//------------------------------// // C: Tropical Dance Magic // Story: Night at the Spring Dance Hall // by Split Scimitar //------------------------------// “Mather clearance,” I begin excitedly, “Shadowbolt 2, IFR to Kahului/Maui.” “Shadowbolt 2, cleared to Kahului airport via Sacramento, V150, Sausalito, then as filed. Maintain 12,000 on departure. NorCal departure frequency 127.4, squawk 1715. “Cleared to Kahului via Sacramento, Victor One-Five-Zero, Sausalito, then as filed. 12,000 on departure, NorCal departure on 127.4, squawk 1715, Shadowbolt 2.” “Shadowbolt 2, readback correct. Runway 22L, taxi via A A1.” “A A1, runway 22L, Shadowbolt 2.” Initiate engine start procedure. Engine 1 start valve open... 10% N2 15% 18% 20% N2, fuel control on. Alight! Start valve off. Idle speed dropping. N1, N2 values good. EGT’s normal, if a bit high. Engine 1 generator on. Engine 2 start valve open... 10% N2 15% 18% 20%, fuel control on. Alight! Start valve off. Idle speed dropping. N1, N2 values good. EGT’s normal, if a bit high. Engine 2 generator on. 2 alight and stable. Ground power disconnect, connection panel closed and secure. APU on for now just to avoid a power drain. Before we taxi, I reprogram the flight computer with our new route. Planned: KMHR SAC V6 OAK SUPER BEBOP R464 BITTA.LNDHY1 PHOG Actual: KMHR SAC V150 SAU BEBOP R464 BITTA.LNDHY1 PHOG Verified and armed, I turn off the APU and do the control surface check. Rudder left, rudder right. Hydraulic pressures normal. Back pressure, forward pressure. Elevator hydraulic pressures normal. Right aileron, left aileron. Aileron and spoiler deflections and hydraulic pressures normal. Set flaps 10 for takeoff. We’re a light load and we have a long enough runway, but I do want to climb so we can be as high as possible when we cross Sausalito. Taxi instructions, join A all the way to the northeast end, which becomes A1. Follow it all the way to the hold short line for runway 22L. “Instrument check. Primary flight display (PFD.) Airspeed indicator, zero. Attitude indicator, level and upright within 5 minutes of engine start. Altimeter, within 75 feet of field elevation at 29.99. Turn coordinator, wing in & trapezoid out. Multi-function display (MFD.) Known/indicated headings against the magnetic compass. No gyroscopic precession. Vertical speed indicator (VSI), zero point noted. “Taxi checklist.” I say handing the document to her so we can review it. “Flaps?” “Set to 10.” “Trim?” “Set for takeoff.” “Departure brief.” “In case of an engine fire, failure, loss of power, forward visibility, or loss of directional control. If the problem occurs before V1, power idle, full reverse thrust, rejected takeoff braking straight ahead. If the problem occurs at or above V1, treat it as an airborne emergency. At our current weight, we have plenty of runway for any takeoff-related emergency, well within our accelerate-stop and our accelerate-go distance. We do have a positive rate guaranteed through enough of an altitude to get us back to the airport. We’re slightly above max landing weight now, but we should be close to it if we have to return. In that case, I’ll fly, you talk. Initial altitude of 12,000, expect runway heading. Departure brief complete. Questions, comments, concerns?” “All Good here!” “Taxi checklist complete.” “I took the liberty of contacting flight service during boarding. You mentioned storm system in your lyrics and today it couldn’t be more true. There are a few systems, one in particular, that could make for a shaky descent. The forecast for Kahului also predicts some strong trade winds. As for NOTAMs, none in the Kahului aerodrome, none for Honolulu Center, and none for Oakland Center. Go ahead and begin the taxi, I’ll get the ATIS.” “Thank you.” Throttles gently forward, no more than 25 knots taxi speed (normally 30 knots, but Mather is a smaller field.) “Mather Airport Information Papa, 1820Z, wind 190 at 5, visibility 10, scattered clouds at 10,000. Temperature 20, dewpoint 1. Altimeter 29.95. ILS runway 22L and Visual runway 22R in use. Landing and departing runway 22L and runway 22R. Notices to airmen: runway 22L ILS unserviceable. Runway 22L CAT II approach not authorized. Advisory: all aircraft read back hold short instructions. Advise on initial contact you have information