First line check

I passed my first line check at Cathay Pacific, and am good to go for another year. Airline pilots have lots of recurrent checks and training during their career. At Cathay, we have two simulator checkrides a year (every six months) and an annual line check. These three checks are the cause of many sleepless nights, heartburn, stress, and angst amongst most pilots. Especially at Cathay, the checks are taken quite seriously. At other airlines, sometimes the checks aren't too stressful as there isn't much jeopardy in the grading of the recurrent checkrides. At my last job, I knew the aircraft and the operation quite well, and the checkrides were no big deal, but since I've moved on to Cathay, it's a whole other story. I'm newer, don't fly as much, and have a lot more to think about compared to my last job.

Simulator rides aren't too fun because the sim instructors throw problems at us all the time and we have to perform up to standards. Dealing with engine fires and malfunctions is somewhat of a harrowing experience. Line checks are a different story. A captain that is paired up with me does the check as we fly on a regular flight in the real airplane. We do three flights to see if I am up to par on all my procedures. The stress comes in when he starts asking all sorts of questions about, "what would you do if . . ." As we crossed the North Pacific, I got questions like: "Where would you go now if we had an engine fire?" Or "What would you do if we depressurized?" These are excellent questions and the answer always needs to be in the back of our minds, because emergencies don't happen when we expect them too, they happen at the worst possible time.


There are a myriad of procedures on what to do when, depending on what the terrain is like below us, how much fuel we have, how far away from the nearest airport are we, and the like. Keeping all that knowledge in our head is what they pay us for, though we all obviously hope that none of that info is ever required.

My line check started in Los Angeles, and went to San Francisco and then up to Anchorage. The following day, we headed over the Pacific to Hong Kong. My check captain was a great guy, who formerly flew Air Force One for Bush Senior and Bill Clinton. His résumé is outstanding and impeccable and he was truly a gentleman to fly with, and extremely knowledgeable. I learned a lot from him and was glad to soak up all the information I could. I passed my check and am good for another year. Sure, it was stressful to have my job "on the line" but it's all part of life as a pilot -- we gotta know this stuff. Tests are never fun, but at least I can look back on this experience as a good one.

TobyLaura.com

I am second

I am second is a website that tells the stories of famous people who give credit to God for their success. It's really neat to see people like Colt McCoy, Jason Witten, and Tony Dungy talk about how God is first, and they are second. Click on Jason' picture above to see his video.

It's hard to be happy in this world without God. Many can be successful without Him, but even with all the success in the world, people without Christ in their life will always be trying to fill a void in their heart. With a void, people will always be looking for more happiness, success, money, and fame to make their life complete. The trouble is, without God, there will never be a complete life and that hole will always linger, gnaw, and grind away like a rock in one's shoe.

Personally, I don't know how anyone can get through the troubles this life brings without God in their lives. When life really gets tough is when people usually wonder whether there really is a God and why He'd let their life get so low. Ultimately, He wants us to worship Him, through the good and the bad, and until Heaven, we can't know what God spared us from, even when our life is at it's lowest point.

In a culture that worships the almighty "ME" out of selfishness, it is nice to see people say that they are second, not first. They acknowledge that their success comes from God, and that the accolades from men last but only a moment. How about you -- are you first . . . or second?

TobyLaura.com