A World Away Close to Home

March 11, 2022March 11, 2022 / niffer90 / 2 Comments

As everyone knows by now, there is a war going on in Ukraine. It’s a war that affects us all to one degree or another. But I didn’t really expect it to impact me at work very much. After all, our traffic is mostly domestic, with a few flights to Canada and Mexico mixed in. At least that’s the case at the passenger airport where my office is. Just down the road, however, is our cargo airport. It accepts flights from all over the world – including Ukraine and Russia.

When it comes to airplanes, I do not discriminate – I love them all! I marvel at the engineering and their capabilities. Flying is magic! I love seeing the different liveries and configurations and people who fly them. This is why I love the cargo airport so much. And why I need to get down there more often.

The most challenging aspect of my job typically involves invoicing – figuring out who to bill and how to get the invoice to them. In this regard I’ve run into issues with Ukraine and Russia before. There used to be an airline called Ruslan which was run jointly by the two countries. It ceased to exist in late 2016 leaving me scrambling to figure out who to bill for their final charges.

Since then both Antonov (Ukraine) and Volga Dnepr (Russia) have been fairly regular visitors. I love to see them come in because they both fly the AN-124, which is an incredibly impressive airplane. I’ve gotten up close and personal with a couple of them and have been awe-struck every time.

During the pandemic, however, their visits stopped. Perhaps they didn’t have any cargo for our area. Or maybe covid restrictions kept them away. Whatever the cause, the plane spotting community missed them. So you can imagine the excitement in mid-February when Volga Dnepr returned.

Then Russia attacked Ukraine. And sanctions were imposed upon Russia. Suddenly things got complicated. And in the midst of it all I had to send an invoice for FBO services to a Russian airline. Um… awkward!

At most airports the FBOs are independent operators. At our cargo airport, however, the airport authority runs the FBO. How does the billing work? Well the FBO keeps track of all the flights and the services provided. This includes things like turn fees (the cost of unloading cargo and then loading the outbound freight), lavatory services, de-icing, GPU usage, pushback services and fueling. The FBO also arranges catering for outbound flights and transportation to and from hotels for the crews. The details are compiled into a spreadsheet and sent to me at the end of the month. I then create invoices and send them to the responsible parties.

In the case of Volga Dnepr, we bill them directly for FBO services, but their fuel billing goes through another provider. We received an email from the fuel provider last week reminding us that they are required to abide by all laws and sanctions that have been imposed as a result of the conflict.

So what does all this mean? Well… I’m not holding my breath on receiving payment from either Volga or the third party fueling company any time soon. Perhaps not ever. I put a poll up on twitter about this situation. The results suggest most people agree with my assessment. I’ll have to send another invoice to Volga later this month for landing fees. In the meantime, I’ll be praying for peace.

Five years!

December 16, 2019 / niffer90 / Leave a comment

December 1, 2019 marked five years since I started working for the airport. That’s right – I’ve been running around like a kid in a candy store for five whole years now. How is that even possible? I knew I was going to love working in aviation, but I didn’t anticipate how much I was going to fall in love with the airport itself. And I never dreamed that I would get to see and do as much as I have.

ATC

I have always wanted to sneak my way into an ATC tower. This probably explains why the FAA added another set of “No Trespassing” signs around the tower fence right after I started my job. To my surprise, however, in the last five years I’ve visited all four towers at the three airports where I work plus the tower at Oshkosh. ATC towers are every bit as cool as I thought they would be. The only thing cooler than the towers? The TRACON! I’m still shocked that they not only let me in, but showed me around and explained what they were doing.

Being the avgeek that I am, I bring my scanner to work every day so I can listen when I’m plane spotting during my breaks. I sometimes listen to Live ATC at my desk too – I just really like knowing what is going on. At this point I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of ATC communications dealing with all kinds of scenarios in all kinds of weather. Some of the most memorable conversations have also been the most amusing, like the pilot who threatened to do donuts on the uncontrolled ramp and another who was afraid of his 666 squawk code and requested a new one.

Airport Vehicles

Airport ground vehicles for the win! Who knew they were so cool? From belt loaders to tugs to baggage trolleys and deice trucks – I’m a fan. The really crazy thing is how many I’ve been allowed to examine up close. I’ve been able to sit in a snow plow and a fire truck, gotten to take a close look at a deicing rig and I’ve ridden around in broom truck. I haven’t driven a stairs truck yet (the coolest of all airport vehicles), but I’ve sat behind the wheel and that’s a start!

Airplanes!

I’m not going to lie – being around airplanes every day is awesome. It doesn’t matter how many take-offs and landings I’ve seen – flying is still magic. I knew I’d see a lot of RJs and 737s around, but I had no idea I’d also get to see the occasional B767 and A330 as well. Plus I’ve seen an incredible assortment of military airplanes including T-38s, A10s, F18s, KC135s, and C130s. I’ve even seen Airforce One on multiple occasions. I also didn’t anticipate how much I was going to fall in love with business aviation. Gulfstreams, Globals, Falcons… they stop me in my tracks every time I see them because they are just so darn gorgeous.

Really BIG Airplanes!

When I accepted the job with the airport authority I was excited to be working at a passenger airport, however I was even more excited to be affiliated with a cargo airport. Why? Because 747s! And 777s! And Antonovs! There is ALWAYS something interesting to see. On my very first visit I got to stand on the ramp and watch an Emirates 777 land and then taxi over to be unloaded. I’ve gotten up close and personal with an An124 more than once now. Oh yes, I LOVE big planes!

