Sorry gang

I apologize for my very, very, very extended absence. As many of you know, my mother passed away of the cancer in mid-February. I've changed my habits a lot, staying out a lot rather than sitting in the house which is a constant reminder that she is gone. Fortunatly, the cancer ran it's course quickly (about 3 months) and there was no long battle and enduring radiation and chemo.
Since then I've emersed myself in real-world flying, persuing my Commercial certificates and finding the going slow due to work schedules conflicting with available time in the aircraft. I've however managed to make a few trips back and forth to Norman, OK to visit my brother and his family in that area, as well as a few fun trips to $100 hamburger destinations like The Hard Eight in Stephenville, TX. About two weeks ago, I was privlaged enough to ferry a Piper Arrow back from Phoenix, AZ to Arlington, TX. The trip was 8.7 hours in the Arrow, but from when I got on the airliner, to when I got back in my car at the airport was just over 17 hours. I made fuel stops in Deming, NM and Midland, TX with average trip lengths of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Many people consider a desert like the Sonora desert of the America southwest to be desolute and drab with no semblance of life. However, there are cacti everywhere and the beauty of the desert is amazing on the ground and breathtaking from an airplane. I especially love the area East of Tucson, AZ near the Chiricahua Mountains. Well, here look at the pics and see for yourself.

The airplane I flew, a Piper Arrow 200


The AMARC Boneyard from 7,500 feet over Tucson (Davis-Monthan AFB)
A big rock in the middle of Dragoon Pass, elev. 8,200 feet.


A storm south of Tucson dropping virga and massive lighting bolts.

On the left is El Paso, TX and on the right is Cuidad Juarez, Mexico.

The highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak at 8,749 feet and just south of it the abrubt in of the Rockies with "El Capitan".

Check out more my snapshots at my Photobucket account.

Why I've been away

Hi everyone, I know it's been a while since I last posted on here, but I assure you the reason for it is extremely justified. For the last month or so I have been dealing with my mother's deteriorating health. About two hours ago we had it confirmed that she does have cancer. The actual mass is located on her right temple and jaw, but the problem appears to be located in her abdomen. We are awaiting the results of a PET scan to know for sure. Taking care of her has become a full time job of its own and as such the only time I really am online is to escape the real world with Flight Sim or on some of the forums.
I know you all are very supportive and I appreciate that, however dwelling on it just serves to lead to depression. So, instead, as news on this one way or the other is known I will let it be known through this blog, but please, if you see me online don't dwell on it or make it a topic of conversation, at least not now. When I'm online I am trying to restore some normalcy in my life. Y'all can know that you do more in keeping my wits about me then just about anybody I come in contact with. If there is no news posted on here in a while then just take that to mean there has been no substancial change in this matter. Thanks to everyone for understanding.


Now, on to what has been happening at work. Well, a lot has gone on. General Motors is still bringing a lot of cargo aircraft in and we're still scrambling to fit them all on our ramp when they arrive. Just two days ago our ramp had three DC-9's, two Falcon 20's, a Boeing 727 and other assorted business aircraft. I got pictures of that, but what I didn't get a pic of was when on top of this a Convair 580 and a Lear 60 arrived and had to be parked between the rows of aircraft then pushed onto the taxiway for start. Since I was driving the tug it was hard to take a good photo, sorry guys.
My shift supervisor quit this past Sunday, instead he is moving to Austin, TX to work for Stevens Transport as a fleet manager. I wish him the best of luck, but it is sure different working without him, he was by far the funniest person I have ever worked with. My new supervisor is a good friend, which sort of causes a few issues. He's now technically my manager, but we've been friends for so long it is hard to be anything other then equals. I think it will work out, but will take some time to get used to. Maybe between the two of us we can straighten out some of the other problems we face.
Well, that is about it. Included in this post are a few pics, still learning how to place them, sorry. are a few of the pics I took. All the pics are up on my Photobucket account. Look under GKY Aircraft and Harrison pics for all of them, I sort them on weather or not they directly apply to my work or are just stuff on the airport. Hope y'all enjoy.

Photo list:

First Pic- This is a cleaned up ramp then what we had with all the cargo, in this one it is still busy, but we are down to two DC-9's, a Boeing 727-200, L-39ZA, Citation II and out of the photo were a TBM-700, two Falcon 20's, a Cessna 310, a Piper Comanche, Cessna 182RG and a Mooney M20E. And yes, the L-39 is one cool damn airplane. I want one, bad, really bad.

