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The Final Flight of a C-130H: The End of an Era

Tail #2070 served her country well for over 40 years.

Tail #2070 served her country well for over 40 years.

I had a bit of an interesting experience this week that I don’t think most people ever really get.  I had the opportunity to be a part of the crew that took a plane on its very last flight.  With the development of the C-130J it is quickly replacing the older, and better, C-130H.  Yeah, I know, I’m biased.

Many of the older planes have gone to National Guard units around the country to finish out their service lives.  However, there are a couple of planes that have finished their flying lives and need to be taken to their final resting place.

The disappointing part was that none of us knew this was the planes’ last flight, or fini flight, as we like to call them.  Had we known I would have come prepared with my good camera and not left you with these weak images from my phone, but I did what I could.

It really was an honor for me to crew this plane on its last mission.  That aircraft served for 40 years in all corners of the globe performing an incredible variety of missions.  I don’t know any specifics, but it is reasonable to assume that it carried Soldiers and Marines to critical missions that brought freedom to people in all different countries.  It likely carried young men and women that were injured in battle to a hospital that saved their lives.

In the case of those that weren’t so lucky, it likely performed that most sacred mission of returning them to their loved ones draped in the colors that they sacrificed everything for.

This tail flash will never fly through the air again, but her legacy will live on in the hearts of those who flew her.

This tail flash will never fly through the air again, but her legacy will live on in the hearts of those who flew her.

It hurts my soul a little to think about these great pieces of machinery having their careers come to an end, but they served their country well, and in the case of this plane, tail #2070, it will continue to serve on the ground for another couple of years.  You see, we passed it off to one of the Air Force’s test and evaluation squadrons where it will aid in developing various different products and processes that will make the planes still flying safer and more effective.

It really made me stop and think about how cool my job is.  I fly a historic plane that has served our country, and many others, for 60 years now.  I get paid to fly in the footsteps of real heroes.  It is truly a privilege to try in some small way to carry on the heritage that they left us with.

While most people will never have the opportunity that I did, nor will I likely ever do it again, we all have the opportunity to keep their heritage alive by visiting aviation museums, and by listening to the stories of those who flew these amazing aircraft.  Most of us have at least a little bit of aviation history in our own backyards if we only look.

I would encourage you to look around and see what you might find, and please share it with the rest of us because that is the only real way to keep aviation history alive.

October 29, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

American Airlines’ New IFE is an Avgeek’s Paradise

I have loved the new livery from day one, but this was my first chance to actually fly in it on this brand new A321S.

I have loved the new livery from day one, but this was my first chance to actually fly in it on this brand new A321S.

There are lots of great sites out there that talk about passenger experience way better than I ever will.  Sites like AirlineReporter, NYCAviation, and APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) will all provide much more in-depth and extensive analysis than I will because they get on amazing planes and experience those amazing trips, and most of my flying is done on a C-130 that is 40+ years old.  Definitely no flight attendants on there.

With that being said I just had to share the most amazing In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) I have ever seen.  I had to drop off a plane for testing purposes (more on that later in the week), and so we had to fly back home commercial.  I got to fly on my favorite airline (American) coming home, and this experience just deepened my love.

The great trip started with using TSA PreCheck for the first time.  It reminded me of what it was like to go through security before TSA, long long ago.  It was smooth and fast.  Don’t worry I still am not a fan of TSA.

The real joy started when I got to the gate and saw that we would be on a brand spanking new Airbus A321S that had the new American livery.  I know it has been out forever, and that a ton of the planes have it, but like I said I don’t fly commercial often, and this was my first time.  You never forget your first.

Final approach into DFW looks pretty cool digitally as it is actually flown.

Final approach into DFW looks pretty cool digitally as it is actually flown.

The experience got even better when I got on the plane and saw what was on every seat-back in the plane.  I honestly don’t know the name of the system, who provides it, or any of the system specs even after looking through American’s site to try to find it, but I can tell you that it was awesome.

Everything was handled on the touch screen to include turning on the overhead light, and even ordering your drinks and such which could be used on other flights, though it wasn’t on ours.  There were tons of entertainment options to include music, movies, and TV shows with several different packages to choose from depending on what you are looking for.  I’ll be honest, I’m a cheap skate so I didn’t buy any of it, but there was a free feature that kept me thoroughly entertained when I wasn’t enjoying the company next to me.

For as long as I can remember flying commercial I have always loved watching the digital portrayal of where my flight was headed.  Even though the numbers really don’t change much in cruise I still love to see the altitude, airspeed, time to destination, and other aspects of the flight.  I know all of you amazing Avgeeks get it.

