Pilot Wifestyle (2)

Pilot Wife Resources

My hubby’s plane

Some of you may have noticed my badges for Pilot Wives Club on my sidebar, as well as me being the featured wife of the month for January. I wanted to give you a list of some of my other favorite aviation and pilot wife/gf/so websites and groups for those who are looking for a little more support and friends in your situation…or for those who love to stalk and want to know more about the realities of pilot wifestyle. Here are my favorite groups:

Pilot Wives Club
Wives and Girlfriends (or Boyfriends!) of Pilots Facebook Group
Love My Pilot
Jet Girls

As well as a variety of pilot wife/gf/so blogs.Here’s my current blogroll…

http://partnerofapilot.wordpress.com/
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/
http://imapilotswife.blogspot.com/
http://atexaninohio.blogspot.com/
http://katrinabjork.blogspot.com
http://ohthelifeofapilotswife.blogspot.com/
http://marriagewithaltitude.blogspot.com/
http://ramblingpilotwife.blogspot.com/
http://aviationfamilyinak.blogspot.com/
http://apilotswifetraveltips.blogspot.com/
http://barefootstargazer.blogspot.com/
http://global-gal.com/
http://elsja.com/blog/
http://se-impressions.blogspot.com/
http://hornetwife.blogspot.com/
http://diariesofapilotswife.blogspot.com
http://northcarolinanewbeginnings.blogspot.com/
http://littlemommaandcompany.blogspot.com/
http://mandyclaire.blogspot.com/
http://crazydaysofsummer.typepad.com/
http://coconutbelly.blogspot.com
http://regionalgf.blogspot.com/
http://adventuresintheskies.blogspot.com/
http://iambeingbindy.blogspot.com/
http://shelleypotts.com/
http://simpsonsightings.blogspot.com/
http://kassikfamily.blogspot.com/
http://deathofdisguise.blogspot.com/

If I missed you, let me know!

A pilot widow week

This morning Taylor left for Memphis for CAT-II training. He’ll overnight there, and then fly up to Montreal for 4 days of simulator bliss. He will be at the Bombardier Headquarters, and apparently its a pretty nice place to train. Unfortunately, that means we’re going to go 4 days without talking on the phone. I’ve briefly blogged about it before, but Taylor is very anti-surcharge when it comes to our phones. It took two years before he agreed that it was worth the $5/month to add texting to his phone. He knows it would only be $5/month to be able to call from Canada, but since he flies there infrequently, he doesn’t want to sign up for a month, just to cancel. It’s 35 cents per text, so we’ll text if it’s an “emergency.” We’re going to rely on webcams and instant messaging to communicate for the next few days. It means we’ll only get to chat at night, but better than nothing!

Once he’s done in Montreal, he flies back to Atlanta Monday afternoon. He hopes to take care of his SIDA badge and get his parking pass Monday. He’ll fly home to Detroit sometime Tuesday, pack up his car, and “move” to Atlanta Wednesday. His first flight in his new bird is Thursday – Friday. His November schedule should be posted tomorrow, but it will likely be a month of reserve.

It was so nice to have him home for 5 days. It’s going to be a long time till he has that much time off in the same location as me for a long time.

As for the job hunt…about 20 applications in, two “thanks, but no thanks” emails, and no calls.

Lansing

At the junction of the 69 and 96 – this sign was the most exciting thing I found in Lansing

Saturday evening, Taylor called me from DTW. He was waiting around for his last flight of the night to Lansing. This particular flight is pretty ridiculous, only 75ish nautical miles and 23 minutes away. He went into his usual complaint about being “stuck in a lonely hotel room with a comfy bed and nobody to share it.” I realized that the next day was Labor day, and I didn’t have anywhere in particular to be. Rosie and I decided to drive up to Lansing to enjoy the Hampton Inn on the airlines’ bill. We left Canton about 10 minutes before his flight left, drove the 70 minutes to Michigan’s state capital city, and got to the hotel at about the same time as the hotel shuttle. We grabbed dinner at Bennigans, bummed around the hotel room for the evening, and slept on Taylor’s favorite hotel mattress. A decent free breakfast was enjoyed, Rosie and I did some school shopping at the Lansing Mall, and we were back home in time to enjoy an afternoon BBQ at the Medleys.

One of these days, I’d like to fly on his plane with him to somewhere cool. But in the mean time, we have Lansing.

From one pilot family to another…

Last night I was bumming around looking at blogs, and I found out about a couple that were severley burned in a plane crash. Stephanie Nielson, was burned over 80% of her body and her husband, Christian, over 30%. There were just 3 people on board and the pilot was killed in the accident. This couple has 4 children that were not with them and a LONG recovery ahead of them.

