Summer 09 is lookin' fine

Time for another update! It's been a busy spring so far between work and flying. Thankfully, now I can say that the load has been lightened as I have completed the requirements for my Certified Flight Instructor - Instrument Airplane rating. My checkride came up a lot quicker than I expected. I figured that I had at least a couple weeks of flying left to do, but my instructor felt I was ready. I felt a little under prepared, but I knew that just mean I had a lot of studying to do. Fortunately I had Wednesday and Thursday off from work and my checkride was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. I took Wednesday to study the book knowledge that was required of me and Thursday morning I went up with an instructor to just get comfortable in the airplane again. I'm glad I did because the last time I flew was the 11th of May. I even got some actual instrument time (flying in the clouds) on Thursday. Before that, I hadn't flown in actual since December 16, 2006!
After the refresher flight, my instructor helped me get all my paper work in order. I went home for lunch and to grab a couple things before going back out for my checkride. My checkride was conducted by a check instructor from Davenport. He made the trip up to Dubuque because he was testing another student from Dubuque also. It was nice not having to pay to fly down to Davenport. We started with a few questions to test my knowledge. We talked about some instrument procedures and regulations. When he was satisfied with the oral portion we hopped in the plane for the practical portion. The flight consisted of slow flight, stalls, unusual attitudes, a GPS hold, followed by a GPS approach and a ILS approach. Now if you're thinking to yourself, gosh, I wish I knew what he was talking about, shoot me an email or send me a comment. I figured I'd spare the rest of you ALL of the details. And that does it! Afterward, he signed my paperwork and gave me a temporary license. My real one comes in the mail in a couple weeks. For those of you who haven't experienced this before, it doesn't feel official until you have it in plastic. So for now, I try to pay off all that I've spent since my loan money dried up. I also plan to start sending out my resume despite the dismal short term outlook.
This summer I'm looking forward to traveling a little more than I have been recently. Not flying should free up my schedule enough to visit some of the places on my list. Last week, I had the opportunity to go back to Pella for Amanda's graduation. This trip was long awaited because I had not been back since December for my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I left on Friday from work giving myself just enough time to grab a sandwich at the house before the commencement ceremony. I went to a family friend's grad party on Friday night and saw quite a few people that I hadn't talked to in a while. After Amanda's graduation party on Saturday morning, I went golfing with Dad and Grandpa and Grandma Erickson who flew up from Florida. Not my best outing, but I can't expect much when I haven't played in over a year. Saturday night, I got to hang out with Jacob, who I hadn't seen for a while either. We went out to eat at George's. It was a tough decision between that and Pizza Ranch because I had been craving both. I went to early church with Mom before heading out on Sunday morning. So it was a short, but sweet 40 hours in Pella. I left from work and got back just in time to work again on Sunday.

Sun Country Slip-Up

It's been a while since anything exciting has happened in Dubuque. Unfortunately, the latest excitement was due to an incident at the airport this week. Sun Country Airlines was operating a return charter flight from Las Vegas to Dubuque for all the local gamblers who just can't get their fix from the new Diamond Jo Casino and the Mystique (formerly the Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino). The plane arrived as scheduled around 9:30pm on Thursday night. American Eagle ground handles the flight because they have a larger staff, and more appropriate equipment to load and unload the Boeing 737-800. They also are trained to use the jet bridge, whereas our Mesaba employees do not use the jet bridge in Dubuque because it is not compatible with our aircraft.
After landing, Sun Country turned off of the runway to taxi to the gate, but the pilot misjudged the turn and the main landing gear went off the pavement into an area of mud. With a full load of passengers and bags, the aircraft sunk into the mud. It did not cause a big emergency, but all the bags and passengers had to be unloaded where the plane stopped. Fortunately, there is a bus charter company located across they road from the airport. Several buses were brought down to bring the passengers to the terminal. The bags were loaded onto the bag carts and delivered to the waiting passengers.
Meanwhile, our plane called into range. I advised them of the situation and told them to plan accordingly. They were able to land safely on the other runway and taxi to the gate. Shortly after our plane arrived, American Eagle's flight from Chicago arrived. So their agents had to divide their efforts and work their scheduled flight while attending to the Sun Country passengers and plane.
The good news is that no one was injured in the Sun Country ordeal and the aircraft was not damaged. The plane was scheduled to return to Minneapolis with a load of passengers yet that night but they ended up having to take a bus. Crews worked all night to dig the B737 out of the mud. I was told the next day that they had pulled the plane out by 5am. They parked the aircraft between Mesaba's gate and the University of Dubuque's ramp. That afternoon I learned that they were flying a new crew from Minneapolis on our flight to reposition the Sun Country aircraft back to Minneapolis. My guess is that the pilots from the night before may have been on temporary suspension until everything got sorted out. I doubt that they would have been in serious trouble and I don't think there would be any chance of termination.
Everything else is fine with me. I'm still working on my CFII. The spring weather has limited my flight time, but I should be done shortly. The school year at UD is coming to a close. Students have finals this week. My new roommate, Joel, has begun moving his stuff in for the summer. The next exciting news will hopefully be Amanda's graduation at the end of May. I plan to be home for at least some of Memorial Day weekend. I may or may not get another post in before then. Depends what else happens here.

