during ioe the past week i had two classmates conduct their mandatory observation flights as i was conducting first officer duties for revenue flights. when one of the guys showed up to observe a sequnce of flights, i was happy to have him on board and hopefully learn from some of my successes and mistakes. within the first turn he was making observations of mistakes i was making and readily pointing them out to myself and the check airmen. at one point, i turned to him and said that i was glad we had him on the flight, because we would surely be in trouble without him. he apologized because he didn't "want to sound like a teacher or anything." to add insult to injury the guy proceeded to continue. the only experience he had prior to this ride-along was the standard sim training that everyone gets before starting ioe. i did complete the flight sequence with him as cordially as i possibly could, but i had to bite my tongue.
i also had the opportunity to have an faa representative come observe one of my turns from dfw to baton rouge. i felt like it was yet another checkride. on our debrief he didn't have much to say, but he did point out one "gotcha." overall, considering it was only my third or fourth time as the pilot flying the erj, i felt pretty good about my performance.
so now, i am waiting for crew scheduling to fill up the rest of my month with reserve time. until then, i sit...and wait in dallas until i am beckoned to chicago.
on my observation flight, i had some opportunities to snap a few pictures, although not great. i am posting these. my wife also snapped a few pictures of me on my first day that i am posting here.
First day picture and sitting in the jumpseat during my observation flights.
Observation flight cruising at flight level 370
the view of lexington from my hotel room on my first overnight. it was pretty cold and still had some snow on the groud from a recent arctic blast.
this was my "international" flight to chihuahua, chihuahua mexico
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3 comments:
Clint,
I followed your blog from the fl1250 blog link. I really enjoy your postings, please keep them up! Just a few questions for you, when you have time to answer:
- Do you fly the ERJ 135, 140, and 145? Or just the 145? I take it all of the cockpits and the aircraft performance are similar enough that you can fly a 135 and then a 145 with no problems?
- Why was a student from your class sitting in the jumpseat watching you on a revenue flight; if he was in your class, shouldn't he already be flying right now as you are?
Sounds like you handled it well with that former classmate's comments, I wouldn't have been so graceful. It sounds like an insult to me, but I guess all you can do is ignore it. You're flying and he isn't and that's what it comes down to!
Tom--When a pilot gets a rating for the ERJ 145, the FAA also applies it to the 140 & 135. There is only one rating that applies to all three aircraft.
As far as differences are concerned, they are very minor. The most significant difference is the Thrust Rating that is available to the flight crew. The 145 engines are Rolls Royce AE3007A1 and the 140/135 have the Rolls Royce AE3007A1/3. I've been told the only difference between the A1 and A1/3 is the software that is used to control the engine FADECS. Other than that there are no difference in the engines themselves.
In a 135 & 140 the thrust to weight ratio is greater than in the 145, because they are smaller airplanes, therefore not as much thrust is required for the same amount of performance. So, flight crews have more choices in the 135 & 140 for a takeoff thrust rating than in the 145.
Good question. Thanks for reading and I will definitely keep this site updated with pics and my experiences along the way.
Clint,
It's been a while since I visited your blog. In fact, I thought it had completely disappeared! Come to find out that the link I had on my blog's sidebar was pointing to a nonexistent site. It think I've got it fixed now.
Glad to see you got on with AE. Have fun!
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