The Seat to My Right

What's up world? Happy Friday. I'm going to take another shot at blogging since I kinda didn't do so well last post. Once I get out of the habit it's hard to get back in.

So the PMDG 777 came out a few days ago. What is the PMDG 777 you ask? It's like the most realistic airliner simulator available to the public to date, and it's like a hundred fucking dollars. Needless to say, I want it so bad; but I don't really want to pay for it. So we'll see how that plays out but I have a feeling that I'll be flying that bad boy by Christmas.

Part of the reason I want it so much, is due in part to how I spent my summer this year. Of course I had field training, and then took a three week road trip to Charleston, Miami, and Pittsburgh with Karen. But after all that it was still early July and I decided to put my efforts to flight simulator like I do summer after summer. I had a copy of the PMDG 747 (the second most realistic airliner simulator) and generally knew how to fly it.

However, this summer was a bit different because I had Karen; and after three weeks of vacationing with her she developed the idea that she could be my copilot in 7-4 to accompany me on all those 15 hour longhauls. I know right? Best girlfriend ever. So we spent many kratom filled nights working out standard operating procedures and checklists to maximize efficiency in the 747 virtual cockpit. With in a few nights we had 10 page checklists, preflight and route and fuel plan docs, ground navigation and taxi procedures; I mean we had each and every base covered. Despite my copilot being my girlfriend, it was literally the most realistic and educational way I could possibly play flight sim. And it was by far the most fun.

I'd taxi the giant as she read the airport diagram telling me how many taxiways before my turnoff on November-7. Each necessary button would be pressed at the exact time it was needed all the way up until takeoff. Cute little Karen was able to takeoff the queen of the skies at 100lbs under MTOW. I was quite proud. This shit was by the book and it was awesome. Then came the climbout and sooner or later the virtual seatbelt signs came off as we step-climbed to thinner air.

With auto-pilot on and the fuel system programmed, Karen and I would the flick on the T.V. for some Wormhole Wednesday or Airport 24/7 Miami (YEAH I KNOW THAT AWESOME SHOW STILL ISN'T CANCELED). Then after about 8 to 14 time-accelerated hours, we settle back into the cockpit for descent and arrival procedures. Karen the copilot is with me every step of the way as she gives me altitude reminders and checklist call-outs. If the weather's good enough she'll even take the yoke on approach, set up autoland, and get the plane down as I assume position of pilot #2. When the plane's stopped on the runway and we receive our taxi-in clearance, the captain steers while the copilot navigates just like in every cockpit in the world up to the point when we reach the gate. Then it's fuel control: off, beacon lights:off, ground power: connected, gate time: recorded, flight: complete, and that's what we do on a Saturday night instead of going to a party.

But there's a reason for that! Part of the reason playing Microsoft's Flight Simulator is so much fun on a date, I think is because of how much fun Karen and I consistently have when traveling in real life. On the occasion that Karen and I are seated next to each other on a flight to God-knows-where, life simply couldn't be better. Whether we're making drinks from the bar we sneaked through security in our carry-on, making friends, or teaching Karen about the approach procedures into Atlanta; hours fly by and there's no place in the world I'd rather be.

For example, I hope when Karen and I fly to SLC this winter we can get a pretty good flight and enjoy the day as much as possible. We're trying to work it out with my parents to get on a longer-layover (better) flight while my parents fly as nonstop as possible. That way we can bar-hop in the mile-long McNamara terminal or perhaps spend a few hours on the international side of  Hartsfield-Jackson. I think I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more excited about flying with my fun little copilot than skiing one of the best mountains in the world.

I feel like I blog about this a lot. Until I was 19, nothing in the world made me happier than being in the window seat of a plane. I now realize that the only thing that really could top it is Karen in the seat to my right. Now a flight to LAX is pointless in my eyes if Karen isn't next to me day-drinking, sharing my ipod, and asking "what plane is that?" An extra requirement was added to my favorite thing in the world.

Unfortunately Karen and I aren't rich enough to buy a plane ticket to cross the pond every time we feel like it. Sooner or later, made possible in part by non-rev and space-a adventures, we will be able to. But in the mean time the closest I can come to replicating the exciting sensation of traveling with my best friend is with flight simulator. Even if it's not 100% real, I still have the most important reagent which is Karen in the seat to my right.

For someone who's logged 2,500 hours since he started sailing the virtual skies in 7th grade, this past summer was just too much fun. So to tell me that PMDG came out with a 777 is to tell me that there's a new checklist to customize, a new fuel system to learn, new longhaul routes to master, and more relaxing nights blissfully spent with my copilot.

K I gotta go to class. Until next time.