Second pic-The yellow helicopter is a Sikorsky S-61 Sea King that is operated by Carson Helicopters. It was here to help fight the wildfires that have ravaged Texas and Oklahoma over the last couple of weeks. It is fitted with a 1,000 gallon under belly tank with snorkel as well as the ability to fly a 1,000 gallon Bambi bucket.

GKY gets the big iron

Yeah, so I haven't posted a blog in a bit...sorry, I've uh, been uh,...well, just lazy. OK, I was a little busy at work to. In fact, I just got off of an 11 hour shift because General Motors is bring in massive amounts of cargo before the end of the year in order to write it off on taxes. Today alone in that 11 hour shift we had 3 Falcon 20's, 4 Convairs (3 580's and 1 5800), and the biggest darn thing to ever set wheel on our ramp, a Boeing 727-200. The 727, 1 Convair 580, and a Falcon 20 are remaining overnight, so I hope to grab some pics in the morning. The rest of the aircraft were drop and goes. The 727 was interesting in that I was the one operating the forklift to unload 18 pallets and then load them into two box trucks.
OK, as easy as a forklift looks to operate, you must realize that the only one I had ever driven was our old forklift that was made in 1953, had bad brakes, a cranky clutch, and only extended to 10 feet. Well, it broke, so we borrowed one from the GM plant. This is a nice, brand spanking new Caterpillar with automatic transmisssion, full control of the forks, and an 18 foot extension height. Well, needless to say, I was clumsy as heck with it, but I didn't break anything, so I consider it a good experience, just tiring as hell. When I accepted this job I knew it would involve doing some jobs other than parking, towing, and fueling aircraft; however, offloading a 727 freighter on a small ramp, at a smallish airport, with very little experience on the forklift never crossed my mind. It has gotten to the point there with the different aircraft (J-3 Cub, Cessnas and Pipers, Citations and Lears, Jetrangers and Tilt-rotors, Piaggio's and Starships, DC-9's and 727's, Convair's and C-130's) that I would not be surprised to see the Space Shuttle land followed by Air Force One coming in to welcome the astronauts home. This airport is just getting insane. I guess our reputation is getting out and everyone has to come see us. Or so I can dream.
Other than that, I my life is just a continuation of existance. Nothing really spectacular is happening which I guess is good and is also bad. I haven't flown yet as my funds are currently tied up with holiday shopping. You know how that is, you buy gifts for people that won't return the favor. Oh well. What really hurts about this Christmas is that I have to work graveyards the night of the 23rd and the 24th. Of course, I have to do this in order to get the weekend of New Year's off. I plan on getting thouroughly hammered, so I will need at least a day or two to fully recover. Maybe I should ask Santa for another liver, I am going to trash the one I have.


Oh, yeah, music vid....um, didn't find any I liked for this post. I was going to try to add a music file from either Mannheim Steamroller or Trans Siberian Orchestra, but couldn't get one to work. Sorry, instead just take this as a personal recommendation to go get a Trans Siberian Orchestra CD or a Mannheim Steamroller CD, both take Christmas tunes to a whole new level.

Decemburrrrr!

