Most people would question their career choice after working for five different airlines in their first six years as a pilot. But the early '90s were a turbulent time in the industry, and I was simply happy to be working, even if it was as a flight engineer on the 727. ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Kent Wien is a Boston-based co-pilot for a major airline with nearly twenty years experience both as a domestic and international pilot.
Kent is part of a family that includes three generations of airline pilot brothers starting with his grandfather who started an airline in 1924. Originally from Alaska, he enjoys writing about specific flights while using video and photography to capture a glimpse of life behind a cockpit door.
He currently writes both the Cockpit Chronicles and Plane Answers features for Gadling and covers the airline and aviation industry in between.
You can reach him through his personal site at kentwien.com
The Cockpit Chronicles
Cockpit Chronicles: "Flying Drunk" by Joe Balzer
Most people would question their career choice after working for five different airlines in their first six years as a pilot. But the early '90s were a turbulent time in the industry, and I was simply happy to be working, even if it was as a flight engineer on the 727. ...Cockpit Chronicles: Paper makes an airplane fly
Looking back on the accomplishments of the Wright brothers in 1903, I find it a miracle that they were able to get into the air while lacking a critical piece of material. Something so important that the FAA, JAA and CAA would ground any airplane today that tried to lift off ...Cockpit Chronicles: Catching a little show in Paris
To refine a popular saying, "The worst day at an air show beats the best day at work." But what if you're doing both? That's exactly what happened when Grant Martin, the editor of Gadling, told me that he'd be attending the Paris Air Show and wondered if there was any chance ...Cockpit Chronicles: A gallon saved...
On a late night Atlantic crossing I turned to the captain, Dave, and announced, "1,900 pounds up on the fuel." We both looked at our running fuel log. "It must be the winds," he responded. Dave and I regularly fly together and we make it a point to challenge each other not ...Cockpit Chronicles - Practicing takeoff and landings in a 737 (with Video)
Ten years ago this month, I had the rare opportunity to take a 737 out for some flying in the Bay Area without passengers. I was finishing up my FO training in the 737-800. Usually, this means a pilot would receive a checkride in the simulator and then find themselves out on ...Cockpit Chronicles: Groundhog day - The St. Thomas turn (with video)
One of the benefits of working as an airline crewmember, whether it be as a pilot or flight attendant, is the chance to get to know a city in a manner that's second only to living there. But when we're given the option to fly a month of 'turns' – those one day trips ...Cockpit Chronicles: An eye-opening walkaround inspection
I've never been a morning person, so it was with some reluctance that I traded away an afternoon departure to fly an early morning three-day trip with St. Thomas and Santo Domingo layovers. The flight departed at 6:40 a.m., which meant an arrival at the airport no later ...Cockpit Chronicles: Anatomy of a 26 hour delay.
You've booked your honeymoon cruise and since you're smarter than the average traveler, you planned to be in San Juan more than a day early just to be safe. Sometimes though, no matter how hard we try, forces just stack up against passengers and their flight crews. The San ...Cockpit Chronicles: Back to the simulator
Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on some of Kent's trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 based in Boston. "You have training!" read the message at the top of our company website. Unlike our vacation or monthly schedule, we have no choice in the timing of our ...Catching the travel bug: Midair malaise
Welcome to Catching the Travel Bug, Gadling's mini-series on getting sick on the road, prevailing and loving travel throughout. Five of our bloggers will be telling their stories from around the globe for the next five weeks. Submit your best story about catching the travel ...Cockpit Chronicles: St. Elmos Fire, Falcons and Segway-ing through Paris
Rich, the relief co-pilot, looked over my shoulder and pointed to the radar. "Looks like you're painting some weather there." He said. I looked down, noting the sea of green ahead. "It doesn't have much vertical to it." I replied, which meant the clouds hadn't developed ...Cockpit Chronicles: Haiti after Hanna
Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on some of Kent's trips as an international co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 based in Boston. New on the schedule for us this month is a two-day trip to Miami. The first day is rather easy with just one leg from Boston to Miami. The ...Cockpit Chronicles: Flying around Hanna and Ike
I couldn't believe my timing. A four-day trip to the Caribbean with Hurricanes Hanna and Ike scheduled to be right in our way for almost every leg. Would some of the flights get canceled? And if not, how far out of the way would we be flight planned to stay away from these ...Cockpit Chronicles: Stunning clouds, a blue tower and a few meetups.
As a pilot, every now and then you'll have a chance to catch a sight that just burns into your memory. The spire of the Empire State Building piercing a setting sun while approaching New York's JFK airport, or watching a satellite pass overhead while holding above a thick ...Cockpit Chronicles: Picture Perfect Paris
During the sterile-cockpit period we don't get into non-essential conversations; we're required to limit it to only what's required for the safe operation of the airplane. This keeps all of our attention focused on flying and reduces the chance that a distraction could lead ...Cockpit Chronicles: A slam click layover
The biggest choice I get to make each month when picking a schedule isn't generally where I'll fly or what days off I'll get. Since I'm much closer to the bottom of the seniority list than the top among 767 international co-pilots in Boston, my choice is generally between ...Cockpit Chronicles: Too much adventure (Part II)
We left off in the last episode looking at an extra two nights in Paris after a mechanical issue caused our flight back to Boston to cancel. This was because our 7:10 p.m. required departure time had arrived and the mechanics still hadn't found the problem. So now there was ...Cockpit Chronicles: Paris - A trip with too much adventure
I've often marveled at how smooth air travel has become. Contrary to media reports, tens of thousands of flights operate every day with nary an issue. That was certainly the case for the previous six Paris trips this month. The first clue that it'd be a more interesting ...Cockpit Chronicles: Paris - Chez (grand) Papa
Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent's trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston. "We've had a minor explosion back here," one of the flight attendants, Susan, told us during our preflight. "There's orange juice all over 2H and J." ...Cockpit Chronicles: Take your kid to work day!
Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent's trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston. "We're going to try a new place to eat," Doug, the captain said as I walked into operations. While he waited for the dot matrix printer to spit out the twenty ...
