Pre-Delivery and Test Flight of a B777

MUKILTEO, WA – On Tuesday of this week, our Aircraft Programs team did a customer walk on the B777-300ER (C-FKAU, FIN 749) Air Canada is receiving next week. Our team consists of various managers, mechanics, and engineers. The customer walk is an important step because it is basically a final inspection of the aircraft before delivery.

Air Canada and Boeing inspected the aircraft for the day and looked for snags and other issues on the airplane. We had to put a piece of red tape when we snagged something on the plane. We tested the mechanical characteristics of the seats, such as recline, headrest, armrest, and tray table. The team also tested the flight attendant call button and reading light from every seats. Over 400 seats were inspected during the day!

(Photo Credits: Jen Schuld)

Our Boeing 777-300ER landing at Paine Field after a successful test flight on May 18. (Photo Credits: Jennifer Schuld)

Test Flight (C1)

The next morning, I was aboard the customer test flight (C1) of the aircraft. It is the second test flight of the plane since it was built. The flight lasted around 2h45 with a touch-and-go and a go-around at Moses Lake (KMWH). The aircraft headed West of the state of Washington after takeoff from Paine Field. The Boeing 777 then followed the shoreline to the South before taking a left turn towards the East. At our cruising altitude of 39,000 feet, the pilots performed several tests on the aircraft.

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Flight path of the  aircraft via FlightRadar24.

Go-around at Moses Lake.

Go-around at Moses Lake.

Some of the tests included the extension of the flaps and the slats close to cruising altitude. The spoilers (speed brakes) were also deployed for a short period of time.

Extension of the flaps.

Extension of the flaps.

Extension of the spoilers.

Extension of the spoilers.

The landing gear was also extended during the flight. The cabin started to shake when the gear was deployed because the aircraft was flying in cruise phase at a higher speed than usual when the aircraft is about to normally land at a lower speed. The gear is the part of the aircraft that creates the most drag.

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Flying over the mountains in the beautiful state of Washington.

The flight crew decompressed the cabin at an altitude of 39,000 feet with a feeling for the passengers that the cabin was pressured at 11,000, 12,000, and 13,000 feet. The cabin is usually pressurized at 8,000 feet for the comfort of the passengers. At lower cabin pressure altitudes, passengers will feel better and rested after a long flight. The Boeing 787 is pressurized at 6,000 feet, which is an improvement from the current generation of aircraft.

Blue skies!

Blue skies ahead!

Flight deck of the Boeing 777-300ER (77W).

Flight deck of the Boeing 777-300ER during flight.

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Flight line of Boeing 787s at Boeing Everett Factory.

I am now heading back home to Eastern Canada for the long weekend (Victoria Day). I am not working on Monday since our office is closed for the Holiday! Next Tuesday, I am leaving the Aircraft Programs team and I will be joining the Network Planning group for the rest of the summer. During my trip, I had the opportunity to tour one-on-one the Boeing Everett Factory! Stay tuned for an overview of the factory tour as well as my first few days in the Network Planning department.

Nicolas


Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

Aircraft Programs: Post-Delivery of a B777

Last week, I started my internship at Air Canada. I am working with the Aircraft Programs team until the end of this week. Next week, I will head to the Network Planning department for the remaining of the summer.

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Economy cabin of Air Canada’s Boeing 777-300ER (77W) in a high density configuration of 450 passengers, which includes 28 Business, 21 Premium Economy, and 398 Economy class seats.

I spent most of my first days in the cabin of a Boeing 777-300ER. This aircraft was just delivered from Boeing a few weeks ago. It is now sitting outside on the tarmac at a maintenance facility in Mirabel, Canada, about 30 miles from the Montreal Airport. I was shadowing an Aircraft Program Manager while he was performing his duties of post delivery. The aircraft needs to be ready soon because it will enter fly its first revenue flight next week from Toronto to Vancouver.

Flight deck of the Boeing 777.

