Monday, February 14, 2005
Update #2 — Half The Fun Is Getting There
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P-MAN VII Update #2
13 February 2005
The BentProp Project
Hello Everyone!
Hello from Portland, Oregon! My first day’s journey went fine. AND you are buying all the seats I told you to in previous years. That’s a great thing for my airline. I whole heartedly endorse your buying sprees of the past and for the future. However, full airplanes are not so good for employees who want to travel.
For those who are not in the airline industry, a little review is necessary. Airline employees have a great benefit when they want to travel: reduced rate ticket prices. However, it’s for standby travel. Hence the phrase, ‘time to spare, go by air’. Yesterday, a Saturday, all the flights from DTW to MSP were full. Now I could actually buy a ticket and get a reserved seat like anyone else. But what’s the point of having a benefit if you don’t try to use it. (Let me interpret this last sentence for you. I’m too frugal to buy a real ticket as long as I can be a little flexible with my itinerary.) Being a pilot I can also ride the jumpseat in the cockpit, so I did to MSP.
My next leg, MSP-PDX, I got the last seat in coach. I got to PDX as planned at about 1300 PDT. The plan was for me to pal around with my sister Amy and her boyfriend Lance during the day, have dinner with them and then get an early start on the NWA Honolulu flight the next day. I would meet up with Pat Scannon, the founder; the big cheese; El Jefe; Boss; SMF#1 of The BentProp Project, in HNL and fly the rest of the way with him. From HNL, we would then get on Continental and fly to Guam (GUM) and on to Koror, Palau (ROR), arriving on the 14th. Two more members of the team would arrive a day later on the 15th and the last member of this year’s team would arrive a week later.
When I left DTW yesterday morning, there were plenty of seats on the NWA flight to HNL and 37 seats on the Continental flight to GUM. Plenty of room for me. On a whim, I checked with a Continental representative when I got to PDX. Things changed dramatically. There were only 5 available seats on the HNL-GUM flight and 60 Continental employees trying to use them. I’m doomed!
IF I had known this before I left DTW, I could have jump seated to Japan directly, gotten myself down to GUM and met Pat there. But once I left DTW, there was no way to keep going to Japan from the West Coast and stay on schedule.
To make a long story shorter, I rerouted myself via Japan (NRT) on us. Good news: seats available. Then on Continental to GUM and they said they have a few seats left. And if that works, I’ll get to GUM at 0115 in the 15th. A day later than originally planned. But I’ll get there. And I’ll meet up with the other members of the team for the final leg of the journey. If I can’t get on Continental, then NWA has a flight the morning of the 15th that will work.
And here is the plan for day 1 in Palau on the 15th . The day that I will now miss. Pat will show a U.S. Navy survey team the site of the B-24 we found last year. There may be MIAs associated with that site. JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) must be thinking of mounting a recovery mission for later in the year. Then Pat will go to Sam’s Tours to give a public presentation about Palau and World War Two: the battles that were fought there; the significance of what The BentProp Project does and field any questions that might arise. Over the past few years, the presentations have been well attended.
We also seem to get some leads from the audience. Last year, one such lead led us to a FM2 Wildcat and the realization that a Task Force that we did not know about participated in the invasion of the islands. Maybe we’ll get some more, good intel this year.
On day two, we have been invited to attend the monthly meeting of the Chiefs of Palau. Although Palau has a government system based on the U.S. system of representation, there is also a vibrant tribal system. Pat will be putting on his presentation at the request of the Chiefs. This IS a big deal. I want to be there for that.
We’ll probably take care of logistics that day: buy groceries, a coffee maker, set up and make courtesy calls and whatever else we can get done without going out into the field.
Then on day three, it will be time to get our feet wet, our pants dirty and our skin full of deet bug spray.
More later and I’ll let you know if I ever get there.
February 15th in Guam
I got to NRT just fine. But when I went to the Continental transit ticket desk, the same desk that I left Rebecca at last year for 2.5 hours without a ticket, passport or seeing a way out of Japan, they said all seats were taken on the rest of the flights to GUM. Although they said go to the hotel, and it was only 1500 local time, and I hadn’t slept in 20 hours, and the bed at our layover hotel in NRT was calling my name, and I was hungry, thirsty and an old Navy buddy actually flew me from PDX to NRT and wanted to get together, being the good standby passenger that I am, I went to the gate anyway.
They told me again that the flight was full. At two minutes to door closing time they were frantically making announcements for some missing passengers. There’s hope! But then a dozen happy travelers showed up and got on. No seats left. But, there’s one more flight. 4 hours from now. That bed at the hotel was screaming my name.
3.5 hours later, they were telling me it was full. 4 hours later, they handed me a boarding pass for a wide seat. Patience pays. Or maybe it was the cinnamon Altoids I kept feeding the gate agents. Or my enchanting non-rev smile. In any case, at 0115 in the morning, I was in GUM heading to the hotel.
0200 fell into bed. Fell fast asleep expecting to be up at 0500 due to my body clock not having adjusted to the new time zone. No. At 0300 the fire alarm went off. Back to sleep when that was done and actually slept in to a reasonable time. Had breakfast, a massage, doing a little typing to you and will head to the pool. My flight doesn’t leave until 1940 tonight so I might as well make the most of this arduous duty.
I should be on tonight’s flight to ROR with some other team members. Then, let the games begin. So until I get to Palau, thanks for reading this and I’ll let you know what we find when we find it.
And so far, I haven’t been kicked off any islands. But there is a Chief’s meeting tomorrow.
And DOB? Here’s your two day notice that we’re going to find something.
