Snow Days

February has been a snow filled month. It is beautiful and cumbersome all in one. When we are flying it presents some obstacles as all of the snow and ice has to be removed from the aircraft to safely fly. The tricky part is it has to stay off as you taxi out to the runway when it is snowing. The first picture is the cumbersome part of snow in the winter. We are in line getting the snow blown off the aircraft before we can takeoff. It is pretty cool to watch. This Star Wars like contraption works it's way around the plane spraying off any snow and then applying a special mix that absorbs any falling snow so the wings are clear when we takeoff.

The next pictures are some cool pictures of the snow from around the country. One is in Chicago as they are trucking out the snow from the airport and another from the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City. You can see how close the mountains are to the airport.

The small lines in the center of the mountain is a strip mine. This mountain is just West of Salt Lake.

See ya soon

Boy Time

Fun Time At Home

I have had a great time at home. This weekend we had boy time. We went skiing and then to downtown Minneapolis for the big Motorcycle show. It was a blast!

The weather was great for skiing. We were getting a light snow and it was about 30 degrees. We lucked out and there were not any lines for the ski lifts all day. We could ski down the hill and get right on the lift and go down again. It was so much fun. Here in Minnesota we also have night skiing. It is one of the few places around that lets you ski at night. It is a whole different feeling skiing at night. It is a little harder to see but supper fun!

This ski hill is the same one I use to ski at when I was a kid. We lived in Iowa and we had to drive about 5 hours to come up here to ski. I never dreamed I would live here and be so close. Amazing the hill is exactly the same as it was when I was little.

Minneapolis was also the host to the annual motorcycle show. So it was off to the show. Austin had his good friend Travis come with us for Boy Time. We saw cool motorcycles and watched some stunt riders. They even were able to get their autograph. Very cool!

I love these pictures of the boys. There is a picture of the boys sitting on a bike and watching TV. That would be the perfect addition to anyones living room. Might give you a neck cramp though.

This is the video of the stunt riders. Austin and Travis were able to get their autograph. They loved it!

Training Day

The Aircraft Simulator Bays

As pilots it seems like we are constantly being evaluated. We get put through the paces every nine months in the aircraft simulator, we get an extensive flight physical every six months as well as all of the continued training pilots do to maintain their Air Marshall qualifications. We have line check airmen that ride in the cockpit to evaluate our skills in line flying duties several times a year as well. All of these tests are pass/fail and if failed could mean a whole new saying. "Would you like fries with that"? "How about a hot apple pie"? (No Pressure)

This month it is the simulator. We are tested running through many emergency situations. Engine fires, failures, cockpits that fill with smoke, landing gear that fails to come down etc. You get the idea. It is grueling and very difficult. All of the sessions are video taped so you can see all of your mistakes up close, learn from them and practice again. We are then tested, scored and after several days let loose to get ready for the next series of tests.

These pictures are what the simulators look like that we train and test in. Super cool! They are amazing how real they are and how hard they make you work to survive. It seems very real and amazing what they can simulate, even pumping smoke into the device that makes it very difficult to fly, just like it would be in real life. If you can see the computer screens in the back of the simulator, that is where the check airmen sits and enters the malfunctions into the sim.