It is now crunch time for the Fall Semester. Finals are coming up and my free time is fading away! Luckily I only have two finals this year. After my last final on Tuesday December 13th I am hitting the road north to Georgia to spend some quality time with my family for Christmas. We finally moved into our new home over the Thanksgiving break. The house is looking great and I am very thankful for everything the Lord has done to help my family and I get through these rough times. Homes can be replaced, but a family can’t.
Lately I have not had much time to do any R/C Flying due to the lack of time I have these days. School and work is keeping me extremely busy. The first week of November we went to Jacksonville for the 2011 Regionals Competition. As I mentioned before this is the last contest of the year and the top ten pilots from each class was invited to the contest. I ended up finishing in 2nd place for the Advanced Class and 1st place in the Freestyle Class. I had some minor plane issues throughout the contest, but ended up finishing very well. The 2012 season is quickly approaching and the first competition is January 14-15. In Port St. Lucie, FL. I will be competing in the Unlimited class, which is the highest of the 5 classes offered.
Well, that is about it for this month. School and work has been keeping me very busy, and it feels like I never stop! I go from 8 AM in the morning till 10 o ‘ clock at night every day! Hopefully once the Fall Semester ends things will slow down for me and I can enjoy flying R/C Aircraft and manned aircraft. I hope over the winter break to complete my CFI training so I can begin working as a Flight Instructor for Spring Semester of college.
Six months ago, on April 28 at 12:30 AM, I received a phone call from my Mother saying that a tornado had come through at 12:15 AM. I was sound asleep when I received this phone call because the next day was the last day of my junior year at ERAU. My home, my Grandparents, and Aunt/Uncle’s home were destroyed. Luckily no one was injured and everyone is still with us today.
The end of the 2011 Aerobatic Competition is coming to the end and it all ends at the Southeast Regional’s, which is in Jacksonville, FL. This event is where the top 10 pilots from each of the five classes get invited to compete to see who is the best in the Southeast Region. I ended up finishing 5 th in the Region for the points race, so I was invited to compete against the top pilots in the region. School is still keeping me busy, but I have been able to sneak in a few practice rounds after class!
Today I am a commercial-rated pilot with instrument privileges and currently sponsored by some of the top Radio Control Aircraft companies in the world. I travel throughout the southeast region competing in precision aerobatic flying, or known as IMAC. (
The R/C Club at ERAU currently has 49 members involved in the organization. Many members have no experience flying R/C Aircraft so we assign instructors to teach them to fly. We have been busy the past month teaching new members to fly, which a few of them will use these skills in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Having R/C Experience is great to have on your resume if you plan to go into the Unmanned world!
That is about it for this month. Check back next month for results on how we do at the Ocala Aerobatic Competition. The R/C Club and I will be heading over to compete as usual and we always have a great time!
Right now, it’s been two weeks since my last day working at Continental Airlines. The company extends travel privileges for the flight ops interns for 30 days, which is quite nice!
767-400ER and got to sit in BusinessFirst both times!
I’m in the process of moving yet again, just like many of us going away to school. I’m now living off-campus and find it to be everything I thought it would be! Moving in and furnishing an apartment has taken a lot of time and money, but I know it will pay off soon. It’s all coming together one piece at a time.
full-time and in addition travelled on the weekends. Meaning I left myself with very little down/spare time. I’ve learned many important lessons this summer on time management. When I say that, I’m not talking about being tardy, but about workload management and setting priorities.
I’m very appreciative to have been offered such an opportunity and writing about it to the world makes it even sweeter! I had such a great time and left with so much knowledge! I truly feel that United/Continental is an excellent company to work for, so much that I hope to one-day work for them again.
The week spent with Procter & Gamble was a once-in-a- lifetime experience. To be a part of a multi-billion dollar corporation and to continuously help in fostering its development is a pride only a few can claim. Corporate Aviation isn’t just flying around the world in airplanes, it involves so much more and encompasses many highly skilled and knowledgeable people who all work together to touch and improve the lives of their consumers. This opportunity gave me a platform to educate myself on Corporate Aviation and learn about a company and operation that I hardly knew about. After coming from an internship with American Airlines I was able to compare the two types of operations side by side and they actually fall at the end the spectra, with quite a lot of differences.
