AlaskaAV
GONE WEST
Mission, TX
First of all, you have to remember, I never stretch the truth at anytime, right?
We were inbound to the Deadhorse airport at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (out of Fairbanks) when the Captain asked if I would like to make the landing. Who, me!!!!!!!!! Wow. What does a guy say? Sure (his name) so the first officer got up and let me sit in the right seat while he went back to the jump seat behind the captain.
Weather: unbelievable. Clear, visibility unlimited and calm and since it was daylight, I felt confident I could go through it with no problems. After all, I had flown Microsoft flight sim for many hours and was aware of the panel and V speeds. Also, I knew how to fly a
J-3, right? And a 737 was not that much different, right? If you believe that, I still have the London Bridge for sale.
OK, now here goes. I get it all set up for a straight in approach with VASI assist (thanks to Mr. Ed Parson who first designed it and who was a Wien employee at the time) and I had read a lot about use of flaps and forward slats so acted like I knew what I was talking about and called proper requests for flap settings as I pulled power back. For some reason, I just knew when it was time to call for gear down (the captain pointed to the gear handle on my side of the panel) so I grabbed it. Ease back on the power and more flaps. Looking good. Check winds. Still calm. Check pattern traffic. None. Pull power back more looking for 153 knots. Getting close to airport and pull power back for 147 knots. Getting real close and I called for full flaps and went down to 142 knots. Just right for the weight over the fence.
Touchdown with immediate full reverse and max breaking and I am sure I smoked them a little and dust was flying everywhere. Once I got it stopped, I made a comment to the captain about how short the runway was and his only comment was, as he looked out both side windows, something like "but it sure is wide isn't it". I was never offered a chance to fly a 737 again and I never understood why.
We were inbound to the Deadhorse airport at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (out of Fairbanks) when the Captain asked if I would like to make the landing. Who, me!!!!!!!!! Wow. What does a guy say? Sure (his name) so the first officer got up and let me sit in the right seat while he went back to the jump seat behind the captain.
Weather: unbelievable. Clear, visibility unlimited and calm and since it was daylight, I felt confident I could go through it with no problems. After all, I had flown Microsoft flight sim for many hours and was aware of the panel and V speeds. Also, I knew how to fly a
J-3, right? And a 737 was not that much different, right? If you believe that, I still have the London Bridge for sale.
OK, now here goes. I get it all set up for a straight in approach with VASI assist (thanks to Mr. Ed Parson who first designed it and who was a Wien employee at the time) and I had read a lot about use of flaps and forward slats so acted like I knew what I was talking about and called proper requests for flap settings as I pulled power back. For some reason, I just knew when it was time to call for gear down (the captain pointed to the gear handle on my side of the panel) so I grabbed it. Ease back on the power and more flaps. Looking good. Check winds. Still calm. Check pattern traffic. None. Pull power back more looking for 153 knots. Getting close to airport and pull power back for 147 knots. Getting real close and I called for full flaps and went down to 142 knots. Just right for the weight over the fence.
Touchdown with immediate full reverse and max breaking and I am sure I smoked them a little and dust was flying everywhere. Once I got it stopped, I made a comment to the captain about how short the runway was and his only comment was, as he looked out both side windows, something like "but it sure is wide isn't it". I was never offered a chance to fly a 737 again and I never understood why.