Papa.” “Ground, Shadowbolt 2 has P.” “Shadowbolt 2, roger. Passing B, monitor tower, 120.65.” “120.65 after B, Shadowbolt 2.” “Thank you Rainbow Dash. I love doing all the flying on my own, but there is something about having a second pilot to help you.” “Of course! You wouldn’t bring a Blue Angel with you just to have them serve passengers right?” “I wouldn’t.” As we pass B, Dash flips the frequencies and tunes departure in the standby. “Shadowbolt 2, Mather tower.” “Shadowbolt 2.” Dash calls back. “Shadowbolt 2, runway 22L, line up and wait, pending IFR release.” “Line up and wait 22L, Shadowbolt 2.” “Before takeoff/runway items. Trims, set for takeoff. Flaps, set to 10. Brakes, set to RTO (Rejected Takeoff.) Spoilers, armed. Landing, strobe, wing/pulse lights, on. Approach end, final, and runway clear. Before takeoff checklist complete.” “Line up and wait. Arm altitude and heading.” “Airspeed 200 knots, autothrottle armed.” “Shadowbolt 2, fly runway heading, runway 22L, cleared for takeoff.” “Cleared for takeoff 22L, Shadowbolt 2.” Dash calls back, and joining hands, we advance the throttles to takeoff thrust. Dash then leaves her hand at the throttles so I can put both hands on the yoke. 80 knots. “Check.” V1 Rotate. V2 Positive rate, gear up. “Shadowbolt 2, contact departure. Great flight.” 2,500’ AGL. Flaps up. Speed to 250 knots. Autothrottle engage. “Switching to NorCal, see you soon, Shadowbolt 2.” I call since Dash grabs the flaps. Dash then switches the radios and takes care of the communication. “NorCal departure, Shadowbolt 2 off of Sacramento Mather, 2,800 climbing 12,000.” “Shadowbolt 2, NorCal departure, radar contact 3 miles SW Mather. Proceed direct Sacramento, Executive altimeter 29.93.” “29.93, direct Sacramento, position checks, Shadowbolt 2.” “Climb checklist.” “Landing gear.” “Up, lever into the off position.” “Got it.” Dash calls back putting the gear lever into the middle position. “Flaps?” “Up.” “Climb thrust?” “Set.” “Climb rate? Set the rate that holds 250 knots.” “I think you took care of that.” “Yes I did.” “Navigation? Direct Sacramento.” “Thence via own nav. Taxi lights off. Cruise checklist complete.” “Awesome.” As the aircraft navigates to the Sacramento VOR, I ping the cabin. “Go for Sunset.” “Have you issued the second welcome?” “Not yet. You want me to do it now?” “I can.” “That’s fine then.” “Roger, thanks. Bye.” “Bye.” “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard our flight once again. We’d like to extend a special welcome to our MVP’s, gold, and silver mileage members as well as those joining us from global airline partners. We’re expecting a mostly smooth flight to Maui this morning. In about 10-15 minutes, flight attendants will begin our inflight beverage service along with a light snack. Please refer to your refreshment menu in the seatback pocket in front of you for a complete listing of available drinks. Alcoholic beverages are not available for purchase. Our aircraft is equipped with complimentary WiFi access. Select the network “N493AS” and follow onscreen instructions. Once again, thank you for your patronage, welcome aboard.” “Shadowbolt 2, contact Oakland center on 132.95.” “32.95, Shadowbolt 2.” “Oakland, Shadowbolt 2, 9,200 for 12,000.” “Shadowbolt 2, Oakland Center, Roger. Climb and maintain FL240.” “240, Shadowbolt 2.” Passing 10,000, no speed limits except the speed of sound. Sorry Rainbow Dash, no sonic [rain]booms. Climb performance looks good. Fuel looks good with about 1 1/2 hours reserve. Entering the flight levels (FL180 - 18,000 feet), altimeter 29.92. “Cruise checklist. Altitude?” “38,000.” “Airspeed?” “Set to Mach 0.80.” “Normally we’d cruise at 0.79, but I want to get us there quick as we can. It’ll be smooth most of the way, so if we hit a pocket, we shouldn’t get bumped into the overspeed range. Fuel flow?” “2.8 per side.” “5,600-5,700 pounds per hour is exactly what we’re aiming for.” I say as I hit the progress button on the FMC. “Landing, pulse lights?” “Off, and off.” “Seatbelt sign.” “Off!” “Shadowbolt 2, contact Oakland on 131.95 for SELCAL.” “131.95, Shadowbolt 2.” “Cruise checklist complete?” “Oakland Center, Shadowbolt 2, FL380.” Dash calls responding with a thumbs up. “Shadowbolt 2, primary frequency 6673 Hz, secondary frequency 11282 Hz, here’s your