California Shuffle

My day started out with humor. My young co-pilot set off the alarm (twice) at the T.S.A. airport security check point in Las Vegas. I knew that he would because of the amount of metal in his hat, shoes and watch, but I didn't say anything. He was certain that he could make it through the magnatometer successfully. He didn't and they, the T.S.A., stuck a probe up his butt looking for a pair of scissors or a pocket knife. Hold it a minute...let's think about this...the government takes our pocket knives away, but they let us command an aircraft later...oops! I forgot; it is the zero tolerance policy. If an airline pilot questions this stupidity, that individual will be led away in handcuffs as a possible security threat. Can you say "public education?" It is embarrassing for our country. Our society is being dumbed down. Want another example? In Philadelphia, recently, I witnessed a Muslim woman ( wearing traditional Muslim clothing ) operating a security checkpoint's x-ray machine. The middle aged T.S.A. supervisor was twenty feet away reading a magazine. What's the problem, you say? Well, for starters, the terrorists involved with the Madrid train incident were embedded and trusted members of Spanish society. Uh oh...

I really do try to keep this blog aligned with the operational aspects of daily airline operations, so I will step down from the soap box. After the co-pilot was strip searched, we started a long and arduous day of short hops in the western United States. We flew five legs and had three different aircraft. Our last leg was from Phoenix to Orange County arriving at 10:56 P.M., four minutes before the landing curfew. We barely made it! Orange County airport has 4,800 feet of usable runway, which is not much for an airliner. The flying pilot must be in the groove when landing on such a short runway. My co-pilot seemed to be on the ball, so I decided to let him land two times at Orange County today. As I suspected, he did a magnificent job. I could not have done it better myself. Stopping a large jet aircraft with aggressiveness is a really cool event. The flying pilot must transform the aircraft from the airborne state to the ground state in a short amount of time and distance. The amount of energy that must be dissipated is incredible.

Orange County is a really cool place, literally. I love it! After a hard day in the cockpit, it is nice to shower and put the shorts and sandals on and go for a walk in the cool night air.

So, that is what I did...