An Office with a View

Not many people in the world enjoy the view that I and a few skilled pilots do.  That view obviously would be from the cockpit.  A few of these pictures were taken from a higher altitude, up to 45,000 feet.  It's not the same looking out the side window.  Sitting in the back you can not see what type of weather is ahead or even watch a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  There have been numerous times where I have taken off and watched the sunset, worked all night and even saw the sunrise the next morning. 

Now there are some photos below and i will try to explain a few.  Bobbi enjoys some of the beach/coastal pictures the best and even shares them on silent Saturdays. 

This is one of my favorite pictures.  Early sunrise heading to Baltimore, MD.  Very majestic.

Different day, another sunrise.  That's our tip tank (gas tank) in the photo.  Everyone who flies this type of jet always has a tip in a picture.

See what I mean.  Another tip tank looking down at the clouds.

Thunderstorms ahead.  Time to turn.

So that was a little taste of the view out front.  Sure, you may see some of these views out the side window, but by the time you see that thunderstorm, the pilots up front have already turned to avoid them.  Now I will share a few pictures of the cockpit that you may have never seen or understand, so I will try to explain them a little as well.

This is an altimeter.  It measures your height above sea level.  In this picture we are at 45,000 feet.

The airspeed indicator is below.  This is showing a speed of 230 knots or Mach .78

 Now because this is just what is indicated on the airspeed indicator, that doesn't mean its our actual speed.  Altitude, temperature and wind will play a huge factor.  This photo is of our GPS.  It shows direction, distance, time and ground speed.  The speed we are actually going.

As you can see in the bottom right, our speed is 621 knots.  That is approximately 683 mph.

In the middle top is distance, we had 19 miles to go to our next waypoint and at that speed, the top right shows a time of 1 minute and 50 seconds.  So basically at 621 knots, you cover 10 miles in a minute.  That's 1 mile every 6 seconds.

This is most of the cockpit.  By far it is much simpler that today's modern jets.  Our plane was built back in the late 70's.

Here are Bobbi's beach photos.  This one is just off the coast of Tampa, FL.  Those little dots in the water are actually little huts.

East coast of Florida down by Fort Lauderdale.

Ahhh, Captain Brandon.  Not bad to look at, but fun to fly with.  See this is a view you don't always get.

Well the best for last.  My Ice Man and Maverick.

I hope you all enjoyed.  Please post comments and ask questions if there is more you would like to know or even learn about.  Post your photo requests as well and I will try to get a picture of it.  We only fly in the lower 48 states, so keep it simple.  Next time I will post a video or two of takeoffs and landings.

Steve ✈