Amelia Earhart: Friday’s Fabulous Flyer

Amelia’s adventurous spirit took her to the sky, to where no woman, and in some cases no man, had flown. Her list of firsts is noted in history, but her disappearance may still be a mystery… or is it?

Amelia Earhart

1928: Amelia was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
1932: She took the Atlantic flight solo.

1935 in Hawaii

1935: Amelia was the first ‘person’ to fly solo from Honolulu to California.

Amelia with Duke Kahanamoku

July 2-10 1935 she stayed at the Royal Hawaiian

July 11, 1935

Amelia and her Lockheed Vega

1937: With copilot, Frederick J. Noonan, Amelia attempted to fly around the world. With great sadness her plane was lost somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Island.

Is her disappearance still a mystery? We’ll let you decide. 

In 1992, a search party thought they’d found remnants of Earhart's plane on Nikumaroro , Kiribati. But this was soon disputed by the people who’d worked on her plane.

However … Some believe she survived. Click here to see another view of the mystery.

Click here to watch another level to the mystery

Do you know who the first woman was to successfully complete Amelia’s round-the-world flight, and when?

Enjoy the Journey!

~ Karlene

Drag Required!

Yesterday we learned that the A330, alias Princess, will lie when you interfere with her flight idle descent. Now guys... what can you expect? You interfered with her plan. Perhaps she is just getting even by making your life a little harder. Or perhaps... she's playing with you.

Besides, she's not really lying ... just delaying the truth. Not to mention, she will give you other indications that you're not going to make your profile... you just have to look for them.

Isn't that always the way... the signs are there, you just have to open your eyes?

The best indication that you will make your level off is the blue level-off arrow. But the level-off arrow doesn't instantaneously tell you when you'll level off, instead it continues to recalculate your level off based on your descent speed.

As you go above profile because ATC slowed you up, the blue arrow will continue to creep away. This should be your first indication that you'll be high. The second indication will be the Chinese glide slope. But then, these little green dots will only provide data that you're off your descent by more than 200 feet when they're pegged. Personally, I like the progress page the best.

Bottom line: We need drag to get her down. Interesting enough, the blue level-off arrow doesn't look at speed brakes. However, when you use the speed brakes to get her back on profile, the blue arrow will creep towards you because you're increasing your descent and putting yourself closer to the level off. Basically, you're actually taking her below her flight idle profile because you have to.

Once the blue arrow has moved to where you want the plane to level off, you can stow the speed brakes and she will continue to make that blue arrow level off point. Why? She wasn't counting on speed brakes to make it, therefore when you take them away... she doesn't care. She's on her profile based on your altitude and speed.

Morale of this story... learn how to read your Princess. You might have to babysit her. I'm still learning her ways, and using 3 to 1 for descent planning as a backup. Back to the back to the basics... 30 miles at 10,000 feet is a safe gouge.

Enjoy the Journey!

~ Karlene

A330: Don't interfere with a Smart Woman!

Many mysteries of the female gender will go unsolved until the end of time, and the Princess’ secrets are no different. Don’t ask ‘why’ she does what she does … the best any pilot can do is to know what to expect, know when she’s lying, and what to do about it.

In a perfect world, the A330 strives to fly her profile in managed Nav. This profile plans a flight-idle descent with managed speed. She displays information on the map as to when she’ll manage her speed, per constraint, with a solid magenta dot. She displays a lightening bolt where she’ll intercept the path, a blue arrow for level off, and a white arrow for descent. She displays her constraints in magenta if she’s going to make it, amber if she’s not. If she’s going to make her constraints, speed and or level off, both will be displayed in magenta on the MCDU.

She wants to bring the thrust to idle and perform an idle descent. She’ll decelerate at the magenta D to approach speed, and all the pilot has to do it bring out the flaps and the gear. That's in a perfect world.

The Princess wants to make her profile… and she will, until someone interferes with her plan. When ATC slows you up during your descent, the minute you change your speed from the ‘profile descent speed’ (found on performance page) to a slower speed, you’ve just taken yourself off profile. Once you’ve taken yourself off profile, you no longer will make your restrictions. The worse part of this scenario is the A330 display stays the same… indicating you are going to make the constraint per the magenta indications. Fascinating.

What can you expect… you’ve interfered with her plan.

This is the problem: The Princess will indicate you’re going to make your level off with her magenta colored constraints when you're not. If you know this, you’ll be fine. The easiest way to determine how far you’re off the profile is on the Progress page. Know that if you’ve been slowed, you will be high. The only way to get her back on profile is with speed brakes.

Watch the deviation on the progress page, use the speed brakes, and you’ll can her get back on the profile. All is good. But always keep apprised of the distance remaining and your altitude for profile planning.

