I survived the week before Christmas. Made it through the end of the Mayan calendar, held on to my temper as we were several hours late out of Memphis every morning, skillfully flew jets in need of some TLC, and even brought the above pictured 757 into the Greenville ramp looking like it had been parted out. This was a recent aquisition that has the passenger-to-freighter mod, but was pressed into revenue service during peak before getting its shiny new paint job. The marshaller in Greenville was reluctant to guide us into our parking spot b/c he didn't believe we were in the right place!
I also had a painful realization this week: I flew with a new hire pilot who's been on the property for 3 months. It was my first newbie FO as a Captain, and I had to write a (very positive) evaluation on him (reminded me of flight instructing in the Navy...having to fill out all those grade sheets). Anyway, he is 27 years old, and the realization is that by the time he retires from Fedex, I'll probably be dead!! Ho Ho Ho. It's off to the cabin for a white Christmas (assuming I get home on American). Talk to you next year.
The week before Christmas; always an interesting time at Fedex. We thought we might get away with no nasty weather this years, but a powerful gust front blew through Memphis right in the middle of the push this morning. We were a couple of hours late, which meant flying into the sun. At least it wasn't snow. Below are two pictures showing the progress on the new crew rest facility since November. Tonight is the holiday buffet. Shrimp galore!
I had my annual line check yesterday, just two days after returning from vacation. Fortunately, nothing unusual happened, which is, in itself, very unusual. If Murphy is ever going to enforce his law, the time will be when there is a checkride.
So, today, things are much more relaxed. During a walk on the Swamp Rabbit trail in Greenvile, I spied someone's keys laying in the grass. My first thought was to pass them by and not get involved, but then I thought about how nice it would be if someone found MY keys and made an effort to return them to me. They looked like they had been there awhile. On closer examination, I noticed a thumbdrive attached, but no other identification. I took them up to my room and plugged the thumbdrive into my laptop, and the life of the owner was presented to me. Seemed like a very nice kid in his senior year in college. I looked through some of his documents until I found a resume which included a cellphone number and was able to call him. He was very, very relieved as his whole academic life was on that thumbdrive, not to mention his car and house keys. I left them for him at the hotel's front desk. Felt good all day.
I decided to go home for 24 hours after Winnipeg rather than getting a hotel in Memphis, so I passed the day in a sleep-deficit fog. Had to get up very early Friday morning for the two leg jumpseat back to Memphis for my early afternoon showtime.
As the week progressed, I had been keeping an eye on the weather for Friday (yesterday) in Great Falls, Montana. There was a blizzard predicted, and it did arrive. The morning 757 couldn't get in and ended up back in Casper for the day. An hour prior to showtime in Memphis, I noted that the aircraft they had assigned to our trip did not have a functional weather radar. When the release came out with this same tail number still assigned, I immediately called the dispatcher and asked if he really planned to send me into a snowstorm with no radar. He quickly apologized and within five minutes we had a tail swap to a full up airplane. We headed out to do the preflight, and were just about closed up and ready to go to Wichita, and then on to Great Falls, when my cellphone rang. It was scheduling: they had decided to turn our 3 day layover into an out and back! Yipee! It would be a very long night, but we would only be in Great Falls for a couple of hours, then back to Memphis, and I would get to go home with full pay for the trip. My vacation started three days early. Talk to you in December.
Finished the first of two weeks on the road with 36 hours in "Winterpeg," arriving with my first snow of the season yesterday morning. Nice steak at The Keg, and back to spend a few hours glued to the TV for election results. Strange to be out of the country on this day. I'll have a day in Memphis for laundry, and then a long weekend in Great Falls, Montana, Where they are predicting sub-zero lows and up to a foot of snow. Oh joy.
