This week, for some reason, as I was going through Part Two of the latest chapter to my book sequel, I stopped and really thought about my years in Alaska. I moved there in 1981 to take a flying job, my first experience with passenger jets, and didn’t move out of Alaska until five years after that flying job had terminated due to the airline going out of business. That was Wien Air Alaska, which operated B-727’s, B-737’s and a couple of DC-8’s during my time there as a pilot. It started with Noel Wien, a bush pilot, in 1927 and grew into Alaska’s premier airline. At the time of its demise, it was the oldest airline in the world, as far as I know. What a blow that was to the people of Alaska and to me as well in a very personal way. Many members of the Wien family flew for the airline, and I’m still in contact with a few of them from time to time, including Merrill Wien (one of Noel’s sons) and his son Kurt, who now flies for American. Flying with Captain Merrill Wien was one of the highlights of my career at Wien Air Alaska. He was (and is) a gentleman, as smooth a pilot as I’ve ever known, and a part of aviation history. His son, Kurt, and his wife had a baby girl awhile back and they named her “Meryl.” The name is of course for Kurt’s father, Merrill, but I was told the spelling was with my own name in mind.

Although I was initially based in Denver with United, and later in San Francisco, I could just not bear to part with this wild, wonderful and beautiful state when I was first hired by United. So I commuted, as so many pilots and flight attendants do, for more than five years after I was hired.

A few years after I started to fly for United, I was in Anchorage on some days off. I was in the living room of a friend’s home and standing at a large picture window. Suddenly, I saw a large cloud of gray/black smoke materialize in the distance. It looked like a nuclear bomb had been dropped. I turned on the news and discovered it was Mount Redoubt, about 150 miles from Anchorage. Unbeknownst to me until then, Mount Redoubt was a volcano and it was erupting.

I had flown right by this volcano for months during times of furlough (there were many) at Wien. I had been hired as the Chief Pilot for the Nondalton Indian Tribe and their new air taxi service (about which I wrote a little in my first book, The World At My Feet). In fact, I passed Mount Redoubt almost daily on my flights back and forth to Anchorage. Often there was a cloud near the top, but there are often little clouds around mountains and I thought nothing of it. That was no cloud but rather steam from an angry, boiling interior I never suspected looking at its serene, snow-capped exterior.

As I watched the cloud of volcanic ash grow and grow and start to spread, I didn’t think about anything but the fact that I had never seen a volcano erupt before, and had never thought I would (other than one on the Big Island of Hawaii). However, as the cloud quickly blew toward Anchorage, I knew I had a problem. Flights into and out of Anchorage were quickly being cancelled and it was already too late to get out. I was stuck behind this wall of volcanic ash for the next week or so. I called United and surprisingly, their attitude was that it wasn’t my fault a volcano had erupted. They were very laid back about it and told me to just let them know whenever I made it back.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines also knew it had a problem. One of their B-747’s, inbound to Anchorage, had experienced engine failure in all four of its engines in the volcanic ash cloud. Fortunately, just above 13,000 feet, the crew successfully restarted all the engines, but not before $80 Million of damage had been done to the plane. I was one of several pilots invited to Anchorage International Airport afterward to view the damage and learn from it. The whole airplane looked like it had been sandblasted, which basically it was. What a terrifying freefall for all on board in mountainous territory. You can read more about it here: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs030-97 . Volcanic ash avoidance by aircraft has been vastly improved since this and other incidents.

Living in Alaska was always interesting, to say the least. I’ll write a little more about it in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you’ll find Part Two of Keep Your Pants On, Please! here along with all previous installments Table Of Contents.

First, a reminder that you may send your aviation questions to me at support@fromthecockpit.com with "Aviation Question" in the subject. Be sure to check out this week's Ask Cap'n Meryl question & answer about: You Dirty "Rat"

This week’s chapter, entitled “Keep Your Pants On, Please!” may be recognized by some who have been reading my blog for a couple of years. It was first published in March, 2005, in response to several inquiries regarding funny incidents that happened during my flying career.

Published in two parts as always, keep in mind the funniest sections are in the next installment. All chapters of my sequel may be found here as they are published:Table Of Contents .

Stories like this really take me back. When I first moved to Alaska, people who had been there for awhile told me people either love it or hate it almost immediately. I had no doubt whatsoever that I would love it, and I did.

I remember first learning about Alaska after the huge 9.2 earthquake there on Good Friday of 1964. I was in elementary school at the time and thought (other than that whole earthquake thing) it sounded like the most wonderful place, and that I would like to live there sometime. I was just sure I’d wind up there at some point.

My wish came true and I did live in Alaska for a period of ten years, moving there in 1981 to fly for Wien Air Alaska, and commuting from San Francisco for another five years after I was hired by United.