So yeah, the calendar says it December and boy did it feel like it this morning. Working morning shifts means I am at work at the coldest part of the day and worse I have to be out in it. Well, today was right on that freezing mark and didn't climb out until a little after 9 A.M. Now, I know a lot of you live in places where the ground is already frozen, covered in white crap, and will remain that way for a few months. Poor you, we have a lot of open land here in Texas if you want to move.
Anyway, this morning was frickin' cold for a Texas boy like myself, yet I was expected to be out in it. My first duty was pulling out a King Air C90 that is based here, getting it online, parking the Jet truck in front so that when the fuel order got phoned in we were ready, then climbing onboard and getting freshe coffe, ice and newspapers. OK, seems simple right? I've done this every weekday morning I've worked there. Well, appearances can be decieving. I go get our tug (thank God it's electric, the gas tug doesn't work if it is below 60F). I hook up to the C90, walk around it to look for "hangar rash" and instead of finding paint scratches or dents, I find a big puddle of fuel on the hangar floor. Not good. So...I call the pilot and tell him his right main fuel sump is leaking.
The pilot tells me that most likely with the cold weather the metal of the petcock in the fuel strainer contracted a little too much and it slipped a seal. Just rotate it back and forth a few times and it should seal. OK, no prob. I go get a fuel strainer (to catch the fuel in that WILL be coming out) and return. I do as told and the damn thing sticks open. About 4 gallons of Jet fuel goes flowing out while I fight desperately to get this damn thing to stop. I know that there is about 60 gallons in that tank that will shortly be in my hangar in no time. Finally, after what seems like an eternity (maybe 10-20 seconds) I get the bastard back to normal and it stops flowing. My next task is to stop the fuel from flowing to the drains. Our drains have Sanitary traps that would catch the fuel and keep it from going into the storm drains as long as we don't fill them up. I didn't want the fuel to get there in the first place. I ran and got some Oil Dri which is basically carbon pellets and looks a lot like Kitty Litter, but is about 10 times more absorbent. I pour a massive amount in front of the flow and over it and walk back to pull the plane out. I know have a unique smell that we like to call "Essence of A" (Jet A that is.)
I get the aircraft on line and then go over to the water faucet to wash some of the fuel off of me. Now remember, it is 32F outside right? Well, yes, the water does flow, but it is COLD damn water and I started wondering which is better; to be cold and not smelling of Jet Fuel, or to be gagging on Jet Fuel and risk "Chemical Pneumonia" yet still be warm? I decide to freeze a little. Now cold, wet, pissed off, and fueled on I wander over to our Jet A truck which is an International 4300 extended frame with a Detroit Diesel. Needless to say the deisel may be from Detroit, but it don't like the cold. It took me about 5 minutes to get it up. Then there is the fact that until the water temp is 150F we don't move it. (It's a diesel thing.) So, I just sit there and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Finally after about 10 minutes its warm and ready to move.
I pull up to the King Air C90 and start to hook up. Hoses out....check. Bonding cable bonded.....check. PTO (Pump power switch) On......"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!" Uh oh. Now, this is a new problem for me, I have never heard our truck make this sound and was a little scared by it. (3,000 gallons of a combustible liquid inside something making a sound from a horror movie at just after 6 AM has that effect on me.) So, I start running through the valves making sure they are all good. The plumbing valves are fine, but in the cold the belly valve (located under the tank) is still closed. It took my pliers to free the bastard and get fuel flowing again. So, here I am cold, wet, smelling slightly of fuel, dirty from laying on the ramp and really not in a good mood. At this point my co-worker (lazy bastard) finally walks out to see what is going on. I tell him we are to top it off, he acknowledges, grabs one hose and then proceeds to fuel it.
Now, I'm a pilot and have been a Line Tech for almost exactly a year. When a pilot says "Top It Off" they want the tanks brimmed. Well, anyone familair with a C90 knows 3 things about the fuel tanks. First, they are bladder tanks in the wings that must expand as fuel is added. Second, the "Consumption Tank" behind the engine gets fueled first. Lastly, that the wing tank vents into a little part under the fuel cap affectionately called "The Spitter" that spits fuel at you. Well, this guy fills the consumption tank, but doesn't let it bleed down then top it off again (this allows fuel to prime the fuel lines). He then goes over to the wing tank, opens it up and starts fueling. I finish with the consumption tank and move on to the wing about a minute after he does. The whole time he bitches about the spitting of the fuel vent. (Based on my mood previously you can imagine how I thought about this.) I put about 130 gallons or so in on my side and wait for the fuel to drop as the bladders expand. He finishes and goes to rewind his hose. He then thinks that I must be done to and shuts the truck off. I look over and he's got this dumb grin on his face. I thought he was playing a joke (we like to run up to each other and flip the Emergency Shut Offs on each other.) So, I jumped his ass and told him to turn it back on. Finally he does and I pump about another 5 or so gallons in. When I get back to the meters to start writing the ticket I find I put in about 30 gallons more than he did AND HIS SIDE WAS THE ONE WITH THE LEAK!!! Needless to say, being the senior man on shift, I made him pull the hose back out and then stood next to him while he fueled it. He put in another 40 gallons he thought wouldn't fit. The whole rest of the day he was an ass to me, oh well, he is always an ass and I've gotten used to it.
After that first half hour on the job the day went ok. I pushed a Bell 206L out of a hangar by hand on ground wheels with the pilot doing the honors of steering. Let me tell you, that is one heck of a workout right there. We had Union Pacific Railroad fly in some of their office people on a Hawker 800, Bell flew the 609, and the local flight schools flew pretty regurlarly until the winds picked up around noon and ended their hopes of training. Basically, it was just another day of work, but man those first few minutes set the tone for my whole day.


It has been brought to my attention that I have not posted a music video on here in a while. Well, my apologies. I guess if your really "Jonesing" for a fix, there is always MTV and VH1, but that means getting off the computer and then going in to veg out in front of your TV and I realize that takes more energy than most have. So, here goes..Uncle Kracker's "Drift Away" with Dobie Gray which is one of my favorite songs of the past 5 years.