Missed Approaches and other “Emergencies”

The first time I saw an airplane go around it was fascinating. Five years later I’ve seen dozens of missed approaches I have to say… they are STILL really fascinating. They happen for all kinds of reasons, most of them entirely mundane. Same with aborted take-offs. I’ve seen several and they were far less dramatic than I expected. I have also witnessed several emergency landings over the years. They’re a bit more intense, but thanks to the efforts of ATC, ARFF, Airport Ops and the pilots, they all ended smoothly and uneventfully.

Favorite Experience

It is hard for me to single out a favorite moment from the past five years because there have been so many. As a general rule, the coolest experiences happen out on the airfield. That’s where all the action is. It’s also where the ground support vehicles hang out. And it’s where the airplanes are! If I absolutely HAD to pick a favorite, it would be the winter I trained to assist Ops with managing the flow of traffic into the deice pad. I got to drive around on the ramp in an ops vehicle and talk to airplanes and ATC on the radio. I mean seriously – it doesn’t get much cooler than that! It was a mild winter so I never got signed off to manage the pad by myself but who knows – maybe one of these days I’ll get another chance.

On the Wish List

What would I like to do that I haven’t done yet? Well I still haven’t driven a snow plow or gone out with the airfield team during a snow event. I’d really love to go up in the bucket of a deice rig just once. Of course driving a stairs truck remains a goal. And I still really, really want to ride around on the baggage belt. However, I’ve recently added a new item to my wish list: making an airport-wide page. If you ever find yourself wandering through the terminal and you hear someone paging Captain Oveur to the white courtesy phone… let’s just say I’ll deny all knowledge.

I Like Big Planes (and I Cannot Lie)!

May 11, 2018 / niffer90 / 8 Comments

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When I was a teen I went on a beach vacation with a friend’s family. The drive took us past Dover Air Force Base. As we approached the base I was mesmerized by a line of impossibly-huge airplanes that seemed to hang suspended in mid-air, completely defying the laws of physics. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! My friend’s father told me that they were C-5s and I was immediately smitten with them. Thus began my love affair with really big planes.

Here I am many years later, working for an airport authority that not only runs a passenger airport where my office is, but also a nearby cargo airport where the big planes go. Every so often I get a chance to visit the cargo airport, which is always exciting because I never know what I might get to see. One such opportunity arose recently when we had a department outing to visit our new FBO.

Boeing 747-8: Evading me since 2013

The Boeing 747-8 is a frequent visitor to the cargo airport and is one of my favorite airplanes. I hoped that during this visit I would finally get a chance to see one up close. Unfortunately the 747 that was supposed to be there had been delayed. Darn! The FBO Manager said he’d be happy to take us out to see the Antonov instead. He said a bunch of other things after that, but I didn’t hear a word because OMG THERE’S AN ANTONOV! WE’RE GOING TO SEE AN ANTONOV!!!! AN ANTO-FREAKING-NOV!

Before visiting the plane we took a tour of the newly-renovated FBO facilities. I have only visited a couple of FBOs over the years so I’m definitely not an expert, however I have to say that our new FBO is pretty darn nice. It is spacious, with plenty of places to sit and work, or kick-back and relax. There is a separate lounge for flight crews, off of which is a sleeping room with lay-flat recliners, and a couple of bathrooms complete with showers. Plus there are kitchens everywhere. I swear I saw at least three on the main floor and then another one upstairs by the offices. Oh – and did I mention there’s a fireplace? AND a cookie oven! Yes, you read that correctly – an oven just for baking cookies. I’d never heard of such a thing, but now I’m convinced I can’t live without one.

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After the tour we headed out to the ramp and boarded a shuttle bus. We didn’t drive far before I could see the Antonov, looming in the distance. While the An 124-100M is very similar in shape to the C-5, the white, blue and yellow livery gives it a very distinctive appearance. At any other airport the plane would have stuck out like a sore thumb. However the cargo airport is big and it doesn’t get much traffic from passenger planes, so the Antonov actually fit in better than I expected. And by “fit in” I mean it dwarfed everything in the vicinity.

Since the plane was parked we were permitted to walk up to it and take a look around. Standing under the wing and gazing up towards the cockpit far above us just reinforced how ridiculously huge this airplane is. Everything seems super-sized, including the landing gear which has something like a million tires. OK, actually I think there are 20 tires on the main gear (10 on each side) plus another four on the nose gear, but 24 tires is still a lot! To put it in perspective, that’s enough tires for four 737s!

Why on earth did someone feel compelled to make a plane this big? So it can haul cargo, of course! And people. But mostly lots and lots of cargo. It has a rear door for loading and unloading. Its nose opens up as well and the plane has the ability to “kneel” (lower the suspension) to make the front ramp easier to use. The Antonov also has an on-board crane that is capable of winching items weighing up to 120 tonnes.

I bet you could fit a bunch of these inside the Antonov…

You might be wondering what cargo this ginormous airplane was delivering to us. Well I’m told that the Antonov is often used to haul jet engines because it is one of the few planes big enough to carry them. However, in this case the plane brought… nothing. And after a week of sitting on the ramp it departed with… nothing. That’s right – the Antonov flew in and out with no cargo whatsoever! The sole purpose for this particular visit was simply to park. It is apparently cheaper to park it here than to fly it home to Russia between assignments.

I wish I had been around to see it take off – that must have been quite a sight! The ramp agents claim it is so loud that it shakes the buildings. Hopefully it will come back again soon. Or perhaps the An-225 Mriya (which is even bigger and has SIX engines) will stop in for another visit. If it ever does, the FBO front desk has my number on speed dial along with strict instructions to fire up the cookie oven and call me right away.