During my time there, I flew the B-727 and B-737 for Wien Air Alaska, but was often laid off for stretches of months at a time. During one of those breaks I was hired as Chief Pilot for the Nondalton Indian Tribe, whose Chief, “Jim,” thought it was just “way cool” to have a female pilot in charge. I thought it was pretty cool, too, and wrote a little about it in my first book (Chapter 25 – “Wing Walker”).

Colorado, where I now live, is a lovely state, but Alaska holds a special place in my memory and in my heart both from a career and personal standpoint. It’s where I got “up close and personal” with a moose or two, stood under Northern Lights so brilliant winter nights sometimes turned into day, stood on the north shore of the state in oil camps with nothing but the endless white arctic plain in sight, flew by steaming volcanoes, petted a friendly Beluga whale from a jetty right in Anchorage Harbor, stopped my car on the way home from the airport once to let a hot air balloon bounce right in front of me on the street and become airborne again, and had countless other wondrous experiences.

It’s why I’ve included so much about it in Part Two of “The World At My Feet.”

"The World At My Feet" and "Flights of Whimsy" is now a
permanent offer in our Gift Ideas area at
fromthecockpit.com. Just $25 for both books,
shipped anywhere in the world for free for a
savings of $12.85.
Click here: Gift Ideas

And with that,
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed,

Cap'n Meryl

First, a reminder that you may send your aviation questions to me at support@fromthecockpit.com with "Aviation Question" in the subject. Be sure to check out this week's Ask Cap'n Meryl question & answer about: What's In A Name?

This has been a pretty slow couple of weeks. What I’ve discovered is, the more I’m earth-bound, the more I’m feeling comfortable with it. I miss flying for a living but am enjoying life here on the rolling prairie outside Denver. Our deep snow has retreated leaving damp earth and gushing rivers in its stead under blue skies and temperatures of over 70 degrees.

Had I still been commuting to Chicago to fly trips this winter, I don’t know how I would have managed it and frequently wonder how other pilots were able to get to work. We were snowed in so many times I lost count. I could not have even backed the car out of the driveway, let alone drive the 50 miles to the airport.

Cap’n Al and I had the opportunity to meet with one of United’s dispatchers (flight planners) when she passed through Denver last week. I had previously spoken with her on the phone from Tokyo (Narita) when she was working Pacific flights and I was flying them. I met only a few dispatchers face-to-face while a pilot and it was a nice opportunity to put a face to the name.
Sporadic meetings such as this, along with emails to and from other pilots, are pretty much my only remaining contact with airline life. Even after more than a year since my last trip, it’s hard to believe it’s been more than just a few months since I last flew across any oceans or countries.

As I said, though, I’m not uncomfortable being home for now with Al and all our various critters. When I first had a cat, I seriously considered taking him with me on my flights. That was when I lived in Alaska, in the early 1980’s. Obviously, taking a cat along was out the question, but I missed him terribly and never did understand how parents could manage being away from their children so much.

These days, the thought of leaving Al, the Puffer (our dog, Coco-Puff), the Ferret Brothers (Petey and Charlie), Miss Bunny Bunée and Houdini (our Chattering Lorrie) is just too painful to even consider. New readers can meet all of them and see some of our views along with some gorgeous sunsets from our rural Colorado home here in our At Home Album.

The latest installment of “The World At My Feet” sequel, Chapter Three, Part II,” may be found here: Table Of Contents

Sorry about the short time notice, but Lufthansa is having a sweepstakes to win a VIP tour of the A-380 when it makes its U.S. debut on the 19th. The deadline is tomorrow to enter, and you must answer some technical questions about Lufthansa’s Airbus 380 fleet. You must enter by midnight on March 12th.

Lufthansa Sweepstakes

First, a reminder that you may send your aviation questions to me at support@fromthecockpit.com with "Aviation Question" in the subject. Be sure to check out this week's Ask Cap'n Meryl question & answer about Lights, Please!

In my last Blog entry, entitled A New Direction, I wrote that my life has taken a new path which is very different from my life's work as a pilot. The time has come to discuss it with my readers. Many of you have written wondering if and when I might resume flying for another company.

I wrote once before that I was starting to trade foreign currencies in the Forex (FOReign EXchange) with some success. A spinning medallion was added to the upper right-hand corner of the Home Page at www.fromthecockpit.com. That link will take you to a site, www.forexeztrading.com, which has to do with trading the Forex using a simple, mechanical method requiring no analysis, chart interpretation, etc. There is a small learning curve to learn to use some software, but very little knowledge of the Forex is required.

There is also a mini-course which explains the philosophy behind the method. The course is also available in a free Ebook which I can send upon request. Write to admin@forexeztrading.com and put Free Ebook in the subject line.

