Guam Flying

My July 4th was quite uneventful. I would have given many a treasure to be (I can't believe I'm saying this) at the O'Fallon Fest with you all. It sounds like you had a splendid time and I wish I were there too. My 4th was almost nonexistent in fact, it lasted about 4 hours because I crossed the International Date Line early that morning and it then became the 5th all of the sudden. I flew a trip called the "Island Hopper" which is pretty much the most interesting, most demanding and most rewarding trip we have. Its a four day trip starting in Guam, and as the name suggests, it stops at 5 islands between Guam and Hawaii. By the time you arrive in HNL you are pretty beat after flying 6 legs over 16 hours but you are then rewarded with a two day mini vacation which is quite nice, except you have a continual dread while you are there that you'll have to do it all over again just to get back to your own bed. Its an extremely small price to pay for a few free days in Hawaii to do with as you wish.

The flying out here is very different than anything I've done before. In fact I think its the polar opposite side of working in the airline industry than I'm used to. The people out here are pretty different. I have met some really interesting guys to work with and some strange fellows who seem to be running away from their past. Company wide, Guam is known as a good place to hide out. Most things are handled in house and there is never a sense that management is around. There is a general feeling of quietness and relaxation, nothing ever gets done hear in a very timely manner and I'm beginning to be OK with that. Since the trips are more productive than those on the mainland I get more days off than I could ever hold in Newark. To answer the age old question, I don't have a "route" that I fly, but I do find myself in Manila quite a bit. Its an all night flight but a productive trip. Over the past few months I have seen most of the cities we fly to out here. The Japan trips are pretty funny. There is a lot of saluting and bowing and waving as we taxi away. Its just funny to compare it to the States where we are lucky if the guys come out to park us at all. They don't like it when we arrive early and interrupt their domino game. But the Japanese are on the ball. They have lots of pride, honor and respect oozing out their pores.

Back to the Island Hopper. Once you leave Guam, you are out of radar contact until you reach Hawaii and are pretty much given free range to get to each island as you wish. You do have to let the controllers in San Fransico (because they control the non radar airspace out here) know what your plan is, but other than that, its pretty easy on the communication and navigation side of things as compared to the heavily controlled and crowded northeast that I'm used to. There are never any delays and its very rare to ever see another airplane anywhere. From the pictures below, you will see that some of the places we go are pretty remote, often we are the only service to these islands. Many times there will be kids and families waving to us just outside the airport perimeter. It's sometimes an island affair to come out and welcome us to their little speck of land. I'd imagine it's how things used to be in the 50's and 60's during the golden age of aviation when people still thought it was a big deal to fly. Many times I feel like I've stepped into the past as I arrive on these little communal islands. But as I said, the flying is challenging at times. The runways are short and often wet and we are usually at max take off and landing weights. Meaning there is little room for error. The scenery is unique and pristine. I feel very lucky to have a front row view of the places I've been to. If you are so inclined and want to enhance your geographical prowess look up the following islands. On the hopper we go from Guam-Truk (pronounced chook)-Ponapei-Kosarae-Kawajalan-Majaro-Hawaii. Its a fun and grueling trip at the same time.

This is Kwajalein. Its an atoll. Which apparently means skinny.

This is Pohnpei. This runway is short.

This is Kosrae. They sell really good peaches there that look like limes. At just over 5600 ft, its the shortest runway in the system and due to the mountains just out of frame, the wind whips around and can be somewhat tricky at times. If anyone has any questions about the flying or anything else I suppose I could muster up the energy to retort. Coming soon, Vic and I are planning on a little summery of Guamisims that should give a little insight into this island. There are a lot of peculiarities.