Nina's Adventures in Aviation
When a commercial airliner flies overhead, if you ask Ms. Nina what kind of airplane it is, she will say, “A 737!” Now given her proximity to one of Southwest Airlines’s largest hubs, there’s a pretty good chance she’s right. But even with her vast knowledge of Boeing aircraft, Ms. Nina always makes sure to study up on the emergency procedures before every flight.
Ms. Nina enjoys her first time in First Class on an American Eagle flight (operated by Republic Airline) en route from DCA to MEM for a Bar Mitzvah. She was very quiet and respectful of the other passengers on this late-evening flight. Thank you to all of the employees of Republic Airline who made this happen.
Ms. Nina is adjusting to some of the pitfall of the “jet lifestyle”. This time she is subject to a 1+ hour ground delay while waiting for in-trail spacing of 50 NM between departures out of SRQ. When her pilot suggested that they could depart VFR, the tower controller reminded him that he might be subject to delay vectors or being held at piston altitudes for the entire flight.
Ms. Nina is enjoying yet another trip at FL300 en route from Maryland to Florida in the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet.
Mr. Nina is finally starting to make some progress on building her Piper J-3 Cub. At this rate, she may be done before she ships off to college.
On Ms. Nina’s return flight to Maryland, she was a great passenger again. The in-flight entertainment was Blippi until she fell asleep for a little nap.
This was Nina’s first flight with just Abba. On a flight from Maryland to Florida for an Army weekend, she was a great passenger and co-pilot! She took a little nap en route and after she was well-rested, she jumped in to help fly.
While most kids were out trick-or-treating on Halloween, Ms. Nina was taking her first helicopter flight. It was a great opportunity for her Abba to get his three night full-stop landings in. Next time, Ms. Nina will get her landings in.
This is just another routine trip on Southwest Airlines for Ms. Nina, but she always takes the time to review the Safety Information Card in the seat-back pocket in front of her. She does question, however, why the flight attendants need to specify “tampering, disabling, or destroying the smoke detector”, because everyone knows that “disabling” and “destroying” are still considered “tampering”.
Ms. Nina knows that the Before Start Checklist in the UH-60L helicopter can be overwhelming and can take new pilots upwards of 30 minutes just to get the helicopter started. She is practicing early, starting with “Circuit Breakers and Switches – CHECK AND SET”.