Christian had recently completed his private pilot rating. Hearing about this crash took me back to 2005 when Taylor had just completed his PPL. He was so new at flying, and although his instructors frequently commented at his natural skill at flying, a part of me would panic everytime he drove to Salt Lake Municipal Airport #2. My ears would perk up when weather reports were sketchy, or an airplane mechanic failure or crash was mentioned on the news. Even though he’s flying passenger jets now, I know there is always a risk when flying (although Taylor will always pop out the statistic that you’re more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport than you are to be in a plane crash.)

My heart goes out to the families that have been affected by this accident. To hear their story, and see how you can help, www.nierecovery.com

Crazy July Schedule

Taylor left on another 4-day trip today. I feel like I’ve hardly seen him the past month. 4-day trip, then Cali for 3 days, then 4-day trip, then to SLC (together) for 3 days for the funeral, then 4-day trip, and three days off (which I worked 2). Once he gets back from this trip, he’s taking Rosie to Cali for 5 days (She hasn’t been back since December), flying her to SLC to wait a day till I go to SLC for my high school reunion. Taylor will be on another 4-day trip, so he’s missing the reunion. He actually has been getting 14-16 days off per month the last 3 months, but he’s gone almost every weekend. At church today, I was realizing it’s been over a month since we’ve gone together, and he won’t be home for at least the next two Sundays.

It’s a blessing to have the flight bennies. Especially when you get on your first-choice flight. While Taylor and Rosie are in California, I’ve been contemplating taking a quick overnight trip somewhere. I don’t think its a good idea to fly all the way out to Cali just for one day (when I did so in May it took a week to recover) when I’ll be back in SLC the next weekend. Car rentals are disgustingly expensive right now, so I probably shouldn’t plan on a city that I’d be on my own. I’m not too excited to spend a weekend at home, since our air conditioning is broken at our apartment, and who knows how long it will take maintenance to fix it.

Pilot Wife Resorces

Support Groups (for when the pilot is away)





Pilot Wife (and girlfriend) Blogs

http://ohthelifeofapilotswife.blogspot.com – Oh the Life of a Pilot’s Wife
http://aviationfamilyinak.blogspot.com/ – Musings of a Pilot’s Wife
http://imapilotswife.blogspot.com/ – Musings of Cpt. J’s Wife
http://elsja.com/blog/ – Elsja’s Bloggity Blog
http://ramblingpilotwife.blogspot.com/ – The Rambling Pilot Wife
http://global-gal.com/ – Global Gal
http://regionalgf.blogspot.com/ – A Day in the Life of a Regional Girlfriend
http://crazydaysofsummer.typepad.com/ – Crazy Days of Summer
http://lifeintheatl.blogspot.com/ – Meet Me at the Corner of Peachtree and Peachtree
http://diariesofapilotswife.blogspot.com – Diaries of a Pilot’s Wife
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/ – My Pilot Followed His Dream to India, I Followed My Heart
http://mandyclaire.blogspot.com/ – First You Make a Roux
http://northcarolinanewbeginnings.blogspot.com/ – North Carolina New Beginnings
http://www.cuteculturechick.com – The Culture-Loving Pilot Wife
http://littletower31.blogspot.com/ – Life In A Holding Pattern
http://kassikfamily.blogspot.com – Kassik Chronicles
http://apilotswifetraveltips.blogspot.com/ – A Pilots Wife Travel Tips
http://gr2crash-pilotswife.blogspot.com/ – It’s a Pilot’s Wife for Me
http://flybywife.blogspot.com – The Fly By Wife
http://shelleypotts.com/ – Shelley Pott’s Blog
http://fidavazz.blogspot.com/ – The Pilot’s Wife
http://thesecretivepilotswife.blogspot.com/ – The Secretive Pilot’s Wife


Other Aviation Sites of Interest: Pilots, Flight Attendants, Travel Info, Etc

http://fl250.blogspot.com – Blogging from FL250
http://hpoole.wordpress.com/ – Another Flight Attendant Writing
http://aircrewbuzz.com/ – Aircrew Buzz
http://hpoole.wordpress.com/laviators/ – Heather Poole’s Laviators
http://www.theflyingpinto.com/ – The Flying Pinto
http://airplanepilot.blogspot.com/ – Cockpit Conversation
http://www.freeflyingmom.com/ – Free Flying Mom
http://pilotian.blogspot.com/ – My Flying Journey