Highlights: study, simulator, Becca from airport

I’m back on the flight schedule. My next simulator event was at Miramar this morning. We move progressively along, from practicing starting & shutting down the aircraft safely, to practicing emergency procedures for all the things that could go wrong…

To make sense of this for you guys, let’s say there are 100 moving parts in a helicopter. You need 90% of them working as advertised (oil pressures and temperatures within limits; turbine speed & temperature where it’s supposed to be; hydraulic pressure; gas; generators; etc…)
The other 10%,,, can be judgement calls, depending on the kind of flight you’re doing.

If you’re flying in daytime, and the lights don’t work,,, that’s fine. Press on.
If the clock doesn’t work,,, no worries.
If the airspeed gauge doesn’t work,,, sorry… can’t fly.
If the radar altimeter isn’t working,,, eh… try to get it fixed before making the judgement call.
If you’re flying an instrument flight, and one of your radios doesn’t work,,, that won’t affect the performance of the aircraft- but you’re setting yourself up for failure if you can’t communicate with air traffic control- so… you probably wouldn’t take that aircraft until the radios get fixed.

Something can break at any time in an aircraft. It’s not like a car, where you pull over to the side of the road. If you’re in the air,,, you have to move deliberately to get safely back on the ground. That’s why we practice these things over & over.

That’s what the simulator is for (=

After work, I picked up my friend Becca from the airport. My old roommate in 2004, I crashed on her sofa for 3 months after my 2nd deployment. Friends like Becc make San Diego a great place to come home to. She’s a bottomless cup of advice & fun hanging out.
(insert simulator video + Becc pic at Cass St. bar & grill) [2]