Week two of ground school

7:12 PM - Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2005
Week two of ground school
Week Two
ASA New Hire Ground School
September 5-10, 2005

Finally, the two long weeks of “Basic Indoc” are behind us, quite successfully. Our exam was yesterday (Saturday) morning at 0800, and I was thrilled to score a 98%. I was worried about it due to my lack of studying, but more about that later.

Basic Indoc at ASA included all the Standard Operating Procedures (SP’s), which was a HUGE binder full of company policies and procedures. Then they handed us another huge binder called the Flight Operations Manual (FOM/Ops Specs). That’s got all the in-flight policies and procedures. And then we have the Airplane Systems Manual, which is even larger. And all the manuals we got for CRM (Crew Resource Management). And the Union – ASA contract, which is a little book in and of itself. And then 3 binders of Jeppesen approach plates and en route charts for all the airports we fly into and all the possible alternatives. That’s a lot of plates as we currently serve nearly the entire US, some of Canada, some of Mexico, the Bahamas, and Turks & Caicos. Not only are there a lot of newly dead trees in my possession, but most of them have to be carried with me for every flight! Crazy!

So my two weeks of Basic Indoc were mostly interesting and manageable. Our 2 primary instructors were a kick. Walt is a retired Air Force pilot and current ASA captain on the same aircraft I’ve been assigned (the CRJ-200, 50-passenger regional jet). He really cares about our education here and he’s passionate about almost everything he taught us. Except weather. Poor guy – it nearly killed him to go through the weather presentation. It’s a review of all the stuff we were taught earlier in our careers, about fronts and fog, turbulence, windshear, the Coriolis force, weather patterns throughout the world, etc. He’d tried to get another instructor to come in that day, but no such luck. So he stalled for as long as he possibly could, and then started the slides. And there he stood, at the front of the room, staring at the first slide, which broke down the layers of the atmosphere into its 4 main sections. And then about 30 seconds of silence. After which he started to talk about the U-2 and how it flies above the first few layers. Which then led (thankfully!) to more war stories and other non-weather diversions. Eventually some smart-ass in the class suggested he just click through the presentation much more rapidly and put us all out of our misery! So we adjourned for lunch and somehow never managed to finish that weather presentation!

Dale, our other instructor, was retired military as well, and he’s quite jaded and cynical. He recently turned 60 and was forced to retire by that stupid FAA regulation mandating that our most experienced pilots stop flying. Both guys are very macho and right-winged, and they’re both Federal Flight Deck Officers (pilots authorized to carry loaded weapons while flying). We talked a lot about that program, and I have changed my mind from thinking it’s insane to have loaded guns in the cockpit to believing that it’s a good idea. After hearing them speak about their 9 days of training I’m convinced that in the right hands loaded guns could perchance prevent another September 11th-like attack. As soon as I have the opportunity (a week off and a spare $300) I’m planning to fly out to New Mexico and fund my own training to become an FFDO as well.

Our 2 days of CRM class were very interesting. Our instructors were two young captains who are very interested in the study of human factors and error mitigation in aviation. The concept of the latest generation is that as long as there are humans flying airliners, there will be mistakes made on the flight deck. (The safest flight is the one that never leaves the ground!) But the good news is that with all the technology flying has never been safer. And most airlines the world over are teaching their pilots about the common causes of accidents (fatigue, loss of situational awareness, etc.) and how to best avoid them. We watched a lot of videos and re-enactments of large airline disasters. Then we discussed them in detail, applying the main CRM concepts we’d learned earlier in class. The class was dynamic and interesting, and I learned quite about how to reduce the possibility for error when I fly.

So the reason that I was worried I’d not pass my end-of-course exam was because my good buddy Carlos invited me to occupy the jumpseat of a flight up to Islip/Long Island the night before the test. They were scheduled to leave before I would be out of class, so I didn’t bother studying hard the night before that instead. I figured I’d not make the flight and would have all of Friday night to prepare for the test. And then their flight was delayed, which had me racing over to the terminal directly from class, and trying to hop aboard before they closed the door. After some paperwork errors and a few phone calls from gate agents and the captain, we got authorization (I haven’t been in the system quite long enough to have been “electronically verifiable” yet). Captain Russ is a great, great guy and he told me not to worry as they’d not leave without me. Somehow they’d find a way to get me in that jumpseat. And despite the best efforts of the gate agent to ensure they didn’t -- they did!

