Flying All Over America – Part 2

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I hope you guys enjoyed Part 1 of my long trip across the United States. In the second part, I will cover the rest of the trip from San Francisco to Orlando with a connecting stop in Minneapolis.

Due to our long delay back in Atlanta, we had less time to spend at San Francisco International Airport than expected. We used our time wisely to walk around the terminal/concourse. Below is a gallery of the pictures of some of the planes we saw:

After our quick tour, we boarded the plane for Minneapolis. Shortly after takeoff, we were served complimentary beverages and snacks, and I ordered the new Luvo chicken wrap the airline made available at 30,00 feet in the past few weeks. It was very good! For the remaining duration of the flight, I worked on homework while listening to music. I also took pictures of the outside sceneries over Utah and Wyoming.

Ski station over the state of Wyoming

A ski station over the state of Wyoming.

Somewhere over Wyoming!

Somewhere over Wyoming!

Arrived in MSP, I thought it felt like when I arrive in Montreal! It is cold and there is snow. Ironically, it was colder in Atlanta than in Minneapolis. Jack showed me a cool place in Concourse D. We went up in an observatory over the terminal where we can see the airline’s ramp operations. Our plane from California landed about half an hour earlier so we were fortunate to have more time to explore the airport of Minneapolis. It was my first time at MSP so my friend showed me around (close to the whole airport). It was night by the time we landed so I couldn’t take any photos due to the reflection in the windows.

Last leg of the day: MSP to MCO.

Last leg of the day: MSP to MCO.

For the last leg of the trip to the Sunshine State, we both got upgraded to First Class. The plane was quite empty where there were even 2 front seats that were unoccupied and all most of the Comfort+ seats empty. It is the first time of the day that I started to get tired after a long day. I was happy to have made through the whole day. I actually thought I would be tired after the long transcontinental flight from ATL to SFO, but I wasn’t.

Upgraded to First Class on our flight between MSP and MCO. For dinner was a tomato basil soup, followed by a salmon with basmati rice, and a toffee almond cookie for dessert.

Upgraded to First Class on our flight between MSP and MCO. For dinner was a tomato basil soup, followed by salmon with basmati rice, and a toffee almond cookie for dessert.

Since 6:00AM of that morning flight, I have kept most of the complimentary snacks the flight attendants passed around. I had quite a large collection by the last flight!

I accumulated many snacks over the day!

I accumulated many snacks over the day!

Overall, we had flown 5,500 miles while sitting around 17 hours on an aircraft during a timespan of 18 hours. That is a lot of flying! We calculated that we paid less than 30 cents per minute (~$17 per hour) to fly around the country in one day! It was definitely worth it! I hope I will fly again this year on a crazier trip than this one if possible!

On our way back to Florida after a long day of flying!

On our way back to Florida after a long day of flying!

Until next time!

Nicolas

Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

Flying All Over America – Part 1

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Hello!

This past Saturday, I flew over 21 states over the United States in less than 24 hours. I did this long trip with my friend Jack, who is also a student journal writer for Embry-Riddle. What was the purpose of this trip? We wanted to fly together just for fun. We would also accumulate more than 5,000 miles on this long journey.

Here was our planned itinerary: Orlando (MCO) – Atlanta (ATL) – San Francisco (SFO) – Minneapolis (MSP) – Orlando (MCO). In Part 1 of this exciting story, I will cover the flight segments until SFO. The remaining two flights until we land in MCO will be covered in Part 2.

Long flight ahead: ATL to SFO.

Long flight ahead: ATL to SFO.

Our day started very early has we had to drive to catch a 6:00AM flight in Orlando. The first flight to Atlanta was just over an hour from wheels up to touchdown. The thing I like about early morning flights is that you can see the sunrise from above.

When we arrived at the busiest airport of the world, we did not have much time to connect to for our next flight. Fortunately, our arriving flight and our departing flight were in the same concourse, so we did not have to take the Plane Train.

For the transcontinental flight to San Francisco, we were onboard a Boeing 767-300ER with one of Delta’s international configuration featuring lie-flat beds. I wished we got upgraded to the front cabin! We were seated in the first row of Comfort+ at an exit row, so we had plenty of legroom and space to walk around during the duration of the flight.

Delta has a crew base in SFO and uses this aircraft (B767-300ER) for transcontinental flights to New York-JFK and Atlanta.

Delta has a crew base in SFO and uses this aircraft (B767-300ER) for transcontinental flights to New York-JFK and Atlanta.

