Friday, August 1, 2008

The Training Goes On

Another short post again to report on 767 training.

The Tylenol was not needed and the final week of simulator training went smoothly.

We even spent a session in the latest 757 simulator that has a new flat panel EFIS display. After a lifetime of looking at steam gauges, it took a while to get used to finding the right place to look but once we got the hang of it, the rest of the session moved along nicely. The flat panel is very cool. They tell us that the entire fleet of 767's and 757's will be retrofitted eventually with these units.


Now comes the fun part....back to the line!

I have been away from the 767 for many years so I am required to re-qualify domestically first followed by an international trip.

My domestic qualifying consisted of seven legs and 20 hours of flying over five days. Our qualifying flights are conducted on regular revenue flights. I was accompanied by a check airman in the right seat and about two hundred observers(critics) in the main cabin!
The very first leg included a passing squall line at DFW that brought heavy rain and some pesky windshear. Fortunately we were still boarding when the worst of it rolled through.

These summertime storms usually pass through quickly and such was the case this time.


It was back to business as usual after a delay of about 60 minutes.

The rest of the trip went very well. Five legs were in 757's and two were in 767's.
The final segment was a 767 leg from Los Angeles to Chicago. It took us directly over Las Vegas and then Lake Powell over southern Utah.My landing in Chicago left no doubt in anyone's mind that we had arrived! The check airman noted that I tried to land it like an MD-80. (Close the throttles in the flare and just fly it on to the pavement)

And that's exactly what I was doing when the 767's 290,000 lb landing weight interfered and we impacted runway 14R with a crunch! The 767 requires more of a power-on landing. Old habits can be hard to break.

Oh well, there will be other opportunities to redeem myself.

Next up comes an international trip.....probably somewhere in Europe I'm told.


Once again, stay tuned.

10 comments:

S said...

Awesome post! Those weather shots were crazy..you guys sure get some weather at DFW in the summertime. I heard the 767 is interesting to land from the buddies in my squadron that fly at your company. They all really like the way the 57 flies though!

Len (Barfbag) said...

Hi Otto,
Yeah, springtime weather is also pretty wild here.

That 757 is awesome! I wish I had one for my personal use!

Fly safe.....

Len

S said...

haha you and me both!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting to see how you transition aircraft. You said you've been away from the 767 for many years. Had you flown the 767 in the past as an FO?

I think a lot of us regulars would be interested to hear hours and aircraft types you've flown in your career.

Good luck on the international hop!

Len (Barfbag) said...

Hi JP,

Yes, I was a right seater on the 767 back in 1990 & 1991. I flew mostly European and Caribbean trips back then. I logged about 14oo hours in the right seat of the 767 & 757 those years.

This is a posting of my career progression that you asked about.

http://viewsfromtheleftseat.blogspot.com/2007/10/basics.html

Thanks for reading!

Len

Len (Barfbag) said...

JP

Sorry about that...try this address.

http://viewsfromtheleftseat.
blogspot.com/2007/10/
basics.html

MarkH said...

Hi Len,
I was reading Les Abend's latest article in Flying magazine. He has recently become a check airman on the 757/767 at your airline. Have you flown with him as the check airman?

Mark.

Len (Barfbag) said...

Hi Mark,

Yeah, I read Les's stuff also. I have yet to fly with him.

Len

Michael said...

Hi len

Good to see more posts! You're landing sounds like mine the other day, only i was going into a dirt strip in the middle of nowhere and only had 8 critics! pulled power off a little higher than i thought i was and did a fairly good bounce.

Anyway, great to hear you are back on the line, all the best.

Mike

Len (Barfbag) said...

Hi Mike,

Nice to hear from you again! What are you flying nowadays? Sounds like some fun flying!

Len