(btw, sorry for the long breaks here...)
My second round of IOE was with Tom Tanzola. Tom was probably the 2nd person I met when I was a newhire FO, in "Indoc." He was transitioning to Captain, from the BizEx buyout. So it was good to be flying with him, too. (Aside from the fact that I have a few thousand hours more in the airplane than he does.. ;) )
After what happened with Conn, the first thing he said to me was that he had "all his hockey gear with him, ready to go." I was not sure if he was kidding or not. I still do not know.
We had a great time flying, but the end of his sequence did not line up with when I could fly with a Fed observer, so they had to break me off the sequence, and I flew with another CA for that. Then, I was still short of my 25 hours of IOE, so I got paired up with Tom again for a quick blast off to Montreal, and voila, I was a Captain... on my 10 year anniversary as a pilot for Eagle.
It was pretty amazing. It is pretty amazing. The first time, as a new Captain, you finish the push-back, have the engines started, and then you get to do something you never get to do as an FO. You engage the tiller. You see, only the Captain "drives" the airplane on the ground. Yes, if you know what you are doing, you can 'drive' from the right seat, but really, you are not supposed to.
And something changes. Suddenly, if anything happens, it's all you. The FO looks to his/her left, whenever they have a question... the FA looks to you to answer things. You set the tone, and you are the final arbitrator of anything that happens in the aircraft. The Buck Stops Here.
I flew with a friend who used to say something as a joke. "O.k., you see this invisible line (and draws an invisible line with his hand down the middle of the cockpit.) Everything on my side of this line is mine, and everything on THAT side of the line is mine, too, because I am the Captain." And it sounds silly, but in a way, you have to train your mind to think that way, just a little bit. The Buck really does stop here. Your ticket is on the line every time you fly. Once the door is closed, it's all you.
It really does change the way you think. The way you act. It should.
Hopefully you walk a little taller, too. It's a big thing, like it or not.
We get to do something very special, with our jobs. I had forgotten I used to say this, but it is true-----
"I have the best job in the world. I get to bring people to and from their dreams."
All of their dreams. I've flown soldiers home to their families; Newlyweds on their first journey as a married couple; long lost relatives to their family reunions.
I've also flown a young father (late 20s) of 2 pretty little girls on part of his journey to bury his wife, who had died far too young... Yes, when our FA told me, both of us in the cockpit teared up. Nightmares are dreams too, after all. Part of what we do is just try to make the journey comfortable.
I'm blessed to get to do what I do. How many people really do love their jobs? How many people get to work with the great people that I get to work with, a number of whom have become friends for life. And just about every time I get to work, I get to meet someone new, see something new, hear a new story, and have fun. They also pay me! (dig that!)
Sweet, by any measure.
Cheers,
Scott
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