I went flying!

So I had an opportunity to jump seat on one of our trips yesterday. Since I don't have a passport, I can't go on most of our trips, since we do a lot of international flights. This one was Laredo, Texas to Lansing, MI. With the freight dropping off so close to home base, I was sure to get home.

Laredo was HOT! It was 41*C, about 105*F. And the weight of the freight, in addition to the heat, there was a concern that we wouldn't be able to leave. As with most engines, aircraft engines like the cold more than heat. Therefore they perform better in the cold, and don't do as well in the heat. The hotter it is, the less weight the engines can handle. Thankfully, we didn't have as much freight weight as possible and we could work within tolerances. If we turned off "packs" it takes a little more stress from the engines, so we could take off. (I was worried for a minute.)

There was so much that I knew, but didn't really apply to an actual flight. Like, I knew it was REALLY cold way up there, but didn't realize that the aircraft regularly goes from -50 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius. That is a solid 100 degree difference that happens pretty regularly. That explains a lot of wear and tear on the aircraft and therefore one of the many reasons that they have such strict maintenance requirements.

I now understand turbulence. I've not really flown much, so this phenomenon was all theory to me. In reality it's like a bumpy car ride. It didn't really get horrible, but there was an obvious difference between the smooth section and the rough winds.

Taking off and landing was the most interesting part of the flight (of course) because there was so much going on. They ran checklists while they were descending and kept in contact with the tower all while lining up and preparing to land. Taking off was similar, except we had to position so that we were going the right way.

Overall, I had a blast and I would love to do this again!
By the way, all photos are copyrighted by me, so please abide by copyright laws, thank you!