Allow me to reintroduce myself; hi! I’m Colleen, and I fly freight out of Albuquerque!
A few of y’all have noticed that I’m no longer plane spotting at Scottsdale. I followed after my brother (
@lostisreed
) and joined the freight world, I officially passed my 135 check ride last
Saw this on IG & had to share: The first female Concord pilot, Barbara Harmer, sitting down with the first female RAF combat pilot, Jo Salter, both in front of their respective jets. Taken 1995, the year I was born.
Awesome.
Gulfstream repo’d by the Mexican government from the cartel, piloted by Captain Hugo Dlamora (IG: capidlamora) off the grass strip where the cartel abandoned it.
Wait till the end where you can see the POV from the flight deck. 😍
So last night it finally happened! I spotted a plane with no tail number. I know y’all are accustomed to me blurring it out always, but this is a real authentic catch, no N number!
Wonder if these friends are in town to review that F-35 crash that happened last week at the
A bucket list airport of mine: St Barts. A challenge not for the faint of heart. I saw this pilot guide her down and had to share. Do you think you could handle being a passenger on this approach?
PIC: Superr_Flyy (IG) PC: Pilotstgo (IG).
While taxiing back to parking after unloading the freight this evening, I saw a plane on approach ripping it in, and I thought, “man, I bet there’s no PAX on there.” I assumed it to be military. But once I parked and chocked my plane… I saw it was the 10 Tanker!
I wish I
The golden era of commercial aviation: a New York Airways Sikorsky helicopter commuting Pan Am PAX from JFK to the city.
I dug a little deeper into New York Airways after seeing this on IG. A sad way to close the chapter.
Unrestricted takeoff from our F/A-18 friend yesterday 😍 you can hear me and PJ giggling like school kids at the very end. Feeling that power as she shot past us was UNREAL.
When you hit 750 hours TT but you don’t fly with anyone so you can’t do one of those cute *holding iPad with 750 written on it at cruise* pics, so have to take a selfie on the ground to commemorate! 750 TT with 207 hours in the Van! Here’s to the next 750 hours in the turbine
Since my last post blew up, I figured I would introduce myself to the new crew! 👋🏻
Hi! I’m Colleen. A CFI instructing in Arizona. My brother encouraged me to create this as a way to share my adventures and growth in aviation. Thanks for coming along on my journey!
Winter 1974. Fairbanks, Alaska. The Concord came for cold weather operations tests on their 11,800’ runway and was paid a visit by some sledding dogs. From what I can tell, the credits of this photo are linked to an airline called Wien Air Alaska.
Anyone know anything more?
As the sun sets on another start to my week, I feel blessed. This weekend was a little tough, three (almost four) months into this job, I’m really missing my family and friends back in Arizona. I keep wondering, “what lessons do I have to learn during my time here?”
Maybe it’s
For those who guessed Sky Harbor, you are correct! This weekend I had my first solo route to KPHX! It felt a little weird sitting between multiple 737s in my Caravan waiting for departure, but at the same time, super rad.
It was a great experience to fly into where I’ve
Blackhawk Medic transitioning from air to ground taxiing last night while I was conducting my post flight at the Sunport. Let me tell you, I threw down my chocks, tie downs, and pitot cover, so fast when I saw this girl comin’ round the bend, it was probably quite the hilarious
Just a girl and her caravan where it all began, Deming, NM! Y’all may not know but I learned about my new job by meeting one of the pilots while on a XC with my student. We stopped for fuel, and I asked the FBO manager what that multi engine plane with the blacked out windows
I heard a “thump thump thump” announcing this Osprey’s arrival from inside the FBO, ran out to sit under the Van to watch this girl rip a few touch and go’s. She has such a cool build, look how beautiful she is when she goes past & turns with the clouds. 😍
Freight in the plane vs in the truck.
2300 lbs is a light load for her, but a heavy load for me since I climb up and yoink all the boxes out. 💪🏻
This UPS driver is one of my favorites, not only does she greet me with a smile and appreciative words each time we load, but she is
Today, my destination airport had a closed runway that was not NOTAM’d or announced on AWOS, but this King Air pilot let me know on my initial call 20 miles from the IAF for the VFR practice approach I was going to shoot. Thank you, King Air pilot! 🫡
I walked into the FBO after
National Aviation Day is best celebrated by me with my first ever flying picture! This was on my discovery flight 2 years ago. I caught the bug that day and my life hasn’t been the same since. I couldn’t stop smiling. Notice two hands on the yolk 😂
Caught the Coulson C-130 Hercules on her morning walk. Those props are mesmerizing, are they counter rotating? I think she’s based here, but hard to tell because there’s many firefighting aircraft here for all the NM wildfires.
You don’t realize what goes into getting your packages from point a to b until you start working in freight. Rain or shine, these guys are out here moving everything from live fish and drilling equipment to your Amazon Prime packages on timetables that I can’t begin to fathom.
Rate this takeoff roll. Vista Jet showing off the Bombardier Global’s short roll, her rotation began around 2500’ and she was wheels up just shy of 3500’. I give it a 10/10!
✨She’s an icon, she’s a legend. She is the moment ✨ Next on my list of aircraft to fly, King Air! I’m not picky, but I’d take this gorgeous girl any day of the week.
Can you guess her model?