SELCAL.” Two pings precede a quarter second of silence, followed in kind by two more pings. No two pings can be the same, and a code can only be in alphabetical order, so every second ping will always be higher than the first. “Do you know how SELCAL works?” I ask Rainbow. “No.” “Okay.” I respond before calling ATC back. “6673 Primary, 11282 Secondary, SELCAL received. Current position 2.5 East of BAART. Next report will be… BARAZ at 2024Z.” “Shadowbolt 2, Roger.” “Ladies and gentlemen, from the flight deck, cruising here at 38,000 feet. We unfortunately expect a few minutes later than expected arrival due to strong headwinds. We’ll try our best to make up for that lost time, but we also have just been notified of some rain forecast before our arrival. We don’t expect it to be raining when we arrive, but encountering that system does mean that we can expect some pretty rough air during the descent. Springtime in Hawaii is generally marked by these kinds of systems, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary. As I said earlier, we‘ll be keeping an eye on this system and don’t expect any delays as a result. We‘ll receive updates hourly, and notify you of anything that may delay our arrival. Thank you, we appreciate your patience.” *Ping from SELCAL* “You hear those rising dial tones?” I ask Dash. “Yeah?” “That’s SELCAL. Because I turned the radio down due to the sparse traffic out here, they’ll ping us specifically for queries.” “Alright.” She nods. “Cool.” “Shadowbolt 2, sorry about that. Go ahead.” “Shadowbolt 2, Oakland. Position report. Time now 2024Z.” “Shadowbolt 2, currently 3 miles east of BARAZ, 24 minutes past the hour, FL380. Next report will be BILLO at 2118Z. Remarks: temperature at altitude: -48. Smooth ride. No clouds within 20 NM.” “Shadowbolt 2, roger. Thank you. Is your arrival time of 2335Z still valid?” “Just to be safe, we’ll amend to 2345Z, Shadowbolt 2. Also, we’re now leaving BARAZ at this time.” “Shadowbolt 2, roger.” “Why don’t you just leave the radio on?” Dash asks. “If the waves are dead out here, wouldn’t that be the best place to keep alert?” “Sure? I agree with you, but I know that there’s an element of fatigue that’s often cited by other pilots, and because we’re not in the radar environment. For some reason, the workload is reduced by only bothering with the radio if you get pinged.” “Probably covers some bases if, say, some pilots take a nap.” “Maybe.” “You can if you want to. I know how much you hate this plane.” “I don’t *hate* the 737. I’m just a fan of wide-bodies.” An evil grin crosses my face. “Ha! If you had met me like right out of Uni, you probably would’ve liked me.” “Very funny.” “Don’t take this the wrong way, but someone with your slender and athletic build, someone who’s built bigger would be the last type of person I’d expect you to fancy.” “Just because I’m built small doesn’t mean I don’t like people with a little meat on them.” “Fair enough. Your dad seems like that type, so at the risk of sounding incestuous, you like people that are like your dad?” “Not really? Physically, maybe at best. You know all the stories I tell about them. I love them, and our relationship is strong, but before that, they gave me praise for just about every little thing I did.” “I can understand, though I guess I could crudely justify their overbearing behavior as ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.’” “Ugh!” She groans rolling her eyes. “You and your word plays. I swear one of these days I’m gonna call The Police on you.” I shoot her a “you realize what you just said” look, to which realization hits her. “Damn it.” I heartily chuckle at that. “Look Max, I know I’m awesome, and so are you, but there’s no way in hell you would ever have a chance with me.” “I wasn’t looking. I was just being facetious. Besides, even if I was, I’ll quote what I said to Rarity. ‘I will always default to “it’s just a crush, it’ll go away.’ Not like you’d be interested in me anyway. I’m not awesome enough for you.” “Can we stop? All this namby-pamby stuff is making me sick.” “Good night, Rainbow Dash.” A few minutes later, the intercom rings. “Flight deck, go ahead.” “You want anything?” “Um, a water for sure, and, uh, what snacks you got?” “Pretzels, chips, cookies, the works.” “I should probably abstain then. Gotta watch my salt buildup.” “Just the water then?” “Yeah.” “Open the door in 10 seconds.” “Got it.” I hang up and count from 10. Then, I hold down the unlock button for the door, and three seconds later, Sunset enters. “Order up.” She says as she presents me with a 16.9 oz/0.5 L bottle. “Thank you.” “Rainbow asleep?” “Yep. Out like a light.” “Typical Rainbow Dash. She’ll fall asleep just about anywhere.” “She’s lucky. We still have 3 1/2 hours to go.” “Cool. Be back in a half hour.” “Ok thanks.” 1 hour until descent. Rainbow Dash has been asleep up to this point, which actually makes the journey really nice because I can put on my music, only getting interrupted by SELCAL for position and/or weather reports. “Shadowbolt 2, contact HCF approach on 124.1.” “124.1, Shadowbolt 2.” I grab. “Honolulu approach, Shadowbolt 2, level at FL380.” “Shadowbolt 2, HCF approach, Roger. Say position.” “Shadowbolt 2 is just inside of BOARD, approximately a mile and a half.” “Shadowbolt 2, roger.” A few minutes later, HCF calls back. “Shadowbolt 2, radar contact 35 miles east of BITTA, FL380.” “Position checks, Shadowbolt 2.” “Shadowbolt 2, roger. Descend via the LNDHY One arrival, expect the, uh… actually, which approach would you like? You’re one of two arrivals into Kahului in the next half hour.” “We’ll go ahead and do the RNAV RNP, Shadowbolt 2.” “Shadowbolt 2, roger. Descend via the LNDHY One arrival, expect the RNAV RNP runway 2 approach.” “Descend via the LNDHY One, RNAV RNP runway 2, Shadowbolt 2.” “Rainbow Dash is still asleep, so I’ll just do a silent Arrival brief.” “BITTA transition to the LNDHY One. Cross BITTA at or above FL280. From BITTA, track 183° to BIKUZ, cross at or above 16,000. From BIKUZ, track 183° to LNDHY, cross at or above 9,000 at 250 knots. From LNDHY, track 205° to MUNJU, cross at or above 7,000 at 220 knots. From MUNJU, track 205° to HOMAI, cross at 5000 at 210 knots. Landing runway 2, there is a transition from HOMAI on the RNAV RNP approach. “RNAV RNP runway 2 approach into Kahului, HOMAI transition. Primary navaid RNP authorized and WAAS enabled GPS, which checks operational and not affected by NOTAMs or outages. Approach course inbound 024°, 6,995’ of runway available, airport and touchdown zone elevation both 53’. HOMAI transition, cross at 5,000 at or below 210 knots, track 205° to KAWLA, descend and maintain 4,100, cross KAWLA at or below 200 knots. From KAWLA, track 204° to cross ZORTI at or above 3,200. From ZORTI, then descending right turn to WOREK, minimum altitude 1,800; continuing descending right turn to WASBA, the final approach fix, at or above 1,200. From WASBA, at 1,200, glideslope down to RNP 0.30 minima of 349 feet with 3/4 mile visibility. Missed approach point glideslope intercept at 349. If we have lights but no environment, descend to 153, normal maneuvers, normal descent to land, otherwise go missed. Missed approach procedure: climb straight ahead to 3,000, direct KRANE, hold as published, approach brief, complete. “Speeds, at our current weight, we’ll want to fly the approach at 160 knots, reducing to 150 in the turn, and 140 once rolled out on final, possibly and likely in fact add 5 knots pending the ATIS. No speed restrictions on the LNDHY until MUNJU, but for all intents and purposes, we’ll hold no more than 300 knots. As per my usual, at or below 300 knots until transition altitude (flight levels), then at or below 280 between transition altitude and 10,000, then at or below 250 between 10,000 and whatever restrictions imposed by the STAR. We’ll keep our descent shallow, we have about 80 miles to lose 10,000 feet, so we can descend roughly 1000 fpm. The storm system is now showing up on the airplane radar, and by the looks of it is still dumping rain, right on Kahului’s aerodrome. “Good morning!” I greet Rainbow Dash as she groggily wakes up. “How long was I out?” “Oh, just shy of three hours. We’re beginning our initial descent now.” “How’s the storm faring?” “Surprisingly, it’s moving towards us, but we haven’t picked up anything associated with it other than a radar return. There aren’t any hazardous weather reports out, nor are there any FICON reports yet. I expect that once we get a little lower, we’ll get something. The storm is right over the airport right now, so hopefully we’ll