A few more pictures. (Located on page 2.)

I'm Back!

So, you already know that there's been quite a lengthy dry spell since my last post. I wouldn't say I've been raking in the big bucks, but I have been working a ridiculous amount of hours. Since my last post I have completed my Certified Flight Instructor rating and am now continuing with my Flight Instructor Instrument rating. Most flight school's and training facilities won't hire instructors without their CFII. Although now, the market looks bleak for instructors period. UD will be slowing down as summer approaches and students return home to their summer jobs. So, in the meantime I continue to put in hours at Mesaba and Avis.
Haven't had a chance to travel anywhere recently. My last venture from Dubuque was for a friend's wedding in Bettendorf, IA. I met Austin while living in the dorm my freshman year at UD and he began dating Cassie sometime during our sophomore year if my memory serves me. They had a very nice ceremony on Saturday, March 14 and the reception was beautiful. They had roast beef, pasta, cheese cubes, salad, a variety of bread, and cinnamon roll pieces (of which I had seconds). There was some dancing afterwards, but I chose not to get my groove on. I did however muster up the energy to get on the dance floor for the garter toss and I came away with the prize. This was the second garter I've received in the last several years so either I have really good luck or people are aiming for me. Doesn't do much good though when there are no prospects on the horizon.
Even though I'm hogging all the garters, that doesn't stop my friends from getting married. My former roommate, Tad, will be getting married to his college sweetheart this August. They have asked me to be a groomsman in the wedding and I accepted. The wedding ceremony will be in town and the reception will be held at the newly renovated, historic Julien Inn.
In other news, I began helping with my church's website several weeks ago. They decided to change their name and logo to better represent their mission and outreach. The website is not like the one I redesigned for Classic Aviation in Pella. This website has a more dynamic format that develops as the user requests it through their browser rather than the static html pages for the airport. This makes updating the content much faster, which is important to make sure our members have the most up to date information. The site isn't fully completed, but you may look at what is done so far at www.bridgeontheweb.org.
Sorry again for the lack of news and thanks to those of you who lit a fire under me to get this going again. Thanks for reading!

My SAAB Story

This story begins on a cold boring Tuesday in Dubuque. There were no passengers scheduled to fly out on our afternoon flight, so my boss gave me the rest of the day off. I was scheduled to have 

Wednesday off as well, so I decided it was time to fly somewhere. After all, my last trip was all the way back in November when I went to Paris and Amsterdam. This time I decided on a slightly less audacious undertaking. I had several options with a list of people and places to see, but I didn't think three hours notice was enough time to drop in on anyone. I called Matt, my former roommate to see what he was up to, but got no response. So I checked the availability to Toronto, Canada. Wide open! Just as I was about to board the flight out of Dubuque, Matt called back to let me know it was ok to come visit him in Waterloo. So I quick changed my itinerary and hopped on board. 

Since the flight attendant and I were the only ones in the cabin, we got to know each other pretty well. She had been to Dubuque a couple times before, but we hadn't talked at length until now. When I got to MSP, my former manager, Kai, was waiting for me. He told me that he thought it was odd that there were no connecting passengers coming from Dubuque. We chatted for a little bit before I got on another SAAB headed for Waterloo. 

Matt was waiting for me at the airport. We stopped at Casey's to pick up some pizza before heading back to his apartment near the UNI campus. I met most of his roommates and we watched some tv before I crashed on his floor. Early next morning he dropped me off at the airport where I boarded a CRJ200 to go back to MSP. From there, I got on a CRJ900 bound for Houston. The flight was uneventful and 2 hours later we were pulling up to our gate at the George Bush International Airport. By now, my phone was almost dead because I didn't think to grab a charger. To save the battery life, I kept turning my phone off and on only when I needed to use it. The plane I came down on was headed directly back to Minneapolis. 