Lunch today was at the new burger place along main street, Grill Marks. I had a pimento cheese burger, fries and a chocolate milkshake. Then off to rent a bike. Last month, I rode the northern half of the Swamp Rabbit Trail up past Furman to its end in Traveler's Rest. This time, I went south to Lake Conelee. The lake seemed more like a swamp to me, hence the name of the trail, I guess, but the ride was great! One of the advantages to weekday layovers is fewer people out and about, and I had the trail pretty much to myslef. Beautiful day, temps around 70 degrees, and relatively low humidity, for once. As I rode past Major Anderson's F-86, I asked the construction crew if it would be ready for the rededication on Saturday. Their reply was a nervous "yes." We'll see!
You might remember some time ago I posted a picture of an F-86 displayed along the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville. A USA headline recently caught my eye, and educated me about the significance of this memorial to Major Rudolf Anderson. The memorial is being renovated, and here's why:
From USA Today: 5:44PM EDT October 14. 2012 - GREENVILLE,
S.C. — The forgotten man of the Cuban missile crisis was once its hero — the
only American to perish in a conflict that could have killed millions.
Maj. Rudolf Anderson was "the martyr who died for us all," said Eric
Sevareid, the CBS Evening News analyst. Future generations would lay
flowers at Anderson's grave, he predicted, in thanks for the "hosts of others
who did not die."
The crisis, the closest the planet has come to nuclear war, took place over
13 days — Oct. 16-28, 1962. It started after aerial photos showed the Soviet
Union was deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba in order to bolster its communist
ally, Fidel Castro, and its own ability to strike the United States.
Armed only with a camera, Anderson flew an unescorted U-2 spy plane over the
island more times in the crisis than any other pilot. He and his comrades took
the photos that the U.S. used to show the world the Soviets had nuclear missiles
90 miles from Florida.
After Anderson was shot down by a Soviet missile — without permission from
leaders in the Kremlin — President Kennedy and his Soviet counterpart, Nikita
Khrushchev realized they had to end the crisis before their underlings pushed
them into war. Within 24 hours, they did.
Yet 50 years later, Anderson's memory has faded, along with that of the
crisis itself.
There are unforgettable moments — Kennedy on TV telling the nation about the
missiles and announcing a quarantine around Cuba; U.N. Ambassador Adlai
Stevenson unveiling photos of the missile sites and offering to wait "until hell
freezes over" for a Soviet response; Soviet ships in the Atlantic turning back
from the quarantine line.
But the crisis that historian James Blight calls "the most dangerous moment
in modern history" is hazy to young Americans and widely misunderstood by their
elders.
Despite revelations since the end of the Cold War, the crisis is encrusted by
myth: of a cool, hard-line Kennedy, a bellicose Khrushchev and a resolution in
which the Americans stood firm and the Russians backed down.
Alice George, author of a social history of the crisis, says its memory was
diminished by subsequent traumas, especially the assassination of Kennedy a year
later. And the end of the Cold War two decades ago deprived the crisis of its
doomsday context.
"If you were alive in 1962, you have a story about the crisis," George says.
"If you weren't, you have no clear idea what happened."
Here in Anderson's hometown, however, some people want to change that. One is
Jack Parillo, a retired architect who learned of Anderson only when he stumbled
on his memorial. "People don't realize Rudy's importance to history," he says.
"Without him, there might not be any history."
He didn't seem worried. The night before, he called his mother in Greenville
and told her not to worry, he was doing what he loved.
After 10 a.m., Anderson completed his pass over the eastern end of Cuba — his
plane's camera clicking, Soviet radar watching — and turned toward Florida. But
a Soviet general, absent his commander and for reasons still unclear, ordered
two surface-to-air missiles fired at the U-2.
One exploded behind Anderson, sending shrapnel into the cockpit and through
his pressurized suit. He probably was dead before the plane hit the ground, 13
miles below. He was 35.
An anti-tank missile deployed during the
1962 Cuban missile crisis is displayed at Morro Cabana military park on Oct. 11
in Havana. Fifty years ago, in October 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
ordered a secret deployment of nuclear missiles to Cuba that were detected by
U.S. spy aircraft.