Flight deck of the Boeing 777.

The manager has to make sure the aircraft gets ready before entry into service (EIS). Many tests had to be completed to ensure all the systems work perfectly. All oxygen masks should drop from the overhead panel. Most of the resting was related to the inflight entertainment system (IFE). We played movies as well as the safety video. All the functions of the business class seat such as reclining were tested.

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My favorite features of this aircraft are the meal order and text messaging functionality. Passengers can order drinks and meals from their own seat. There is even an option to add ice and a lemon in your glass/cup. They can also buy duty-free products aboard the airplane. Customers are also able to message their friends and relatives or any other passenger on the flight.

Passengers can order refreshments, meals, and duty free items from their personal seat.

Passengers can order refreshments, meals, and duty free items from their personal seat.

I had the chance to pretty much explore the whole aircraft! I saw a crew rest for the first time. On the Boeing 777 there are two beds and two seats at the front of the cabin on the second floor. For the flight attendants, there are eight beds at the rear of the aircraft on the second floor.

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Door to enter the rear flight attendant rest area.

Rear flight attendant rest area.

Rear flight attendant rest area.

I am really happy and blessed to have the opportunity to do this. What can an Embry-Riddle student ask more than spending entire afternoons aboard an aircraft!?

Until next time!

Nicolas


Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

Short Trip to Seattle

This week, I am in the Seattle/Tacoma area from Monday to Thursday. I will be joining the Aircraft Programs team for the inspection of our 19th and last Boeing 777 to be delivered from Everett, Washington next week. It was the first time I was flying as a non-revenue passenger.

Beautiful sunset over the SeaTac area.

Beautiful sunset over the SeaTac area.

One of the perk of working as a summer intern for an airline are the travel privileges. Some airlines allow you to fly on standby on all of their flights if seats are available. Employees only have to pay taxes and other related fees. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to discover Air Canada’s network this summer since the air carrier requires its employees to work for six months before being granted flight benefits.

My first flight was from Montreal to Toronto. I then flew from Toronto to Seattle.  I was upgraded on both of my flights! For the short 53-minute flight to Toronto, I was flying on an Airbus A330 featuring fully lie-flat beds. The aircraft was completely empty. Only 10 of the 37 upfront premium seats were occupied. On the second flight I was onboard an Embraer 190, the smallest mainline aircraft in our fleet.

Cheese plate and nuts offered in Business Class from Montreal to Toronto.

Cheese plate and nuts offered in Business Class from Montreal to Toronto.

Chicken or pasta was served as the main course on the flight to Seattle.

Chicken or pasta was served as the main course on the flight to Seattle.

Paine Field is where I will spend the next couple of days. The airport is home of Boeing where it completes the assembly of the 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s aircraft. The Boeing 737 family of aircraft is made in Renton, WA. Our team will be inspecting the aircraft because it wants to makes sure everything works well on the aircraft before delivery. I will write a story about this exciting trip very soon.

Until next time!

Nicolas


Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

Summer Has Arrived

Summer has officially arrived, and to say the absolute least, I am very excited! While I do enjoy school, it is nice to enjoy a little R&R and a change of pace.

I only had three final tests this semester, and only one of them was cumulative. With my last final being over at 5PM on Tuesday, May 3, I wasted no time by flying home the following morning.

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My inbound aircraft arrives before heading home

It was quite nice to spend a week at home with family and friends and just to relax a little; the last three weeks of school were extremely busy between work, final semester tests, finals, and term papers so some R&R was much needed.

All too soon it was time to return back to Florida for less than 72 hours to pack up and drive up to Atlanta to start my internship at Delta this summer! Stay tuned

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It’s almost time for my summer at Delta to take-off!

Summer Plans

Finals are now over for Embry-Riddle students! For some, it’s finally summer and it is time to rest and relax. For others, jobs and internships are starting in the following weeks.