I contemplated taking this option, but decided to have lunch instead. I found a Fuddruckers in the A concourse and enjoyed a burger and fries while watching a plethora of Continental aircraft taxi by. The next few hours I spent walking around taking pictures trying not to draw the attention of any TSA officials or local law enforcement. For a brief moment, I got to go outside and experience the near 60 degree weather as I took a shuttle bus from the C terminal to the A. I got a message from Lori saying that she needed a car from Moline, IL. I told her I wanted to go to Memphis first and if she could find me a flight, I would do it. Everything lined up so I continued on my journey. 

I left Houston for Memphis at 4:15 on another 200. Another uneventful flight. I arrived in Memphis about an hour or so later. I only had an hour layover so I decided to get some authentic Memphis barbeque. I didn't want to spring for the ribs, so I got the BBQ pork sandwich and it really hit the spot. 

My last flight of the day was on yet another 200. I got into Moline at 830 and picked up the car at Avis to be shuttled to Dubuque. In my rush to get home, I neglected to ask for directions to the highway. But as luck would have it there were signs upon exiting the parking lot. If only I knew which highway went where. I made the mistake of taking 280 to Des Moines instead of 74 which would have brought me north quicker up to 80 and then to 61. I got the lovely scenic tour of downtown Davenport, which I recognized from our cross country visits to Credit Island Golf Course. 

I pulled into the Dubuque Airport just as the approach lights turned on for American Eagle from Chicago. Our plane from Minneapolis wasn't on the ground yet either so it turned out to be a good trade off. 

Yesterday, I was reminiscing and telling coworkers about my trip and I got to thinking about when I was doing cross countries for my Commercial Pilot's License. Back then, I had to pay for the plane and lunch. (There's a book called the $100 hamburger with great locations around the country to fly to for lunch. By the time you pay for the plane and the fuel and lunch, it comes out to about $100. But that was in the good ole days too!) I'd much rather non-rev for free and just pay for the hamburger.

Thanks for reading my SAAB story. Get it?

New News

I've found that this sliver of time in between church and work on Sunday's works well for blogging. It doesn't offer me as much time as I would like to process my thoughts thoroughly, but if I didn't do it now, I wouldn't do it at all. Especially with today being Superbowl Sunday. So, right now I've got pasta boiling on the stove and I'm eating some apple pie that I baked earlier this week. Nothing special, just a Sara Lee frozen pie, but it is delicious. 

I had quite the action packed weekend. Yesterday, UD held it's first indoor track meet in the new Chlapaty Recreation and Wellness Center. I caught most of the field events, but couldn't stay for the running portion because I had to get back to work. The place is very nice, but it looks kind of bland. It could use some banners or murals to liven things up. One of my former teammates said there were about 10 men's and women's teams there, but I didn't verify. I will post a link to the results here and you can see for yourself. (I haven't had a chance to look at them yet.) Men's Results | Women's Results 

At the meet I ran into sports information director Paul Misner who said he recently received a plaque with my name on it. Turns out that it was the ESPN The Magazine Academic All America Team Award I earned this past year.

After work yesterday, I helped out with a volunteer appreciation banquet for our church volunteers at The Bridge. The Bridge meets on the UD campus, but doesn't not have any real connections with the school. For our banquet, we borrowed the Tri-State Community Church basement on the north side of town. The menu consisted of turkey breast, bake potatoes and toppings, tossed salad with strawberries and glazed pecans, and an assortment of desserts. I didn't have time to bake, so I brought a rhubarb pie and a blueberry pie from Hy-Vee. They turned out to be a pretty big hit. After dinner, we played a couple large group games to get to know one another a little bit better. I had a good time because I got to learn a whole lot more names than I do by just going to church on Sunday morning. 

Well I've finished my pasta and it's time to head to work. Looks like I'll have to change there. I've still got my church clothes on. 

More pictures from the track meet.