AFP/Getty Images file photo
'The first shot'
The executive committee of the National Security Council was meeting in the
White House Cabinet Room when word arrived. "You can hear the tension in their
voices," says Sheldon Stern, former historian at the Kennedy Presidential
Library, who has studied the tapes on which the president secretly recorded the
deliberations.
"This is much of an escalation by them, isn't it?" Kennedy said.
"They've fired the first shot," said Paul Nitze, an assistant secretary of
Defense.
Later, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the president's brother, would write,
"There was the feeling that the noose was tightening on all of us."
To most in the room, Anderson was merely "that U-2 boy," as Vice President
Lyndon Johnson called him. But the president seemed to see a father with a son
not much older than his John-John.
Later, in the Oval Office, the president told his brother that "the
politicians and officials sit home pontificating about great principles and
issues, make the decisions and dine with their wives and families, while the
brave and the young die." As RFK left, the president was writing a letter to
Anderson's widow.
A U.S. invasion of Cuba now seemed likely, and an attack on the anti-aircraft
missile site that hit Anderson almost certain. The military waited for Kennedy's
order.
He never gave it, even though he could not have known that either move
probably would have led to all-out nuclear war. Unknown to the U.S., Soviet
troops in Cuba (there were 40,000, not the 8,000 the CIA estimated) had tactical
nuclear weapons to use against a U.S. invasion, and Soviet nuclear cruise
missiles were pointed at the Guantanamo naval base in case of a U.S. invasion or
attack on Soviet anti-missile sites.
Instead, Kennedy offered Khrushchev a final compromise.
On Sunday morning, they had a deal: The Soviets would pull their missiles out
of Cuba; the U.S. promised not to invade Cuba and to secretly remove its own
nuclear missiles from Turkey.
Two days later, Maj. Steve Heyser, Anderson's comrade and rival in the U-2
squadron, went to the White House to receive Kennedy's thanks for taking the
first photos of the Soviet missile installations.
Afterward, Gen. Curtis LeMay, the cigar-chomping Air Force chief of staff,
told Heyser that because Anderson was dead and he was alive, Anderson was going
to be the hero of the crisis. Did the major have a problem with that?
LeMay had four stars on his shoulder. Heyser had no choice. "No, sir," he
replied.
Air Force accounts at the time gave both Heyser and Anderson credit for the
first photos. Anderson received the first Air Force Cross, the service's highest
decoration short of the Medal of Honor. Heyser and the nine other U-2 pilots who
flew over Cuba got only the Distinguished Flying Cross, even though they'd all
taken the same risks.
Some thought it unfair; Heyser, who died in 2008, told the LeMay story many
times.
Being the hero's wife was no consolation to Jane Anderson. Seven months
earlier, she'd been traumatized by a false report of Rudy's death in an air
crash. Now, when the casualty notification team arrived at her door at Laughlin
AFB in Texas, she ran into the bathroom and locked the door.
"She said, 'I don't want to live without Rudy,' " recalls Marlene Powell,
wife of another U-2 pilot.
At Rudy's funeral in Greenville, Jane recoiled at the site of an Air Force
staff car like the one used by the notification team. Jerry McIlmoyle, a U-2
pilot, was a pallbearer. "His death blew her mind," he recalls. "She was down, I
mean really down."
Although Jane Anderson eventually remarried, "I don't think she ever got over
it," McIlmoyle says. "We couldn't do anything for her. She didn't want anything
to do with the Air Force." She died in 1981.
Jane couldn't come to Greenville the following year for the dedication of her
husband's memorial. A plane like the one he flew in Korea was placed in a park
where he'd played as a boy. The plane seemed to be landing, "as if it was coming
home," his sister said.
The next month, Jane gave birth to the daughter Rudy always wanted. People
said her name, Robyn, evoked her father's love of flight.
Camera as weapon
Decades later, Jack Parillo was driving past Greenville's Cleveland Park when
he stopped to check out the F-86 fighter behind the fence. A marker said Maj.