All the passengers were settled in their seat for an on-time departure when the captain announced a delay due to a problem with the main door. The door could not close and maintenance had to replace a part. The missing part of the door took a long time to arrive at the aircraft and it lead to a delay of about an hour before we got cleared for pushback.

My friend Jack and I are discussing with the flight crew while we were waiting for maintenance to repair a part on the main door.

My friend Jack and I are discussing with the flight crew while we were waiting for maintenance to repair a part on the main door.

In the mean time, we were granted permission by one of the flight attendants to go check out the flight deck. We spent about 45 minute talking with the first officer about aviation. The time went by fast and we returned to our seats because the airplane was ready to leave the gate.

The first officer's notes before the flight.

The first officer’s notes before the flight.

During the flight, we worked on a project for our Airline-Airport Operations class. We had to select an airport or airline and write a report on it. We were actually productive on that flight and did homework! As we approached the state of California, the flight attendants made a trivia to the passengers asking four questions related to the Super Bowl. The folks who got the most right answers would win a bottle of wine (I wished the question would be related on Delta!).

The attendants on our flight to SFO made a trivia with questions related to the Super Bowl. The passengers who got the correct answers got a bottle of wine!

The flight attendants on our flight to SFO made a trivia with questions related to the Super Bowl.

When we booked the trip at the beginning of the semester, we did not know it was during the Super Bowl weekend. At first, we thought the airport in San Francisco would be crowded, but it was not! At least for the time we were there.

Story to follow in Part 2!

Nicolas

Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

5th Week Update

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Happy Monday everyone! Or should I say one of the busiest Mondays ever! I hope your weekend was great! Congratulations to the Denver Broncos on their Super Bowl 50 win! It was really an amazing game. Defensive and offensive. I don’t really follow football, but I did go for the Carolina Panthers solely because I liked the color blue on their uniforms. Anyway, it’s the 5th week of school! One of the craziest weeks scheduled so far! As for today, I had class from 8:00a – 12:00p. I lucked out and did not have a quiz in Physics today. Everyone was exhausted and I am assuming the teacher was too. From 12:00p – 5:00p it was studying after studying for my calculus exam tomorrow. 5:00p – 7:00p was an officers meeting for Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. We got a lot accomplished! We decided on our trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the website, and also decided to host a fundraiser next Tuesday! Progress!

Unfortunately this is not the end of my day. 7:30p – 8:00p dinner, 8:00p – 9:00p studying for calculus, again, 9:00p – odd hours of the night studying calculus with a friend – whenever I sleep is humanities homework. So a very packed and crazy Monday/Tuesday. However, I really am excited for this week because I have my first NASA Solar System Ambassador (SSA) telecom with NASA! Super exciting! I have to complete my Orientation and Training tomorrow along with my other homework. At this rate, this week may never end!

BUT it is a holiday week! A double header…almost! Valentine’s Day is on Sunday! A time for love and love and more love. I am a very crafty person and have a lot of fun creative gifts for my boyfriend. I also plan on making cupcakes for my friends. For all of you Valentine’s Day celebraters, have fun! Love and give someone a hug! Or a cupcake! President’s Day is on Monday and we do not have school. Yay break!

Almost a break for me, I have a research meeting, lunch meeting, fundraising meeting, and officer meeting on Monday so looks like more going and going. I will tell you this, one thing about Riddle that I love is that it doesn’t matter if it is the classes, or the clubs, you will ALWAYS be busy. For a person like me, who loves being busy, I absolutely love it. If I am not busy, I will find something to do whether that is to finally start my Russian Rosetta Stone, read, or watch Netflix. When I am busy, I feel like I am creating the best out of life. I am in college, this is the time to work your butt off for the career you want, and I feel like I am fulfilling that to the max! It makes me happy.

Speaking about college and career, registration for summer classes is on Wednesday! For the crazy people like me, I will be attending Summer A and B. However, for those of you on the fence about summer classes, here is some advice from someone who took summer classes last semester, me. I personally LOVE summer classes. It is tough and condensed, but you get the chance to get ahead and leave the “not so fun classes” for the summer, therefore you knock them out a lot quicker. It gives you a quicker graduation date, which means starting your career quicker. Think about it.

Anyway, it’s off to dinner and more studying/homework for me. Have a great week everyone and study hard!

Got Anymore of Them “Time Management” Tips?

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I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I have been back. It definitely feels like I’ve been back a lot longer than that.