The Day After

Ughhhh.............no more turkey, please!!! Wait, what, you don't want that breast meat? Give me, give me, give me!!!

Yeah, so it is the day after Thanksgiving and while about 90% of the populous is out shopping, stabbing each other in the back for some great deal on something nobody needs, I sit here in the comfort of my own home and laugh at them. I for one do not like crowds, actually I HATE crowds and the though of right now trying to go to the mall for something I might actually need is just mind boggling. My local mall is one of the top malls in the DFW area and as of 7 AM this morning (mall opened at 9) the parking lot was 80% full. That is over 15,000 cars!!! Now, come on people. So, I have decided two things. Shop on Tuesday afternoons during school hours and avoid large women with shopping carts.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. My oldest brother, his son, our mother, and I drove from here in the DFW area up to my other brother's house outside Oklahoma City. We had one terrific meal, watched the Broncos take on the Cowboys, then just sat and chatted. I made the mistake of running around with my nephews (ages 14, 13, 13, and 3) which quickly made me realize that I am not a teenager anymore and physical exertion hurts. I now have a pulled muscle in my back that really, really hurts. However, this was still one of the nicest Thanksgivings I have ever had. Christmas should be a blast.

Now, back to the rest of my week. Well, basically it involved watching the lighting of the fuse on the bomb that is sure to explode and have some dire consequences at work. Basically, the wife of our general manager has come to the conclusion that since we are getting more traffic through then ever before in the history of that airport that means more people to charge fees on and get money from. This went a little too far on Wednesday. We had a Netjets Citation X (sweet airplane) come in. They say on our ramp for about 6 hours and took 840 gallons of fuel. They got catering for the crew (had no passengers when they left). Their catering was set up directly with AirChef on the Netjets account, we did nothing for the order. The managers wife wanted us to charge a $100 facility fee, a $30 catering fee, full price on fuel (not Netjets discount or even bulk fuel discount), and for anything else we think of. Well, she left and when the pilot came in to pay his comment was "Your just getting to be too expensive for us." My comment was how we had just lobed 25 cents off the per gallon fuel cost. That is when he told me about all the fees she told him he'd have to pay. I asked him if we had to order the catering to which he replied "No." So I said, well then we didn't do anything for your catering, so we can't charge you anything. As far as the ramp fee, you weren't in the way AND you bought fuel which waves that fee. Overnight fees are only if your there OVERNIGHT (novel concept, huh?). So I charged him for 840 gallons of fuel at the discount for fuel purchases between 500 and 1000 gallons. He left a lot happier, but still made the comment that we ought to fire that "dumb broad" as he put it. Kind of hard to do when she is the managers wife AND a contractor to the company.
The second thing this woman did was lose us a multi million dollar contract with Martinaire Air Cargo. They were wanting to do a lot of their Cessna Caravan operations out of Arlington and had been looking at the airport and the area for a bit. Well, over the Thanksgiving holiday they ran out of Cargo parking at DFW International (where their bigger fleet is at) so they thought we'll just send a Caravan down to Arlington and park it there through the weekend. They called us up Wednesday night and asked about tie-downs. Our fee for a Caravan is $25 a night (based on wing-span) with one night waved with fuel over 50 gallons purchased. She instead told them it would be $50 a night (what we charge large aircraft like Citations, Lears, etc. DC-9's pay 100). Well, every other airport in the area charges between $15 and $40 to park a Caravan, even Dallas Love only charges $30 for it. The pilots get a little ticked and explain these facts to this woman and how her fees were unreasonable and she replied that it wasn't our choice, but an airport mandated fee. Well, airport fees are listed in almost all publications available to pilots so that you don't land and get trapped by "toll" charges as we call them. NOTHING says Arlington has city or airport fees (because we don't). Well, her snide comments to the pilots just irked them even more so they hang up and call the Airport Manager. The Airport Manager smoothed things out and arranged for them to pay $25 a night to park on the farthest South ramp at the airport (only place to really put them other than at our facility) for as long as they need to be there. Our manager's wife told us that when the Caravan comes in we charge it full price for everything. If it needs a forklift, charge it (we don't own the forklift, the delivery company does so we can't charge for it if the delivery company operates it.). She wanted us to charge for ramp fee, facility fee, tiedowns, towing, fuel, GPU, and anything else we did. Now the line guys charge fuel and tie down (for at least 12 hours or overnight). GPU is free if you got fuel, forklift is usually free unless we have to operate it and do a lot of loading and unloading. There are no ramp fees or facility fees unless you just sit there for two days and don't buy anything. Then you were in our way and we got nothing for it, so we get a small charge on that. All FBO's do this so as to encourage fuel sales. Needless to say, now we won't get a penny from that Caravan. The pilots told their company about the treatment and as such management decided not to deal with us because we obviously didn't want their business. Now, that right there was over the span of the contract worth to us multiple millions of dollars. However, the bigger hit is to our reputation. Martinaire is a big, big company that has lots of friends in high places. They'll put the word out that we are not a good FBO and that we charge for you to breathe the air on our ramp and that will cost us other aircraft coming in. Due to this woman's big mouth and greediness we've taken a hit to our reputation that may take years to clean off, if we ever can.