 

Doin' Fine in '09

Ahhh! I haven't posted yet in 2009, so this is long overdue. However, I must keep it brief. So far it's been another rough winter in Dubuque. Coupled with last winter when we broke the previous total snowfall record of 75.7" set in the winter of '61-'62. This year has seen record setting low temperatures with wind chills reaching -30°F. Needless to say, these conditions make working quickly and safely on the ramp difficult. I've done a pretty good job of keeping warm at work. I usually wear my Mesaba coveralls over a hoodie with a hat from my small collection and my brand new Carhartt work gloves. They cost a pretty penny, but they're worth every cent. Not all of our passengers have figured out that boarding requires going outside, but I figure if their dumb enough to get in their car, drive to the airport, and walk to the terminal without a coat then it's their own fault for being cold. I just stand at the bottom of the stairs and wish them a good time at their tropical destination while I pull icicles out of my nose.
Northwest continues it's merger process with Delta. Dubuque received it's new signage last week and begins to project the Delta image. We still adhere to some Northwest policies and procedures and will continue to do so until they are phased out over the next two years.
I'm nearing completion of my CFI rating, which means I'm also getting ready to send my resume off to Mesaba. Even if I get turned down initially, I'm hoping the process will give me a new goal for building hours and time frame to reapply.
As a follow-up to my last post, I did make the 2008 Iowa Aviation Calendar! My photo was used as the background for the last page with a preview of 2010. I received a plaque, a certificate, and 5 calendars in the mail. I thought it was pretty cool. Time for lunch! More news to come.

Winter Ops

I never really knew the meaning of this phrase until this week. When I interviewed for Mesaba, I was asked if I could work in all kinds of weather. I said, "Sure!" I had shared a paper route with my dad and my brother when I was younger and we had to deliver in all of the elements. I don't remember anything like this though. The wind chills the past couple days in Dubuque have dipped below negative 30°F. Not even my toasty coveralls could keep me completely warm. The wind blew right through those. I could also sleep in until 5:30 when I had a paper route. These days I have to be up by 4:00 to shower and preheat my car. 

With all the cancellations due to weather and freezing planes, I've put in quite the work day the past two days. I was on the clock from 5am - 10:30am and from noon to 10:30 pm

 yesterday because our plane had a "hung start" on one of the engines. From what I understand, it's too cold inside the engine to produce a good flame and maintain steady combustion. The turbines inside the engine don't speed up to the proper RPM and if the pilot continues the start attempt he or she could do damage to the engine. So we had to deplane everyone back to the terminal and get them rebooked for another flight. Many couldn't make connections that afternoon due to oversold flights and schedules that didn't align. So they got pushed back a day. Last night, the aircraft we were supposed to get from Minneapolis had a mechanical problem and didn't come in. So that cancelled our flight for this morning also causing some passengers to be rebooked a second time. Many people are getting frustrated and thousands are stranded at airports with dwindling hopes of making it home or to visit friends and family. 

I was able to help one family last night though. They were waiting for their son to come home from the military whom they hadn't seen in 10 months. Mom and dad drove from Fayette, IA and were expecting him to arrive on the afternoon flight into Dubuque. Mom told me that she wasn't supposed to be at the airport and only his dad was expected to pick him up. Unfortunately, a late arrival from Seattle cause him to misconnect out of Minneapolis. His parents were then waiting for him to arrive on the late flight that he had been rebooked on. When that flight cancelled, he was told to stand in another rebooking line. When he was almost to the front, that agent had to leave and redirected the remaining customers to a different gate. I was looking at the availability and knew there was no way he was going to make it into Dubuque until the following night due to overselling. I didn't know where Fayette was, so I asked and I found that the next closest airport was Waterloo. By some miracle, there were actually four seats available on their late arrival, so I booked him on that flight. He still had to get his boarding pass from an agent in Minneapolis so I took the phone from dad and began giving him instructions to finalize the process. I told him to just find any agent who didn't look busy and if they didn't know how to complete the transaction, I would walk them through it over the phone. It took a couple more phone calls as he found someone to help him but he finally got his boarding pass. While I was giving him directions over the phone, I learned that he thought he was going to be surprising his mom by coming home early. It was a touching moment for me and I knew the mom was happy to see her son yet that night. I wish I could have been there for the reunion. 

In other news, I was notified this week of the results of the 2008 Iowa Aviation Photography 

Contest. I had submitted several of my photos from work and from the airshow that took place in Dubuque over the 4th of July. I was hoping for several awards, but was satisfied with taking third/fourth in the Commercial Aviation category. To see all the winners, you can go here. To see the page I'm on, go here. Now, I'm just hoping to get published in the 2009 Aviation Calendar. There's a chance it may not get printed due to budget constraints, but I'm hoping for the best. Time to shower and put my petroleum products on before going back out in the cold. All you doobies keep warm.