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A few weeks ago, Embry-Riddle had its 2nd annual Activities Fair which was cool.

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A lot of campus organizations had tables and stands on display for the day-long event.

I hope everyone’s been doing alright, I wish I could say that for myself. School is definitely starting to pick up and the 4 jobs I have currently are starting to take a toll on me. I think that the key is time management which I need to get severely better at.

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In my career as a photographer, this was the first time I have ever shot baseball. Definitely need more practice.

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“Another one bites the dust.”

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Not a lot has happened since my last update, sadly. The Avion Newspaper is still going strong as we just published our 3rd issue for the semester, I had my first appointment of the semester at the Digital Studio on Monday, and there’s definitely a lot of work to be done for IT.

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Embry-Riddle also had their Family Weekend recently.

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Students were encouraged to invite their family and friends to visit them at the Daytona Beach campus.

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Class wise, things are definitely picking up. I find myself seeking more and more help for homework and assignments, which isn’t really a bad thing. If anything, it benefits you since you’re getting one-on-one instruction by your professor, and it shows your professor that you’re serious about learning.

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The Amateur Astronomy Club also had their Astronomy Open House around the same time.

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Attendees were treated to a presentation by a visiting professor from the University of Kansas regarding dark matter, dark energy, and the expansion of the universe.

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The event was highly received.

My Sci-Fi humanities class is really interesting. We just finished reading H.G. Well’s The Time Machine, and instead of writing a traditional essay, we have to make a webpage from scratch in HTML. Personally I think this a really neat and interesting approach because we are learning interdisciplinary along with coding; definitely a unique combination.

I am sorry if this month’s update was not as exciting as my earlier ones. Hopefully with the semester entering its 5th week, things will start to pick up.

As always, thank you for reading and I will see you next time.

kennedy space center

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Happy Thursday! One more day until Friday! Luckily, I have Thursdays off so I get to 12650865_945490092225667_1428436728302887699_nrelax a bit before homework and studying. Anyway, last week ERAU hosted the Student Activities Fair here on campus. It was a great success! Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. won Jeopardy last semester so we got the chance for early registration. We picked a table right in front of the College of Arts and Science. Prime real estate! It was a total success. We had 68 people sign up and stop by the booth. We brought the famous space man out, our rockets, the ASRV, weather balloon and much more! I lucked out this year at the Student Activities Fair. I had 10 volunteers from the club.

The one thing I really enjoy about the Student Activities Fair each semester is that it gives the club officers, as well as the members, a chance to meet new faces and expand the 12592176_945490398892303_4947177117157208639_nknowledge of their organization and their mission. For instance, when I was at the booth for Society 4 S.P.A.C.E., I loved seeing the smiling faces of all the students when they saw the space man, the rockets, and everything else we had out to display. There was some real interest and promise in the future members. I loved explaining to them what the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E is all about and how we are heavily dedicated towards research. Especially this semester, due to new opportunities, we are able to do more research than ever before, which gives our members and greater chance of success.

I can’t wait for the success of next semesters student activities fair!

 

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Space and more Space!

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Happy Wednesday everyone! It is the middle of the week and we have almost made it through! Well, with Wednesday practically over, two more days to go! As I mentioned in my last post, it has been a crazy day today! With class from 8:00a-12:00p, working lunch from 12:00p-12:30p, pre-interview prep 12:30p-2:00p and interviews from 2:00p-5:00p, pre-meeting prep from 5:00p-6:00p AND finally the meeting from 6:00p-7:00p, it has been non-stop!

Classes went really well today. Especially my humanities class. The theme for HU145 in my class, in particular, is music. Mostly jazz and blues but it is still music! One of my fellow classmates plays a bunch of different instruments and we had the honor of listening to him play two pieces: a famous ragtime piece and the classic “In The Mood” jazz piece. As a person coming from a musical background, I do in fact love the class; it was a treat hearing someone play an instrument who has a passion and dedication to music.

Interviews for the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. officers went great as well! 8 interviewees total and myself, along with the vice president, decided on the new board of officers right as the interviews ended! I am really looking forward to starting this semester with a new board. The meeting was also a huge success. We spoke about all the research that we are going to be conducting. Some include aeroponics, drones, solar system, propulsion and much more. This semester is going to be greater than ever!

On top of the space from school, I recently got more information about the NASA Solar System Ambassador position. I have to complete Orientation and Ethics training, which I will be doing tomorrow and then I can finally plan my speeches! I am so excited!

