Traffic Watch

In addition to instructing and flying corporate, I also fly traffic watch for a company that contracts with a major news radio station here in SLC. When people find out about this, I often see the look of, "What a cool job!" flash across their face. Although it certainly has its benefits, most pilots (myself included, initially) only do it to add flight time to their logbooks, in the eventual hope of gaining enough hours to attract the attention of a heavy iron HR rep. As with many things in life, when you get past the initial appearance of glamor, the reality present in the details shows the true nature of the job. Again, it's not all bad, but it's not always very fun. So, here's an average winter flight, with pictures from Thursday morning...

I get up at 5AM or earlier, preflight in the cold with a flashlight, start-up, run-up and call for clearance. The reporter jumps in just a few minutes before his first report and we are supposed to be rolling down the runway by 6AM. If the weather is bad, but not bad enough to cancel outright, we climb, descend, circle and dodge clouds/fog/precipitation in order to stay safe and legal. There's a certain amount of pressure from the managers at the radio station to always fly, despite them being neither pilots nor meteorologists. Hmmm.

On good weather days, we simply climb up to 9,000 feet and try not to fall asleep or freeze to death for 3 hours. We fly east of I-15 from the Bountiful Temple to the Timpanogos Temple. Air Traffic Control is always friendly and knows "Skywatch 15" well. They give us almost any routing we need, and allow us to pop in and out of their airspace almost freely.

The reporter is excellent at his job and has been doing it for years. Occasionally we break up the monotony by talking about movies, TV, or anything else that's funny. He has a great sense of humor and is a very friendly guy. Even as a pilot, spending 5+ hours a day (morning and afternoon) in the back seat of a Cessna 172 would get old fast. Yet, he does it almost every day, 5 days a week. I choose to only fly once a week.

Although at this point in my career, a few more hours in a piston single does nothing for me, I still enjoy an almost-guaranteed morning of flying once a week. No student to teach, no time crunch with execs in the back, just lazy flying. We also count on the small monthly checks to help us make ends meet. And as these pictures hopefully show, this view sure beats my windowless cubicle at the office. All in all, I suppose it's worth it, even if it's not as fun or glamorous as people might think. So, if you're listening in on Thursday morning for traffic reports, I'm the one chauffeuring your "eye in the sky" around. Best wishes for a smooth commute!