Bit O’ Bavaria
FROM CAP’N MERYL
Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-03-07-ask-the-captain_x.htm
Bit O’ Bavaria
This was certainly an interesting week. It
started with a trip to New York to meet my
literary agent for the first time face to face.
Together we visited some major book publishers in
New York to see about getting “The World At My
Feet” picked up for mass distribution. It was an
exciting trip as we visited parts of New York I’d
never seen before. Also, although I’ve ridden the
subway in many parts of the world, including such
cities as Moscow, Paris and London, I’d never
ridden a New York subway. Chalk up another first
for Cap’n Meryl!
Feedback was good so we’ll see if a deal can be
reached or not. No guarantees. I’m still a
first-time (but not a last-time) author and that’s
always a tough sell.
Because our last meeting ran late in the day, I
missed the last flight to Denver and opted to
spend one more night in New York rather than
connect through Chicago after such a long day
running around New York.
By doing this, however, I put myself in the
position of having to fly out again the same day I
arrived home in Denver. My plan was to spend one
night in Denver and fly to Chicago in the morning.
It looked to me like my next assignment would be
an evening flight to Frankfurt from my home base
of Chicago the following day.
However, that trip fell through and the next thing
I knew I appeared to be in line for a trip from
Chicago to Honolulu first thing in the morning,
but too early to arrive in time from Denver even
if I took the first morning flight from Denver to
Chicago.
So I flew from New York to Denver on a Friday
morning, picked up my uniform, packed my bag for
Honolulu, and took off that same night for
Chicago.
In the meantime, things changed again, as they so
often do, and another pilot was assigned to fly
the Honolulu trip. So there I was at a hotel in
Chicago and both the Frankfurt trip and Honolulu
trips were gone—assigned to other reserve
captains.
It looked like I was in for a several-day stay at
my commuter hotel in Chicago as there were simply
no trips which needed to be covered. Remember
that I am speaking as a reserve pilot. We’re the
ones who are on standby all the time to cover
trips for pilots who may call in sick, or for
charters, or for pilots who have received
permission to drop a trip, or whatever. I’m
still very junior on my airplane, and until I gain
some more seniority as older pilots either retire
or switch airplanes, I’m obligated to fly reserve
instead of knowing where I’ll be going a month at
a time.
Actually, other than the fact it can be
inconvenient sometimes to not know what to pack
before heading for Chicago to await assignment, I
kind of like my mixed bag of flying. Sometimes, I
do know before I leave Denver where I’m headed,
but
not always, as was the case this time around.
I needn’t have worried about being stuck in
Chicago and waiting for a trip assignment that
would never come; I was in Chicago for less than
twelve hours when the phone rang and I was asked
to go straight to the airport and jump on the next
plane to Washington, DC, where I would spend the
night. The next day, Sunday, I was to fly the
Munich flight as the captain had called in sick.
Although I am Chicago-based, when other bases run
out of crews they look to other bases to provide
flight crews.
I was thrilled, not because a pilot was sick but
because, truth be told, I had no idea my airline
was still serving Munich in the airplane I fly,
which is the B-777. In fact, I thought we no
longer even flew to Munich. I tend to be wrapped
up in what I do and don’t necessarily keep
completely on top of our entire route structure.
In any case, I was pleasantly surprised.
I actually passed through Munich just a few weeks
ago, as recounted in my piece called “The Hills
Are Alive,”
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-01-31-ask-the-captain_x.htm
but other than that I hadn’t been in Munich since
I was a teenager, hundreds and hundreds of years
ago.
I met my flight crew for the first time at our
operations in Dulles and they turned out to be one
of the nicest crews with which I've ever had the
privilege to fly. Our primary copilot was Katina
and our non-flying (relief) copilot was Dave.
They
had never flown with each other, either, which is
nothing unusual. Pilots are trained very
thoroughly in their specific job functions so
mixing and matching flight crews doesn’t matter;
we all know exactly what is expected of us. It’s
rare I ever fly with the same pilot twice.
In any case, I flew the flight over and Katina
flew us home to Dulles. That’s another thing I’ve
discovered--many people don’t know that the
captain and copilot alternate flying versus
non-flying duties (working the radios, navigating,
etc.). With their permission, I’ve posted both
Katina’s and Dave’s pictures in my new Album
called “Dulles to Munich.” Check this new album
out at:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=14
When you’re done with that Album, you might want
to revisit the “At Home” Album. Al, the Web Guy,
took some spectacular sunset photos from our house
in Colorado. This link will take you there.