Since that icon was posted, I have been trading about a dozen different accounts, some for myself and my business entities along with other accounts for some relatives and friends. Every single account has shown a profit, some of them mind-boggling. Of my four main accounts, two have more than tripled and two have more than quadrupled since mid-November.

In the first two months I used this software, my accounts rose about 60% or so.

However, about two months ago, I discovered an additional couple of twists and suddenly my profits were through the roof, resulting in profits even I did not imagine.

Through my broker and word of mouth, my track record started getting noticed, and I began to receive requests to trade others' portfolios for them. Some of those requests were for portfolios worth potentially tens of millions of dollars from commercial money managers.

To that end, the Captains Fund was born. Please do not consider this a solicitation in any way. It is not and I do not have any need or desire to seek additional funds to trade. However, if you do have an interest, you'll find the pertinent information at http://www.captainsfund.com . Regardless of my successful track record, trading foreign currencies is considered speculatively and risky, in spite of the fact I've learned how to minimize the risk.

The name of this new endeavor came about, not only because I'm a retired airline captain, but because my three partners happen to be retired or current airline pilots as well. My three partners are my husband, Al The Web Guy (retired 747-400 captain), a former Eastern and Cathay Pacific 747-400 captain, and a current 747-400 Co-Commander for Cathay Pacific, currently based in Hong Kong.

Whereas the simplified do-it-yourself method is highly effective and takes literally only a few minutes a week to manage once set up, I've added my personal touches and in doing so created a full-time occupation. With so much at stake, I can't justify running off for a week or two each month to go flying in such early stages of this new venture. I may reconsider my potential offer to ferry airliners in the future, however, especially since a software company is attempting to automate my trading system for me. Should they be successful, I will still have the option to resume flying. Right now, it doesn't seem terribly likely, but I haven't ruled it out, either.

Had the overseas airlines I applied to not rejected the notion of a foreign female airline captain, or had the airliner ferry job offer come sooner, then I might once again be flying around the planet. For now, however, I find great satisfaction in helping others grow their portfolios and intend to start a charitable application in the very near future. Since I am able to generate more in a month or less than I did as an airline captain in an entire year, financially my needs have been met. This was of great concern after both Al and I lost nearly all of our pensions after United declared bankruptcy and they were handed over to the government.

I've discovered a new passion and am thoroughly enjoying myself, even more so knowing I can make a difference in people's lives.

With this fortunate turn of events and my life on a new course, my sequel may now have an ending, as yet unwritten, but for now you can find Part One of Chapter Three here: Table Of Contents

An American Airlines captain declares a fuel emergency, and doesn’t receive the priority that he needs.

ABC News Story.

The first unforgivable part is that Air Traffic Control wouldn’t give the captain what he asked. The second unforgivable part is the captain not reasserting what he needed to do. Perhaps the captain should have “told” instead of asking.

Listener Martin is now a podcaster! Check out his podcast at:
The Private Pilot

First, a reminder that you may send your aviation questions to me at support@fromthecockpit.com with "Aviation Question" in the subject. Be sure to check out this week's Ask Cap'n Meryl question & answer about about Icing Conditions.

I've alluded once or twice to a possible flying position starting around March of this year. At this time, however, my life has taken a new and exciting direction which I will tell you more about in the next Update. It's exciting in an utterly different way from flying, yet I've discovered a new passion and talent for something I've long suspected but never had the time or tools to develop.

Things have happened very quickly even I'm surprised and I think you will be too when I tell you about it. You may even want to participate in my new venture and I'll give you all the facts so you can make an intelligent decision. Although it means passing up the opportunity to take up a flying career again right now, it does not rule it out in the future. Time will tell.

So for now, hopefully you are intrigued and rest assured I'll fill you in completely in about two weeks. In the meantime, you can check out Part Two of Chapter Two of my book sequel, and catch up on any parts you may have missed here: Table Of Contents

First, a reminder that you may send your aviation questions to me at support@fromthecockpit.com with "Aviation Question" in the subject. Be sure to check out this week's Ask Cap'n Meryl question & answer about about "Crabby Pilots”

Now, I may have exaggerated just a tad with the title, but that's just me. When a friend of mine invited me snowmobiling near his Breckenridge home I couldn't resist. I'd been snowmobiling just once before, for about ten minutes, sitting behind someone who believed in keeping his speed moderate--maybe about 20-30 mph. That was in Alaska about 25 years ago or so.

My friend assured me this would be a docile, scenic ride. There would be two others with us, a couple from Florida. That sounded like fun and with all the snow we've had I knew it would be beautiful, so I accepted the invitation.

