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All in a Day’s Work
This morning I was scheduled to fly from Phoenix to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and back to Phoenix.
In cool pilot lingo, this is known as a “Dallas turn.” In other words, fly somewhere (Dallas) and ‘turn’ around and fly back (Phoenix).
Overall, an easy day for a pilot. To make things even simpler, both scheduled flights had the same flight number. Yay …
We were assigned gate C39 this morning at the DFW airport.
We had a scheduled 90-minute break between flights in DFW so the three flight attendants and I set off for one of the four Starbucks located within Terminal C for our morning coffee fix.
I had a Texas-sized Coffee Caffè Misto, freshly brewed coffee with steamed milk, a fave! Mmm…
On our return flight home, we had a beautiful view of Tucson as we started our initial descent to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
We flew the Airbus A320 to DFW with only three empty passenger seats. Our return flight to PHX, also an A320, was 100% full!
That was it, done for the day. Overall, not a bad day’s work.
Tomorrow, it’s off to Anchorage, Alaska. To me, thats one of the beauties of flying the Airbus A320 series of jets, a change of scenery.
American Airlines Boeing and Airbus jets
This is a great picture taken by a pilot while taxiing to Terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
A nice mix of the old and new when thinking about today’s American Airlines.
The Boeing 737 and Airbus A319 and A320 jets are parked in the East Hold Bay while waiting for their respective gates to open up.
The New Boeing 737MAX and Aerodynamic Efficiency
I spent nine years flying the Boeing 737–100/200/300 series for America West Airlines based out of Phoenix.
The B737 (Baby Boeing) is a wonderful airplane, very well designed for its mission, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the left seat.
America West B737 picture courtesy of airliners.net
A recent Yahoo article highlights some of the latest aerodynamic and propulsion upgrades to the Baby Boeing as it strives to compete with Airbus and its latest version of the A320, the A320neo.
The newest B737, named the B737MAX, will continue the great legacy of Boeing and become a very successful aircraft enjoyed by pilots and airline management.
For additional information please click on the link here.
Piper Cherokee – 56 Years Old Today
It’s amazing to think about this but, 56 years ago today (January 14, 1960), the very first flight of the Piper PA-28 Cherokee took place!
Picture – courtesy San Diego Air and Space Archive
In my world, the Cherokee is as ubiquitous as the lovable Volkswagen bug.
The Cherokee has been in production since 1961 and more than 32,000 aircraft have been built during those years. WOW!
The Cherokee, and its many variants, is a four seat (three passengers and a pilot), single-engine, light aircraft normally weighing about 2,100 lbs at maximum takeoff weight. It will normally fly anywhere between 3,000′ – 8,000′ at a cruise speed of about 120 mph.
The Cherokee is typically used by many local flight schools for pilot training purposes. I taught may prospective young pilots in many versions of the Cherokee during my days as a flight instructor in Arizona.
I’ve always loved the airplane, very reliable, easy to fly and maintain and a joy to spend an afternoon flying a cross-country flight with students anywhere in AZ.
Always one of my fave single-engine airplanes!
Happy Birthday to a classic!
Aerodynamics and EagleVision
It’s that time again, another aerodynamics class starts next week.
This time, however, I’m teaching the EagleVision Classroom (a virtual classroom that combines Web video conferencing and an LMS system) version of the course. EagleVision Classroom includes scheduled online time and real-time interaction with my students and me.
ERAU Phoenix–Mesa campus
ERAU Classroom
ERAU Worldwide Phoenix-Mesa campus
I’m scheduled to have 13 students across three separate campuses, Phoenix-Mesa, Riverside, California and Seattle.
I’ve spent this afternoon updating the course syllabus, weekly modules, term dates and the like in preparation for next week’s class and look forward to another fun semester!
My last step is to contact my guest speakers and I’m good to go!
Aerodynamics .. Rap Style
I challenged my students to create a 30-second rap video for extra credit.
The theme was what aerodynamics means to the student. This was mostly for my own entertainment to see if anyone would jump on it. To my surprise and delight – one of my students did.
Here is her interpretation of what the class meant to her:
Another One in the Books
ASCI 309 Aerodynamics
ERAU Worldwide Classroom
ERAU Worldwide Classroom
ERAU Worldwide Phoenix-Mesa campus
It’s very hard to believe but another semester of Aerodynamics has ended! Always amazing how fast the nine-week term goes.
Many thanks to Aindrea, Caleb, Jaewon and Sam!
Again, another exceptional group of students!
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience working with my four students, learned something new from each of them and wish them great success in their lives and careers going forward!
Aerodynamics in October
I teach another aerodynamics class for Embry-Riddle Worldwide tomorrow night, 5-8:20pm, through mid December (nine-week semesters).
I teach at the university’s new Phoenix–Mesa campus, which is located at the Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport.
The university has redesigned the undergraduate curriculum increasing the pre-req courses for many of the 300 & 400 level courses, including mine. Therefore, I’ve only four students in my class as many have yet to transition to the new curriculum. Many professors are experiencing similar small class sizes during this time.
Embry-Riddle recently moved to a beautiful, brand new building last month equipped with five classrooms, a student lounge, kitchen, break room and administration offices. It is a slightly larger floor plan than the previous location in Chandler including an additional classroom.
Phoenix-Mesa campus
I met with my boss this morning to go over some last minute details for tomorrow’s class. I teased her saying I should hold my class in the student lounge (they have large very comfy overstuffed leather chairs!) since I’ve such a small group of students.
The Freedom Tower
I was in Newark this morning operating a EWR – PHX flight and had a nice view of the Manhattan skyline and the Freedom Tower.
Although overcast skies this morning at the airport with some light drizzle, the view is always an inspiring one!
From the Left Seat 