We took off from Atlanta for a 2-hour flight up to NY. The guys showed me tons of stuff and we all had a really good time. I’ve visualized that day, sitting in Carlos’s jumpseat at ASA, pretty much since I started flying. He was almost as excited as I was! Russ has been with ASA for about 15 years, and has been the captain of nearly every aircraft in the fleet. He’s a fun, kind and patient guy, and a very good instructor. Among other things that shall remain unmentioned (to protect the guilty), they let me work the radios for much of the flight. Since I’d been flying jets with Dominion I’d heard the “Candler” call sign of ASA flights and used to answer them back in my mind. So the first time I acknowledged an altitude change as “Candler 178” I smiled big as both guys clapped. I’m becoming a real airline pilot! My last thought as I left the aircraft back home in ATL was that at no point in the flight did I feel overwhelmed or not understand what was happening or about to happen next. My 18 months flying the Citations in the Northeast Corridor have given me a very solid foundation and I’m sure that the coming months’ training will be a bit less traumatic than I’d originally anticipated. But on the shuttle bus back to the hotel at midnight the night before the exam it occurred to me that I’d had a distinct lapse in judgment. I’d chosen to ride the jumpseat rather than put in those much-needed hours with the books. It might have been my first flight with ASA, and if I didn’t pass that test it would also be my last!

Needless to say, it was a long night and an early morning on the day of the exam! But thankfully it all worked out and I passed it with flying colors. Now if only the next 2 weeks’ systems modules go as smoothly….

On the "home" front, little Em-the-cat is doing well. She still wakes me up most mornings between 0430 and 0530, but I've just taken to shoving her off the bed, which seems to shut her up. Eventually she decides to crawl back under the covers and go to sleep, but not before I lie there awake until it's time to get up! To help stave off her boredom I've been "suiting her up" in her little pink harness and leash and taking her outside in the hotel’s grass for an hour or so while I study. She loves to lay in the sunshine and watch the world go by. Unfortunately she's getting fatter by the day -- that's what happens when we don't get enough exercise (I speak from experience on this one!).

Yesterday after the exam we were given our sim partner pairings and simulator schedules. My partner is a nice fellow by the name of Steve, who's a year older than I am. He hails from the Boston area and speaks like Matt Damon. He's been flight instructing for the last few years and has no large aircraft experience. But he's got a good work ethic and isn't afraid of long nights and long days. Which is good, since the two of us were assigned the "Vampire Sim Schedule". We report to the Flight Safety sim bay for 3 hours of pre-flight briefing at 9pm. And then we crawl into the full-motion simulator at midnight for a total of 4 hours. And then we have a post flight briefing from 0400 to 0500. Just in time for breakfast! Thankfully my previous life as a bat will serve me well. And Steve's not too worried about it either. Should be fun at the very least -- I wonder if my skin will become pasty and white after a few weeks of that?!

Thank you to those who’ve sent cards and care packages. I’ve now got plenty of good, healthy (and not-so-healthy) snacks here in the room. At least for a few more weeks. That’s allowed me to concentrate on studying rather than foraging out in the Real World for food. I appreciate the well-wishes and words of encouragement. I am having a great time here, and though I miss Jeanne and Junior a lot, I’m also very happy to be one of the newest members of ASA’s pilot ranks. Seniority Number 1748 out of a total of 1759 – yikes! It’s a great company and we’re all hopeful that with the SkyWest buyout we’ll be in much better hands with a brighter future than we had with Delta. They seem like a really classy company. We still have a contract to fly with Big D through 2020, and hopefully they’ll get a bunch more pilots behind us so I can get off reserve and start holding a decent schedule. But first things first, no?