The next day started early as we headed to the Global Flight Operations (GFO) for a tour of the Hangar with Mike Pecore. It was quite a thrill and the operations there are quite extensive with highly technlogized systems, techniques and equipment. I was highly impressed by the systems and state-of-the-art equipment that GFO employs at their Hangar. Later that day we spent time learning about the aircraft and their avionics. We went through the checklist of the G-4 and G-550. This gave us the ability to learn where the buttons are and we got to program the FMC of the G-4. The procedures were a little different from the airlines but still encompassed the same things. Things I have never seen before were the FLIR- Forward Looking Infer-Red, SVS- Synthetic Vision System and very highly technologically advanced airplanes. The late afternoons and evenings of every day were allotted for us to explore Cincinnati and it is a beautiful city.
Monday morning led us to the General Operations Building (GO). It was a complex and huge group of building with a labyrinth below the surface. We got a tour of GO, which was impressive. P&G savors innovation and progression and it was quite obvious during the tour. Later that day after the tour we met with Skip Margraf, Chief Pilot, and Steve Ripley, Director GFO. Through these interactions I was able to get a better insight into GFO and how it helps P&G surge forward and foray into being the top brand company in the world. In the afternoon, we got to assist in the trip planning for the following day. We were actually going to be on the flight in the jump seat observing.
The next day was one of the highlights of the internship. I got to fly in the jump seat of the G-4 from KLUK- KILG and it was fun to see the operations and professionalism of the crew. We were taking the CTO and a few others to meeting in ILG. During the flight we chatted about Pilot Duties and Responsibilities, had lunch and then on the way back I sat in the cabin and chatted with Bruce Brown, Chief Technology Office P&G.
Wednesday brought a new day with more exciting things to do. We attended the Weekly Hangar Meeting and then chatted with John Hampton, Scheduling Manager. We got an insight as to how scheduling operates and how they have to manage their resources along with the needs of the company. New things that I learned were FOS, Rockwell-Collins flight plan program and the statistics that were generated. We then spent some time with Dennis Daley, Aircraft Maintenance Department Manager and Dave Melk, Chief Inspector/ Aviation Materials Manager. Maintenance was so much fun and quite a learning experience but it is a lot of work to fathom, along with all the paperwork and record keeping. Discussion topics were the repair station, inspection authorization, training, Cabin Safety Attendants, technician requirements and RVSM requirements. In the afternoon we met with Diane Wingate, Financial Coordinator, who gave us a brief overview of the budget, assets, expenses, purchase orders and a budget analysis.
The following day was really fun, as we started out chatting with Captain Gary Hebbard from the Pilot Training Department. It was a great opportunity to pick his brain and see how training is done and the difference from that to the airlines since I had just come from AA. We talked about the evolved training needs with company development, different training due to pilot qualifications, duties and responsibilities, training flights and special emphasis areas such as breaking, landing, CRM, flight practices and techniques- callouts, taxiing, windshear recovery, mach technique climb, single-engine operations and cockpit communication. I was thoroughly impressed and wished we had more time with him as all that we talked about was of a lot of interest to me. After meeting with Gary, we spent a few hours with Captain Ken Robinson learning about international flight planning and procedures. We planned from KLUK-KLBG and then South America Operations. I learned things that I wouldn’t have in class due to the nature of their flying and the decisions that needs to be made as per Part 91 Operations. It was a great learning experience.
Later that day, we hung out with Todd Hillsgrove, Assistant Chief Pilot and Safety Officer. We discussed the development of the Safety Program at GFO, ARG/US- PRISM, Safety Management Systems (SMS), safety training elements, reports and risk management and the AAI- Go Team. Having a little background in safety made this portion interesting to me as well. Todd is a wealth of knowledge and a great person. Concluding the day was a little chat with the present intern, Saul Meza. He gave us an insight into his projects and experiences at P&G. He enlightened us on life in Cincinnati and being involved in the company. It was definitely an eye opener and very informative. 
Later that night Michael and I were very fortunate to go the Western & Southern Open Tennis Tournament. We got to see the match between Roger Federer and James Blake and I never thought I would be about 30 feet away from these two world top players. We also got front row seating to watch the Janckovic and Schiavone match and was about 10 feet away from the players. It was amazing!