While even a rudimentary map can keep me occupied for hours, this thing is a moving map on steroids.  There were about ten different views that you could switch between including a cockpit view that was accentuated by a heads up display with the associated flight parameters displayed.  You also have the ability to zoom in and out, rotate the map, and tilt the map in any number of ways to get the view you are looking for.  It did take a minute to figure out how to do all of those things, but it was really similar to a lot of tablets.

The plane always looks huge no matter how tight you zoom, but at an airport this big it is fun to watch it taxi.

The plane always looks huge no matter how tight you zoom, but at an airport this big it is fun to watch it taxi.

As you can see from a couple of the pictures that I took it can make for a pretty entertaining experience, especially in the terminal area around the airport.  It was really fun watching a virtual simulation of our approach as it was actually happening.  Even with the slight delay it was a lot of fun.  My friend (a pilot) did point out that we landed a little long based on the moving map, but on those giant runways it really doesn’t matter much.  It was also fun to switch to the overhead view and watch as we taxied to the terminal, though it wasn’t totally precise and it looked like we were taxiing in between taxiways at times.

I know this is far from your typical passenger experience article, but if you love planes and other avgeek stuff as much as I do I really hope that you get a chance to see this system.  I really can’t convey how cool it was through words or pictures.  You really need to get your hands on it and have some fun.  If you have gotten the chance to see it I would love to hear what you thought about it in the comments below.

October 28, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Lessons Learned: Garbage In, Garbage Out

Isn’t it funny how you can talk about a certain principle or idea and then shortly thereafter you get bitten by that very same principle?

There has been much discussion of late about automation in flying and how it may be creating pilots that are less capable with their actual “stick and rudder” skills.  Tools like autopilot have done wonders to reduce the workload on pilots, and in some ways have made certain missions possible when it comes to duty days and other similar restrictions.  These systems can be great assets to those who use them, but they have their limitations.

In most cases these systems require input from a person at some point in the process.  This may be in the form of inputting waypoints, changing elevations, or various other data needed to accomplish the mission.  In some cases there are even inputs from the plane itself that can affect mission performance, which is what happened to me this week.

On this particular sortie I noticed that we had been having issues with the GPS.  In short, it was randomly going in and out throughout the duration of our flight.  It’s really not the end of the world, because that is why I am there as the navigator.  It’s also called a visual low level for a reason.  The route itself provided nothing unusual, but as I am sure you will come to realize as I continue to write these posts, the airdrop is where this became a little more of an issue.

Me at the only desk I enjoy working behind,

Me at the only desk I enjoy working behind,

Before I explain what happened I must first admit that it never should have been an issue, but I was being a little complacent that day and that is what led to a poor drop score on my part.  Other members of the crew could have “saved” me, but I was the one that didn’t perform and thus have to settle for the crappy score I got.

As we were going in the for the run-in the GPS was completely gone so the computer was utilizing our INS to determine where it thought we were.  I will spare you the boring description of how all of that works, and honestly I don’t even understand all of it as I am no engineer.  Short version is that an INS drifts over time.  There are a lot of variables involved as well as the occasional gremlin that randomly makes it drift a lot farther than normal.  I had also noticed that the winds had come from literally every direction during the flight which could just be swirly winds, or a problem with the computer in the plane that generates those numbers.

As we came across the dropzone the pilot was flying right down the black line, according to the computer.  Apparently he was being as complacent as I was because we both followed that black line down the opposite side of the dropzone that we had briefed and that the numbers had supported.  The drop went out right on time (about the only thing I did right when it came to the drops) and we awaited our score.  The dropzone called back that they were measuring which is rarely a good sign since a good drop is close to the middle and is quickly measured.

Sure enough my drop was 250 yards off.

Once we were back at ground speed zero and I was replaying the drop in my mind the whole thing made complete sense.  I had briefed that we would drop on the left side of the dropzone but the plane tracked across the right side which was easily seen by the desired point of impact being visible out the left window of the cockpit.

Once again there are two lessons to be learned from this.  The first is to not be complacent and rely on a computer to do your job.  They can provide valuable insights and guidance but it is your responsibility to ensure that you are utilizing them as a backup and support rather than a crutch to be lazy on.

The reason this is important is the second lesson: garbage in results in garbage out.  A computer is only as good as the data that is input.  Whether that data is input by a human, or derived from its own sensors, if the data is inaccurate, you will get inaccurate results.  In my case it was an INS that thought we were a half a mile away from where we actually were, but it could be entering a wrong frequency for a navaid or incorrect latitude and longitude.

Regardless of where the bad data comes from there is really no replacement for the good old Mk1 eyeball and the brain behind it to ensure that you are taking your aircraft where it needs to be.