Rudolf Anderson died in 1962, but nothing about how or why.
Parillo, an Air Force veteran, was intrigued. The more he learned about
Anderson, the more he felt he had been overlooked. He hit upon a remedy: the
Medal of Honor.
The area's congressional representatives were receptive, and the local
American Legion post endorsed the idea. But Parillo ran into an unexpected
obstacle — Anderson's fellow pilots.
Today, four of the 11 U-2 pilots who flew over Cuba in the crisis are alive.
In interviews with USA TODAY, three said Anderson did not deserve the Medal of
Honor, because he was simply doing his duty — as they all were — and did not go
"above and beyond" it.
"I respect Andy, but that was not a Medal of Honor action," says Buddy Brown,
83, using his fellow pilot's nickname. "You haven't saved anybody, you're not
coming out of a foxhole. You just happened to be in a spot and got hit.'' Were
Anderson alive, he adds, he'd feel the same way.
On Oct. 27, Greenville will unveil a redesigned Anderson memorial that will
explain all about him and the missile crisis. And, as Sevareid predicted, his
old friends will lay flowers on his grave, as they have every year since
1962.
At one such ceremony, Steve Lorys, husband of the daughter Anderson never
knew, spoke of his father-in-law as a warrior in a new kind of war that couldn't
actually be fought, at least not with a winner.
For all the warheads and missiles that October, Anderson's "camera was the
only weapon that would have worked," he said, "because it showed the world."
Well, it's been awhile since I posted. Nothing new has been happening, which, in aviation, is usually a good thing. I've been flying mostly Greenville trips. Tonight, however, there are winds of change in the air at the Memphis AOC. The much anticipated sleep-room expansion project has finally begun. The lockers are cleared out and ready to be removed, the library is being packed up and moved, and the weirdest looking devices are in one of the old computer training rooms. Take a look:
Now, I don't know what the plan is with these things, but they're either high tech hairdryers, or lunar modules. Energypod? Very strange. maybe they will modify pilot's brains to make them more receptive to commands given by dispatchers and managers? I dunno.
Here's what the company (Metronaps) has to say about them:
The EnergyPod is an innovative and elegant solution to a modern problem: where to take a brief nap while at work.
Based on years of research, the world’s first chair designed specifically for napping combines stylish design with ergonomic functionality to create the ideal energy enhancing environment.
The EnergyPod allows individuals to boost their professional and personal productivity while helping them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Features of the MetroNaps EnergyPod include:
Ergonomic Perfection The contour of the EnergyPod takes pressure off the cardiac system with the elevation of the feet and relaxes the muscles of the lower back with a slight bend in the knees.
Comfortable Privacy The EnergyPod’s sphere provides semi-privacy without overly enclosing. Rotate the privacy visor for additional seclusion.
Built-in Timer Use the one touch i20 feature for a perfect pre-programmed 20 minute nap, or adjust the timer to the duration you desire.
Soothing Sounds Specially devised rhythms play to facilitate relaxation and eliminate surrounding distractions. Listen through the built-in speaker or use optional headphones.
Gentle Waking Wakes gently but effectively as the EnergyPod executes a programmed combination of lights and vibration.
...and they are genuine farmers, with tomatoes on the sidewalk!
Walked around the campus after lunch today. It's a little warmer, but still nice. This week's had the best weather for flying that I can remember in a long time. Better enjoy it now, Isaac is on the way!
Nice old Volvo P1800 like "The Saint" drove in the TV show
The museum had its eyes on me
After a rainy week in New Orleans and an arduous commute to Knoxville, the week ahead promises to be very nice. It's starting to cool off now, and there is no precip in sight. A little voice in my head said I should visit more art museums, so I spent a nice hour at the Knoxville Museum of Art this afternoon. I found a new artist I really like, but I'm afraid the available prints don't do her justice. Her name is Catherine Wiley and she was a local. I about got run down twice walking around the UT campus by little Vols driving big BMWs. Who sends their kid off to school with a BMW? Sheesh.