Blue SKies, Flip
P-MAN VII Update #2
13 February 2005
The BentProp Project
Hello Everyone!
Hello from Portland, Oregon! My first day’s journey went fine. AND you are buying all the seats I told you to in previous years. That’s a great thing for my airline. I whole heartedly endorse your buying sprees of the past and for the future. However, full airplanes are not so good for employees who want to travel.
For those who are not in the airline industry, a little review is necessary. Airline employees have a great benefit when they want to travel: reduced rate ticket prices. However, it’s for standby travel. Hence the phrase, ‘time to spare, go by air’. Yesterday, a Saturday, all the flights from DTW to MSP were full. Now I could actually buy a ticket and get a reserved seat like anyone else. But what’s the point of having a benefit if you don’t try to use it. (Let me interpret this last sentence for you. I’m too frugal to buy a real ticket as long as I can be a little flexible with my itinerary.) Being a pilot I can also ride the jumpseat in the cockpit, so I did to MSP.
My next leg, MSP-PDX, I got the last seat in coach. I got to PDX as planned at about 1300 PDT. The plan was for me to pal around with my sister Amy and her boyfriend Lance during the day, have dinner with them and then get an early start on the NWA Honolulu flight the next day. I would meet up with Pat Scannon, the founder; the big cheese; El Jefe; Boss; SMF#1 of The BentProp Project, in HNL and fly the rest of the way with him. From HNL, we would then get on Continental and fly to Guam (GUM) and on to Koror, Palau (ROR), arriving on the 14th. Two more members of the team would arrive a day later on the 15th and the last member of this year’s team would arrive a week later.
When I left DTW yesterday morning, there were plenty of seats on the NWA flight to HNL and 37 seats on the Continental flight to GUM. Plenty of room for me. On a whim, I checked with a Continental representative when I got to PDX. Things changed dramatically. There were only 5 available seats on the HNL-GUM flight and 60 Continental employees trying to use them. I’m doomed!
IF I had known this before I left DTW, I could have jump seated to Japan directly, gotten myself down to GUM and met Pat there. But once I left DTW, there was no way to keep going to Japan from the West Coast and stay on schedule.
To make a long story shorter, I rerouted myself via Japan (NRT) on us. Good news: seats available. Then on Continental to GUM and they said they have a few seats left. And if that works, I’ll get to GUM at 0115 in the 15th. A day later than originally planned. But I’ll get there. And I’ll meet up with the other members of the team for the final leg of the journey. If I can’t get on Continental, then NWA has a flight the morning of the 15th that will work.
And here is the plan for day 1 in Palau on the 15th . The day that I will now miss. Pat will show a U.S. Navy survey team the site of the B-24 we found last year. There may be MIAs associated with that site. JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) must be thinking of mounting a recovery mission for later in the year. Then Pat will go to Sam’s Tours to give a public presentation about Palau and World War Two: the battles that were fought there; the significance of what The BentProp Project does and field any questions that might arise. Over the past few years, the presentations have been well attended.
We also seem to get some leads from the audience. Last year, one such lead led us to a FM2 Wildcat and the realization that a Task Force that we did not know about participated in the invasion of the islands. Maybe we’ll get some more, good intel this year.
On day two, we have been invited to attend the monthly meeting of the Chiefs of Palau. Although Palau has a government system based on the U.S. system of representation, there is also a vibrant tribal system. Pat will be putting on his presentation at the request of the Chiefs. This IS a big deal. I want to be there for that.
We’ll probably take care of logistics that day: buy groceries, a coffee maker, set up and make courtesy calls and whatever else we can get done without going out into the field.
Then on day three, it will be time to get our feet wet, our pants dirty and our skin full of deet bug spray.
More later and I’ll let you know if I ever get there.
February 15th in Guam
I got to NRT just fine. But when I went to the Continental transit ticket desk, the same desk that I left Rebecca at last year for 2.5 hours without a ticket, passport or seeing a way out of Japan, they said all seats were taken on the rest of the flights to GUM. Although they said go to the hotel, and it was only 1500 local time, and I hadn’t slept in 20 hours, and the bed at our layover hotel in NRT was calling my name, and I was hungry, thirsty and an old Navy buddy actually flew me from PDX to NRT and wanted to get together, being the good standby passenger that I am, I went to the gate anyway.
They told me again that the flight was full. At two minutes to door closing time they were frantically making announcements for some missing passengers. There’s hope! But then a dozen happy travelers showed up and got on. No seats left. But, there’s one more flight. 4 hours from now. That bed at the hotel was screaming my name.
3.5 hours later, they were telling me it was full. 4 hours later, they handed me a boarding pass for a wide seat. Patience pays. Or maybe it was the cinnamon Altoids I kept feeding the gate agents. Or my enchanting non-rev smile. In any case, at 0115 in the morning, I was in GUM heading to the hotel.
0200 fell into bed. Fell fast asleep expecting to be up at 0500 due to my body clock not having adjusted to the new time zone. No. At 0300 the fire alarm went off. Back to sleep when that was done and actually slept in to a reasonable time. Had breakfast, a massage, doing a little typing to you and will head to the pool. My flight doesn’t leave until 1940 tonight so I might as well make the most of this arduous duty.
I should be on tonight’s flight to ROR with some other team members. Then, let the games begin. So until I get to Palau, thanks for reading this and I’ll let you know what we find when we find it.
And so far, I haven’t been kicked off any islands. But there is a Chief’s meeting tomorrow.
And DOB? Here’s your two day notice that we’re going to find something.
Blue SKies, Flip