In my last blog, I mentioned that I would be flying on Delta’s first Airbus A321 flight on May 2. However, the airline made a last minute equipment change and postponed the inaugural  flight. I therefore cancelled my trip to Atlanta on that day.

Last week, my friend flew down from Canada and visited me in Daytona Beach. We enjoyed the beach and warm weather before leaving Florida on Saturday to drive my car up to Canada. The drive from Daytona to Montreal is about 1,400 miles and two days of driving. The first day, we drove close to 1,000 miles and stopped for the night close to Philadelphia. The second day, we drove about seven hours to see my brother in Boston. The next day, we drove the last five hours to Canada. I was exhausted after arriving home in the late afternoon!

Photo Credits: Air Canada

Photo Credits: Air Canada

Now I barely have time to rest since I am starting a summer internship at Air Canada in Network Planning on Wednesday of this week. For the first two weeks of the internship, I will be working with the Aircraft Programs team. It is the department that buys and leases aircraft for Air Canada. After that, I will be spending the rest of my internship in Network Planning. Stay tuned all summer to learn more about my internship!

I hope everyone enjoys their summer!

Nicolas


Contact the author at berniern@y.erau.edu

Two Week Recap

These past two weeks have been pretty crazy around Embry-Riddle. Last week was Finals Week, which means all of us students were studying, not sleeping, and trying to pack up our belongings, all at the same time.

Finals run from Saturday through Wednesday (excluding Sunday). Luckily, I only had to take three exams, instead of five! I had Business Law, Marketing, and Business Quantitative Methods exams. None of them were on the same day, which was nice. Last year I had two exams on the same day, and that was not fun at all. I managed to earn all A’s on my final exams, which was such an awesome end to the semester!

Unlike last year, I also did not have to be out of my dorm room after my last exam, so I wasn’t rushing to pack my room, either. I chose to stay a bit longer in Daytona, which allowed me to pack up my room at my leisure. It also allowed me to focus on checking out my residents, for whom I am an Resident Assistant, or RA. It’s taken me about four days to get everything packed up and moved into storage. I really did not realize just how much stuff I had until I had to move it all. Word of advice: do not bring anything unnecessary to school with you!!

I stayed an extra week in Daytona so that I could help out with Summer A Orientation. It started today, and ends tomorrow. I am working with the O-Team to make sure the new students feel welcome at ERAU. I love working doing this because I get to be that first impression of ERAU for a student. I like to help other students, and the perfect way to do that is by greeting them at Orientation. Although Summer Orientation is nowhere near as crazy and hype as Fall Orientation, it is still a lot of fun getting to bond with everyone.

On my couple days off, I was working at my on-campus job, as well as taking in the last few days I had in Florida. I work at the University Development Office, so I was helping them get some projects finished up during the mornings. In the evenings, I went out to try restaurants I had always wanted to go to. I also spent one day at the beach, since I need to get some color on my skin before I go back to Washington for the summer! Of course, I also had to take in my last weekend at Disney for awhile. I spent Saturday and Sunday at Disney World. It was the perfect time to go, since there weren’t large crowds and it wasn’t too hot. It was nice to have one last mini vacation before I return home for the summer to work at my internship.

Enjoying a Dole Whip at Disney World

The next update will be from Washington, since I am leaving Florida tomorrow! I’ll keep you updated on how quickly I get acclimated to Washington, again. Let’s hope it’s not too chilly up there!

Until next time,

Lindsey

 

Exploring the West

As my last adventure of the Spring semester, I had the privilege of traveling out west with the Admissions team. Our itinerary included Denver, Los Angeles, and Seattle during the course of five days. Needless to say, it was a lot of time spent in an airplane.

The beginning of our trip didn’t start out as planned, since our flight out of Daytona to Atlanta was delayed for three hours. After rebooking our flight twice, we finally made it to Denver with just a few hours to spare before the event. As an ERAU student, naturally I was excited to go to Denver International Airport, since there are so many conspiracies surrounding it. I was surprised when we landed to see that there was still snow on the ground! After admiring the snow and the Rocky Mountains, we got to the restaurant where we were going to be hosting our dinner event. A lot of families showed up, and I was able to talk with them about ERAU Daytona Beach Campus.