These are the typical afternoon scenes this week in New Orleans. Every time I try to go out, the thunder starts, then heavy rain chases me back to the hotel.
As soon as I entered the cockpit in New Orleans last night, I could see we had a problem. The EICAS displayed a main battery charger fault. This is a no go item because if you lose all generators and are down to the most basic of standby instruments, these will be powered by the battery, and if the battery is not charging, game over. Interestingly enough, the New Orleans ramp does stock an extra battery charger for the 757, and they swapped it into place. Still no luck. They tried a new battery; nothing. By this time our Fort Worth freight was being transloaded to the Memphis Airbus to protect delivery and anger the crew. Eventually, maintenance discovered a secret hidden circuit breaker for the battery charger and reset it. We then had an empty airplane to fly to Fort Worth in order to bring freight back to NOLA on our regular flight. Unfortunately, thunderstorms were just hovering over Fort Worth, waiting for our arrival. The FO did an excellent job getting us on the deck in a nasty storm, but the ramp was closed due to lightning when we pulled in. We sat for 30 minutes until the weather eased enough so that maintenance could come out and marshal us into our gate. As I write this, the sort is at least two hours late and counting...it's gonna be a long night.
After four weeks off, two of which were spent in Alaska, I deadheaded to New Orleans for a week of flying back and forth to Fort Worth. It's friggin' hot here! I've become a humidity wimp I guess. I made several errors during my first flight back last night, the worst of which was a missed item on the cockpit preflight. The fuel crossfeed switch was left in a non-standard position which allowed for fuel migration between the two main tanks based on whichever side's pumps happened to be strongest. About 20 minutes into the flight, I noticed it was taking alot of aileron trim to keep the airplane level. The fuel config light came on warning that there was a non-standard fuel load. We had a 2000 lb split between the left and right main tanks, which is out of limits. The solution is simple, provided you have time: just turn off the pumps on the low side, leave the crossfeed open and allow the heavy side to feed both engines. In another 20 minutes, we were back to normal and I was somewhat chagrined for the sophomoric mistake. Tried to walk around town today and get some pictures, but every time I went out it rained. I ended up trapped in Harrah's and had lunch there waiting out the showers. We stay in a very nice hotel, but the rooms have no desk or chair! This has made it a challenge to work on my monthly and vacation bids.
When I got into Memphis this morning, I decided to do a couple of errands before checking in to the hotel for the 24 hour hole in my schedule produced by a training bump. A bump is when the company wants a trip that I own to do some type of training. This line is particularly attractive for training purposes b/c it is day flying (still rare in the 757), there are three legs rather than two, and the block times are pretty long. There are minimum times each pilot must achieve for initial operating experience as well as consolidation once released to the line, and these Great Falls trips fit the bill. So anyway, I changed in to my civvies b/c it was very hot in Memphis and headed for the car. On the way out, I got a call from IOE scheduling saying they were going to bump me off of my Friday trip. I was very pleased and went ahead and scheduled a jumpseat home for later that afternoon. As I was running the errands, I got another call from a very apologetic scheduler saying that, for technical reasons, they would not be bumping me. Now I was bummed. I cancelled my jumpseat and headed back to the AOC to get my suitcase and head for the hotel. When I got inside, I decided to check my schedule one last time and found that they had put a new FO on the trip who needed flight time for consolidation. It appeared that she was very close to achieving her 100 hours in 120 days as required. Then I remembered that the pilot who had bumped my other deadheads for the month was interested in this trip as well, but since he had less than 75 hours in the 757, he could not fly with the original FO on this trip, who also had less than 75 hours. Did the new FO have at least 75 hours I wondered. Yes! I called him up and he bumped me. I rescheduled my jumpseat and got home two days early. If my luck holds, the only trip I'll have flown this month will be the Fourth of July trip...all other were bumped for training or consolidation (yes, I get to keep the pay). Yes!!! More time to study for training and checkride next week.
