Friday evening at the Memphis airport I was in a great spot to watch the parade of FedEx jets taking off on their international shots.  One plane looked out of place so I grabbed the little Nikon I carry when I can’t be bothered to lug the D80 around.  It wasn’t until a few minutes ago that I realized what I’d got.

Airbus Industries F-WWYE.  The company’s first A330- 200F which first flew in November of last year.  I can only suspect that it was in Memphis to let FedEx kick the tires.

“Hub and Spoke” is a term used to describe how airlines in the US set up routes.  Instead of point to point flying (as seen in Canada) major carriers such as Delta use feeder airlines to service short routes to get passengers from smaller cities (spokes) to major points (hubs).

The map shows my trip to Memphis and back home this week.  I started off on Friday the 19th by driving to Niagara Falls for the Northeast Council of Air Shows (NECAS) meetings.  On the 21st, I hopped a flight in Buffalo on a Pinnacle regional jet operating for Delta to Detroit.  Then it was a “real” Delta flight to Memphis which, unfortunately, had engine problems resulting in a 2 hour delay.

Coming home, US Airways got me to Charlotte, North Carolina 10 minutes too late for a flight back to Buffalo so it was an uncomfortable sleep in the Airport until yesterday morning at 6:30 when they got me on a plane to Philadelphia.  There, I hopped on a Dash 8 100 operated for US Airways by Mesa Airlines to get back to Buffalo.  Finally, a snowy drive back to Toronto.

Hub and spoke may make some economic sense but normal connection times don’t leave any margin for weather or equipment delays. Of course, the fact that connecting flights NEVER, NEVER leave from the same terminal that you arrive in doesn’t help either.

I did get a nice shot of the sun rising at 31,000 feet from the US Airways 737-400 taking me to Philadelphia.

In three weeks I get to try this again for a trip to Lexington, Kentucky.  Hope everything works out better.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Niagara Falls, NY for the Northeast Council of Air Shows meetings at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.  Cocktails tomorrow night with a chance to do some networking and then lots of presentations and discussions on Saturday.  Hopefully, we can convince some aircraft to come our way for Wings & Wheels in May.

Sunday, it’s a quick drive to the Buffalo airport for another trip down to Memphis.  Delta to Detroit and then down to Elvis Land.  sure hope the weather is better this time.

It will be interesting to see how intense base security is.  So far, it just looks like they want to make sure that you have a valid drivers license, insurance and registration.  Sounds less stringent than crossing the border which surprises me somewhat.  Who knows what that will be like tomorrow.

• People in the Memphis area don’t handle snow and ice real well.
• FedEx has a LOT of airplanes.  When you usually see 2 or 3 a day in Toronto you’re not prepared for 24 hour operations.  I joked on Facebook that the Tennessee state bird must be a FedEx jet.
• Sticking to a diet while on the road is tough.  Especially when traveling with folks who like red meat and really, really like beer.
• Air travel continues to get more and more of a chore every day.
• You can find a place to smoke in most US airports – just need to do a little pre-flight research
• The Chrysler PT Cruiser (my rental for the week) is a piece of shit.
• Speaking of cars, white is a very popular color in Tennessee and Mississippi.
• Graceland (at least from the street) is less than spectacular and the area is incredibly run down for such a popular tourist destination

At least I made it back without getting caught in all the travel delays and cancellations that have plagued the Southern US all week.  Luckily I had my return flights changed to get home earlier.  My original itinerary had me coming back through Atlanta.  Delta cancelled nearly all their flights to Atlanta on Thursday night.  Instead, I came back through Detroit and everything worked out fine.

Long weekend ahead, then 2 days in the office and 2 days of vacation.  Next Sunday, I get to do this whole trip again!

In the new age of airport “security” a 12:30 departure means I have to be at Pearson by 9:30 am to see the latest instalment of Security Theatre as performed by US Customs and the good folks at TSA.  TSA as we all know stands for Totally Shitty Attitude so I can expect to poked, prodded and degraded for a few hours.  Of course, it could also be our  CATSA folks – CAnadians with Totally Shitty Attitudes.  Either way I’m sure I’ll enjoy the show.

Once in Memphis, it’s a quick drive to Southaven which is just across the state line so I hope to be in the hotel in time to watch most of the Super Bowl.  First time watching the big game in the US so I’ll be able to see all those multi-million dollar commercials that we don’t get up here.

