Position: Approaching MMZO (Manzanillo, Mexico)Altitude: 9,200 feet and descendingIndicated Air Speed: 250 knotsEquipment: A319Pax-on-Board: 112
Airborne... The beach and (probably) my favorite Mexican runway in our twelve o'clock and a couple miles.
This is what flying is all about right here, right now. A superb 319 with two powerful engines inhaling the cool Pacific winds, a co-pilot with exceptional ability, and an efficient, take-care-of-business, no-whine flight attendant crew. Wait, let me pinch myself... Yep, I am awake.
The electronic tether to Mother snapped out of 20,000 feet... We are temporarily out of touch. Not even email... Tell me it's not true. What's a pilot to do? It gets even better... We are out of radar contact, too. The tower controller at MMZO asked us to report twenty miles northwest of the airport. Heaven!
What did he say?
He said we are the only aircraft in the area and we are cleared for the VOR approach to runway 28. I won the coin toss; it's my leg.
Auto-pilot OFF, auto-thrust OFF, flight directors OFF, navigation display changed to the HSI. Hard tune the VOR frequency and dial in the 112 degree radial. Ah, that's better... Put all the Smoke and Mirrors back in the rabbit's hat for a few precious minutes.
Over the top of the airport and fly a southeasterly heading to pick up the 112 radial. We are gliding, engines at idle thrust. The joystick is finger tip sensitive, only slight pressure required to move the flight controls. If the tower controller is standing outside on his deck, he will see us pass over with a whisper.
The Pacific waters are a beautiful blue as we continue our descent on the outbound leg. On my request, the co-pilot gets an early landing clearance. We are still an aerodynamically clean machine, but need to extend some leading edge slats to slow down. As the co-pilot moves the lever, I look over my left shoulder and watch slats extend from the wing's leading edge... Love watching the slats come out; can't explain why. It's an itch I have to scratch. The Electric Jet slows to 200 knots indicated...
Lower the left wing with a soft touch on the joystick, keep pressuring the nose down to maintain 200 knots. I am looking left at the runway, now in my eight o'clock low. Increase the bank angle to about 30 degrees... Give some energy back with an increased angle-of-attack. Put some relative wind on her flat, smooth belly... Fi-Fi loves it.
I can hear and feel the lead flight attendant slamming carts home in the forward galley... She knows we are getting close.
Surf in sight...
Tap the thrust levers forward a few millimeters; time to wake the engines from their descent naps. Fuel flows increase and temperatures begin to rise as engine rotation speed moves north. Flaps extended, landing gear down with three green lights, roll out on final, checklists complete by a five mile final...
And there it is... The runway on the beach. I never get tired of seeing this little airport.
I am flying the runway's visual glide slope, but its lights are faint and hard to see in brilliant sun reflections from the water... So, I use a thin strand of Fi-Fi magic: a virtual glide path indication. Have I said that I love this aircraft yet?
The white foam from crashing surf is floating in my peripheral vision as the mains touch the asphalt... This place is amazing!
Rampers in a hurry...
The ramp personnel are running to their positions as we taxi into the compact apron. What a concept! The lead ramp is standing in a military-like stance guiding us in with perfect arm movements. Each wingman is holding wands in a precise "L". The cabin service personnel are standing in-line behind the station supe who is looking at her clipboard. I do believe they were expecting an A319 arrival.
At crossed wands, set brakes and look overhead to make sure the APU is running... It is; master switches OFF. It only takes once to shut down without the APU to never, ever do it again. Uh... Yes, I did it in Longbeach years ago. I almost lost my temper with the co-pilot, but quickly calmed down and laughed when I realized the silliness of the situation. Needless to say, I am now very careful when I change power sources.
Two air-stairs, being pushed by rampers, move to the front and rear of the aircraft; the fuselage doors on aircraft left open admitting a rush of Pacific breeze... Oh my, that smells so fine.
So close, yet so far...
I am standing on the rear airstairs, a few feet in front of the screaming APU. The mist of the ocean hangs in the atmosphere. The three flight attendants are standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the ramp while the co-pilot photographs them with their smart phones... Surf in the background and a 319 tail towering over them. The noise level must be incredible for the flight attendants.
The station supe trots out to the aircraft with my flight plan, greets me with Hola el Cap-i-tan and requests my signature on her copy. I give her a thumbs up on the fuel load and she is gone.
The flight attendants are climbing the stairs, smiling and pointing toward the terminal building. Uh-Oh... Here they come, sun-burned and slightly hung over; 123 pax in pineapple shirts, short shorts, and flip-flops.
I take a final breath of the ocean breeze and hurry back toward the pointy end. I want to be on the beach so bad, wife-of-my-youth in a ridiculously small bikini handing me a cold tropical beverage with a paper umbrella in it.
Oh, come on! I don't have time to daydream about this... Get with the program el Cap-i-tan!
Ascent to the grid...
Mother's digital veil recovers us at 20,000 feet, email alert light flashing continuously as multiple waiting messages roll out of the mini-printer, mostly administrative stuff for me. We are back in the grid.
About five hours ten minutes flight time remaining on today's sched; last landing in KBOI (Boise) for the overnight.
I watch the cabin pressure decrease slowly as the Electric Jet climbs like a homesick angel. I figure the last of the sweet Pacific air molecules were recently crushed in the air conditioning/pressurization system's turbines and replaced with hot bleed air from the low pressure side of the V2500 engines.
I am trying to remember what the beach breeze smelled like... Need to put that into my long term memory for later use.
Altitude: 24,700 feetVertical Speed: 2,700 fpmIndicated Airspeed: 310 knotsHydraulics: 3,000 psiElectrics: 400 hz / IDGs left 95 C / right 100 CFuel flow: Left 3,450 lbs / Right 3,350 lbsPilot Oxygen Pressure: 1,600 psiEngines: running cool and strong... Oil pressure Left 145 psi / Right 160 psi
Life on the
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