The Cutest Town!

STRATFORD UPON AVON

When I arrived in Stratford Upon Avon, England it felt like I was in a fairy tail. It is located near Birmingham England, and along the drive I saw rolling green hills, lambs wondering in them with castles in the background. It was breath taking! You may remember hearing about Stratford Upon Avon in school when we learned about Shakespeare. It is William Shakespeare's hometown! It is located on the Avon River, which is full of Swans. In Stratford I toured Shakespeares home, it was hard to believe I was in the room William was born in. They didn't tell us in school he was rich!

Me in a phone Booth, which are located all over England.

This is the bar where the crews like to hang out. It is called the Dirty Duck. The rumor is that pilots have been hanging out here for centuries.There are flowers everywhere in Stratford Upon Avon. Here I am standing in front of William Shakespeare's family home.




This ancient church is where the Shakespeare family is buried it is a beautiful setting over looking the Avon River.

My Favorite Destination!

ARUBA!

I hadn't spent much time in the Caribbean until I got this job. My favorite trip is to Aruba. The crew gets 25 hours on the ground. It is beautiful in Aruba! I love the hotel. It has a private island that you can only get to by boat. The boat picks you up in the hotel lobby. On the island I have a hammock that I always seek out to lay on and read through out the day. What a great job!This is why I do my job, I love to travel...

My Highlight of the Year!

This past May I went to the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris to watch the French Open!! I got to watch Maria Sharapova defeat Patty Synder. It was a great match, with many tiebreakers.This was the third major tennis tournament I have attended. I've been to the US Open, Wimbledon, and now the French Open! It is a dream come true for a tennis fan like me!

I brought along three of my flight attendants from the flight to Paris with me to the tournament. They loved it and have become tennis fans now too!

My First Jet!

This is the first jet I have ever flown! Talk about a big change in airplanes... I was flying an SAAB 340B that weighed 28,000 pounds to a Boeing 767-200 that weighs 395,000 pounds. My first flight was from Newark to Houston. On this flight did have passengers, and I have to admit it wasn't the best landing!!


Part time, I instruct in a SAAB 340 flight simulator. Its a big computer on hydrulics with great graphics, it looks and feels like a real flight. The majority of my students come from Europe and are wanting to apply to an airline that flies SAABs.

About Me

After graduating college I wanted to travel the world. I got a job as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines. While working there I met my first female pilot, and decided I wanted to be a pilot too. I started taking flying lessons at Wings Inc. After a year of lessons, I was instructing flying lessons.

I taught over 1000 hours to many students in a Cessna 172. In my lessons I would teach taxiing, takeoffs, talking on the radio, emergency procedures, instrument work and landing. I needed to instruct to build up my flight time to apply to the regional airlines.

While flight instructing I also worked part time flying for the State of MN. I flew state employees around the state of MN in a King Air B200 (Even The Gov Jesse Ventura).

My first airline job was with Chicago Express Airlines. I flew a 34 seater SAAB 340 out of Chicago Midway Airport. With this new job, I moved to Chicago. I lived in a house with 4 other pilots. I worked as a first officer at Chicago Express for 3 years.

Just as I was finishing my Captain training on the SAAB 340. I was told that Chicago Express was going under, and I was losing my job. Luckily a company called Colgan Air was buying all of Chicago Expresses airplanes and they needed Captains to fly them. So I was off to Houston Texas to fly as Captain on the SAAB!

After flying at Colgan Air for a year, I got a call for a job of a lifetime. I was hired to fly for Continental Airlines on the Boeing 757 and 767 as a first officer! I am currently based in Newark, NJ flying international routes. It is my dream job!

Inside a SAAB340 with a Flight Attendant and me as a Captain!