The adage goes something like this:
The worst day of fishing beats the best day of work.
Years ago, I knew I found the right job when I was a co-pilot on a charter flight in a 15-seat Twin Otter for a day of fishing on an Alaskan beach. I remember thinking of that ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Kent Wien is a New York-based 757 and 767 co-pilot for a major airline with more than twenty years experience both as a domestic and international pilot.
Kent is a third-generation airline pilot from a family that pioneered flying in Alaska. He enjoys writing about his flights while using video and photography to capture a glimpse of life behind a cockpit door.
He currently writes the Cockpit Chronicles feature for Gadling and previously answered a lot of questions in a now retired Plane Answers feature for Gadling. He occasionally covers the airline and aviation industry in between.
You can reach him through the Cockpit Chronicles Facebook site at kentwien.com or via twitter.
The Cockpit Chronicles
Cockpit Chronicles - Paragliding In Rio: Best Layover Ever! (Video)
The adage goes something like this:
The worst day of fishing beats the best day of work.
Years ago, I knew I found the right job when I was a co-pilot on a charter flight in a 15-seat Twin Otter for a day of fishing on an Alaskan beach. I remember thinking of that ...Cockpit Chronicles: How I Fell In Love With An Airplane (Video)
The MD-80 just might be the Rodney Dangerfield of the airline world. It just can't seem to get any respect. But for those who really get to know the airplane, it offers some features, and admittedly a number of quirks, that has made it near and dear to many pilots. Against ...Cockpit Chronicles: The iPad Flight Bag Is Finally Here (Video)
The long awaited, previously announced iPad Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) has finally been approved for most of our airplanes at the company. In fact, we're the first U.S. airline to receive FAA approval for the use of the iPad as a replacement for all of our paper Jeppesen ...Cockpit Chronicles: A Captain No More
Occasionally, pilots seek out a better ride by climbing a few thousand feet. Sacrificing a bit of fuel to climb earlier than scheduled often makes sense as long as there's less turbulence at the new altitude. But it's frustrating to discover that the premature climb didn't ...Cockpit Chronicles: A Landing Fit For A King
Harriet Baskas from StuckatTheAirport.com asked a few of us to identify the "scariest airports" as seen through the eyes of pilots. I gave her a list of "challenging" airports instead. I told her about New York's LaGuardia and Washington, D.C.'s Reagan airports but I ...Cockpit Chronicles: DC-3 Flight Over Manhattan Celebrates Mechanic's 70 Years (With Video)
Al "Blacky" Blackman has reached a milestone few can claim. He has worked for 70 years as a mechanic for American Airlines based in New York, starting when he was only 17 years old.
Surprisingly, he has no plans to retire. "I don't consider this work. It's being able to ...Cockpit Chronicles: Getting More Out Of Layovers
For some, life couldn't be any more perfect than if they were paid to travel. I've run across three airline crew members who have discovered ways to keep their jobs fresh and exciting by embracing what is for them the biggest benefit that comes with working for an airline: ...Cockpit Chronicles: Ten tips for the new co-pilot
Despite the fact that our airline is parking older and less efficient airplanes, senior co-pilots have been upgrading to captain at a pretty good clip. I thought the recent events would have put a stop to all that, but I was ecstatic to learn that I had finally reached the ...Cockpit Chronicles: Captain on the MD-80? Why?
Captain on the MD-80? Are you crazy?
I received a comment from a reader recently to that effect. What was I thinking, bidding to an airplane that my company was rapidly retiring and choosing to go back on reserve, ready to fly at a moment's notice to places like Kansas ...Cockpit Chronicles: What's not to like about the 757? I'll show you. (Video)
Powerful engines providing stellar performance and short field capabilities are just some of the features that set the Boeing 757 apart from the rest. But there has to be something that pilots dislike on the airplane, right?
Well, there are two features in particular that ...Cockpit Chronicles: Captain Steve Jobs
How a pilot handles the controls, or their 'stick and rudder' skills so to speak, is a small part of what makes a great aviator. Recently, on a flight from New York to Zurich, I watched some decision making that typifies the traits of a great captain.
As Captain Bredow ...Cockpit Chronicles: Fly Rio!
Occasionally the airline will offer pilots the chance to fly for a month out of another base when they're short a few pilots at that city. I remember flying with one of these temporary duty (TDY) pilots who came up to Boston from Miami. I asked him what trips he usually flew ...Cockpit Chronicles: Video—Food in the cockpit. How it's prepared and what is served
"I'm getting kind of tired of these chicken Caesar salads."
I said those words just a few months into my career at American. The statement resonated loudly after I was furloughed and flying for a freight airline with barely a bottle of water on board, so I vowed that I ...Cockpit Chronicles: Boeing vs Boeing. Pilots weigh in on the flight qualities of each type
We talked last week about identifying the various Boeing airplanes from their external characteristics. But to Boeing pilots who have been fortunate to fly most of them, each airplane has its own personality. I thought I'd share some different opinions of a few pilots who ...Cockpit Chronicles: Know your Boeings
One of the first things any aviation enthusiast or pilot learns is how to tell one airplane from another. Usually, those of us aviation obsessed types pick this up as kids.
But a few frequent fliers, airline employees and maybe even some pilots may not be able to catch ...Cockpit Chronicles: A captain's line check
Once every two years a captain is required to be observed by a check airman. And captains over sixty must be checked every six months.
I touched on the line check in the last Cockpit Chronicles, and I've had yet another trip with a check airman performing a line check, ...Cockpit Chronicles: A 'new' pilot's first trip on the line
To say it's been a long time since we've seen any newly hired pilots at our airline is an understatement. Up until now, the junior most pilots have been here for more than ten years.
As I was riding in to work on the JFK Airtrain a few weeks ago, I looked up the crew list ...Cockpit Chronicles: One long date with Hurricane Irene
Plunk, plunk, plunk, went the water as it dripped from the ceiling into a trash can behind me.
"I'd just as soon call it quits here and go to a hotel." the captain said, looking at the latest weather report for Santo Domingo and the radar picture of hurricane Irene which ...Cockpit Chronicles: There's more behind the Air France 447 crash than pilot error
Recently a couple of pilots found themselves in a situation that was foreign and perplexing to them; a scenario the designers of the airplane hadn't fully expected. They fought their way for 3 minutes and 30 seconds while trying to understand what was happening after a ...Cockpit Chronicles: Eight ways to slow a jet
One of my first posts on Cockpit Chronicles was an explanation on how to park a 757. At the risk of catering only to people who have recently acquired their own Boeing jets, I'd like to continue with another lesson.
The eight ways to slow a jet
When you're driving your ...