Friday was the last day and I was a little sad that the experience was coming to an end. We just rapped up, did evaluations and then spoke with Captain Dave Brown about the road to Corporate Aviation. There are many turns and diversions in the life of a pilot and you never know where it may take you and what the outcomes may be but you know that you want to fly. The presentation showed us what we need to achieve and the goals we need to set to get into this industry. This week has been a great one that has helped me to figure out where I want to go and do with my life. Who knows, I may end up at P&G or the airlines but I am now more informed as to what both sections has to offer and what I can do to improve and progress the companies that I am involved in.
Hey everybody! I hope all is well with you. I am doing great here enjoying the last few weeks of summer. It’s hard to believe that the summer is winding to a close. The incoming freshmen are just a few days away from starting their Embry-Riddle adventures, and I have about 2 weeks until I return to Daytona Beach. It is an exciting time of year for sure and definitely nerve-wracking for many new freshmen. If you are about to start at Riddle, I highly recommend you join the Facebook page for the class if you have not done so already. Almost ¾ of your class is on there and it is a great way to ask questions and get to know each other.
Every step of the way during this process, there are people around to help you. From physically moving into your dorm to getting to know your way around campus, people are looking to help. Don’t be afraid to ask upperclassmen for anything you might need. Embry-Riddle is a close community and everyone wants everyone else to feel as comfortable as possible.
Other than work, I flew the other day with a friend of mine from Embry-Riddle who lives in the area. We wanted to just fly to a destination for lunch and opted for a quick flight to Block Island. We took the only G1000 equipped Cessna in the state (the same type of aircraft that Embry-Riddle flies) and had a great time. It will be nice to head back to Florida though and start flying down there again. We always find good trips to go on over the weekends and I would suggest that you all take advantage of that freedom to fly with friends while you are at school. You can create some great memories this way.
So, since I last checked in with you all I’ve been back on the road traveling the east coast. Earlier this month we traveled up to York, PA to pick up some vintage Buicks and bring them back down to Maryland. I always have a blast traveling up to the restoration shops to either drop off or load up cars because of the history I learn from the guys/gals at the shops. The shop we visited in Glen Rock, PA – Prueitt Auto Restorations, had vehicles ranging from the early ‘20’s up to the 60’s and 70’s and with each car came the history behind each. He had plenty of neat cars sitting inside the restoration area but a 1925 Buick that they are doing a stellar restoration on. From the paint to the immaculate interior the car is going to clean up at car shows once it is finished. Like I said, it was a great trip… we loaded up the 1931 and 1941 Buick’s and headed home.
The local Buick/Olds car club hosted an All GM show and we took the 1987 Buick GNX. Some friends also showed vehicles including a 1949 Buick and a 1976 Trans Am both of which are amazing examples. The weather was hit-and-miss all day but we had a great time showing the car and talking with others in the hobby that had never seen a GNX before. It is still amazing the reaction that car brings when we pull it out of the trailer. People were coming up to us all day saying how they had gone 25 years without seeing a real GNX. Towards the end of the day the weather had deteriorated to the point that we loaded the cars in the trailers and waited for the awards. We showed our 1991 Camaro last year and took second place, this year we took first place in our class and in total our friends had also taken “Best Buick” and a second place award.
Well, this is the last journal entry for summer break … I hope to see you all down in Daytona for the fall semester. Remember to make the best of the year and get involved. There are plenty of clubs and activities to get in involved with – myself I am Vice President of ERMCA – Embry Riddle Muscle Car Association. We are planning on hosting another car show or 2 this year on campus so come on out and join us. Oh! I finally finished editing some of my Oshkosh photos… took about 3,500 so here is a link to my Flickr Collection showing all weeks events.
The last two weeks at the American Airlines Internship was fun, but at the same time somewhat saddening as I would be no longer working as an Intern there. What the future may entail would be my walking down those halls again as a pilot for AA. I can’t wait for that to become a reality. Working at the JFK Flight Office was quite an experience and I could not have asked for a better Internship. I did and saw so much that many pilots around the world may never have the opportunity to see or do and I consider it quite a privilege.
The experience was worth the while and I thoroughly had an amazing summer. I met so many people, created so many friendships and networks and got quite a lot of advice from chatting with hundreds of pilots on a daily basis. I would encourage anyone who wants to do an internship to apply for AA! You will be surprised at what you may learn and how it would create the path for your future. Just drop by Career Services and any one of the advisors would be willing to help and advise you.
