An Early Morning

One of the Benefits of an Early Morning Departure


0410 in the morning my alarm starts squealing, urging me to get out of bed. It's Monday morning after a week of holidays, what a way to jump right back into things. I have a flight scheduled for 0630 this morning. I like to get to work an hour and 30 minutes before departure, which makes for early mornings usually. Company requires us to be there only an hour before departure, however to order fuel we need to give an hours advance notice, so I like to get to work in time to figure out what we'll need and then fax the fuel load off.

The wind bites into me as I step out side into the dark. The first real snow of the year stings my face and whips through my thin pants, gonna have to get the long underwear out soon. Winters nearly here, brrr. The drive to work is slow as the highway is covered in snow and ice. I guess at 0500 in the morning there just isn't enough traffic to warrant a snow plow on the highway. Or it's government employees and they don't start till 0900...

I arrive at work only an hour before departure due to the slow and nerving drive in. The captain has already ordered fuel, that's nice, I don't have to rush. While checking the NOTAMS (Notifications to alert pilots to important changes or info at airports or along airways) I notice the fiction index for the runway in use this morning is only .28. That's about the equivalent of the friction on a skating rink. Interesting. But by the time we are ready to go, half an hour late due to the late arrival of our passengers, which is understandable thanks to the weather, the friction Index has gone up to .52. That's a bit better, not a whole lot though. But soon we're airborne and the harsh weather is all below us. With only a bright sunrise to contend with, we finish up the After Takeoff checklist and let the plane accelerate to about 170 knots holding a 1500'per minute climb. By the time we come back tonight I'm sure that things will be well cleaned up and just a little whiter. Nice.