Hello again, I hope everyone has had a good summer so far, I know I have!  Well, my second week at Continental started off with a bang.  Monday we had a Corporate Orientation for all of the interns at Continental Airlines.  We went to a big conference room with the interns from the flight, marketing, and engineering departments.   It was fun to finally meet all of the interns that will be working with us this summer.  During the course of the day, we learned everything we ever wanted to know about Continental: the history, how they operate, the aircraft they fly, etc.  Then we proceeded to the Presidential Office luncheon.  It was amazing to see where the executive board of Continental works.   We all had gourmet food for lunch while different Continental managers introduced themselves to us.  The most shocking moment of the day was when the President of Continental came over and chatted with us.  It was very impressive how friendly the second in command was to the interns.  Finally, the CEO of Continental came out and introduced himself and thanked us for making Continental a part of our lives.  After his speech he was kind enough to take a picture with all of the interns.  This was a great jumpstart to the second week, but the best is yet to come.

After Corporate Orientation, the week continued as normal.  My partner and I performed our normal duties as interns, continuously perfecting our skills and learning new strategies to improve efficiency and accuracy.  After a productive week at work, it was time to figure our where we were going to go for the weekend.  I didn’t think we could top Costa Rica, but boy, was I wrong.  We all decided to hop on a late night flight to London on Friday.  We flew on a Boeing 777, possible the greatest plane ever made, and arrived in London 10 hrs later.  On Saturday we checked into our hotel, and walked around to get a feel for London.  On Sunday, we saw all of the sights, including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Piccadilly Circus.  It was awesome being half way across the world for a weekend.  Everyone there was so friendly and we saw lots of history.  After the sights, we went dancing Sunday night and grabbed the early flight out of there on Memorial Day.  It was a weekend full of culture and adventure.  I can’t wait to go back!

I returned to work on Tuesday, where Matt and I ran the show.  My boss was out of town for a safety conference in San Diego.  It was pretty neat running the safety department of the worlds 4th largest airline.  We worked hard all week, and I decided to stay in the states for the weekend.  I went to North Carolina and saw one of my really great friends.  It was a great relaxing weekend full of fun.  As I start my 4th week at Continental, I can’t believe the time has gone by so fast.  I want to be stuck in slow motion so it will never end.  The next few weeks are going to be full of excitement.  Soon, we are going to start our tours of the control tower, maintenance facility, and the FAA facility in Oklahoma.  There are plenty of adventures to come, but until then, it ‘ s time for bed.

Hello everyone, my name is Dodd Bailey Allen Jr. I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Currently, I am a senior at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the Aeronautical Science program with a minor in Aviation Weather. I began flying at the age of 17, and obtained my Private Pilot Certificate during my senior year in High School. Since then, I have obtained my Commercial Pilot (Single/Multi), Instrument rating, Certificated Flight Instructor rating, and Certificated Flight Instructor Instrument rating. Last August, I was given the opportunity to work at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as a part-time flight instructor. This is where my dream of flying has finally begun. Not only do I get to fly everyday, but I get the pleasure of enlightening students on the wonderful world of flying. I typically go to class from 9 am to 1 pm, then flight instruct from 5 pm to 9 pm. I could not be happier with how my flying career has jumpstarted, and it’s about to become even more exciting. This summer, I was granted the opportunity to participate in an internship with Continental Airlines. This journal will note my experiences this summer with this fantastic opportunity.

I began my Journey to Houston, Texas on May 9th, where I moved in to the place I will be living in for the summer. A previous Continental intern, and Express Jet captain is providing me and two other interns housing for the summer. He provides us with a place to stay in a convenient location for an affordable price. After getting settled in to a wonderful townhouse in Downtown Houston, I prepared for orientation on Friday, May 9th.

Bright and early on Friday,the 7 other internsand I proceeded to the Continental building. We were all super excited about this opportunity and could not wait to get started. The day began with an orientationPowerpoint explaining the duties, benefits, and responsibilities of each intern. I will be working in the Safety Department with my partner Matthew Casile, who is also a student at Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach campus. As an intern with Continental we receive many benefits, including a tour of the Houston tower and approach control, the Continental Maintenance facility, and the fire protection department at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport. One of the most beneficial aspects of the Continental internship is the privilege to sit in on several classes at the training center, and receive 20 hrs of 737 Level D simulator training. Finally, we are allowed to travel anywhere Continental flies as long as there is room on the flight. Continental wants the interns to receive the full airline experience. They also promote international travel so the interns can experience cultures from all over the world. After the orientation, we proceeded to the Bush Intercontinental Airport to receive our badges. The airport badges give us permission to pass through security without a boarding pass and allow us to perform preflight inspections with the pilots. The day ended with lunch at the airport. We proceeded home and relaxed for the weekend. Houston is a very friendly city with a lot of fun places to eat and hang out.

