IOE or "Initial Operating Experience," for me is 25 hours (or more) of flying, acting as the Captain, including flying from the left seat, and wearing all 4 stripes, with a qualified line Check Airman. There is no way to shorten the 25 hours, you just have to go fly it.
For my first sequence, I was paired up with Conn McCarthy, a guy I have known for years. He's really good, laid back, great pilot. For me, a great pilot is someone who knows their stuff and has good judgement. That is by far the most important quality any Captain can have. Most of us can fly the airplane just fine; it takes a real pilot to make good judgement calls.
So we get everything ready, and the airplane is ready to fly. Day #1 will be this-- ORD RST ORD PIT ORD DBQ. Chicago - Rochester, MN, - Chicago - Pittsburgh - Chicago - Dubuque, Iowa. So we taxi out from our gate, and I'm driving.
For those of you non-aviation types, only the Captain 'drives' the aircraft on the ground. There is a 'tiller' on the Captain's side, and that controls the full range of nose-wheel steering you need to move the plane safely on the ground.
So here I am, driving. It drives quite a bit differently than the Sim. There is no doubt that you are moving a real airplane, though. At takeoff weights around 42,000 lbs, you can feel the weight in the tiller in your hand, even though it runs through hydraulic lines, etc.
We head out to the runway, line up, and I make my first take-off from the left seat.
It is funny, because I do have so much time in the right seat in the airplane; When I fly from the right seat, really, the airplane has just become an extension of my body, at least, that is how I view it. I know exactly what is going to happen physically with the airplane, and then it just happens. Kind of like breathing; you really just do it, except for those short spots where you have to stop something, like swimming underwater, etc. I've reached that point, so, when I start flying from the left seat, something kind of funny happens.
I remember what it feels like to fly.
You have to have a certain appreciation for the tactile sensations that go with flying. Yes, every take off roll goes (hopefully) the same way. Accelerate down the runway, reach certain pre-determined speeds, let the nose come up off the ground, and then let the plane fly herself away from the Earth.
I have been so connected to what I have been flying the past number of years, that I had forgotten then sensations of flying.
WOW... did it feel good!
Not to mention, I realized that I don't know what anything looks like out the left side of the airplane! New houses to look down on! New roads! New views! Not to mention, just looking left and not seeing another person! lol....
Simple flight to KRST. We're descending into the area, and ATC tells us to level off at 12,000', since he has traffic at 11,600. That is kind of an unusual altitude for traffic (we're usually at whole thousands, and Visual Rules traffic flies at thousands + 500.) So we get an alert from our Traffic Collision and Avoidance System "Monitor Vertical Speed," then-- "Climb.. .Climb"
Compliance is mandatory, unless it would put you in a more precarious situation. So, I climb till the box shuts up, or about 500 feet. Here is what is going through my mind- This is a mandatory report to the company and to ATC. ON MY FIRST FLIGHT IN THE LEFT SEAT!
Fer cryin' out loud.
But, we managed to survive, somehow. We had our flights, and everything worked out. We had a fairly short overnight in Dubuque, and we got there on time, and went to the hotel.
On Day #2, we were the first flight out of DBQ, an "Originating" flight, on the First flight of the day, there are a number of checks that have to be done; system status checks, etc, so the aircraft is ready to go for the day. I started setting up the cockpit, and Conn went to start the walkaround. The plane was pretty cold, so fired up the APU, and signalled the ramp agent to go ahead and disconnect the ground power unit.
I was looking down after that, and reading the Aircraft Maintenance Log, when I felt the nose of the airplane lurch to the right. It felt like we got hit in the tail from the right side, which would push the nose to the right. My first thought?
"Are you F-ing kidding me? We just got hit on my SECOND day of IOE?!?!?"
I looked out the window, and I could see the ramp agent with the GPU towed behind her tug. The GPU cable was stretched out to the airplane, so I realized that we had not been hit, but she had pulled away from the airplane with the cable still hooked up.
Still, are you kidding me?!!??!
Then I realized that I could not see Conn outside, and the ramper was running back towards the airplane.
I jumped out of my seat and ran down, and saw Conn rolling around in pain on the ground. He had been standing over the cable, checking one of the panels, when the cable snapped taut. it lifted him up, kind of throwing him about 5 feet into the air, and then he came down, hard, on his back when the cable snapped out of the aircraft.
We got a nurse who happened to be in the terminal, and she checked out Conn while we waited for the ambulance to get to us. The EMTs checked out Conn, and then took him away to the hospital to get an MRI, and scanned to see if they had ruptured his spleen, or anything bad internally.
So now, I need a Check Airman to get me out of there, and we find out they are sending Logan, one of the guy I was a new hire with, who just upgraded 2 months before me. Great! I can't fly the left seat with him! So when he got there, I had to fly as an FO all over again; at least I was still current!
One adventure after another....
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