The second to last week I spent a few hours up in the Ramp Control Tower directing some flights and chatting about the upcoming arrivals of AA’s new aircraft. It was a good time and I saw some ‘emergencies’ with getting aircraft out of their gates with minimal delays. The picture to the left is the ramp control tower at JFK. Later that week I was fortunate to spend two half days at Ramp Services. Through this experience I got to drive around the AA Ramp with the Manager on Duty. We went to all the aircraft that were coming into and out of the gates, ensuring that they were being unloaded and loaded promptly, fueled efficiently and catered correctly. We looked at load management for the airplanes and I even got the opportunity to load cargo onto the 777 and 767. It was quite amazing at what goes on in the cargo area for those larger airplanes.
It is all automated and the process is quite easy. The crew chiefs taught me a few things about operating the loading machines and it was just a thrill. I also loaded a few bags onto the conveyor belt to go into the 737 forward cargo area. The picture to the right is from after I unloaded cargo out of the 767.
While I was on the ramp, I got the opportunity to drive the tow after pushing back an aircraft. That was so much fun! I am really going to miss this internship. The Ramp guys were so welcoming and gave me all the knowledge they could have. I couldn’t be more appreciative. During the week, I also got a tour of Baggage Services. What they do down there is quite amazing. Those conveyor belts form a labyrinth under the terminals and I was so shocked. The bags shoot down, over, under with so much speed like a roller coaster.
If you saw Toy Story 2 where Woody was lost in the conveyor belts, then that was a perfect representation of the system. At the ending of that week I headed to Dallas for a luncheon with the fellow interns. I was also able to receive an ARFF Tour at JFK. They have the most up-to-date technology there. Their fire trucks were state-of-the-art and quite new. The officers gave me a tour of their facility, explained their operation and allowed me to jump into their trucks and drive around a little. Thank you AA!
I returned to Dallas the following week for a DFW Tour and the closing luncheon for the Internship. The DFW Tour was fun and quite different from that at JKF and LGA. The operations side of things was more hectic as DFW is our major hub. We toured the Flight Offices, Ramp Control and drove around the Ramp. The picture to the right was from a preflight of a S80 at DFW.
The closing Luncheon was nice, as it was the one time where all the interns were able to be together. The night before a couple of us explored the city of Fort Worth. No better BBQ than in Texas! We had a delicious lunch and then the Vice President of Flight- Captain John Hale gave a heart-warming speech. My last two days were spent at the JFK Flight Office. On the final day I went to a presentation for Flight Services, where I saw booths comparing our products in the different cabins with other world-class carriers, and I must say that AA measures up quite well with the 5-Star carriers. We are a force to be reckoned with.
When I returned to the Flight Office I was surprised with a farewell party. It was in such a shock, as I wasn’t expecting anything of the sort. The LGA Flight Office closed down for the day and came over to spend time with me on my final day. I was surprised with a really nice lunch, cake, and lots of presents and heart-warming cards and words. I am so fortunate to have worked with such great people. The picture to the left was from my last day at the Flight Office and the one to the right are some of the amazing people of the JFK/LGA Flight Office.
I am at the LGA Airport headed to CVG right now writing this journal entry. I will keep you posted with one more entry next week about the Procter & Gamble Student Development Program. I am very fortunate for my time at AA. It was a wonderful experience and a great learning opportunity. I would eventually like to fly for this airline because they really do embody all that I believe in, and AA is and will continue to be the American legacy.
Hey Everyone… I hope you are all getting ready for Riddle in a little less than a month. Since I last checked in with you guys I have been on the road, or should I say “airway”. Early in the morning on July 24th, a fellow Embry-Riddle student and I loaded up the Cessna 182T and pointed the nose to the west enroute to Oshkosh, Wisconsin – AirVentures 2011. We made a quick stop in Columbus, Ohio at Ohio State University Airport to make a pit stop before heading to Joliet, Illinois for a planned fuel stop. As we crossed into Indiana we ran into a storm cell that thankfully broke before we got too close. Our airplane, a 2008 Cessna 182 Turbo has the latest in avionics giving us the ability to view weather using XM Weather and giving us advance warning to weather issues. We landed in Joliet, IL (KJOT) and taxied in for fuel … talk about easy access to cheap gas. We pulled up the line service tech was waiting, fueled us right away and we were back on our way to Oshkosh.
