Week Eight - Farewell

Desert Jet Intern - Thermal, CA

Week Eight

Farewell

7/30 - 8/3

Empty Leg 

Flying in a private jet to San Diego...count me in please! The opportunity arose to jump on an empty leg in the Citation Excel to San Diego and hang out for the day. The crew were very accommodating with sharing the experience by putting the coms on speaker so I could hear ATC communications. This was my first time flying into San Diego and it was beautiful the whole way down.

After landing I had some time to kill, so I helped the pilots prepare for the passenger leg. They allowed me to help prepare the cabin, pick up the IFR clearance, and program the FMS! 

San Diego Exploration

Soon the charter passengers had arrived and I headed to the commercial terminal at SAN to meet up with my friend who was flying in for the day. Our agenda included brunch and exploration around Balboa Park. 

First stop was Cafe 222, a popular brunch spot with delicious food. We then walked to the harbor and caught a lyft to Balboa park. We learned about many plants at the botanical building and had some fun pronouncing their scientific names. We continued our adventures at the Timken Art Gallery, then we took a small hike which led us to a Peruvian festival where we danced with joyful people. We continued walking with no direction in mind and ended up at the Air and Space Museum. 

Being pilots, we accomplished some plane spotting due to the park being under the SAN approach path before we met up with Christina for dinner on Coronado. 
To end our day of adventures we headed back to Thermal with the sunset behind us.

Final Week

I was a dispatcher for a day this week; flight following aircraft, taking calls, receiving information from pilots, as well as briefing. I had a lot of fun doing this and learned so much from being put in the active position.

I continued to work with charter and was able to help out when an aircraft had a mechanical issue. The team immediately moved into action, going through the motions of setting up another aircraft to pick up the passengers. The first thing the team did was set a direction, allocate, and execute. It was a beautiful example of organized chaos. 

A gorgeous Gulfstream G-V flew in and I was allowed the honor to marshal the aircraft off the ramp for departure. After their departure a King Air flew in and I had the chance to marshal them onto the ramp. This too was much fun as I could compare the perspective of being the pilot following the marshaling orders to the perspective of being the marshaller, which is a surprisingly different experience. 

During the week we had our Mentor dinner where all of us interns got together for a lovely meal with our mentors. We chatted about our favorite memory from the internship and received some good advice about future career goals.

Blue Skies and Tailwinds

My internship has come to an end and I want to thank everyone who has been a part of it. You all have a special place in my heart. I learned SO much from each and every person in this company. The experience is invaluable and I will use skills that have been developed here throughout my career. 
I truly will miss you all. Thank you to everyone for being so welcoming and willing to answer all of my questions.

Best wishes, blue skies, and until next time!