FROM GLOVES TO HANDCUFFS
This week's Ask Cap'n Meryl question: Into The
Wind
Before I tell you what the title of this Update
means, I have a few notes as usual:
First of all, I want to congratulate my friend
Courtney Riecan, about whom I've written several
times in this Update. Courtney left her home in
Seattle to pursue her dream of becoming a
professional pilot and is now training at the
Delta Connection Academy near Orlando. She has
successfully completed her first solo, which is
one of the most exciting times in a new pilot's
training. I've posted two new photos to
commemorate her accomplishment in the "Sky
Ladies" album. Click here to see these two new
photos:
Sky Ladies
In one photo, you see her fight instructor
cutting her shirt tail, and in the next one, you
can see that the shirt tail commemorates her
first solo flight. If you're unfamiliar with
this custom, it is thought that it stems from
early days in aviation, when pilots wore a scarf
with which to clean their goggles. Student
pilots, however, were obligated to use their own
shirt tails to clean their goggles. When a
student became a pilot, the shirttail was cut and
handed to him to symbolize that he, too, was now
entitled to wear the scarf of a pilot.
Another piece of aviation lore says that in early
tandem trainers, it was so noisy that the
instructors would get their student's attention
by yanking on his shirt tail. After the student
would solo, the shirt tail would be cut as the
instructor no longer needed to jerk on the shirt
tail.
This information was gleaned from one of my
favorite sites: http://www.whittsflying.com, a
wonderful, informative site by Gene Whitt.
I know the thousands of readers of this Update
wish nothing but continued success for Courtney.
On another note, I had several comments regarding
the new spinning logo on the Home Page of
www.fromthecockpit.com. I received several
compliments regarding my narration of the video
you can view by clicking the link. Although as a
matter of fact I do engage in some voiceover
work, I didn't produce this video and it isn't my
voice. I appreciate the thought, though!
Also, you'll note our right-hand margin on our
Home Page has taken on a new look. Al The Web
Guy is working on some new things for new content
in this area and you'll see some other new
additions there under the heading: Great add on
for Flight Simulator Cap'n Al Recommends.
All the links under that heading are to a company
in England called Ariane Design Studios. I first
became aware of them last summer when I attended
the International FlightSim Convention here in
Denver. Their add-on gives an incredible,
realistic experience to the Microsoft Flight Sim
and I highly recommend all of their products,
which are very reasonably priced. Click on any
of those links and have a look if you're into
simming at all or think you might want to be. In
the near future, I hope to do an in-depth review
of their product but for now, suffice it to say
I've used it and I love it.
Speaking of flight sims, the new FSX from
Microsoft finally launched a few days ago. Many
readers have asked me about my affiliation with
Microsoft, so here's what's up with that: A
reader recommended to them that they contact me
and have me act as an interface of sorts so that
flight sim pilots could be in contact with an
actual pilot to get their questions answered.
That arrangement was discussed, the first time
when I was in Seattle last summer and then a
couple months later when they flew both Cap'n Al
(Al The Web Guy) and me up to their offices.
I just spoke with them several days ago once
again, and although they still seem highly
enthused about our relationship, the launch of
the FSX has kept them so busy they still haven't
had time to fully address their new site content.
So that deal isn't off at this time--it just
hasn't quite materialized. So we'll see what
happens. I have plenty else keeping me occupied
at the moment so we'll just roll with the
punches.
Now to this week's title. Last week I mentioned
a TV documentary on CNBC regarding American
Airlines. A female pilot for American Eagle sent
the info to me, which I wrote down in three
places but still forgot. Fortunately, my friend
and reader Anthony reminded me about 10 minutes
before it started via email. Since I check my
emails approximately every 3.47 seconds I
fortunately got it in plenty of time. You can
meet Anthony, along with his sister Tiffany, here
in my Cap'n Meryl & Friends Album. Look toward
the bottom of the page for a photo I took of them
when we all met up once at Chicago O'Hare:
Photo Album
It pulled at my heartstrings to watch an in-depth
look at an airline operation. I'm enjoying being
home with our puppy-dog and other critters (you
can meet them all in our At Home Album if you
haven't yet.) but I do miss some aspects of
airline life:
At Home Album
One of the most interesting parts of the
documentary was looking at a heavy maintenance
overhaul where airplanes are torn apart, all the
way to the naked metal--no insulation, so seats,
no carpet--just the bare-bones airplane.