get a FICON soon. ATC notified us that we’re the only arrival in the next half hour, and one of only two over the next full [hour.] I’ve already briefed myself on the arrival and the approach. We’ll be shooting the RNAV RNP approach, and, uh, I think that’s it.” “What’s the next checklist?” “Descent. Run it closer to 10,000 though. We’re still in the flight levels.” “What’s Maui’s ATIS?” “128.6.” “I’ll get it for you.” She says looking down at the radio. Having set the frequency while she was asleep, all she has to do is flip the frequency and monitor it. “Maui airport information X-Ray, 2240Z weather. Wind 340 at 6. Visibility 10. Scattered clouds at 5,600, broken 11,000, overcast 15,000. Temperature 19, dewpoint 16, altimeter 29.94. ILS and visual runway 2 in use. Landing and departing runway 2. Notices to airmen: taxiway B north of taxiway F closed. Advisory: all aircraft read back hold short instructions. All VFR aircraft contact clearance delivery prior to taxi. Advise on initial contact you have information X-Ray.” “Okay, ATIS is X. That doesn’t sound accurate though.” “Give it 5 minutes.” “Maui airport information Yankee, 2300Z weather. Wind 330 at 20. Visibility 9. Sky condition broken 9,000. Overcast 13,000. Temperature 19, dewpoint 16, altimeter 29.92. ILS and visual runway 2 in use. Landing and departing runway 2. Notices to airmen: taxiway B north of taxiway F closed. Advisory: all aircraft read back hold short instructions. All VFR aircraft contact clearance delivery prior to taxi. Advise on initial contact you have information Yankee.” “That changed quick. 340 at 6 to 330 at 20 in 20 minutes?” “Yay. Probably means it’s a quick storm. Approaching BITTA, minimum altitude 16,000. Minimum descent rate now 1900 fpm to cross BIKUZ at 16,000. Airspeed bugged at 290.” *calling cabin* “Go for Sunset.” “We’re getting into the thick of the descent. It’s probably gonna get rough, so do the final service and clean sweep.” “You want anything?” “Nah. I’m good.” “Alright. We’ll call you when we’re secured.” “Thanks. Bye.” Approaching BIKUZ, speed to 250 knots, cross at or above 9,000. 250 knots below 10,000 feet.” “Descent checklist?” “Go ahead.” I say just as we reach 16,000’. “Landing, taxi, wing/pulse lights?” “All on below 10,000’.” “Airspeed?” “Below 250 knots to account for descent.” “Seat belt sign?” “On.” “Spoilers?” “Armed. We may need to use them to keep our speed within limits.” “Approach brief?” “Already done.” “Descent checklist complete.” “Thank you.” “Ladies and gentlemen, as we begin our descent into Kahului/Maui, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts securely. Return chair backs and tray tables to their full upright and locked position. Please ensure that all aisle armrests are down, all window shades open, and that any cabin baggage onboard is safely stored for landing. Flight attendants will be passing through the cabin to pick up any remaining service items at this time.” Twilight says over the horn. “Okay, Rainbow Dash. In preparation for meeting this storm head on, I will need you to back me up on some things. Aside from checklists, I would like you to keep a close hand near the throttles, particularly during landing. If for whatever reason I can’t get the thrust reversers out, you might have better luck than me. Similarly, I will need you to arm the autopilot bugs for me on my mark in case we go missed.” “Alright!” “Here’s the approach plate. Brief it if you want. The missed approach altitude is 3,000.” Approaching 15,000. A spike in airspeed is met with a small pocket of air. “There’s our first bump.” Rainbow quips. Suddenly, another quick jolt strikes us. I actually flex in my core at the brief stint of about 1.4 G, so I check the security of the seatbelts and ping the cabin. “Hello? Twilight speaking.” “Hey, how’s final service? Everyone good and seated?” “Almost. Sunset and Applejack are chatting, and it looks like we’re consolidating all the trash, so we should be seated pretty soon here.” “Okay. We’ve hit a few pockets, and it looks like it’s only gonna get worse. I hope our journey to Anchorage wasn’t too traumatizing.” “I trust you.” “Thanks, Twilight. Over and out.” *call from cabin* “Flight deck, go ahead.” “All passengers seated, belts fastened. Cabin secure.” “Roger that.” A few minutes after