Enjoy the journey!


~ Karlene

Mumbai: A Taste of India

The journey continues... And this time to Mumbai!

Mumbai... my first visit. The airport: BOM. Mumbai was formerly knows as Bombay until the name changed in 1996. It's the richest city in India, 2nd most populous, and 3rd largest. And in 2009 Mumbai became an Alpha City... a Global City... that controls a disproportionate amount of world business.

View from my room

I have a great zoom!

We snuck into Mumbai in the middle of the night, and left the same way. While this may be the richest city, poverty cannot be overlooked. The drive to and from the hotel was in the dark of night, but it didn't mask the shacks, the people, and the poverty that lined the streets.

The feeling of guilt swept over me as entered one of the most beautiful hotels. High ceilings, ornate fixtures, and marble paved hallways to a gorgeous room. A glass wall separated my huge bathtub and king sized bed, that overlooked the swimming pool with a view across the lake to the city.

0100... Party in the Crew Room! Snacks, sodas, and good people sharing laughter after a long flight. It's amazing what getting together with the crew can do for a positive impact with CRM.

I was in bed by 0400 a good nap, and awoke in time to support the economy. I actually bought my husband an Elephant for our 29th Wedding Anniversary! And I did a little Christmas shopping for family and friends. This week is the one year anniversary for my Scribe Sisters and they were with me. Yes ladies, I'm taking notes.

0100 departure in the rain...we headed towards Tehran. Note to readers: Tonight was my walkaround and the rain stopped just before I went outside, and started again the moment I stepped back onto the aircraft. This happens to me all the time.

Returning to Amsterdam, 0615, and the "Night" Arrival was sill in process. I had been told it would take me years to get comfortable in the A330. Tonight... despite my exhaustion, she felt really good. The princess and I are slowly becoming friends.

Schiphol Tower

Tomorrow look forward to some realizations about the A330. She is a Princess and she does lie to you. As long as you know what to expect... all will be well.

Until then...

~Enjoy the journey!

Karlene

Andy Matthews: Friday’s Fabulous Flyer

He’s a Pilot! He’s a Golf Pro! He’s an Entrepreneur! And he’s helping pilots manage their workload, and increasing aviation safety ... all in a single engine airplane!

Andy's 1st Solo

For as long as Andy can remember he’s loved flying, and anything to do with airplanes, or airports. When he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d say, “a pilot!” While he didn’t come from a family of aviators, he did have a library full of picture books, and every version of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Andy says, “I perfected my hangar flying from a pretty young age.” He tells me that he spent many wonderful moments with his dad at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in his hometown, Grand Rapids, MI. “We would just sit, watch, listen, and smell everything. There we had some of our greatest father-son moments ever, and occasionally still do.”

Aside from flying, his “earthly passion” is golf, and he began playing when he was 5-years-old. He spent his summers at the golf course, and traveled all over the country competing in junior tournaments, with his mom. He won his first junior championship at age 11.

Andy is filled with gratitude for his parents who enabled him the great opportunity to follow his dream and play on the PGA Tour. Shortly after he graduated from the University of Michigan, he turned professional in 2003 and earned fully-exempt status on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour. He’s played in 6 PGA Tour events (1999, 2007 Buick Open ... 2007 US Open ... 2009, 2010 Puerto Rico Open ... 2010 Honda Classic), spent two seasons on the South African PGA Tour, and most recently notched his first international win this April, at the Mexican PGA Championship in Mazatlan, Mexico. Now he’s much closer than ever to competing with the best players in the world on the PGA Tour.

“I can't talk about my flying without talking about golf as well, because one provided the catalyst for the other.”

In 2006 a family friend purchased a new Cessna 182, and knowing Andy’s love of airplanes, his friend took him for a flight. It had been awhile since he’d been up in a single-engine plane, and this flight reminded him of his desire to learn to fly. He purchased a Cessna Pilot Kit the same week of that flight, and began reading, studying, and watching the DVDs.

He was fully immersed in the golf season, so he wasn’t able fly much, but studying gave him the chance to be productive on the road. He slowly progressed through his training. Unfortunately... or was this a good thing... in the fall of 2007, he suffered an injury and was forced to put away the clubs for the remainder of the year.

When a door closes, another opens. Instead of heading to the golf course each day, he headed to the library to study, or to the airport to fly.

His first solo flight… “I will never forget the rush of adrenaline and feeling of accomplishment the day I flew solo for the first time!” Andy earned his Private Pilot's Certificate later that year. "Of course I wanted my dad to be my first passenger."