A lurking trijet Falcon… turns out, her captain is a female! And! Her owner is a certainly country music star… can’t tell you who tho.😇
The captain and I shared some words on approach this evening, so I stopped by and said hi when we landed. Let me tell you, I might have
Eyes on the prize, baby. Eyes on the prize! Every morning I feel like I’m staring into the future, and that’s a blessing I don’t think many people get.
Our special visitor today throwing up a 🤙🏻 for his audience. Lots of people were on the ramp watching him and his Navy buddies line up for departure. ABP!
FedEx, UPS, and the Van all on the freight ramp. The difference between us and the big dogs is we are heading to bed. The big dogs are changing crews and heading back out. Safe skies to the night crew!
You really can’t beat the view from the tower, especially for a plane nerd like me. Look at all those planes waiting for departure. You can even see Pinnacle Peak on the departure run!It’s like watching a symphony. 😍
Astro 9 Heavy and friends take the Endeavor shuttle for a tour of SoCal back in 2012. I remember reading about this, but I’ve actually never seen the full clip.
I saw it on IG (per usual), sent it to my USAF buddy who was convinced this was a MSFS re-enactment. Obviously, it
This is my favorite jet to see on the ramp, and it’s for a good reason.
I sort of fell into aviation. Unlike most, I don’t have anyone in my life that was a pilot. The closest tie I had to aviation was my grandma, Anita, who was a flight attendant at American before I was born.
US Army came for a visit today in their King Air! Wonder what brought them here, maybe some crew resource management training? It was a full crew on board.
Arrivals to the freight ramp are starting to turn towards before the sun rises. I’m enjoying the gentle progression of the year, soon I’ll be taking off the same time the sun is coming up.
Here I just shutdown the engine while parked, parking brake set (plus still being on the
My brother (
@lostisreed
) said I’m a lumper. Thankfully I don’t have to play Tetris to pack the plane, but let me tell you, unloading 1800lbs of freight today was a workout. I beat the truck here so I got started clearing out the pods. It’s crazy how much you can put into those
Freight bird parking, thanks FedEx!
I took my first ever nap in a pilot lounge today. After I chowed down on tacos from this local joint called El Charro, 10/10 recommend, sleep was calling me. Thankfully CNM knew exactly what they were doing when they cranked down the AC to
Everyone had a hard time reading this tail number on frequency yesterday, “November Niner Niner November November”. I remember thinking, “there’s no way that’s his tail.” And sure enough, it was. There’s gotta be some sort of joke behind that decision. We all know I blur N # but
Can anyone guess where I was all week? It’s honestly one of my favorite layovers; quiet terminal, small little town with a few good restaurants, and really nice people.
Good morning from the freight ramp! I love when I can get up close with the big UPS freighters. This was a cool moment, seeing their 757 taxi out right in front of me. You can see all the intricate details that usually are invisible from far away. This girl did a short jump to El
One time I heard KABQ ground call the UPS 757 our “mothership” and it stuck with me. Now that I’ve heard it, I can’t unsee momma and child when I look at these two side by side.
Busy evening on the ramp last night! I was hanging out watching planes while my two students were prepping their crew flight.
I felt like a proud mom when I saw them taxi away for their departure. They’re my first two students, both passed their check rides on the first go, and
The Ruidoso fire sent Roswell IFR yesterday for a few, haze bringing visibility to 2 1/4 sm with 50 knot gusts. Thankfully when I was en route from the first stop, the winds blew the smoke away and I was able to fly a visual, but gusty, approach to land. The fire tankers, air
What’s your opinion on the Eclipse Jets? They looks super cute & sporty, but I’ve heard mixed reviews on how they fly.
Also, please excuse my girly pop music. I couldn’t turn it off in time. 😂
WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilot) and her instructor, ~1944. Did you know Jacqueline Cochran was a WASP?
I never knew about these ladies. They aided in ferrying, instructing, and testing aircraft during WWII, thus alleviating male pilots for combat roles.
What do we think, should I get my helicopter cert next?
I saw this bird with the cowling open, which naturally prompts my curious nature to go inspect. The MX crew was very nice and walked me through parts of the engine. Soon after, the pilot appeared & encouraged me to climb
This King Air sounded a lot more like a Piaggio before I could see her, hence why I said “just a King Air.”
Let the record show, she’s not “just a King Air.” She’s an icon. She’s a legend. She IS the moment. 💫✨
🎶it’s a beautiful morning!🎶 every Tuesday morning (which is almost like my Monday because we do half days on Mondays), everyone always asks, “how are you?” and sometimes, those 0430 wake ups put me in a grumpy mood, but I quickly check myself and remind myself that life is
23 years ago, the world as we knew it changed forever.
Whatever aisle you sit on, we all will one day pass into the next life. Live this one with the love that neighbors showed to one another on that day.
God bless you all and safe skies.
A little bit of a size difference between the heavy FedEx and the caravan! You don’t really get the feeling for how large those jets are until you’re next to one. I wish I could’ve gotten a better video, but homie was high speed taxiing out of the ramp 😂
What better way to close out the week than a double rainbow at the Sunport! Have a safe Labor Day weekend. I hope all of you can enjoy it with your family.
I had to snap a pic of my best park job yet. This spot is uphill and a blind(ish) turn by the building to line up on the centerline. I’m consistently left of the centerline, but as you can see today, I’m getting better 🤓
It really is the little things in life that bring joy.