Meetings Monday to Friday and then back to the airport for a 6:30 pm flight back to Atlanta and then home with a landing scheduled for midnight.  And just for shits and giggles, I get to do the same thing all over again 2 weeks later.

Flight reports to follow.

If everything goes to plan an airplane registered as N787BA carrying the callsign ZA001 will lift off the runway at Paine Field in Everett Washington at 1800GMT (1pm EST).  Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner will finally spread its wings.

Plagued by problems and 2 years late in development, the 787 represents a quantum leap in the history of commercial aviation.  The future of Boeing rests on a successful outcome and planespotters are camped out waiting for the moment when the main wheels lift off the tarmac.

Millions of words have been written about the 787 and its tortuous journey to this day.  My main source for news has been Jon Ostrower and his excellent website.  Anything you would ever want to know can be found along with spectacular pictures and videos.  One of Jon’s favorite sources is Liz Matzelle who appears to live at Boeing.  A great selection of her pictures is available here.

Nothing, except gravity, is ever absolute in aviation and the flight could be delayed or cancelled but I’ve got my fingers crossed.

UPDATE: She flew!!

(image courtesy of Boeing)

I really thought with all the budget restrictions and the general state of business that I wouldn’t be flying anymore for the rest of this year.  Guess I was wrong.

Tomorrow morning I hop on one of these 18 seater Beechcraft 1900Ds operated by Air Georgian for Air Canada to fly down to Hartford Connecticut.  Once there, it’s a 1 hour drive to Waterbury and check-in at the Courtyard Marriott.

Monday and Tuesday are full days of meetings in the town of Naugatuck before heading back Tuesday night.  This is my 5th or 6th trip down to our US office there.  Promises to be 3 long days starting with a business dinner tomorrow night.

How you could fly through some of the most congested airspace in the world without noticing that you’d passed the airport or fail to respond to dozens of radio messages just boggles the mind.  Even with my minimal hours in the air I know that radio chatter is almost constant.  That’s in a little Cessna.  In a big Airbus on instrument flight it’s probably non-stop.  Not to mention that the autopilot knew they were at the end of the route and probably started firing off warnings left and right.  

Yet, through all this, the pilots say they were “distracted” because they had their laptops open (breach of company policy) and were having a discussion about the new crew scheduling system.  Well, you’ve already been suspended and will probably be fired so I don’t think that crew scheduling is something you’re going to have to worry about in the future.

The NTSB and FAA are still investigating so hopefully we’ll get the truth on this bizarre event sooner or later.

Having said my piece, let’s turn it over to David Letterman and his Top Ten Northwest Airlines Pilots Excuses:

10. Bunch of fat guys seated on the right side of the plane made us vector east.
9. We get paid by the hour.
8. Mapquest always takes you the long way, am I right, people?
7. Tired of that show-off Sullenberger getting all the attention.
6. You try steering one of those airplanes after eight or nine cocktails.
5. Wanted to catch the end of the in-flight movie.
4. Activating autopilot and making occasional P.A. announcements is exhausting.
3. According to our map, we only missed our target by half an inch.
2. For a change, we decided to send luggage to the right city and lose the passengers.
1. Thought we saw balloon boy.

Snow in Einsiedeln

Well I’m here.  The picturesque town of Einseideln South of Zurich.  The flight across was terrible.  No sleep and cramped quarters.  By the time I got in, I was dead tired so I just grabbed the train and headed straight for the hotel.

Once we started climbing up into the hills there was something just not right.  Was that snow???  Sure enough it started snowing and it hasn’t let up yet.   Big wet flakes that make it hard to see but at least they’re not building up on the ground.  The picture is from the balcony of my room at the Drei Konige Hotel.  Utilitarian accommodations but at least I can duck outside for a smoke.

This day is a right off so I’m going to grab some sleep and see if I can get on Swiss time.

A380 at YYZ

Just waiting around at Pearson Airport.  Check in and security when extremely well so I’ve got plenty of time to kill before my flight.

Wandering around and ran into this big boy at one of the gates.  The Emirates A380 with about 100 people swarming around her.  Probably only about 20 were actually assigned but he draws a crowd.

That’s a big engine!