Day 6

We learned about pre-flight procedures, the quality controls aircraft fueling stations have to go through on a daily basis in order to maintain water and gunga-free fuel, as well as and airport visual communicators today.

Like anything else, proper communication seems to be the best way to keep bad things from happening. So we learned about runway incursions and how to prevent them.

A runway incursion is what happens when an aircraft crosses or otherwise interferes with the space of an active runway.

Things like this happen when people aren't paying attention:

Incursions involving larger craft are, of course, much worse. Everything at an airport moves, and lots of it occupies the same space at one time or another, so keeping everything organized and under control is literally a matter of life and death.


We learned all of this in preparation for taxiing exercises, which we are supposed to start tomorrow.

I now know what all of the lines, colors, and signs you always see at an airport mean, as well as the kind of conversations that Air Traffic Controllers have with pilots.

You're on Runway 27. Taxyway Bravo is thataway.

Tomorrow we take a test over fuels, flight line safety, and a handful of other stuff I'm sure I won't have any problem remembering.

I finally have a reason to know this, and I get to say "niner" on the radio. Pretty neat.

Also, I'm tired.