I readjust my seat to make sure I have full reach of the controls, we begin to hit more frequent and severe air. It’s nowhere near as bad as the storm from when I took Twilight to Anchorage, but it’s definitely not an optimal situation to be in. “Ladies and gentlemen, from the flight deck, unfortunately the weather in Kahului is pretty much the same as when we departed. It’s been raining on and off, and last we checked, the weather was reporting moderate rain and rather gusty winds. As a result, I do apologize in advance to all the nervous flyers onboard. The safest course of action to take with a short and wet runway is to plant it rather firmly on touchdown. The reason for this is to avoid hydroplaning, and with a shorter runway, we need all the braking action we can get, so while the approach and landing will be pretty rough, please understand it is necessary for the conditions today. Thank you.” As we descend into the clouds, I say rhetorically, “Well, this should be interesting…” Eyeing the storm and its interaction with the terrain of Maui is highly indicative of a difficult time ahead. With this, there is one song that comes to mind. I turn on both windshield wipers in anticipation of an onslaught of torrential rain and vicious, humid, muggy wind, which by what the airspeed indicator shows, seems to be coming at us from all directions. The plane lurches and sways as the wind tears at us; with pitters and patters as though in rain. (Because it is.) “You wanna go back?” I ask Rainbow Dash between jolts, grunting and suppressing an exclamation of “shit” as a jolt sends my stomach into my chest. “No way! This is the best seat in the house.” “Great, you can watch what I do.” Suddenly, we become Zero G. If navigating an Alberta clipper is driving on a road with potholes, then this is driving on a World Rally Course. Below 10,000, landing, taxi, pulse/wing lights, on. Approaching LNDHY, the ride, in traditional World Rally Championship form, pummels us with brief Zero G arcs followed both swiftly and not by downdrafts that make us feel twice our weight on the down. Autopilot is still doing a good job of holding our course just as the rain starts coming at us in sheets. With an indicated outside air temperature of 22, this feels like a cooler monsoon, though I know for a fact that monsoon is too severe. These storm systems, rough as they may seem, are relatively normal, exacerbated however by living in both a valley and an isthmus, the former being the namesake of the island’s nickname, “The Valley Isle.” Approaching LNDHY, level at 9,000, speed 250 knots. Speed to 220 knots, descend and maintain 7,000. I wish I could keep the cockpit door open so I can get the connection to the passengers and flight attendants, but because this is my first flight with the organization, I must keep the door closed for security reasons. “Shadowbolt 2, passing HOMAI, cleared RNAV RNP runway 2 approach.” “Cleared RNAV RNP runway 2, Shadowbolt 2.” Approaching MUNJU, speed 210, descend and maintain 5,000. The turbulence feels less like a rally stage and more like a rock concert now, a relatively constant and steady motion that you almost want to bop your head to. At least, semi-involuntarily, because it’s pretty bangin’ at altitude. “Shadowbolt 2, contact Maui tower now, 118.7.” “118.7, great day, Shadowbolt 2.” “Maui tower, Shadowbolt 2, RNAV RNP 2.” “Shadowbolt 2, Maui tower. Runway 2, winds 340 at 25, altimeter 29.96, continue inbound. Traffic a helicopter maneuvering low level, east side, should be no factor.” “Continue inbound for runway 2, traffic in sight, Shadowbolt 2.” Pretty soon, we reach the bottom of the clouds. I tell Dash to note the cloud bases and watch as the airspeed indicator sloshes around in response to the rapid changes in wind direction and speed. “Tower, Shadowbolt 2, what’s the FICON?” “Shadowbolt 2, current reports show… 5/4/4 for runway 2, reported by a Boeing 737.” “Shadowbolt 2.” Passing HOMAI, speed to 180, set flaps 5. Below 190 knots, set flaps 10. Rolling into the curved legs of the approach, flaps 15. “Alright,” I say now low enough to where I would rather hand fly it. “Autopilot disengage!” With one hand on the throttles, I increase thrust a few percent N1 and follow the prescribed path the GPS and PFD show. It’s tough to hold a constant bank angle or pitch attitude, so I trim a few notches to help with back pressure. Since the surface winds are pretty high and heavily favorable for a landing on runway 2, I actually have to reduce the turn and in fact even roll wings level to catch the course again. Strong tailwind shearing to strong headwind will tighten that turn radius. 