Automation and technology are valuable resources and we would be stupid not to utilize them, but we must ensure that we never forget how to use our brains and other resources to ensure that we fly as precisely and safely as possible.  In this case my complacency got me a bad drop score, but there are countless examples of complacency being a killer.

Where have you seen technology be a crutch that actually did more harm than good?

October 26, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Lessons Learned: Establish a Pattern of Success

In continuing with debriefing myself and always trying to improve I had a bit of a different flight last week.  This flight wasn’t different because the mission was any different, it really doesn’t change much when it comes to local flying.  But it was different in other ways, and that is what I want to talk about.

It started within minutes of walking in the door to the squadron.  The sign-in process had changed unbeknownst to me so it took me a minute to find the paperwork and get signed in.  Then I started to update my iPad before i realized that there was no update.

I won’t bore you with the continued details, but suffice it to say that almost nothing went the way it normally does.

No mission ever goes exactly as planned so you must have good habit patterns.

No mission ever goes exactly as planned so you must have good habit patterns.

One thing I pride myself on is always following the same pattern and the same system when it comes to flying.  So when there is something that breaks that pattern, it just adds a little stress to the situation.  But that is why we use checklists to make sure everything gets done.

At times the checklists themselves are almost overwhelming.  There are checklists for every single phase of the flight from mission planning to debrief.  They are designed to ensure that every aspect of the flight is taken care of, and to make sure that even the smallest aspect of the flight doesn’t get overlooked.

After awhile you get into that rhythm that I talked about before and it becomes easier to get through a flight.  You feel like the whole thing slows down and you have more time to get the things done that you need to.  The crazy thing is you don’t have more time it is just that your ability to make it happen has improved.

Especially as a young aviator it is important to get into those GOOD habit patterns to make the whole process easier for you.  I emphasize good because you will form habit patterns no matter what, but if you aren’t careful there will be bad habits mixed in with the good.  Sometimes I get a little too comfortable with my abilities because I get into that groove and things just line up.  Then all it takes is a night like my flight last week and I get humbled back to reality.

There was nothing terrible that happened on the flight but I walked away feeling a little less confident and even more sure that these articles are going to help me a lot in my flying.  One of the reasons that I wanted to write this tonight is that I am starting my next upgrade tomorrow and I am going to need all of the help and confidence I can get.

I am starting lead upgrade training tomorrow which means that I become responsible for our entire formation.  I have to do all of the planning and make sure that we are accomplishing the objectives that need to be achieved on each flight.  It is by no means an impossible task, but it will become even more important to rely on the good habit patterns that I have formed, and build on those to effectively accomplish my training and to move on through my next upgrade.

So the lesson learned this week is how vital it is to build those good habit patterns early so that you can rely on them when the plan changes and you are forced to adapt to the situation.  Knowing your limits is an important aspect of being a good aviator, but working to expand those abilities is equally important to becoming a true aviator.

October 21, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Improving Aeronautical Charts Will Improve Safety

As a Navigator, most people really have no idea what I do when I fly.  I can’t say I blame them since there are almost no commercial aircraft that fly with a navigator, or engineer, anymore.  With the growth of GPS use there honestly isn’t much need for us most of the time.  Even the plane I currently fly on is being replaced by one that doesn’t need a navigator, or an engineer.

With that being said, a lot of the work I do outside of flying is important to the missions that all kinds of different aircraft do.  The vast majority of work that I have done for the last year or so is building charts for us to fly with.  I won’t bore you with the details of what that entails, but suffice it to say that it is essential to keeping our crews safe so they can effectively accomplish their missions.  As a navigator, utilizing my chart effectively is vital to getting us where we need to be and when we need to be there to drop off our cargo.

The rugged terrain of Alaska’s Mystic Pass, looking north. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

The rugged terrain of Alaska’s Mystic Pass, looking north. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

Chart reading is a diminishing skill in this modern era of GPS, which is really a shame, but the reality is that it doesn’t matter how well you can read a chart if the chart is inaccurate.  The crazy thing is that many of the charts we use today were made as many as 50 years ago.  I’m sure it is not much of stretch to convince you that quite a bit has changed in the landscape in 50 years or so.

What’s awesome is that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who is responsible for keeping those charts updated, is actively working to do just that.  The Washington Post has a great article about the details of that program and how it is slowly working to improve safety in the greatest frontier in the US, Alaska.  They wrote about how awesome this program can be better than I could, but there is one aspect of the story that I want to focus on.