After a successful event in Denver, it was off to Los Angeles! We woke up very early in the morning to catch a flight to Salt Lake City, where we would be making our connection. I had never flown into SLC during the daylight hours, so I enjoyed the views of the mountains, and the lake.

Approach into SLC at sunrise

Once we made it to LA, we hit the ground running. After all, what else are you supposed to do when you have an entire free day in Los Angeles? First stop: In-N-Out Burger. A California classic. This restaurant was conveniently located at the end of one of the runways at LAX. So, we enjoyed plane-spotting while drinking our milkshakes. You could definitely tell we were from Embry-Riddle, since we oohed and ahhed when the 777s and 787s came in for landing. Once we got our burger fix, we headed out to explore the city, after a quick check-in to our hotel, of course.

Our first tourist destination was the Hollywood Sign. We drove up into the hills and took pictures of it in the distance from the Griffith Observatory. Somehow, we also managed to get into the Griffith Observatory to look around for a bit. We didn’t have much time to spare though, since our next stop was a tour at the Warner Brothers Studios. I had been to Los Angeles a couple times before, but had never done the tour before, so I was quite excited! Once we arrived at the Studios in Burbank, we were greeted with the bustling of television production. The tour lasted a couple hours, and we got to see Harry Potter costumes, sound stages where Pretty Little Liars, Friends, and the Big Bang Theory were filmed, as well as many other awesome things! Once the tour was over, we drove out to Santa Monica to visit the famous pier. Little did we know that there were severe wind advisories for that area! We were freezing! However, a little wind didn’t stop us. We ate at a restaurant on the pier and watched the sunset. It was the perfect end to a busy day, or so we thought. On the way back towards our hotel in downtown, we decided that we couldn’t leave LA without driving down Hollywood Boulevard. We got to see the stars on the sidewalks, the famous theaters, and Jimmy Kimmel Live’s studio!

View of the Hollywood Sign from the Griffith Observatory

Sitting on the Friends couch

Santa Monica Pier

Obviously, we maximized our free time in Los Angeles. The next day, we walked to the restaurant where we were hosting the luncheon. Our hotel was across from the Staples Center, so we also got to take some pictures of it while we were passing through. The event was very successful, and once again, I got to speak with many families about Embry-Riddle! It has turned into one of my passions. I love to see the excitement on students’ faces when they talk about attending ERAU.

Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles

After LA, we headed to our final destination, which was Seattle! I was excited to be back in my hometown, even if it was just for a day. Our hotel was in Pioneer Square, which is one of the most historic districts of Seattle. We were hungry after a long evening of travel, so we found the oldest bar in Seattle. However, we had to sit outside to eat, since I am not yet 21. The burgers were to die for, and our server was hilarious. It was around 50 degrees while we were eating, but it was definitely worth it. The next day, the event in Seattle was another luncheon. It was a smaller crowd, and it was special to me since my family was in attendance. My younger sister is going to be attending Embry-Riddle in August!

Once the event was over, my family joined us, and we all went to Pike Place Market and the Gum Wall. Thankfully it stopped raining just in time! We bought flowers, went to Beecher’s, and bought salmon from the famous Pike Place Fish Market. After a nice lunch on the pier, the ERAU Admissions team went to explore Seattle. We visited the Space Needle, of course. I also took them to see a lesser known tourist attraction: the Fremont Troll. It is a big troll that was sculpted underneath the bridge between Seattle and Fremont.

Approach into SEA over downtown

My sister and I at the Gum Wall

By that time, we were all exhausted just in time for our red eye flight back to Daytona! The entire trip was filled with laughter and good conversations. I enjoyed meeting some members of the ERAU Class of 2020! Now that the trip is over, I am looking forward to the next West Coast trip next year!

