Today is my first day off probation. I strolled into new hire indoc one year ago today, and my recurrent is scheduled for the end of March.
I feel pretty confident. Of course, I'll study the books that have been sitting for almost a year in a taped up box. I normally hand fly any departure up to FL200, and any visual approach. Haven't even tried to hand fly an IMC approach, however.
Fortunately, the only time I was on reserve was Jan 2008, and I was blocking 95 hours a month through last summer, so as I approach 1000 hours in the beast, I feel very comfortable flying it.
Emergency procedures will need a serious re-memorization, and I can't forget my Excedrin for the sim (gives me a nasty headache).
As I reflect back on the past year, it seems like I've done a lot in a short period of time. I've checked out in all three CRJ's, been to four domiciles (SBA, MKE, FAT, SLC), flown the snow storms to minimums, dodged the granite peaks on visuals to the numerous mountain airports we serve, got the stick shaker and wind shear on the same final approach, greased 'em on and pounded 'em on, got the EGPW twice, had numerous interesting jumpseat rides, got drunk with the FA's at the stripper bars, got wet, got hot, got cold, got hungry, thristy... and sometimes on the same trip.
It's been fun, and still is fun, so I'll keep plodding along. I met my original goal of doing this for one year, and evaluating if I wanted to continue the airline biz. So far, the answer is yes.
