All in a Day's Work

So, this is the first time in my whole life that I have ever blogged.  I think its cutesy when Jen does it to share our adventures with everyone, but today I get to tell you about an adventure I had to take by myself.

Last week, I was asked if I wanted to go on a "test hop."  Heck ya!!!!  For starters a "test hop" is a test flight of an airplane.  After maintenance, especially after work on flight controls, the plane goes on a test flight to make sure everything operates the way it is supposed to.  I was pumped about the invite.

I had a 6am training session for my flight training on Friday morning that finished about noon.  I had lunch and then at 1pm I met up with Rich, one of the flight test guys.  We drove over to the hotel to pick up the other test flight pilot and then to the maintenance hanger.  As we walked in, here is what I saw.

The Boeing 737-700.  It was magnificent to be able to walk up to this thing and touch it.  I walked all around in amazement of how big it is and how majestic it looks.  Here are some more pics.

Head to Tail

The Power Plant

The Spinner

As we checked with the mechanics to make sure everything was ready to go, we did some visual checks to make sure all the hydraulics were operating properly.  One pilot sat up in the front seat and the other guy and I stood outside to verify that all the controls were doing what they were supposed to be doing.  As we started this process, the lovely Houston rain started.  Due to the recent hurricane, we have been getting some serious rain.  It got serious enough that the airport shut down for an hour and a half. That makes a mess for everybody trying to get in and out.  So as we waited for the rain to lighten and for the airport to open, I took some time to take more picture and pester the mechanics with all sorts of questions about the airplane.

Under the Right Main Gear

Landing Gear Bay, there is a ton of crap in here!!!

As long as the engine isn't running, this make a pretty good seat.

I didn't realize how much these tugs weighed.  This "little guy" weighs in at 30,000 lbs and has a 3,500 hp engine to pull aircraft around with.

As we waited, they pulled this pig into the hanger next to us.  This is a B 777.  It's about 3X the size of a 737!!! I got to go walk around it and go into the cockpit.  This thing is enormous!!!

So, we waited our hour and a half, then the rain let up and the opened the airport.  We jumped in and were pulled out to the taxi way.  We sat there doing the preflight checks and tried to convince the air traffic controllers to let us out.  For a test hop, it's usually really quick.  They go out over the Gulf, do their test and come right back in.  With all the delayed and crazy traffic, we were told at 7pm that we wouldn't be able to get out until 11pm.  Crappy.

They hooked the tug back up and pulled our plane back into the hanger for the night.

At 6:30 am on Saturday, I showed back up at the hanger ready to go.  The weather was much nicer and ATC (Air Traffic Control) wasn't busy at all.  We did a quick walk around and got loaded up.  The tug pulled us out and we were on our way.  During this, I got to sit in the "jump seat."  That is a 3rd seat in the cockpit that doesn't have access to any controls, but you get to look out the front window.

We got our clearance and fired up the engines.  It was us 3 in the cockpit, and then 3 mechanics went along, more for the ride than anything.  We taxied out onto the runway and started our takeoff roll.  Usually with a fully loaded aircraft the lift off speed is around 140 knots (approximately 160 mph).  As light as we were, our lift off speed was 116 knots (approximately 135 mph) and our climb rate was awesome!!!  These planes have tons of power anyways, but with an empty airplane, it can go!!!

We climbed up to 15,000 feet and headed out over the Gulf.  The flight test was to check the hydraulic system and then to turn it off and make sure the manual backup was set up properly.  It passed with flying colors and we were on our way back. 

He made our way back into Houston's airspace and got our landing clearance for runway 27.  This is the same runway Jen and I like to sit at the end of and watch planes land.  Here is what it looks like...

...stay tuned for the video...due to technical difficulties it wouldn't upload....

From lift off to parking it was a total of 41 minutes. A pretty quick flight and since the plane passed, we didn't take it back to the hanger, instead we took it to the gate where it was going to go back on the line in a few hours.  We taxied it to the gate and there is where we left it.

What a ride.  To be able to sit up front in a very light airplane is an unreal experience.  I can't wait till I get paid to do this stuff!!!!!!