So...that is what is going on in my life. I have great times away from work and a living hell at work. If it wasn't for the benefits of being around the aircraft and the pilots, I would have quit a long time ago, but for now I'll stick it out. It is getting tougher to do it every week though as I am sure I will wind up blowing my top and spouting off at this useless mass of organic matter that the manager calls his wife.

Bored at work so here comes a post!

Howdy, y'all. Just sitting here bored at work with nothing better to do than surf the web. All of the inbound aircraft are already here, the flight schools have stopped for the night, and nothing is due to leave until 5 tomorrow morning. So with everything being done, I sit here bored and typing this post. As far as what has gone on here, not a lot. We had a Citation, Navajo, L-39, and a couple of Bonanza's come in, but nothing of real excitement. Makes me wish I was either home flying the 412 on my computer or up in a plane flying for real.

So, like the rest of you I got Jordan's 412 this morning. Now, I wasn't one of those who was refreshing the download page every 5 seconds just so I could be number one. Nope, I went to bed, woke up at about 9 AM Central, got on the PC and secured number 957 for myself. I got about 2 hours in it total before I left for lunch and to come in here to work. Based on those 2 hours I can tell you it definately is a must have download for any true FS helo pilot. It is as close to a real aircraft in terms of systems and handling as any freeware product out there and has a lot of commonality with the Dodosim bird (could it be because the Dodosim founders were Beta testers? Hmm...I'll look into that for you.). Once Dodosim actually works their voodoo on this it will set new standards in FS Helicopters. The flight dynamics are incredible with the pilot now able to see the weight versus power versus stability issues as they arise. You have to be on top of this aircraft in order to keep it in a hover (unless you cheat and let Autohover do it for you.). So there you go, if you don't have it get it, and if you do have it then why are you reading this? You should have FS open and be flying the living daylights out of that aircraft.

So Christmas will come early for FS Helo fans

Well, assuming everything works out as planned those of us who are FS Heloholics will be getting an early Christmas present from the man that brought FS helo flight farther than anyone else. Jordan Moore of Hovercontrol has announced that either late Saturday or early Sunday his eagerly awaited and highly detailed Bell 412 will be uploaded to the server. This is by far the most closely watched helicopter add-on ever for a PC based sim and will draw undoubtably the largest download of any add-on at that site. I recommend everyone keep a close eye on the File Downloads at Hovercontrol and get your copy early, as the server is bound to have issues as the downloads start to break records.

Allright, it's been a while since I posted. Like I said, my life has its ups and downs, this past week has been a blah time. I've sort of smoothed over some of the ruffled feathers that I spoke of in the last post, but I am still not happy with some of the people and their practices at my work. I know everyone has this at their work, but with mine it is bordering on illeagal. As long as it is inherently safe for us and our customers I will bite my tongue, but if that changes I will be forced by my morals and ethics to report them and hopefully keep my head from being one of the ones that rolls.
As far as the job search goes, it is still on. If something comes along that is just too good to pass up then I will take it, but I would really like to stay where I am. The pay is ok, the benefits are good, but the main benefit I get is the contact with so many pilots. As I build hours these contacts will be worth gold as far as people who can call in favors for me, walk my resume into the right hands and just generally give me great advice on how to procede. If I stop working in this job I will lose these and make it a lot harder on myself to advance up the pilot ladder. I guess this is just one more case of paying my dues in order to get a better job. I'll survive, but y'all will have to deal with all my complaining in this blog. Remember, at anytime you can hit your browser's "back" button and be delivered from this madness. You are not compelled to stay here and kill your braincells. However, I appreciate your visiting my blog. Thanks.


What was that? No Video is a week? Well, I guess I will have to change that. Here is "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw. Hope you enjoy.