    Mar. 1: iFLYblog - Brent Owens
               Aviation Author - Mark L. Berry

    Mar 2: Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley
                 tallyone.com  - Rob Burgon

    Mar 3: Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt
               project7alpha.com - Chip Shanle

    Mar 4: House of Rapp - Ron Rapp
    Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier

    —  —  —  —  —  —

    Capn Aux Blogging in Formation Posts
    • My Favorite Destination: http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2014/02/blogging-in-formation-my-favorite.html
    • My New Years Resolution—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2014/01/blogformation-my-new-years-resolution.html
    • What I Want Under the Christmas Tree—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/12/blogformation-what-i-want-under.html
    • Aviation History: Captain Grace Baloyo—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/11/blogformation-aviation-history.html
    • My Most Instructional Moments—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/10/blogging-in-formationthere-i-wuz-my.html
    • If I Had 1 Wish for Aviation—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/09/formation-blog-if-i-had-1-wish-for.html
    • Stranger Than Fiction—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/08/blogformation-stranger-than-fiction.html
    • The Future of U.S. Aviation—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/07/happy-4th-future-of-us-aviation.html
    • My Most Memorable Flight—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/06/blogformation-my-most

      Available link for download

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    Monday, May 15, 2017

    BLOGGING IN FORMATION!

    BLOGGING IN FORMATION!


    #aviation #blog #blogroll #airline #flying

    Dear fellow #AvGeek,
    All this week, I and several other aviation bloggers are writing a themed "Blogroll," our first in a new monthly series!  This months theme: "How I was brought to flying."

    If you havent already done so, I encourage you to read the first two entries, already posted!


    Hotlinks to sites:
    05.06.13 iFLYblog - Brent Owens (Intro Post)
    05.07.13 Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt 
    05.08.13 Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier
    05.09.13 House of Rapp - Ron Rapp
    05.10.13 Airplanista - Dan Pimentel
    05.11.13 Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley
    05.12.13 iFLYblog - Brent Owens

    Newbies—Welcome Aboard!

    I INVITE YOU TO JOIN MY SITE!

    Just click Join this site in the right side column!------->

    blog, blogger, avgeek,aviation,


    And now...

    "HOW I WAS BROUGHT TO FLYING"
    (Note: long time readers may notice elements of this post from my Valentines 2012 post, "The Loon is a Harsh Mistress," http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2012/02/loon-is-harsh-mistress-pilots.html )

    flight aware,airplane,aviation,avgeek

    "More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly."
    —Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull
    Ask any pilot how they started flying, and you will hear a love story.
    One just like mine...
    From age 5, I dreamed of flying.  Scanned the skies.  Built model airplanes.  Along with my buddy Alan, doodled WWII dogfights during math class.  Thrilled at the occasional trip to the airport, and practically peed my pants to actually fly.  To this day, I remember verbatim the conversation I had—at age 8—with the Hughes Airwest pilots in the magical cockpit of their Boeing 737.
    When I was 14, I announced my intention to buy a hang glider.

    Dad said, “Son, if you have the money, you can buy a hang glider.”  Little did he know that this flying-obsessed boy had been saving up lawn mowing allowance for the past three years!

    I promptly bought a used Rogallo wing for $430.  I diligently took the ground school, aced the tests, and was thoroughly prepared.  Nevertheless, the flight school, perhaps wisely, made me wait another year, till I was 15, to fly.

    And, God bless his soul, my father honored his words, crossed his fingers and let this fledgling chick spread his wings...
    It changed my life.  The euphoric feeling I felt at liftoff was a drug that I would pursue for the rest of my life. 


    Fly.  Flying.  To Fly.
    capn aux,blog,hangglider,aviation,avgeek
    Me and my First Love, at age 15
    "My soul is in the sky."
    — William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Nights Dream
    Shortly thereafter I visited the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, which included a viewing of the classic IMAX film, "To Fly!"*

    Like few other earthbound media, it captured for me the sheer joy and grandeur and magic that is flying.