Another treat, on Friday, after classes of course, I get to take my second solo trip down to Kennedy Space Center for a couple reasons. One, my old fifth grade PE/Drama teacher is bringing a group of his school kids up so I will get to see him in the first time in 4-5 years! Plus I get to talk to his kids a little about NASA and KSC. Secondly, I have a meeting with the VP of New Business Development, or as she likes me to call her my abuela. I will have the chance to talk to her about the NASA SSA position as well as a NASA trip for the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E group.

A lot of space stuff is happening in my life and I am super excited! I’ll be sure to keep you updated! Have a great rest of the week!

4th Week Update

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Hello hello everyone! We are now in the 4th week of school! Surprise surprise! We have made it through January! Happy February! Only 3 more months to go and summer break arrives; well at least for some of us! This week for me is going to be a crazy week. I got a super bad infection last week so I missed some school. All I could do was lay in bed and feel hopeless, but luckily, I am feeling much better this week!

I missed a speech in my COM class, but I get to give it tomorrow. I am talking about NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in particular, on how it impacted and inspired me. It’s our first introduction speech and it’s four minutes long. I have been practicing and I have hit four minutes right on the dot! I’m excited to finally deliver it tomorrow. Calculus homework is also due this week along with the finishing up of “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” by James Weldon Johnson in Humanities. I really enjoyed that book, surprisingly. I am usually not a reader, but considering this book was for class, it was not half bad. I enjoyed reading about the history of what happened between blacks and whites back in the day. It was quite sad and I did actually get mad over the lynching, but it is nice I became aware of it.

Along with makeup work and classes to attend, this week the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E has its officer elections. Yes, the mighty job of the Vice President to find candidates for the open positions. On top of that, we also have our weekly meeting with two guest speakers talking about our research projects that we are doing this semester. My schedule for tomorrow: 8:00a – 12:00p classes, 12:00p- 1:00p lunch/prep for interviews and meetings, 1:00p – 2:00p class 2:00p – 6:00p officer interviews 6:00p – 7:00p weekly meeting. Tomorrow will be a pretty insane non-stop day, but the good thing is that I don’t have classes on Thursdays so I can semi-sleep in.

But you’re probably saying that’s enough about school! Well then let’s move on! It’s the week of the Super Bowl people! The BIG 5-0! My boyfriend and I are going up to Jacksonville and visiting a friend for the game. Now mind you, I am not a big football person, I usually root for the team Josh tells me to but hey, I get to eat homemade smoked ribs so I am not complaining!

Valentine’s Day is also next week. For all you couples out there, here is to the chocolate, expensive flowers and a fun night! Share the love with friends and family too!

I think we are good for now…I do have some more exciting news, but I will hold off for now.

Have a great week everyone!

Tour of the Bombardier CSeries

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On December 18, I had the opportunity to tour the Bombardier Facility in Mirabel, Canada, where the CRJ and the CSeries is built. It was a huge day for the company as they announced the certification of their new aircraft, the CS100. I was invited to the event as a media with AirwaysNews.

Program leaders on the CSeries program, along with government representatives of Canada held a press conference in the morning to announce the new jet’s certification. The multinational also announced that the first CS100 will be delivered to launch customer, Swiss International Air Lines, in the first half of 2016. The larger variant, the CS300, is scheduled to get certificated in the next six months and deliveries will begin in the second half of the year.

CS300

The Bombardier CS300.

Following the press release, the media was allowed to tour the new aircraft. I first visited the CS300. As I entered by the main door of the aircraft, I thought the cabin was very long. Once in service, this aircraft will seat a maximum of 160 passengers. The plane did not have any seats in the cabin because it was one of the testing flight. It was filled with various equipment and computers to monitor different components during flights.

I then boarded the CS100, which looked like a usual aircraft with seats installed. I headed to the flight deck to see the new technology the plane had to offer. It included side sticks instead of the regular yokes found on other plane. It was very impressive!

Flight deck of the CS100 aircraft.

Flight deck of the CS100 aircraft.

The CSeries is designed in a 3-2 configuration in economy class and 2-2 in first class. I particularly enjoy this configuration because only 20% of the seats in economy are middle seats. Everybody hates middle seats. I personally prefer a window seat because I like to enjoy the view! I think the cabin looks similar in size to Delta’s Boeing 717-200.

Inside the cabin of the CS100.

Inside the cabin of the CS100.