Everything is inspected, every bolt and aspect of
the plane worked over on the outside, and on in
the inside, runners for the seats are replaced
where needed, bolts replaced, gum removed (one of
the mechanics insisted that gum was sometimes
found deep within the mechanisms for the seats
and that people had to have had tools on board to
take them apart to get the gum in!), carpets
cleaned, cockpit discrepancies fixed, etc., etc.,
etc.
On occasion, United would invite pilots to view
our maintenance operation at San Francisco
International and I went over to the hangar to
watch some of the process a few times. It's
really fascinating and when they're done, it's
like having a new airplane again. There may be
new engines, or overhauled engines, new tires,
new carpet if necessary--whatever needs to be
brought up to snuff is addressed. Even without
an invitation, pilots and other employees could
always get permission to come watch at least part
of the show.
The name of this Update stems from a remark made
by an American Airlines flight attendant during
this documentary. She said, "You know, when I
was first hired we were issued little white
gloves. Now we're issued handcuffs."
The documentary went on to show some of the new
responsibilities (and stresses) of being a flight
attendant in this day and age. It used to be
considered an underpaid job but a glamorous one.
Now many flight attendants view themselves as
underpaid for a job that is no longer glamorous
(to say the least).
I think this flight attendant, the head of the
flight attendants' union at American, summed it
all up very nicely with her one statement about
white gloves then, handcuffs now. I remember the
relatively stress-free environment prior to 9/11,
and the devastating sense of something lost
forever afterward.
Who could have even imagined it would come to
this?
By the way, there is a photo of American's giant
Operations area in my Photo Gallery in the
Worldwide Aviation Support Album. They asked for
me not to identify American in the caption within
the Photo Gallery:
American's Dispatch
http://www.forexeztrading.com
Wind
Before I tell you what the title of this Update
means, I have a few notes as usual:
First of all, I want to congratulate my friend
Courtney Riecan, about whom I've written several
times in this Update. Courtney left her home in
Seattle to pursue her dream of becoming a
professional pilot and is now training at the
Delta Connection Academy near Orlando. She has
successfully completed her first solo, which is
one of the most exciting times in a new pilot's
training. I've posted two new photos to
commemorate her accomplishment in the "Sky
Ladies" album. Click here to see these two new
photos:
Sky Ladies
In one photo, you see her fight instructor
cutting her shirt tail, and in the next one, you
can see that the shirt tail commemorates her
first solo flight. If you're unfamiliar with
this custom, it is thought that it stems from
early days in aviation, when pilots wore a scarf
with which to clean their goggles. Student
pilots, however, were obligated to use their own
shirt tails to clean their goggles. When a
student became a pilot, the shirttail was cut and
handed to him to symbolize that he, too, was now
entitled to wear the scarf of a pilot.
Another piece of aviation lore says that in early
tandem trainers, it was so noisy that the
instructors would get their student's attention
by yanking on his shirt tail. After the student
would solo, the shirt tail would be cut as the
instructor no longer needed to jerk on the shirt
tail.
This information was gleaned from one of my
favorite sites: http://www.whittsflying.com, a
wonderful, informative site by Gene Whitt.
I know the thousands of readers of this Update
wish nothing but continued success for Courtney.
On another note, I had several comments regarding
the new spinning logo on the Home Page of
www.fromthecockpit.com. I received several
compliments regarding my narration of the video
you can view by clicking the link. Although as a
matter of fact I do engage in some voiceover
work, I didn't produce this video and it isn't my
voice. I appreciate the thought, though!
Also, you'll note our right-hand margin on our
Home Page has taken on a new look. Al The Web
Guy is working on some new things for new content
in this area and you'll see some other new
additions there under the heading: Great add on
for Flight Simulator Cap'n Al Recommends.
