T-storms and Kansas City

So I went on a trip the other day and ended in Kansas City, Missouri. We went from Detroit area to Tupolo, Mississippi then on to Kansas City. I managed to smash my hand into the Falcon and break my pinky finger... Didn't feel good.

Note to self: Don't smash hand into inanimate objects... The fingers don't appreciate it!!

Once we got to Kansas City, we stayed at the Chase Suite Hotel. Check out these pictures... this place was awesome and affordable(even though I wasn't paying).


So here is the living area. Fireplace with log, leather chair, flat screen on the wall and couch.







This is the "office" area. Desk, table with 3 chairs, there is a 1/2 bath around the corner, but look what comes out of the wall!!







A queen sized bed!! How cool is that!! I could throw a huge party with lots of fruity concoctions and lots of people could have a place to sleep... alas, I don't know anyone in KC.






Here is the full kitchen... with all accessories!!









Then!!! The upstairs is the full bathroom and a loft with a King size bed and tv. It was awesome!! If it was an apartment, I would rent it!! lol... too fun!!




Although the problem was of course, I get a trip back to D-town the next morning.. boo hiss on the trip.


But I did score this awesome video on the way from Laredo, TX to D-town... found out later, this was also major tornadic activity in the North Texas/Arkansas area. Hope everyone down there is ok. Awesome to look at, not good for those on the ground... mind you this level of activity went on for well over and hour and a half until we couldn't see it anymore.

Memphis, Freight and Blizzards, OH MY

So as previously posted, I was in Memphis. On Wednesday night, I went to Marlowe's with my first officer. The cool thing is they pick you up in a pink Caddy! Check it out!!!

They have some pretty good BBQ, which is super good in Memphis. I'm sorry but the north just doesn't do bbq, like the south does!! I love doing down south, they cook some mean bbq!!






Well, on Thursday night, I put on my pj's, shut off the lights and was just getting ready to go to sleep... *do, do, do, do ,do* (that is my pager going off) I get up at 1250am and call work. Trip to Kansas City, up to Pontiac, MI and then back to Willow Run. So off we go. The bad part is that the reason we got stuck in Memphis for 4 days to begin with is a Blizzard in Detroit area. Guess what?? One was moving in... AGAIN!!! So we moved as quickly and as safely as possible. I flew my second trip as Captain, which was really cool. :) I flew the first leg to Kansas City and picked up 3 boxes(all of 120 pounds worth) of wiring harness'. The first officer flew the next leg into Pontiac. We got there as the snow started to fall, that was at about 630 am.

We threw the freight into the waiting truck(after i went and pounded on his window, twice, to wake him up, he must have been sleepy) I wasn't screwing around. I wanted out of there before the blizzard hit!! So we head for Willow Run... at 3000 feet and it's only about a 15 minute flight. The weather dropped quickly. It went from pretty good to pretty shitty really quickly!!! I was flying and the first officer was getting weather and talking to approach, etc. We got in and the weather was blowing!! There were drifts on the runway, so the braking action was fair. Yes, fair is how we rate braking action: Good, Fair, Poor and Nil... Nil is NOT good!!! We don't even try that stuff. So here is what the tower looked like from my airplane when we got on the ground...
We landed at about 745am. Talk about a long night! By the time i finished paperwork and headed home and went to bed it was about 930am... talk about screwing up your sleep schedule!



Yea, it sure wasn't cool!! Well, it was cold, but not great. Although, it is a super adrenaline rush to fly into an airport in crappy weather, coming off your first trip and getting it on the ground safely and efficiently!!! We love our jobs cuz we like the rush! That is a reason we are pilots. My mom hates to hear my stories sometime. Maybe I'll do a series of my favorite stories from flying sometime. Some scary(even for me) and some just plain old fun.

Blizzards, Work and Sun

So yesterday was interesting. I got paged out on a trip and left for Toronto, Canada. Got to Toronto, picked up 700 pounds of freight. Went and took off and just beat the snow(lots of snow in the greater Michigan area). Just as we took off, Approach control called and said we had to return to get more freight. Oh Darn!! I knew there was lots of snow coming, so I wanted to get out of there before it got too bad. so we got on the ground and found out a little while later that it was delayed at the factory. So it had started to snow, so this is what the plane looked like a few hours later.

Here's another one:





Once we got the freight, now the big delay began. We had to line up to get de-iced before we took off to get all the ice off the plane and to get some protection from the snow while we waited to take off. That took awhile. You can't taxi very fast because it is super slippery and It was almost like driving into a car wash... huge board that has your tail number on it and tells you to pull ahead, when to slow down and when to stop. Then the "iceman" tells you to set your brakes, shut off your taxi light, etc. Then they roll up in huge trucks like this:



They are huge and the guy up in the lift is driving the whole truck from up there!!! It's so cool!!! so it takes about 10 minutes to actually get that part done. Then another smaller truck comes up and does the gear and the back edge of the flaps. Then you wait while they move out of the way. The "iceman" tells you what kind of de-ice they used, how long it's good for, etc. Then you have to wait in line to get out of the deice pit. Here's what we looked like after:




We got a bit delayed back into Detroit cuz of more bad weather, but we cleared customs and left for Tulsa, OK. Got fuel and continued to El Paso, TX. And this is what I got to wake up to... Hope you have a great day!!