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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
I immediately liked this picture because it represents something special to me.
Why is it special to me?
* Traveled to every country represented in this picture.
* Spent 18 years living in Latin America as a young kid. One of my earliest memories was looking up at an airplane flying overhead, as I walked alongside my dad, while living in Honduras. Where this flying thing first started!
* Traveled on AeroMexico, as a passenger, several times back in the day.
* Flown as a Captain on both the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 series jets.
* Flown as a Captain into Canada and Mexico.
* Flown into LAX, one of my faves, on a regular basis since March 1987.
That’s why I love LA! You see everything!
Picture courtesy of airliners.net
For additional information on the airport, click the link LAX.
I cut my teeth in this Beechcraft C99, in the mid ’80s, flying around New Mexico.
Flying the C99 from ABQ to Roswell is essentially the same thing as flying an Airbus A321 from PHX to Denver. The only difference is better food and air-conditioning!
A lot of times while flying the Airbus, I think back to my New Mexico flying days and how this job is simply flying an airplane from A to B. However, I miss the awesome green chili chicken soup at the beautiful Albuquerque airport.
I spent more than 18 years flying both the Boeing 737 and the 757 for America West Airlines (AWA). As such, I can certainly agree with the sentiment expressed in this AZ Republic article regarding the airline.
I started working for America West in January 1987 as a B737 First Officer. Two years later I upgraded to captain. I now currently fly the Airbus A319/320/321. Like many other employees at AWA, I thoroughly enjoyed working for the airline and always felt like I was part of a close-knit family. We always had that can-do spirit.
Now we’re all a proud part of the new American Airlines, with more than 100,000 employees flying around the globe, yet the original AWA crew will always remember where we started.
In my 18+ years with AWA, I’ve flown from Boston to Mexico City to Kauai, worked with a lot of great people and look forward to working with American.
I flew the Shorts 360, a 36-passenger twin-engine turboprop aircraft, as a Captain for StatesWest Airlines for a short time before leaving for America West Airlines.
The Shorts 360 had its first flight 34 years ago this month and was introduced into passenger service in late 1982. Less than 200 aircraft were manufactured by the Irish company. Today the 360 is used by cargo operators.
StatesWest Airlines initially started passenger service in the fall of 1986 with three Shorts 360 aircraft flying from Arizona into southern California.
Instructional Designer turned Instructional Technologist
Adventures of a city girl roaming the desert
A Perspective from 34,000 feet.
A Perspective from 34,000 feet.
From the Left Seat 