There I Wuz!—Case of the Missing NOTAM

#blog #aviation #avgeek #article

This can be sometimes the reason a person is given proper guidance on taking an appropriate treatment for it where as there are certain people who face a number of viagra online ordering complications in their sexual life even after crossing 50s. The effectiveness of Kamagra lets the patient to think dysfunctionally, and to experience neurochemically induced discomfort, distress, viagra pills online fatigue, malaise, lower immune system function and slower healing. Some of the companies are now making this viagra cialis cheap look what i found with the different brand names like Kamagra, Kamagra oral jelly, Forzest, Silagra etc. Differences: Before you secretworldchronicle.com generic viagra india, cialis, you must know the difference between purchase generic cialis and secretworldchronicle.com from an economic stand point. can be bought on average 50% lower rates than brand name .

Originally published in Plane & Pilot Magazine

August, 1990 issue as “Flight I’ll Never Forget: Listen Up!”

cap'n aux missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog
THE CASE OF THE MISSING NOTAM
I had been flying for a Phoenix-based charter company for about three months, had a few years’ flight instructing and 1300 hours in my logbook, and had already settled into the company’s bread-and-butter run: the Grand Canyon tour. Now, as an experienced tour pilot—or Ditch Driver, as we called ourselves—I could almost do it in my sleep. . .
Perhaps that was what I was doing on this day.

cap'n aux missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog
I should have hired a Private Dick to find my head that day.

The sun was just peeking through the office window shades when the Flight Service Specialist answered the phone. I absent-mindedly rattled off the flight plan, all the while crunching weight and balance numbers on a calculator. The weather brief was just that—brief—as I knew it would be: severe clear and not a cloud in the state. CAVU, as we called it, “Ceiling and visibility unlimited.
Another boringly perfect fall day in Arizona.
“All Navaids operational,” the briefer continued, while I pondered a glitch in my weight and balance calculations, “NOTAM (Notices to Airman) out for ‘temporary’ landing runway three.”

“Psst, hey buddy, you seen this pilot’s missing noggin?”
“Runway three,” I muttered, “thanks. Once we’re airborne, we’ll call you on one twenty two point six to activate.” I hung up and finished writing the final c.g.
On the way out to the plane, something in the back of my mind whispered, runway three…wonder why he bothered saying that. The tower doesn’t even open for another hour….
The thought slipped away as Debra, our office manager,introduced my passengers, four tourists from Japan. I smiled and led them to our Cessna Centurion.
Cessna 210, cap'n, aux, missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog,
I was an experienced, professional “Ditch Driver”…so why did I ditch my brain?
The hour-and-a-half flight up was smooth and uneventful. But as the Canyon neared, my workload increased dramatically.
Flying through the Canyon, the Ditch Driver switches into hyperdrive: fly the plane, narrate the tour, watch for Ditch traffic, radio checkpoints to others, and listen for other Ditch Drivers transmitting checkpoints.
Cessna 210, cap'n, aux, missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog,
“Cessna seven eight Victor, you are cleared to land . . .”
I had my hands full, but continued with confidence—no,overconfidence.
“On your right we have Confucius Temple,” I sang into the intercom as we soared past that natural rock statue. I keyed the mike and annouced crisply, “Canyon traffic, Centurion seven eight victor, Confucius, eight point five, westbound.”
I punched the number two radio monitor button and a second voice spoke into my headphones, superimposed over the number one radio chatter:
“…Grand Canyon airport information Mike, time…”
“On your left,” I continued, “is my favorite, the giant rock scorpion.”
“…altimeter two niner niner seven, temporary landing runway three….”

Cessna 210, cap'n, aux, missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog,
“. . . on TEMPORARY Runway 3.”
I set the altimeter and announced, “Centurion seven eight victor, Scorpion Ridge, eight point five, inbound for the airport.”
Again I had missed that single, subtle word, temporary.
As we sailed past the south rim, I flipped to Grand Canyon Airport Tower frequency.
“Canyon tower, Centurion seven eight victor, Cocopah Point,landing with Information Mike.”
“Centurion seven eight victor, enter on a right base for three.”
“Roger.”
“Centurion seven eight victor,” came the call on final as I was glancing around the cabin to check my passengers’ seatbelts, “cleared to land, temporary runway three.”
Turning back to the controls, I answered, “Cleared to land, roger.”