During the week of EAA’s Airventure – Oshkosh is the Busiest Airport in the World … and as we made our way to OSH we listened in on the ATIS and reviewed the NOTAM one last time before making one of the easiest and most fun approaches to an airport I have ever done. As we came up on RIPON we turned, followed the approach procedures and traveled over the railroad tracks keeping an eye on other traffic joining the arrival route into OSH. With about 2 miles to go we got our queue to “Rock your Wings” and we were cleared to land on runway 36L. We had my GoPro HD camera suction-cupped to the windshield giving us an amazing video of the approach all the way to shutdown at our campsite. Once touching down at Oshkosh the reality set in and I still could not believe that I had just flown half the country (in about 6 hours) and would be living the aviation dream for a week … living at an airport with the airplane and surrounded by people who have the same passion for flight. So we shut down and pushed the plane back and began to set up our campsite for the week to come. With the tents set up in about 20 minutes and day light left to burn we walked the North 40 Campgrounds looking at aircraft and then ventured into the main Airventure display to get a preview to the week’s events. Though it was the first night we met the pilots and families around us at the airplane and, to my surprise, the Piper Cub about 10 feet away had come from the airport near my house in Virginia…. it’s funny, travel 650nm to meet a guy that lives 20 miles from home.
So Monday marked the start of the week and we started bright and early making our way through the many displays set up by exhibitors from all parts of the aviation community. Monday was mostly spent looking over the manufacturers displays (Cessna, Piper, Embraer, etc.) before the crowds formed later in the week. Of course the fact that I was attending ERAU came up in conversation between the exhibitor’s and as for me, I feel like I made some great connections with those in the industry and fellow Riddle grads at different companies. Embry-Riddle was well represented – the large “tent city” that was set up near Conoco Phillips Square that was well represented by Riddle students and faculty/staff and the aircraft from both Daytona and Prescott. As I walked around during the week I kept seeing ERAU t-shirts, hats, jackets around the airport … a nice reminder that we are in fact #1!
For those of you who know about Oshkosh 2010 – it was a very rainy year for EAA. That being said, we thought ahead and reserved a dorm room at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh for the week as well as setting up camp at the North 40. We did this so we would have an alternative to sleeping in a wet/muddy camp ground if the weather turned for the worse. As the week went by I had to face the reality that I was not going to cover the whole show that stretched over the entire airport and over at the Sea Plane Base. This being said, Eric and I began planning our days to cover the maximum ground and see the most in the time we had. One of the most interesting parts of the day was lunch; we would eat at the show and with a short supply of tables (giving us shade from the sun) that involved finding a table to share with a few others. We had the pleasure of eating lunch with some very interesting business people, pilots and other college students.
Friday morning was marked by the arrival of the Boeing 787 – the first time it visited AirVenture. At approx. 9AM it touched down on 36L, the same runway I had landed on nearly a week prior. With what looked like thousands of fellow aviation enthusiasts I watched the massive aircraft taxi into Conoco Square where it would sit for the day allowing guests to tour the aircraft. In addition to the 787 we all had a chance to see the B-29 bomber “FiFi” take to the skies over Oshkosh. Saturday’s air show was phenomenal with a large selection of Navy aircraft taking to the skies before a large wind storm blew through the area causing the show to be cut a little short. Before we knew it aircraft were back up and flying and we were headed for the night airshow at OSH. If you haven’t seen a night airshow it is one of the most amazing things you can watch as airplanes light up the skies overhead.
Sunday we loaded our belongings back into the Cessna and headed back for Joliet for a splash of fuel before headed back to Winchester, VA. With the ceiling and performance of the Cessna 182T Eric and I cruised at FL200 – 20,000 feet … yes 20,000 feet in a Cessna ha. We had our oxygen and we were taking advantage of a kicking tailwind cutting giving us a shorter trip home. It is very hard to explain how great the show was in a single journal entry, and I don’t want to drag this on and on… but out of the 3,000 + photos I took I am hoping to upload on Flickr – they are already up on Facebook (about 300 of which I have edited covering the week)