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21:23
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Cockpit Conversation 
I didn't post anything yesterday. It's not because I'm too busy. It's because I've been
thinking about the privacy issues that Sully has been having. He's discussed them in a
September 27, 2006
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23:01
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Cockpit Conversation
Old story, one of those ones I save for when it's late and I don't have time to
blog.
One of the things that didn't return from the Victory job with me was my cellphone. I imagine it fell behind the
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1:13
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Cockpit Conversation
The air pressure and density of the atmosphere decrease with altitude, meaning that at higher altitudes there is less oxygen to breathe and that air trapped inside packages and human bodies can expa
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20:46
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Cockpit Conversation
When the owner told me last night that I had a nine a.m. flight in the Monarch Butterfly
today, he reminded me to be sure to be here for eight, because the airplane would be
returning dirty from
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21:45
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Cockpit Conversation
I spent so much time this morning working with the GPS (a Garmin 295), programming in waypoints and learning how it works that I ran down the batteries. I had to go back into town for more. When I r
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21:32
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Cockpit Conversation
I couldn't find a spare copy of the MB handbook last night, so this morning I biked out
to the airport and let the owner know I would be inside the Monarch Butterfly, studying.
I'm paranoid about
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20:18
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Cockpit Conversation
I've got the day off, and they told me in advance. They never did that at Victory. I
never knew when I had time to do things or not. I've cleaned the house, then I'm going to
study the Monarch B
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21:15
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Cockpit Conversation
A rampee picks me up at six, which doesn't give a lot of time for me to get everything ready for a six-thirty departure. I have to do a weight and balance and flight plan, preflight inspection and r
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11:41
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Cockpit Conversation
I came across an issue of Popular Mechanics from 1929. Wow, I didn't even know these parts were populated with literate people then. It must have come in by dogsled.
Looking through the pages, I di
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22:32
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Cockpit Conversation
They're keeping me really busy. Today I had a 10 am start, but the airplane wasn't there
when I arrived. No one was. The hangar was unlocked, the other company truck was there, but
no pilots or
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21:53
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Cockpit Conversation
The weather was iffy today with lots of thunderstorms, so my boss decided he would fly right seat with his new captain, rather than sending her on her own into the unknown. The airplane was already lo
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20:07
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Cockpit Conversation
My first full day on my own at Phoenix starts with a seven am pick-up at a remote
reserve. My boss has taken the day off to go fishing, finally allowed a break because he
has someone else to do th
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20:18
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Cockpit Conversation
I'm continuing to study the Monarch Butterfly manual.
Most airplanes have a strip of coloured warning lights across the top of the
glareshield. (Glareshield, for some reason, is what we call
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21:03
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Cockpit Conversation
I ended up with a couple of days off because of the engine which I mentioned spat oil all over the cowling. I spent the time mostly surfing the internet, with a bit of shopping for groceries and oth
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20:08
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Cockpit Conversation
Part of the fun of keeping a blog is the people I hear from, and a couple of days ago I
received an e-mail from Linn Rittmalm-Glimne in Sweden. She gives me permission to
quote her:
I
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0:16
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Cockpit Conversation
Another day flying with the chief pilot.
We hear another aviatrix on frequency, flying a bigger, faster airplane than we are, and
my boss mentions that she is from one of the local communities. T
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22:38
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Cockpit Conversation
Most of the day turns into listening to my boss talk on the telephone. But I learn a
lot.
The telephone rings at nine. I'm already awake and about so I hear it despite the
insulating pillow. I
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23:44
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Cockpit Conversation
Of all the great suggestions I've had to name my newest company, I've chosen Phoenix Air. If you know the legend of the Phoenix and have been reading for the last month, then you will probably agree
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21:07
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Cockpit Conversation
I wrote an entry about an interesting trip I took with the chief pilot, but I've decided to put that aside for a day, because of today's date. I'd love to live to see a day when I had to explain its s
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20:17
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Cockpit Conversation
I simply walked the half hour out to the airport at the beginning of the day
in order to participate in the day's flying.
First trip was forty minutes to the north, empty to pick up the same
pa
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20:05
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Cockpit Conversation
Now it's line indoc all over again. Don't you just dread it? But even if I can't pronounce the names of the airports (they are still all named after animals and bodies of water, it's just that many
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21:26
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Cockpit Conversation
My new home, which I am calling Lynx Lake, is still in northern Canada, and still small enough that many urban Canadians have never heard of it, but it's a step up in the world. One of my friends kn
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21:15
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Cockpit Conversation
More Weedwhacker flying today.
It's quite amusing how much the new job is like the old job, right down to everyone insisting that flying here is unique, unlike flying anywhere else. I have decided t
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20:52
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Cockpit Conversation
I phoned the office this morning as requested to check in with the boss about my training or any work they might have for me today. A female voice answered and I guessed correctly that I was speakin
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23:49
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Cockpit Conversation
Next morning the METARs reported that there had been mist at this airport this morning, but there none now, and none in the forecast. I also checked weather at our destination, my new-home-to-be, an
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3:27
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Cockpit Conversation
The chief pilot arrives in an airplane I'm going to thinly disguise by calling a Monarch Butterfly. The pseudonym is flimsy enough that many people will recognize it immediately which is just grand,
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20:17
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Cockpit Conversation
After some more phone calls, the chief pilot makes me a suggestion. He doesn't want to hire someone just over the telephone, but he doesn't want to ask me to incur the expense of coming out for an int
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11:46
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Cockpit Conversation
From flight instructor clumpinglitter's
Aviatrix Logbook. It's too funny not to share.
A guy had a big expensive twin engine airplane at AEL alm
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20:11
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Cockpit Conversation
I'm making contact with friends, and making appointments, but already I'm warning them
that I may not keep them. I could be offered a new job very quickly. I'm ready to go.
I had a fun interlude