Until next time,

Lindsey

We’ve Made It!

Well, this is the last post for the semester which means that this is the end of my second year here at Riddle. Looking back at when I started as a freshmen, I definitely changed a lot since I checked into my room in Wood hall four semesters ago.

A lot has happened since my last post: Touch ‘n’ Go had their annual big show with American Authors, The Avion Newspaper had it’s annual incentive, and I got to go to an airshow!

Because I missed out on a lot, and I don’t want to make you guys read like a 16 page paper about my life, here are some photos to look at instead:

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At this point really, all I have left are finals: Three, not including my take home final for humanities. After that, I drive my car to Sanford, ride the Autotrain to Virginia and then drive to New Jersey.

Good luck to everyone on your finals and to all of the new incoming freshmen, adventure awaits you in the Fall.

It’s Almost Summer!

Last Thursday was the final day of classes of the Spring 2016 semester. Friday is a study day before the first day of exams starts. The Hunt Library is providing donuts and other snacks to students in the evening in an event called “Cram With Cookies.” I have no idea why “cookies” is mentioned because they mainly serve donuts…strange.

Finals will begin on Saturday and continue from Monday to Wednesday evening. I was lucky this semester to be exempted from a few final exams. In my Airport Management class (BA 310), we did not have any quizzes nor exams throughout the semester which was fun. Instead, the professor gave us four assignments related to the airport industry, such as airport security. At the end of the semester we were assigned a large group project and a take home final exam consisting of four short essays which were quite similar to the assignments.

In my Airline-Operations class, we had a total of two exams during the semester, excluding the final. The professor would drop the lowest grade of the three exams so you didn’t have to take the final if you were satisfied with your current grade in the course.

This semester I have to take three finals: International Aviation Management (BA 426), Corporate Finance I (BA 332), and Managerial Accounting (BA 312). Like my colleague Jack mentioned in his latest story, most of the finals in the College of Business are just a regular test and are not cumulative. My only cumulative exam is in my Finance class where I will have to refresh my mind with the material we studied back in January.

This weekend, I plan to study for finals obviously and enjoy my last days in the beautiful sunny and warm weather of Florida before heading back home for the summer. On Monday, I am taking a study break as I will be flying to Atlanta to be onboard’s Delta’s inaugural passenger flight of the Airbus A321 that was just delivered over a month ago. The airline has ordered a total of 82 airframes. The first flight is scheduled to depart Atlanta (ATL) at 8:55AM and arrive at 10:19AM in Orlando (MCO). Stay tuned for a summary of the flight and some pictures!

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Photo Credits: Delta

In the meantime, I wish all of the students from our Daytona Beach, Prescott, and Worldwide campus good luck on their finals. Go Eagles!

Until next time!

Nicolas


Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

Finals Are Around The Corner

Less than a week remains of the Spring 2016 semester, and I am counting down the days, hours, and minutes until I get to go home for a week!

Classes:

All of my projects and papers have been turned in, including the dreaded Technical Report for my COM221 class (Technical Writing). The projects and papers were fun to work on, and it helped that most of the projects and papers required teams to work on them which makes them a little less work intensive.

All that all that’s left are three finals! Although two of my “finals” are just regular tests over the last bit of material we covered during the last month of classes, and only one is a cumulative final over all of the material we have covered this semester.

College finals may seem scary, but overall, they are not too bad. Our professors always try to give us some guidance, and in the end, most of the finals are just regular tests.

Work:

Things in Career Service have been quite busy the last few weeks. One cool thing is that students can earn college credit for going out on a Co-Op or internship! Since there are lots of students going out on internships and co-ops, the office is busy as there is a lot of paperwork that is done through our office.

In the Fall, I will continue working as a Student Assistant in Career Services, but I will also work as a Peer Mentor in University 101 for First Year Programs. I am really looking forward to this opportunity!