These updated charts will drastically improve safety in all parts of the US, but most of all in Alaska where, according to the article, you are 36 times more likely to die than the average US worker.  That is just unacceptable when the ability exists to drastically improve safety.  Improved technologies like airborne lasers (lidar) and radar (ifsar) are capable of creating not just better paper maps, but collecting the data necessary to improve GPS and other new devices that can save these courageous pilots’ lives.

Unfortunately, the government’s inability to pass actual budgets has stalled the project and delayed the benefits that it can bring.  There is so much benefit to be realized that some of the contractors have continued working in the hope that the funding will ultimately materialize.  It is incredibly irresponsible of those in a position to make a difference to stand idly by while they could take action that will save lives.

The aforementioned article gets into some of the specific numbers but it is a relative pittance that would be needed to have significant financial improvements to go along with the safety benefits.  At this point we can only hope that those in a position to make this happen will get past the politics and take action so that they can make the money they so anxiously pursue, but more importantly save the lives of people who deserve the best information we can give them.

October 20, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Changing the Stereotypes of Aviation

Stereotypes are the simple reality of life.  While they often have a negative connotation, that is not necessarily the case.  There are good and bad stereotypes and there is also a certain level of truth to all stereotypes whether they are positive or not.

One of the biggest things that is killing the aviation industry as a whole are the stereotypes that many people associate with the world of flying.  One of the most common stereotypes that gets talked about regularly is that you have to be a rich person to fly on anything other than an airliner.  While money can be restrictive to the aspiring aviator, there are some great references out there, most notably to me being Brent Owens, the Fixed Wing Buddha, for ways to fly as inexpensively as possible.

Personally, I think there are two much bigger stereotypes that we must change if we want to see a resurgence in the industry.

The first is that aviation is only for boys.  While there was a time that women in aviation were either flight attendants or travel agents, that just isn’t the case anymore.  I am well aware of the fact that there are substantially more men in aviation than women, but there are some serious powerhouses out there that are doing their part to change that.

One of the biggest voices, and more important examples, is Karlene Petitt.  I don’t have the space to list all of her accolades, but the short list includes being type rated in just about any aircraft that starts with B7xx, incredible author (you should check out her books), grandma, and just because she had too much spare time, doctoral student.  We need more incredible women like this that have not only made it to the top of the industry, but are actively promoting it.

We also need more of the major players in the industry to actively pursue and encourage women like Airbus recently did with their “Girls for the Future of Aeronautics” event at their Toulouse factory.  Not only do events like this actively encourage women to pursue careers in aviation, it shows them how many different careers there are in aviation which is the second major stereotype that we must change.

Tell someone that you work in aviation, and 99 times out of 100 their next question will be, “Are you a pilot?”  Not that there is anything wrong with that, I am trying to become a pilot myself, but pilots make up only a small percentage of the world of aviation.  Even in the Air Force there are tons of jobs that are not done by pilots.

There are lots of different jobs with airlines which are relatively well-known, but there are also tons of opportunities at FBOs that are relatively easily attained.  There are tons of jobs at airports that get entirely overlooked by the vast majority of the flying public.  There are jobs for aeronautical engineers, mechanical engineers, public relations, social media, and even a few jobs left for navigators.  However, we are a dying breed, which really just makes us more special.

The point I am trying to make is that aviation used to be an exciting environment that attracted the best of the best and that almost everyone dreamed about in some way, but somewhere along the way aviation lost some of that appeal.  We need to start attracting those people who don’t want to be pilots but would love to work around airplanes.

There is a growing community of avgeeks brought together by the wonder of social media, but these people would work in aviation for free.  We need to find the closet avgeeks and bring them into the fold where their passion can infect others and bring aviation into the next generation.

We are on the precipice of a major change in aviation, I can just feel it.  We really just need each member of the aviation community to bring along a friend and the industry will be changed forever.  Who knows, that friend you bring along may be the next Wright, Earhart, Lindbergh, or Armstrong.  Or they may just be a guy with a PPL and a Piper Cub, either way we will be one step closer to changing the stereotypes that are holding us back from incredible growth.

October 19, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Precision Makes All the Difference in the World When Flying

The C-130H generally flies with a crew of two pilots, a navigator, engineer, and two loadmasters.

The C-130H generally flies with a crew of two pilots, a navigator, engineer, and two loadmasters.

I have been actively flying in the Air Force for only a little over three years which makes me pretty much a baby in so many ways.  For that reason I have decided I need to start analyzing the things that happen on my flights and ensure that I am taking advantage of every opportunity I have to learn.

The reason I am writing these lessons here is that I am hoping to get feedback from others on lessons they may have learned in similar situations or maybe even totally different ones.  I have always thought that part of being an aviator is sharing thoughts and ideas to make us all better.  Conveniently, I had a good learning experience just last night to share.