“Hey, Numbnuts!  Bogie at 12 o’clock!”


On short final, I noticed something strange on the runway.  An object of some kind. As we neared, the object grew to the shape of a man, two men, three men on the runway!
The Twin Otter behind me calmly asked over the radio, “Hey, isn’t that guy lined up on the wrong runway?”
Suddenly, the word TEMPORARY flashed through my thick head.
Cessna 210, cap'n, aux, missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog,
“Seven eight victor, go around! Men and equipment on the runway!”
I was ramming the throttle in as the tower called, “Seven eight victor, go around! Go around, men and equipment on the runway!”
The workers, alerted by the sudden surge of power, scattered. As we aborted the landing and climbed back out, I frowned at my startled passengers, pointing to the workers on the runway as if it were their fault.
The Japanese watched in amazement the frenzied rout of escapees.
I continued around the pattern and landed—this time, on the parallel taxiway, the temporary runway 3. During the slow taxi to the ramp, I mentally cowered from the reproachful eyes of the controller, construction workers, and the other professional pilots who surely must have seen my blunder.
Cessna 210, cap'n, aux, missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog,

This story is now filed away in the There I Wuz arsenal of cocktail party stories. But down inside, when I tell it with a wink and a smile to a captive (and, I make sure, nonflying) audience, deep down inside I know it was nothing to be laughed at. It is an embarassing reminder of my own stupidity, when I almost let complacency get the upper hand.
Cessna 210, cap'n, aux, missing notam, avgeek, aviation, blog,

Now, when I find myself tracing the same old route from point A to point B, I remember: always pay attention. . . .
For if you write off a flight as just another routine, one day, your plane might write you off.

Case solved.
—  —  —  —  —  —  —

LIKE THIS POST?
Remember, no flight is complete till the Checklist is done!
Click on links below that look like this:

You’ll find ’em just past the “Cap’n Aux Links” and before the next post!

                                          POST-FLIGHT CHECKLIST

  1.  JOIN THIS SITE………………….VERIFY………………………..JOINED
  2.  COMMENT………………………..VERIFY………………………..MADE
  3.  FACEBOOK……………………….VERIFY………………………..LIKED
  4.  TWITTER………………………….VERIFY………………………..TWEETED
  5.  EMAIL………………………………VERIFY………………………..MAILED
  6.  OTHER NETWORKS…………..VERIFY………………………..SHARED 
             POST-FLIGHT CHECKLIST…………………..COMPLETE!      
—  —  —  —  —  —  —

RELATED POSTS:
Cap’n Aux “There I Wuz” series:

— — — — — — — — — —

LINED UP & WAITING
Departing Wednesday, August 28 @ 11:00 PHX

UFO! Cap’n Aux explains the “Mysterious Phoenix Lights”

“The moment I saw the pics and vids, I knew exactly what they were.”

— — — — — — — — — —
HOLDING SHORT

Blogging in Formation Week!
Posts all week beginning Sunday, September 1
This month’s theme: “If I had One Wish for Aviation”
Hotlinks to sites:
House of Rapp – Ron Rapp
iFLYblog – Brent Owens
Adventures of Cap’n Aux – Eric Auxier
Flight to Success – Karlene Petitt
Smart Flight Training – Andrew Hartley
Airplanista – Dan Pimentel

Cap’n Aux post: Tuesday, September 3 @ 00:30 PHX
— — — — — — — — — —
TAXIING OUT
Posting 9/11

twin towers, al qaeda, terrorism, tribute, in memorium, flight 93, blog, airline, avgeek, aviation

A Special Tribute
— — — — — — — — — —
NOW BOARDING

Departing mid September

The Cap’n & the Controller—a 2-part series!

100% OF ALL PROCEEDS FROM CODE NAME: DODGER, AND 50% FROM THE LAST BUSH PILOTS ARE DONATED TO CHARITY
— — — — — — —

R U on FaceBook? Twitter?  Me too! 
I post on FB (http://www.facebook.com/CapnAux) & Tweet (@capnaux) almost every day!
DID YOU LIKE THIS POST? Me too!
If so, I invite you to COMMENTSHARETWEETLIKE, EMAIL +1 etc., below!
It looks like this: 

See?  Right down below this line!