These are the Voyages

January 15 2020

Molasses flows slowly in January and February. So too it is for the air cargo industry after the Christmas holidays. What was once a flurry of holiday business changes into a quiet time for flying trips. Cargo operators use the quiet time for planned airplane maintenance or training,

Our trip begins on a Friday just after the New Year, and finds us arriving at Sacramento California on commercial airlines, then riding a shuttle to a hotel located forty-five minutes away. The tour of sixteen days begins. We rest from the inbound trip and wait for the plane to arrive a day later. What happens next is a stretch of three legs and a day’s worth of flying to lovely Pacific islands of Hawaii and Guam, and then to Akishima/Tokyo.

Each stop delivers vital cargo for military customers, provides crews with spectacular views of tropical islands, crystal blue waters, sunny skies, and warm temperatures. This weather contrasts from the winter snow, cold, ice, and darkness which from hometowns. We love snow for Christmas. But afterwards some people complain about it until March thaws and April rains. For us, this trip is a real delight.

Time passes and we arrive at Tokyo and the hotel. This turns out to be our home for the next week. We gather for breakfast, share the day’s news, then return to our rooms for rest. People ask me, “do you get to see anything while you are at these places?” I often reply that I’m getting rested for the next trip, day or night. That answers the question for most curiosity seeking people who ponder a pilot’s lifestyle. Later in the week we crew take a walk through Akishima, see the city retail and businesses, get a lunch at a curry house, and buy a few grocery items. If it seems dull that is because it is dull. The flying has slowed and we crew adjust accordingly.

Friday arrives and good news. We are repositioning to Hong Kong on a commercial airline. Excitement builds among the crews who have sat for days on end. We gather to a shuttle for an hour and forty five minutes to Narita airport, board a flight, and settle in for five hours. Another three days passes and we pickup the plane and head for Anchorage and New York.

Arriving at Anchorage and 16 degrees with snow pilots, frost in the trees, returns us to the family and lovely winterscape scene. Anchorage is a favorite spot for crews to layover, providing pristine landscape, diverse restaurants, and fellow pilots to socialize with. But today, is a scant hour and half before departure. The sun sets as we takeoff and head to New York. Memories fill our hearts and we are glad. Crimson sunset to the west gives way to a dusk sky, then stars appear, and later a waning half moon rise.

Our destination at JFK airport has is checked during the 7 hours trip. Weather of low clouds at 500 feet and a visibility from half mile going to two miles. Arriving at New York at 3AM finds weather improving to two miles visibility and 500 foot clouds. I’m flying the approach, possibility my last one before retirement in a few days. This will be a moment to remember, I tell myself. Runway identification is made with the help of a captain who calls the runway at 11 o’clock at a thousand feet. A strong 20 knot right crosswind creates an unexpected but necessary 10 degree angle towards the runway. The autopilot is disconnected at five hundred feet with a clear visual approach. It’s all mine now, I tell myself. We are heavy and the runway has little margin available landing. The touchdown must come on target!

Rollout with reverse thrust, automatic braking, and ground spoilers on the wings to lose lift takes us near the end of the runway before we turn off. There was in fact little margin due to a displaced threshold and shortened landing distance of a normally long runway. The taxi portion makes for an interesting story.

“Where are we going?”, we ask ourselves. Instructions from the company were received via a datalink during flight. A building B263 and cargo vendor are named, along with an airport location near taxiway SD. But our taxi charts do not show this building.

We tell the controller that we need to taxi to SD and instructions are received. It is dark, and JFK is a complex airport. We are thankful that the 3AM time makes for a slow operation. This taxi takes about 20 minutes and we arrive at taxiway SD. But now what? There are no cargo ramp handlers visible! We set the parking brake and I make a phone call to the local handler. The handler answers but he doesn’t know where to go either. He makes a conference call and I listen in the speaker phone of a new location. We verify the next place at taxiway W, then end the call.

A radio call is made to the air traffic control tower. We need to reposition to building B263, located off of taxiway W. A picture is included with this story. Green is the initial taxi route. Red is the new route. The entire process takes 0:53 minutes from landing to parking.

“How could this be so complicated?”, we ask ourselves. The answer is, there are two vendor locations at JFK but only one handles B747 airplanes. Incorrect information passed between parties and then to the crew results in the confusion, extra time, and a long day. Our journey concludes after long 20.5 hours.

A report is written and sent to the company about the different cargo vendor locations, the need to get the correct information to the crew, and to include picture chart details. Hopefully this will help the next crew and the company operations.

Time nears the end for this career. Age 65 is retirement is the limit for airline revenue flight pilot operations. Some pilots are able to continue with large planes and ferry flights or maintenance check flights. Most others seek corporate jet opportunities which have no age limits. Flying has been a great career and many rewards. Seeing the world from both high altitude and walking the streets of faraway places brings wonder and beauty.

Reach for the stars. You just might grab a few!