So as the navigator on the C-130 it is my responsibility to ensure that the pilots take us to the right spot for us to kick a load out the back and fall where I want it on a drop zone.  In the real world this could be anything from heavy vehicles, people, ammunition, water, food, to pretty much anything that a warrior on the ground could need.

As you might imagine, it is critical that the load falls where it is needed so that it can be quickly retrieved and minimize the amount of time that the people on the ground are in danger.  While there are certain aspects of the process that are somewhat scientific, a lot of it is based on the experience and expertise of the navigator directing the plane where it needs to be at the right time.

With all of that being said, the C-130 is a crew aircraft and it takes all of us working together to get that load where it needs to be.

On a crew of 6 we had two females.  We need more of that.

On a crew of 6 we had two females. We need more of that.

So last night we executed a quality route to an airdrop which led to me calling for the drop at just the right time at which point the co-pilot is supposed to flip two switches, releasing the load so that it lands right on the desired point of impact in the center of the drop zone.

What actually happened was that the co-pilot flipped one switch and the load didn’t immediately go out.  As I said before though, I am on a crew aircraft, and the loadmaster did her job and released the load, albeit about 1.5 seconds later.  That may not seem like much, but when we received our score it was 150 yards past the point of impact.

That means that in a real-world situation the people on the ground would have had to travel about a football field and a half to get their supplies while possibly under fire from the enemy.  I think it’s pretty obvious to see why that is not ideal.

As with any time that I don’t get the score I am looking for (perfection) I began to analyze what had happened to correct it for the next drop.  Did the winds change?  Was the plane not in position?  Did I make the call late?  It could be any number of reasons, but in the end I am trying to learn and I really couldn’t come up with anything other than maybe I just called it a couple of seconds late.  So that was the adjustment I decided to make.

Unfortunately, neither the co-pilot nor the load master had told me what had happened so when the next drop came around I ended up dropping almost the same distance from the point of impact, but short instead of long.  It wasn’t until we landed an hour later that I found out what had happened, and it all came together in my mind.

Part of flying is enjoying the scenery, which you can't do if you aren't being precise.

Part of flying is enjoying the scenery, which you can’t do if you aren’t being precise.

So there are really two lessons that came from this experience, one of which I didn’t even think of until I started writing so I guess this whole idea is working for me.  The first lesson is something I have already written about in the past, crew resource management (CRM).  We talk about CRM before every single flight and this just reinforced to me how essential it is at all times.

The second lesson is how important it is to be precise at all times when flying.  In this situation it could mean a really long run for needed supplies.  During takeoff it could mean hitting a fence or tree because you didn’t climb fast enough.  On landing, it could mean you don’t quite make it to the runway which could have terrible results.

The point is not to scare anyone, but to re-emphasize how important it is to be precise in everything that you do as a flyer.  Don’t accept short cuts or a lack of precision from the people you fly with.  Set standards for yourself and when you don’t meet them analyze how you could have done better.  Ask for feedback from other people you fly with and apply it.

Being a true aviator means you never stop learning, and always work at improving yourself.

October 7, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Boeing Working to Inspire Children in South Africa

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a Boeing guy.  It’s not that Airbus makes a bad plane, I am just your stereotypical prideful American that wants all of the best stuff to come from the states.  So sue me. (please don’t, I can’t afford it)

I have written in the past about some of the cool things that Airbus is doing to educate and inspire young people to pursue aviation like the Fly Your Ideas Challenge and the Airbus Lycée.  I’m happy to see that Boeing is following suit with their newest joint venture with South African Airways.

One of the things that I spend a lot of time thinking about these days is how to get young people, including my own kids, excited about aviation.  Kids like my son are easy because they just love airplanes, but there are so many that never even see a life in aviation as a possibility because they don’t realize all of the opportunities that exist.

That is why this venture is so cool.

Boeing and South African Airways have taken a normal shipping container and turned it into a mock up NextGen 737 including a flight deck, passenger cabin, and even a demonstration engine.  This is the kind of hands on experience that kids need to really spark their interest in aviation and inspire them to pursue a career.

What makes this shipping container aircraft even more valuable is that it is accompanied by actual people who have careers in aviation that can show the kids that anything is possible.  They can be role models for these young South Africans and give them hope that they can actually pursue their dreams no matter how lofty they may be.

As a kid I always loved airplanes and would stop playing to look up as they flew over my house.  That really hasn’t changed since I grew up, and I hope to find a way to do my part with inspiring young people who have the same dreams that I did, but just don’t know how to make it a reality.

I’m glad to see that Boeing and South African Airways are doing their part as well.

October 1, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.