We left Memphis yesterday afternoon, stopping through Wichita on our way to Great Falls. My landing at GTF was crappy in strong crosswinds (which are ever-present here), but we survived. This morning was cool and breezy, so I walked the ten blocks over to the parade. It was almost two hours long and quite the slice of Americana. The Airforce had a strong presence in the parade as Malmstrom AFB is nearby. Since it doesn't get dark until 10 pm up here, I'm not expecting to get much sleep tonight! I'm sure the fireworks will go on past midnight, and I have to get up around 5 for the flight back to Memphis.
We got into Knoxville this morning about 6:30 and I checked my afternoon American flights home...all was well. Talked the hotel van driver into letting me hitch a ride to the airport @ 12:30 when he was going to pick up a Delta crew (the van doesn't normally take hotel guests to the airport). Took a nap. Woke up to find a message from American saying they had cancelled the DFW-ABQ flight and re-booked me for a 6:00 am departure from Knoxville Sunday morning, getting me home at 10:00 am. I frantically got online to find any other flights that would work to find that there were only three-legger death marches available on Delata or US Air that would cost hundreds out of pocket and arrive in ABQ very late. If I had known about this early this morning, I could have taken the Fedex 727 jumpseat back to Memphis and then the Airbus home through Lubbock. Alas, there is nothing left at this point, so I'll spend the (hot) day in Knoxville and try to get some studying done for training in two weeks. Bleh.
These two planets have been greeting us each morning with the sunrise. Just thought I'd get a picture out the front window of the cockpit at 29,000' (note the time). Venus is the brighter of the two with Jupiter above it.
It was 105 degrees in Knoxville today. I walked over to Calhoun's on the river on the advice of my FO and had some excellent barbeque topped off with a slice of key lime pie. This fine meal combined with the extreme heat made the hill back up to the hotel even more difficult than the picture (looking back down) appears. I watched some guys waterski on the river and it brought back memories being a ski instructor for a few summers in Florida when I was in college. An afternoon nap in the cool air conditioning ensued and all my thoughts of studying for the upcoming training evaporated in blissful slumber. Tonight, I fly to Memphis and back and then deadhead home tomorrow to join the mob scene gathered for the fourth.
Another Knoxville Indy week and some random pictures. Walking around the UT campus in the low-rent student housing section I came upon a very sad sight. An old upright piano soundboard pretty much destroyed and left on the curb. As a piano player, this was a very poignant thing to see. I promise never to let this happen to my pianos! The Henley Street Bridge construction picture over the Tennessee River is significant b/c a third worker was killed on this project just a few days ago, according to my FO whose family lives here.
The week of flying has been ok so far, but I had to write up two flight safety reports; one dealing with the main cargo door operation and one about the dangerous goods can.
Tonight, open time is released for July. This is significant b/c I am hoping to massage my schedule, and this will be my earliest opportunity to do so. Wish me luck!
My FO this week, who was an F-15 pilot in the airforce, sent this to me. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen, but may require some inside knowledge. Enjoy (click the link, not the picture):
CLICK THE IMAGE TO MAKE IT BIGGER and more readable
I found an even bigger fountain today, looking even more like summer! The cartoon at the top has been around a long time, and is currently posted in the Indy crewroom. It has to do with different perceptions of a Captain...how his crew, his wife, etc, see him, as well as how he sees himself. It just dawned on me this morning at 3:00 am that it now applies to me. What a drag it is getting old.
Dude, you're never going to get anywhere in life like that!
Smell the magnolias
No rain today, so I finally got to walk around downtown Knoxville. Market Square is where all the hip restaurants are, and I had lunch at Tomato Head, watching the kids play in the fountain. I also went up in the Sunsphere, which is located at the site of the 1982 World's Fair. The view from the observation floor is above. Nice town!