In the process of planning their first sight-seeing flight out of Ionia County Airport (Y70), Andy’s dad noticed the large number of aviation-related websites Andy visited, and how much time he spent planning for their flight.

On their way home his dad suggested the need for a simpler way for pilots to complete all those “critical pre-flight tasks.” His dad saw this as a major safety issue. Andy took his dad’s idea, and ran with it… All the way to his college roommate, John Burnside, the founder of Huron One Solutions, a web development firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Together, they began to lay the foundation for what is now iFlightPlanner.com

Andy says, “We looked at what was in the market and noticed that it was the current selection of flight planners that was contributing to the issue of pilots needing to visit multiple sites, because not one of them offered a complete solution. It was then when we made the commitment, that if we were going to take iFlightPlanner to the market, it was going to be the best and most comprehensive flight planning application available.”


 iFlightPlanner is dispatch for the general aviation world. Something we couldn't live without at the airlines, is now available to all pilots!

 iFlightPlanner.com  is the result of their commitment to safety. Andy and John have made retrieving certified weather briefs, computing weight & balance, and filing flight plans easier than ever. Their newest feature brings pilots a Google Maps interface with animated RADAR, seamless VFR and IFR charts, and color-coded weather along routes.  They’ve really put together a fantastic product, and they even have a logbook feature.


Not only do they listen to their users, but they follow through on the feedback. Their map feature was inspired by users’ requests, and now sets them apart from the competition.


Andy says, “By presenting pilots with all the information they need in an accessible and easy-to-use interface we are helping pilots plan more efficiently and fly safer.”

For a man who loves flying, and playing golf, he’s had a great time watching the idea for  iFlightPlanner manifest itself into a product that is truly helping pilots. Whether he’s golfing, flying or increasing aviation safety, Andy is an inspiration to all.

“It has been a lot of fun watching the idea for iFlightPlanner manifest itself into a product that is truly helping pilots. At the same time it has reminded me that you can accomplish anything that you set your mind to. Setting goals has always been a part of my character, but little did I know that my answer when I was asked, "what I wanted to be when I grew up?" was going to take me here. I will always be a golfer, but could not be more excited to have added "pilot" and "entrepreneur" to that list as well!"

Focus. Dedication. Commitment.

It's easy to see why Andy is a success on so many levels.

Mom and Dad... you both have impacted your son's life in so many ways. Dedication, support, and inspiration did your child well. You've done great!

Enjoy the Journey!

 ~Karlene

Auto Tune Mystery Solved!

Scheduling called! A red-eye and I'm back in Detroit. Remember that mystery picture...Westin Hotel. I couldn't give you the answer because I'd forgotten the room number. Murphy's Law... they put me in the same room! 213. Lottery numbers?

Answer to the Auto Tune in Ghana:  Before the Satellite would auto tune, it needed to know where it was. Before it would give us an align prompt... it needed a Satellite, because in Ghana we didn't have ACARS... which needed VHF. The chicken and the egg thing going on.

Solution. We gave it a Departure/Destination in the MCDU. That enabled the alignment prompt. Then we could select align. Once aligned, the plane knew where she was. We then used the SATCOM won't auto tune procedure. We cycled the data base to empty that data, after we were connected, and then were able to upload the accurate data.

Oh...the magic of the planes and the mystery of the minds operating her in the middle of the night on the other side of the world. Life is good!

 I'm off to Amsterdam...then Bombay! Another first.

~ Enjoy the journey!
Karlene

A330 SATCOM Question of the Day

News FLASH:  Writers success: Two 17 hour workdays... after a month of revising in hotel rooms, as I flew around the world... and I finished my novel! Completely done.  I wrote it in just under a year... my goal. Now, no more revisions until an agent says so, and the query process begins.

Back to Flying... something interesting happened the night we were scheduled to depart out of Accra Ghana...

Hurricane Danielle was looming in the distance, a man with an overcoat and wool hat boarded...80 temperatures, it was 0130 in the morning and SATCOM wouldn't connect.  This sounds like the making of an Aviation Thriller... 
SATCOM is a requirement for our departure, and we couldn't uploaded any of our much needed data.

SATCOM message: Log on Inop

After performing the "SATCOM did not Auto Tune" procedure... it still didn't work.

Log on wasn't really inop... it just wouldn't happen because it needed ACARS. In Ghana, there is no VHF to get ACARS... thus, we needed a Satellite.  We selected the correct satellite... but it still didn't work. We cycled the IRUs... and nothing...we didn't get the align prompt.

Do you know why this was occurring and what we did to solve the problem?
I'll be back tomorrow with the answer. But until then... I would love to hear what you think

Enjoy the journey!

~ Karlene