    It began with these epic words:

    FLY.  FLYING.  To Fly…

    Hearing those words still give me goosebumps.
    From that moment on, I was determined to fly two types of craft: a bush plane . . . and a spaceship.

    eric,capn aux,bush,bush plane,southeast alaska,seaplane,wings of alaska,last bush pilots
    The summer of ’87 saw my first wish fulfilled in Alaska.
    "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
    —Leonardo da Vinci**

    Death And Ex’s
    aviation,avgeek,captain
    A pilot retires.
    While an Ex or two may have had her suspicions of a fling with a flight attendant, the true culprit would be my long-term love affair with "Fifi," my Airbus A320.  Today, her graceful looks, sleek, sexy lines and loving, yet quirky and unforgiving personality are my obsession.***
    Indeed, I believe more airline-related divorces can be traced to this plain plane obsession than sexual flings.  Often, the plain plane-obsessed pilot comes home from his trip, pecks his wife on the cheek, repacks, and is off to the weekend fly-in.

    Football widows got nuthin’ on airplane widows.
    a320,fifi,airbus,aviation,airline,avgeek,cockpit,glasscockpit,pilot
    Capn Aux and Fifi.
    Accountants, firemen, even physicians can retire and live to a ripe old age.  But, despite the relatively youthful forced-retirement age of 65, the pilot-retiree often augers in within scant months or years.

    I am convinced that this is because, inside, he is heartbroken.  He has lost the Love of his Life;  his harsh mistress of 30-some years has traded him in for a newer model.  Oh, he may have dabbled with his own Cessna 182 during his brief twilight years, but it’s like trading the Supermodel for the cleaning lady.

    He has lost his purpose, his identity, a large chunk of his core personality.


    "Love.  You can learn all the math in the verse, but you take a boat in the air you dont love, shell shake you off just as sure as the turning of worlds.
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you shes hurting fore she keens.
    serenity,firefly,mal reynolds,spaceship,starship
    "Makes her a home."
    — Captain Malcomb Reynolds, "Serenity"


    Mal had his Serenity.
    Han Solo had his Millenium Falcon.
    Kirk and Picard had their Enterprise.
    Adama had his Galactica...

    And have my Fifi.


    warp speed,flight deck,airbus,airline

    Fifi is my spaceship.


    Photo courtesy of Ryan OHarren at http://www.flightpics.net/

    From her glass cockpit at FL390, on a moonless night I can gaze out the window at the lights of Planet Earth as they meld with the Milky Way, and imagine being in command of a starship cruising at Warp Speed.
    I savor these fleeting years, when I and my mistress are perfectly content.


    What drew me to flying?

    Love.

    star trek, bridge

    MCCOY:  Well, I doubt seriously if theres any kind of love antidote we can give the Captain for the Enterprise.
    SPOCK:  In this particular instance, Doctor, I agree with you.
    KIRK:  Mr. Sulu, ahead warp factor two.

    —Star Trek, Elaan of Troyius

    ——————————



    HOTLINKS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THIS BLOGROLL:

    Eric Auxier - capnauxier@yahoo.com - http://capnaux.blogspot.com/
    Karlene Petitt - karlene.petitt@gmail.com - http://karlenepetitt.blogspot.com/
    Ron Rapp - ron@rapp.org - http://www.rapp.org/
    Dan Pimentel - editor@airplanista.com - http://www.av8rdan.com/
    Andrew Hartley - acalebh@gmail.com  - http://smartflighttraining.com/
    Brent Owens - brent@iflyblog.com - http://iflyblog.com
    ——————————
    *To Fly! Still shown daily at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum in Washington, DC
    • Buy tickets here http://www.si.edu/Imax/Movie/1
    • Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Fly!
    • Buy the DVD on Amazon, eBay or the like.  Better yet, go see it at the Smitshonian.  Best yet, go take a flying lesson!
    **Attribution of quote to da Vinci is disputed.
             Wiki: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Leonardo_da_Vinci

    ***My all-time favorite planes:  Those I’ve flown:  de Havilland Beaver, Twin Otter, Grumman Mallard, Airbus A320.
    Those Ive always wanted to fly:  F-15, Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny,” DC-3, Boeing 727, 747, and anything on floats.
    My all-time favorite airplane:  P-51D Mustang.

    What’s your favorite plane, and have you been lucky enough to fly/ride in one?  And, briefly, what’s your most memorable aviation experience?  Please comment and let us all know!


    ————————————
    Posting May 11 @ 8am PHX:



    A Mothers Day Special!
    ————————————

    Posting May 20th @ 11:00 PHX:
    Capn Aux answers readers Qs—Part IV, 2.0

    airbus, airline, pilot, aviation, avgeek, blog, novel, best seller, capnaux, capn auxAvailable link for download

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