2,000 feet. Slowly rolling out on final approach, “landing gear down.” Dash flips the lever for me and the three annunciator lights flash red. “3 green, down and locked.” Dash calls. “Thank you, flaps 25.” “Final approach checklist. “Landing gear?” “Down, 3 green.” “Spoilers?” “Arm.” I say arming the speed brakes. “Auto brakes?” “Set to 3.” “Flaps?” “30 please.” “Got it. Final approach checklist complete.” “Thank you.” “Shadowbolt 2, winds 360 at 24 gusts 33, runway 2, cleared to land.“ “Cleared to land runway 2, Shadowbolt 2.” I grab for her. “1000.” The GPWS calls out. If you were to watch me manipulate the yoke, in response to the occasional gust and general bumpiness of the ride down, Dash wouldn’t necessarily be in the wrong to brazenly quip, “Stop over-controlling.” “I really don’t care. You know we’re trying to get somewhere.” “Dude, watch what you say.” “Watch what I do.” I respond as the GPWS calls out, “500.” “200.” “Altitude 3,000 please.” Dash responds by setting 3,000 and hitting the arm button. “100.” “Airspeed to 200 just in case we have to go around.” Set but not armed. I have control of the throttles. “50.” “40.” “30.” “20.” “10.” ToUcHdOWN! Spoilers up! Brakes on! 2 in reverse! 45 knots, disengage reverse thrust. “YEAH!!!” Rainbow Dash cheers as a chorus of claps and cheers faintly permeates from beyond the door as I stow the reversers. Whether a celebration of the landing or excitement to be at their spring dance in Hawaii I don’t know. “Shadowbolt 2, continue all the way to the end, right A, cleared onto runway 23, then a left onto runway 20. Taxi Sunshine via Runway 20 and B, remain this frequency. Caution helicopter landing Sunshine ramp.” “Right at the end, cleared onto 23, cleared onto 20, B to the ramp, stay with you on tower, Shadowbolt 2.” Dash calls for the final time. Just as I prepare to speak to the passengers, Sunset beats me to the punch. “On behalf of your flight crew and student association, we’d like to welcome you to the island of Maui! Please remain seated until the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the Captain has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. At that time, please use caution when deplaning. I know you’re all excited to get to your venue, but please do exercise caution, especially because we will be deplaning via stairs. As you can see, it is still pretty wet outside. It has been an absolute pleasure serving you this morning, and unfortunately for your return trip, only Captain Max will be joining you. The rest of us however would like to happily thank you for your patronage and cooperation. Thank you so much, welcome to Hawaii!” “Well, that was easy.” I say nonchalantly after turning off runway 2. “Well, a landing is just a controlled crash.” “You call that a crash? I call it a fly-in.” “Here to perform on this deserted island.” “Perform?” “If you can hand fly that approach, especially because the autopilot couldn’t, holding the kind of airmanship I just saw, then I need to chill, ‘cuz you know just who I am.” “You’re just jealous because I leave people smiling.” “That’s because we’re in Hawaii, dude.” “Fair enough. All jokes aside, in all seriousness, coming from a Blue Angel, that really means a lot, so thank you.” I say literally tipping my hat, trying my darndest to not choke up in front of Dash. “I’ll fly with you any day!” She responds triumphantly, to which I shed a single tear. Ironically, as that tear falls, the rain slowly lets up, so I complete the after landing checklist. Spoilers down. Brakes off. Flaps up. Landing, strobe, wing/pulse, off once clear of runway. Transponder 1200. I turn the wipers down and make out a lineman, so I follow his prompts to park. Once parked, I set the parking brake. “Shutdown checklist. Engine 1. Throttle idle. Fuel and power, cutoff. Generator, off. Engine 2. Throttle idle. Fuel and power, cutoff. Generator, off. Seatbelt sign, off. Engine shutdown checklist complete.”