On Monday, May 12, it began. I woke up at 7am, got dressed, and began the first of many walks to the Continental Headquarters. My boss met me and Matt downstairs to explain to us the first task we will perform everyday. Continental has a very proactive stance on safety. Every airplane is equipped with a device that records the flight parameters of every flight. It records such inputs as taxi speed, airspeed, pitch attitude, bank angle, etc. Every morning, it is our responsibility to receive these disks and input the data into one of many supercomputers. Once imputed, the supercomputer organizes the data and points out any hazardous flight behavior. The analysts then proceed to investigate these situations, and if necessary, contact the flight crew to discuss ways to prevent unsafe situations. After we input the data, we proceed over to our desks. Here, we analyze and input Captain Safety reports into the Continental safety database. These reports can include anything from a passenger smoking in the lavatory, to a hydraulic malfunction. This provides future pilots ways to prevent safety issues in the future. After these entries are made, we proceed to lunch. When we come back, we are provided with a safety related task for the day. Each of these tasks represents a different part of the safety department. This allows us to get the full experience of what it is like to keep the flight operations safe everyday. The day concludes at 4 pm where we proceed home to relax.

This first week was a true learning experience to say the least. Matt and I perfected our skills at each task, and by Friday, we were able to run the show without incident. Now, that was a taste of our first work week. Every week, our tasks will become more complicated and I look forward to the challenge. But now it is time to explain to you just how fun and exiting an internship can be. Remember the flight benefits? Well, the interns and I decided to try them out this weekend and all I have to say is WOW. Friday at 5 pm, we proceeded to the Houston Airport to catch a plane to San Jose, Costa Rica. This was my first time traveling outside of the Country and I was super excited. We arrived at San Jose at 9 pm, where we proceeded to our hotel. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and proceeded to dinner. We ate at a wonderful Costa Rica restaurant and experienced their friendly atmosphere. The food is amazing, and consists mostly of chicken, beef, and rice. It is similar to the typical Mexican food you eat here in the states, just more authentic. We then proceeded to experience the true art of salsa dancing. I have to say, that was the most fun I have ever had dancing. The cultural experience was truly priceless. After dancing, we proceeded back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and took a taxi for our tour for the day. We drove through the mountains on the outskirts of San Jose, andto the rainforest. Yes, the actual rainforest in Central America!!!! We arrived and experienced something that I never thought would be possible. We rode on a railway above the treetops and saw the rainforest from above. I will have pictures of this amazing adventure up soon. It was an hour long ride that allowed us to experience just how fascinating Mother Nature can be. After the tour we proceeded back to San Jose for dinner. We relaxed and socialized with locals that night and flew home at 7 am the next morning. We were in Costa Rica for a total of 36 hours, and I have to say, those were the most exciting 36 hours of my life!

As I am writing this article to you tonight, I still can’t believe I was in the rainforest 24 hours ago! I am getting ready for bed and to start week number two. I wish all of you a wonderful week ahead. I look forward to sharing with you my experiences this summer. Time for bed.

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I sure did! I had a wonderful time back at home in Dallas, Texas, however, it’s now time to start my last semester of college. I can’t believe it’s finally here. It seems like yesterday I was driving to Daytona Beach about to experience my first year at college, and now I’m almost done. I never believed my father when he said one day you’ll wake up and be 50 and your life will be half over. But now I know what he means. Every year I get older, they seem to go by faster and faster. So my advice to you all is to cherish every moment of your life. Have fun, work hard, and enjoy everything around you. You’re only in college once, make the most of it!

This semester is going to be an interesting one. It will be very different from my last few semesters. I’m still going to be teaching and performing my Team Safety Leader duties, however, all of my classes are not related to aviation. I’m going to be taking Weather for Aircrews, US History, and Technology and Modern Civilization. Doesn’t sound fun, however, it should be interesting. It will be good for me to have a couple of different types of classes. I am also going to be taking the CRJ course later this semester.

Weather for Aircrews is going to be a very interesting course. We are going to learn how to read weather charts from all over the world, how to analyze and forecast weather, and about the different weather trends that occur in each country. This will be a skill that will be extremely useful in helping me interpret weather information before every flight. I can also pass this useful information over to my students after I learn everything. This should be an extremely rewarding class.

US history will definitely be my most challenging class this semester. I haven’t taken a history class since high school, so I’m going to have to do a lot of outside work and studying to ensure I do well. But it will be good for me to get back into history.

Technology and Modern Civilization is actually going to be a pretty fun class. It is my last humanities class and deals with how the development of technology has changed the social aspect of living. It will be extremely educational and fun at the same time. I love to write .

Finally, the CRJ course is going to be the best of them all. It will be very similar to the training I received at Continental on how to fly the 737-700. You can read about that experience in the journals I wrote while I was at Continental last summer. The only difference is that I will be learning how to fly the CRJ-200. I can’t wait. I’ll give everyone more detail on this class once it begins in March.

I look forward to sharing my last semester at Riddle with you all. Have a great week!