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=12
It was fascinating to hear the similarities
between Katina’s background and my own. This is
the third time, by the way, in the few months I’ve
been flying this aircraft, that I’ve had a female
copilot. All of them have been exceptionally
warm and friendly, and it’s always fun hearing
their own stories about becoming an airline
pilot. Even today, being an airline pilot is very
much a male-dominated profession.
When we arrived in Munich, capitol of Bavaria,
there was a LOT of snow and in fact, it was
snowing both for our arrival and departure the
next day. Midday, though, it cleared up just a
little and although it remained bitterly cold, I
got a few decent outdoor photos in the Marienplatz
where Munich’s famous clock is.
Our hotel in Munich is just above a subway station
and in the passageway between the hotel and the
subway was a guy playing an accordion. It was
terribly cold, but not as cold as outside in the
Marienplatz where there was another guy playing an
accordion. My fingers were frozen stiff even with
gloves and I can’t imagine how either man was able
to keep his fingers moving.
In any case, I have to tell you I didn’t know it
was possible to play the accordion with such
virtuosity. No Bavarian OOM-pa music here.
Rather, both played extremely complicated
classical pieces; I recognized a Toccata and Fugue
by Bach and was amazed at the depth of the
delivery on the accordion which one does not
normally associate with classical fare.
I visited the famous Frauenkirche and although I
hoped maybe the organist would be practicing, I
had no such luck. However, coming out of the
church I could already hear the classical
accordion player and it sounded, unbelievably,
very similar to a pipe organ with heavy emphasis
on deep bass notes. I never thought I could be
thrilled by classical music played on an
accordion, but I was.
My copilot Dave commented that he always listens
for the sound of the accordion player to find his
way back to the hotel as there are several places
to make a wrong turn in the somewhat complicated
subway passages. The accordion player there sits
just outside the passageway leading directly to
our hotel. If one day the accordion player should
stay home, there may be some lost souls who'll
never find their way out of the subway--not until
the accordion player shows up for work again, that
is.
I have to tell you that showing up in Bavaria with
my Hawaiian muumuu, bathing suit and flip flops
did not come in especially handy. Remember, when
I packed my bag I was pretty sure I was
Honolulu-bound. Wrong again. I didn’t attend any
luaus this trip, but no matter. How fun to
revisit the beautiful capitol of Bavaria after so
many years.
And that’s Cap’n Meryl’s week in review.
Ho-hum—just another day at the office. But what
an office! I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airpseed!
Cap’n Meryl
Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-03-07-ask-the-captain_x.htm
Bit O’ Bavaria
This was certainly an interesting week. It
started with a trip to New York to meet my
literary agent for the first time face to face.
Together we visited some major book publishers in
New York to see about getting “The World At My
Feet” picked up for mass distribution. It was an
exciting trip as we visited parts of New York I’d
never seen before. Also, although I’ve ridden the
subway in many parts of the world, including such
cities as Moscow, Paris and London, I’d never
ridden a New York subway. Chalk up another first
for Cap’n Meryl!
Feedback was good so we’ll see if a deal can be
reached or not. No guarantees. I’m still a
first-time (but not a last-time) author and that’s
always a tough sell.
Because our last meeting ran late in the day, I
missed the last flight to Denver and opted to
spend one more night in New York rather than
connect through Chicago after such a long day
running around New York.
By doing this, however, I put myself in the
position of having to fly out again the same day I
arrived home in Denver. My plan was to spend one
night in Denver and fly to Chicago in the morning.
It looked to me like my next assignment would be
an evening flight to Frankfurt from my home base
of Chicago the following day.
However, that trip fell through and the next thing
I knew I appeared to be in line for a trip from
Chicago to Honolulu first thing in the morning,
but too early to arrive in time from Denver even
if I took the first morning flight from Denver to
Chicago.
So I flew from New York to Denver on a Friday
morning, picked up my uniform, packed my bag for
Honolulu, and took off that same night for
Chicago.
In the meantime, things changed again, as they so
often do, and another pilot was assigned to fly
the Honolulu trip. So there I was at a hotel in
Chicago and both the Frankfurt trip and Honolulu
trips were gone—assigned to other reserve
captains.
It looked like I was in for a several-day stay at
my commuter hotel in Chicago as there were simply
no trips which needed to be covered. Remember
that I am speaking as a reserve pilot. We’re the
ones who are on standby all the time to cover
trips for pilots who may call in sick, or for
charters, or for pilots who have received
permission to drop a trip, or whatever. I’m
still very junior on my airplane, and until I gain
some more seniority as older pilots either retire
or switch airplanes, I’m obligated to fly reserve
instead of knowing where I’ll be going a month at
a time.