Al The Web Guy made the trip to the mountains with us but has snowmobiled many times before and didn't want to leave our dog Coco-Puff, so they just wandered around the mountains a little while we zoomed off into the wilderness. And when I say "zoomed," I mean ZOOMED.

It was a weekday and we saw very few other snowmobilers. My host had a trailer full of snowmobiles, helmets, gloves, clothes and everything else you can imagine.

What I didn't know was he apparently has the need for speed and an apparent death-wish. I was in the #2 position behind him with the wife and husband in that order after me. He took off like a shot and right away I had trouble keeping up. Within the first 20 minutes I was barreling along so fast it was hard for me to take my eyes off the trail and look at my speedometer, but I managed to do so. 65mph! What was my host thinking and what was I thinking trying to keep up? I later discovered he rides at speeds up to 120 mph, so from his perspective I guess we were just poking along.

I was afraid I'd lose him, though, as the trails branched off and he was not always in sight, and tried valiantly to keep up. At one point the trail became extremely steep and I went out of control and right over the side of the mountain. The snow was very deep off the trail and I stopped fairly quickly, but it took about half an hour to dig me out. I had tried to brake but my gloves were just big enough to keep my grip from being firm enough. I later pulled them up high on my wrist for better control, which helped a little.

One by one, we each had our moments, catching someone else's ski and usually throwing both riders off but each time, our host helped us up, then took off again leaving us far behind.

Surprisingly, out in the middle of what seemed like nowhere, we came upon a lodge where our host sprang for hot chocolate and hot dogs. I declined the hot dog as Al and I had stopped on the way up for a big breakfast. I couldn't resist looking at the prices, though. Six dollars for a hot dog! Frankly (Get it? Frank-ly?) that's just too much for a hot dog. Or maybe the hot dog was really just $1 and the fries 50 cents apiece. Hard to say.

So we refreshed ourselves, pleaded again with our host to slow down, which he didn't, and the three of us proceeded to be flung all over the mountain some more. I had to be pulled out over and over again. My last incident was the worst when I went over a steep cliff and wound up buried, along with my trusty steed in deep snow.

Our host and the other gentleman with us were successful in digging me out along with the snowmobile, but the incident held us up and our two hour ride turned into a six hour ride. Al was on the verge of calling Search & Rescue, which wasn't a bad idea by that time.

However, we emerged safe and sound if a little banged up. Our host invited me snowmobiling again this week for another scenic tour but I politely declined. I'm still healing from the last round and not yet quite ready to be splattered all over the Rocky Mountains again.

To see some photos taken during the ride, the following link will take you to the Last Uploads in our Colorado Wildlife album: Snowmobiling

Part One of Chapter Two of my sequel to The World At My Feet is now available for viewing. You'll find it here in the Table of Contents . Table Of Contents

Just a note first, that I've posted a wonderful photo of Margaret Wade, wife of one of my readers Walter Wade, in my Cap'n Meryl & Friends Album. I have a special fondness for figure skating myself and you can tell by her smile and her very stance what she thinks of it: Margaret Wade

I've lived in Colorado for 18 years now (how could it possibly have been this long?) and there has never been this much snow. Al The Web Guy was born in Golden, Colorado, has lived here all his life and even he can't remember a snowier winter. We keep getting snowed in over and over and over, and when the snow stops, the wind picks up and renders us snowbound once again due to the newly-formed drifts, many of which are taller than I am.

With the white sky and the white snowscape, and with even the small amount of vegetation poking through now encased in ice, it looks quite like a different planet at the moment with no visible horizon at all.

Temperatures here are now sub-zero and forecast to stay that way for the next several days. I lived in Alaska for ten years and I don't remember weather any more wintry than we're having right here, and in fact it's colder right now here in Colorado than it is in Fairbanks, Alaska, known for it's sub-zero temperatures.

Except for the fact that this extreme cold and snow creates a true hardship for people without the means to house themselves and keep warm, and the fact that livestock and other animals are stranded without enough food, it actually has little effect on us. We have a warm house and everything we need right here, and there is scarcely a minute of the day I don't look around and truly appreciate how fortunate we are.

Last week I published the first half of Chapter One of the sequel to "The World At My Feet." You'll find a live link now to the second half of that chapter here: Table of Contents .

Please note Al The Web Guy has created a free photo gallery site where you'll be able to post your own photos in your own private gallery. Your family and friends will be able to view all your photos. You can register and upload your photos at Your Photo gallery

"The World At My Feet" and "Flights of Whimsy" is now a
permanent offer in our Gift Ideas area at
fromthecockpit.com. Just $25 for both books,
shipped anywhere in the world for free for a
savings of $12.85.
Click here: Gift Ideas

And with that,
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed,

Cap'n Meryl