The aircraft offers large overhead bins to accommodate the large number of carry bags passengers board with them these days. The pivot bins enable passengers to store the bags sideways instead of flat in the overhead compartments. The CSeries has also a modern galley and modern restrooms to accommodate the passengers.

The pivot bins can support four carry-on bags.

The pivot bins can support four carry-on bags.

I really enjoyed spending half a day at the Bombardier facility in Mirabel. I knew I was going to attend the press conference, but it I didn’t know the media would be allowed to tour the new aircraft! You can read my full story and see more pictures on AirwaysNews.com.

Until next time!

Nicolas

Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu

Welcome to the New Semester

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Hello everyone! Welcome to the Spring 2016 semester! Sorry it has taken me a while to write a blog, I have been super sick for the past week, but I am getting better. This semester is exciting for me. I am taking five classes: Speech, Physics, Calculus, Humanities and Commercial Space Ops Seminar. On Monday’s and Friday’s I am 8:00a to 12:00p, which is really awesome because it gives me a chance to go home and get homework done and more time to relax at night. On Tuesday’s I have once class from 9:45a to 11:00a and Wednesday’s 8:00a – 12:00p and 1:00p – 2:00p. Luckily, I have Thursday’s off so I really am enjoying this semester. In particular, I really am enjoying my Humanities class. It is HU145 for McKee. The theme is music, which is really awesome considering that it’s not literature or hard core history. We get to read a couple books on music and actually listen to old time music.

On the other hand, I am currently a Mechanical Engineering and Human Factors Psychology major…I am most likely going to be switching my HF major to Commercial Space Operations. That is why I am taking the CSO 101 seminar class to see what it is all about. I am taking it with Lance Erickson, the man who wrote the program. He is retiring after this semester so I lucked out with that. I really am enjoying the class. There are a lot of interesting jobs that really interest me. Plus, it is about space and space is my life.

Speaking about space, I was recently named a NASA Solar System Ambassador (SSA) for 2016. I get to do four giant speeches a year! It is totally awesome. I get my own name badge and everything! Once I know more information on it I will be sure to write about it.

As for the new semester, a lot awaits. New classes, new starts, new teachers, and new chances. Most importantly there are new opportunities. Personally for me, I am excited for the new opportunities: NASA SSA, classes, and possible connections. There is an endless number of things that can happen in someone’s life and a new year and new semester sets a perfect tone for that.

Have a great semester everyone!

A New Semester Is Taking Off

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Hello readers!

We have just started the spring semester and it’s almost February. The first few days of classes are never too busy. The professors usually go over the course syllabus, schedule, exams (oh no!), and other important things relevant to the class. For most of us, after the first week, we start to learn new material and get our first assignments. Winter break is now over and the work load starts to kick-in!

This semester, I am taking 6 classes including an online class. My schedule is very even; I am taking two classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and three classes on the other days.

I start the beginning of each week with International Aviation Management (BA 426). I already had the professor before so I know what to expect in the class and how she teaches. We started to learn some history on aviation worldwide, such as the first airmail routes, aviation during wars, and different international policies.

After my morning class, I go home for a short period of time, and then head back to campus for my last class of the day, Corporate Finance  (BA 332). As I get closer to school, I usually see an American Eagle CRJ 900 land! Like my BA 426 class, I already took the professor for this class. I took Dr. J’s Macroeconomics class during my first semester of college. He is one of my favorite professors I have taken at Embry-Riddle.

The next day is a busier day as I attend three classes in a row. I start with Airport Management (BA 310). During our last class, we took a short field trip to the AMS building close to the flight line. The building offers a great view of the Daytona International Airport. Our assignment consisted of finding different objects on the field. It was an easy assignment!

After that, I have an elective class, Airline-Airport Operations (BA 327). This class is a mix of Airline Management and Airport Management classes. We learn how airlines and airports work with each other in the industry.

My last class on campus is Managerial Accounting (BA 312). It is usually the class students take after Financial Accounting. It is not my favorite class at this time, but maybe it’ll change by the end of the semester, we never know.

The online class I am taking is Organizational Behavior (MGMT 317). There were no more seats available on the class offered on campus, so I decided to take it through the Worldwide campus. I took an online class last summer and it’s pretty much the same format than the class I’m currently taking. During this semester, I’ll write a story to describe the differences between online and regular classes. They both have their ups and downs.

On my next blog, I will go over some interesting events I attended during the winter break. Hope everyone has a great week!

Nicolas

Contact the author at berniern@my.erau.edu