Actually, other than the fact it can be
inconvenient sometimes to not know what to pack
before heading for Chicago to await assignment, I
kind of like my mixed bag of flying. Sometimes, I
do know before I leave Denver where I’m headed,
but
not always, as was the case this time around.
I needn’t have worried about being stuck in
Chicago and waiting for a trip assignment that
would never come; I was in Chicago for less than
twelve hours when the phone rang and I was asked
to go straight to the airport and jump on the next
plane to Washington, DC, where I would spend the
night. The next day, Sunday, I was to fly the
Munich flight as the captain had called in sick.
Although I am Chicago-based, when other bases run
out of crews they look to other bases to provide
flight crews.
I was thrilled, not because a pilot was sick but
because, truth be told, I had no idea my airline
was still serving Munich in the airplane I fly,
which is the B-777. In fact, I thought we no
longer even flew to Munich. I tend to be wrapped
up in what I do and don’t necessarily keep
completely on top of our entire route structure.
In any case, I was pleasantly surprised.
I actually passed through Munich just a few weeks
ago, as recounted in my piece called “The Hills
Are Alive,”
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-01-31-ask-the-captain_x.htm
but other than that I hadn’t been in Munich since
I was a teenager, hundreds and hundreds of years
ago.
I met my flight crew for the first time at our
operations in Dulles and they turned out to be one
of the nicest crews with which I've ever had the
privilege to fly. Our primary copilot was Katina
and our non-flying (relief) copilot was Dave.
They
had never flown with each other, either, which is
nothing unusual. Pilots are trained very
thoroughly in their specific job functions so
mixing and matching flight crews doesn’t matter;
we all know exactly what is expected of us. It’s
rare I ever fly with the same pilot twice.
In any case, I flew the flight over and Katina
flew us home to Dulles. That’s another thing I’ve
discovered--many people don’t know that the
captain and copilot alternate flying versus
non-flying duties (working the radios, navigating,
etc.). With their permission, I’ve posted both
Katina’s and Dave’s pictures in my new Album
called “Dulles to Munich.” Check this new album
out at:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=14
When you’re done with that Album, you might want
to revisit the “At Home” Album. Al, the Web Guy,
took some spectacular sunset photos from our house
in Colorado. This link will take you there.
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=12
It was fascinating to hear the similarities
between Katina’s background and my own. This is
the third time, by the way, in the few months I’ve
been flying this aircraft, that I’ve had a female
copilot. All of them have been exceptionally
warm and friendly, and it’s always fun hearing
their own stories about becoming an airline
pilot. Even today, being an airline pilot is very
much a male-dominated profession.
When we arrived in Munich, capitol of Bavaria,
there was a LOT of snow and in fact, it was
snowing both for our arrival and departure the
next day. Midday, though, it cleared up just a
little and although it remained bitterly cold, I
got a few decent outdoor photos in the Marienplatz
where Munich’s famous clock is.
Our hotel in Munich is just above a subway station
and in the passageway between the hotel and the
subway was a guy playing an accordion. It was
terribly cold, but not as cold as outside in the
Marienplatz where there was another guy playing an
accordion. My fingers were frozen stiff even with
gloves and I can’t imagine how either man was able
to keep his fingers moving.
In any case, I have to tell you I didn’t know it
was possible to play the accordion with such
virtuosity. No Bavarian OOM-pa music here.
Rather, both played extremely complicated
classical pieces; I recognized a Toccata and Fugue
by Bach and was amazed at the depth of the
delivery on the accordion which one does not
normally associate with classical fare.
I visited the famous Frauenkirche and although I
hoped maybe the organist would be practicing, I
had no such luck. However, coming out of the
church I could already hear the classical
accordion player and it sounded, unbelievably,
very similar to a pipe organ with heavy emphasis
on deep bass notes. I never thought I could be
thrilled by classical music played on an
accordion, but I was.
My copilot Dave commented that he always listens
for the sound of the accordion player to find his
way back to the hotel as there are several places
to make a wrong turn in the somewhat complicated
subway passages. The accordion player there sits
just outside the passageway leading directly to
our hotel. If one day the accordion player should
stay home, there may be some lost souls who'll
never find their way out of the subway--not until
the accordion player shows up for work again, that
is.
I have to tell you that showing up in Bavaria with
my Hawaiian muumuu, bathing suit and flip flops
did not come in especially handy. Remember, when
I packed my bag I was pretty sure I was
Honolulu-bound. Wrong again. I didn’t attend any
luaus this trip, but no matter. How fun to
revisit the beautiful capitol of Bavaria after so
many years.
And that’s Cap’n Meryl’s week in review.
Ho-hum—just another day at the office. But what
an office! I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airpseed!
Cap’n Meryl
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