Working the West

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week. Too busy to blog sounds like a lame excuse, but John and I have been swamped with things this past week. I haven't had anything able to capture my camera lens until yesterday when I got called for work. Flying always gives me a good excuse to take lots of pictures!

Another day trip. I promise I fly to more places than just Oakland, California! Bosses have had a lot of projects going on up there and have taken up to seven people each time they visit. It saves lots of money by piling everyone into one airplane as opposed to purchasing airline tickets for each person. In addition, I have the hardest time imagining Big Boss waiting in line for TSA security in a big airport...let's just say he prefers to fly with us when he can. I was up at 5:00 AM to pick up Terry at the gas station at 6:00 before heading to the airport. All was well with the airplane except a broken static wick. I have twelve of these yellow guys on My Baby, and they help dissipate static electricity that builds up on the airplane during normal flight. No one likes to get death-penalty electric shocks after de-boarding a Beechjet! Luckily, it was an easy fix...just unscrew the broken one and replace. The wicks on the far ends of the wings get broken often by accidental line guys who get a little too close. If bent slightly, it breaks. That's why it is so important to do a good walk-around after each flight. If we come back the next morning to find a broken static wick, we know it was accidentally massacred while we were gone. The benefit of this is we don't have to pay for it!

The flight to Oakland was nice. We followed the Instrument Landing System (ILS) to 27R. We didn't break out of the clouds until about three miles from the runway, but I've experienced much worse! After landing, I got all seven people aboard the awaiting rental minivan and waved them on their way. I found a Snooze Room in the Pilot's Lounge and actually fell asleep for a few hours! I woke up around 11:30 AM to find Terry ready for lunch! We borrowed the crew car to drive the few blocks to the Indian buffet we tried last time we were in town. It wasn't nearly as good this time, and I doubt we will go back. Then we went back to the airport to await Big Boss' return. He arrived shortly after 4:00 PM for an hour-long flight to St. George, Utah. This was my first time flying into St. George, which is famous for having its airport on top of a butte near town. It looks really pretty, but it just means the crosswinds are horrendous for landing! I have such fond memories of St. George...every March in high school, my softball team came down for a week-long tournament to start our official season. It was always such a treat to stay in a hotel, eat fast food, and enjoy warmer weather (in the seventies compared to still freezing in Nephi). It was fun to go back, now ten years later, to see how much the town has changed.

We were only in St. George for a few hours before departing for home. We landed shortly after dark and taxied to the ramp. What a great day at "work!"

Phoenix - Oakland - St. George - Phoenix