Wow, as I sit here and write you this journal tonight, I can’t believe that I only have 2 weeks left of my internship with Continental. I have accomplished so much this summer, but the best is yet to come. Last week I began my 737 training. I spent the first three days of the week in the 737 FTD. Here I learned the basic procedures on how to fly the aircraft and how to perform the checklists properly from memory. We flew all over the United States, learning what it takes to get 150 passengers safely to their destination. What a blast! Flying a huge jet is super fun and relatively simple if you are prepared. After my exciting time in the FTD’s, we attended a Crew Resource Management class Thursday and Friday. Here we learned how to properly fly an aircraft with two pilots in the front. It was very interesting how different flying an airplane can be when you split the cockpit duties between two pilots. After the class on Friday I headed home for a good night’s sleep.

I wasn’t planning on going anywhere this weekend, but Friday night I just couldn’t stand staying in Houston. My simulator partner and I decided to catch a plane to San Francisco, CA Saturday morning for a nice day trip. Boy, I’m glad we did. California was amazing. We arrived in San Fran at 9:30 am and we were presented with a gorgeous California day; 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. What a relief from the 102 degree heat we left back in Houston. We started off the day with lunch at Boudin Sourdough. San Fran is known for their sourdough bread, and wow, what a surprise. They made it fresh there and I had an amazing sandwich. Then, we boarded a ferry boat for a tour of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. It was so neat to see the history of San Fran up close. We concluded our adventure with an amazing Chinese dinner in China Town. He hopped on a plane that night at midnight and I was back in Houston at 6 am.

My weekend was finished off with a full day of studying. Tomorrow is when all of this hard work is going to pay off. I will get up early and head to the training center for one of the most amazing experiences of my life. This week I am going to get the opportunity to fly the full motion simulators for 6 days straight! I will log over 25 hrs in a simulator that flies exactly like the real airplane. I am so excited for this wonderful experience. I hope you guys are continuing to have a nice and relaxing summer. I’m going to catch up on my sleep once again before my big day tomorrow.