All the links under that heading are to a company
in England called Ariane Design Studios. I first
became aware of them last summer when I attended
the International FlightSim Convention here in
Denver. Their add-on gives an incredible,
realistic experience to the Microsoft Flight Sim
and I highly recommend all of their products,
which are very reasonably priced. Click on any
of those links and have a look if you're into
simming at all or think you might want to be. In
the near future, I hope to do an in-depth review
of their product but for now, suffice it to say
I've used it and I love it.
Speaking of flight sims, the new FSX from
Microsoft finally launched a few days ago. Many
readers have asked me about my affiliation with
Microsoft, so here's what's up with that: A
reader recommended to them that they contact me
and have me act as an interface of sorts so that
flight sim pilots could be in contact with an
actual pilot to get their questions answered.
That arrangement was discussed, the first time
when I was in Seattle last summer and then a
couple months later when they flew both Cap'n Al
(Al The Web Guy) and me up to their offices.
I just spoke with them several days ago once
again, and although they still seem highly
enthused about our relationship, the launch of
the FSX has kept them so busy they still haven't
had time to fully address their new site content.
So that deal isn't off at this time--it just
hasn't quite materialized. So we'll see what
happens. I have plenty else keeping me occupied
at the moment so we'll just roll with the
punches.
Now to this week's title. Last week I mentioned
a TV documentary on CNBC regarding American
Airlines. A female pilot for American Eagle sent
the info to me, which I wrote down in three
places but still forgot. Fortunately, my friend
and reader Anthony reminded me about 10 minutes
before it started via email. Since I check my
emails approximately every 3.47 seconds I
fortunately got it in plenty of time. You can
meet Anthony, along with his sister Tiffany, here
in my Cap'n Meryl & Friends Album. Look toward
the bottom of the page for a photo I took of them
when we all met up once at Chicago O'Hare:
Photo Album
It pulled at my heartstrings to watch an in-depth
look at an airline operation. I'm enjoying being
home with our puppy-dog and other critters (you
can meet them all in our At Home Album if you
haven't yet.) but I do miss some aspects of
airline life:
At Home Album
One of the most interesting parts of the
documentary was looking at a heavy maintenance
overhaul where airplanes are torn apart, all the
way to the naked metal--no insulation, so seats,
no carpet--just the bare-bones airplane.
Everything is inspected, every bolt and aspect of
the plane worked over on the outside, and on in
the inside, runners for the seats are replaced
where needed, bolts replaced, gum removed (one of
the mechanics insisted that gum was sometimes
found deep within the mechanisms for the seats
and that people had to have had tools on board to
take them apart to get the gum in!), carpets
cleaned, cockpit discrepancies fixed, etc., etc.,
etc.
On occasion, United would invite pilots to view
our maintenance operation at San Francisco
International and I went over to the hangar to
watch some of the process a few times. It's
really fascinating and when they're done, it's
like having a new airplane again. There may be
new engines, or overhauled engines, new tires,
new carpet if necessary--whatever needs to be
brought up to snuff is addressed. Even without
an invitation, pilots and other employees could
always get permission to come watch at least part
of the show.
The name of this Update stems from a remark made
by an American Airlines flight attendant during
this documentary. She said, "You know, when I
was first hired we were issued little white
gloves. Now we're issued handcuffs."
The documentary went on to show some of the new
responsibilities (and stresses) of being a flight
attendant in this day and age. It used to be
considered an underpaid job but a glamorous one.
Now many flight attendants view themselves as
underpaid for a job that is no longer glamorous
(to say the least).
I think this flight attendant, the head of the
flight attendants' union at American, summed it
all up very nicely with her one statement about
white gloves then, handcuffs now. I remember the
relatively stress-free environment prior to 9/11,
and the devastating sense of something lost
forever afterward.
Who could have even imagined it would come to
this?
By the way, there is a photo of American's giant
Operations area in my Photo Gallery in the
Worldwide Aviation Support Album. They asked for
me not to identify American in the caption within
the Photo Gallery:
American's Dispatch
http://www.forexeztrading.com
