I got to go fast

Flew up to Des Moines yesterday. The flight started with the 2nd worst turbulence I've ever had. For 8 minutes the turbulence was so bad I couldn't read my gauges for 5-15 second spurts. I had one hand on the thrust levers and one hand on the yoke (the "steering wheel"). It was exciting too me....like going through a tunnel in a rollercoaster as we were in the clouds the entire time. After the plane cleared the turbulence we were rewarded with a 184 MPH (160 knots) tailwind. This helped make the flight that left almost 45 minutes late, arrive just 8 minutes late. For a long time I was flying at 722 MPH.

On the display below, the TAS is True Airspeed (how fast we are moving through the air)  GS is ground speed (how fast we are moving across the ground) . Right below the letters KDSM are the numbers 212/159. That means the wind is blowing from heading 212 degrees at 159 knots. In the next 13 minutes the plane traveled 102 miles. Crazy.



Of course on the flight back we had a 160 knot headwind...took an extra 24 minutes to get back...and that was with the Captain flying at 83% the speed of sound.

Kelli gives me no sympathy when I get crappy assignments for work....she always says, "but it's your job." While this is true...I want to do what I want to do. Eventually my seniority will be high enough to allow me to have some say in what I do. Right now I am thinking by the end of the year or this time next year I should be able to sit at home each month and get full pay without having to go to work. I should be on the top of the reserve list where pilots don't get used as much, versus being on the bottom right now. Could help with I-Mixed.

None of my friends has taken me up on the idea of working for an airline part time. A part time gate agent works 20 hours a week yet gets full flight benefits. Of course most of my friends have full time jobs. Eh.