USAIR TALES #2 KDEN - KCLT Chasing the White Rabbit...

So I had been running late all morning... first the morning wakeup call at the hotel apparently assumed I was still on Eastern time, and were it not for the fact that I am a light sleeper I would have missed my cab to the airport. Thank God Fred had the foresight to do the preflight for me... as I made my way to Gate A32... Not a good start to my day for flight US1520 to KCLT.



By time I got there first class had already boarded and they were about to start zone boarding... Fred gave me this smirk that seemed to say, and they made YOU captain?

All settled in we did our checklists and got clearance for pushback and taxi... it was then I realized the Gods of Scheduling have it in for me today... On our way to RWY 25, we ran into about half of Denver Airport waiting to take off...



The other half apparently was waiting to land...



Ok why me... my last couple of flights have been a little late, and though we made good time getting into KDEN last night, it seems that fate has doomed today's flights with tardiness. So much for an 8:15 takeoff...



Could be worse I guess.... I could be the guy at the back of this conga line... I figure since I have a little time I best do a secondary check of all switches and fuses... no need for a repeat of that blown fuse incident between ORD and PIT. I kinda like having my MFD handy when flying...



Good thing I have my handheld garmin in my case. Oh good United 1746 heavy finally got her clearance... move it up there buddy... Charlotte is waiting for us here.



Great... just when I think we are out of here... now we have twidledee and twidledum coming down at the same time... and they wonder why ATC gets a bad rap sometimes...



Needless to say, twidledee made it down safely, however twidledum has to go around... and finally the words I have waited to hear... "Position and Hold"... lights on... flaps set... ok let's do this!



Success!!! We are finally en route after a late start, no breakfast, barely enough time to shave and shower, and a 20 minute wait for traffic to get sorted out at KDEN... I gotta admit, I love this town, but I hate its airport... ugh.



In any event, I won't need to come back here anytime soon... my next few legs will be along the east coast, so I bid a not so fond farewell to the mile high city and cast my eyes eastward... still behind schedule.



It felt like forever getting to our cruise altitude of FL350, but you better believe the moment we got up there I had fred pop this sucker into overdrive... Feet don't fail me now... ummm engines too. Mach .82 and no overspeed warning... whew... Let's keep it this way and I might be able to shave about 10 minutes off this flight.



I could not help but feel like the white rabbit of Alice in Wonderland fame... I'm late, I'm late... of course the irony of it is I am flying over Kansas right now... Wonder if Dorothy still has those shoes handy? I could use her on the flight deck right now...



So we are halfway through Missouri, and Kansas City control calls for us to look for a DC 9 at 12 o'clock... OMG! I have never been so grateful for the 1000 ft rule as I am right now. The last thing I want on a Sunday morning when I am already late is to play chicken with an American Airlines... Especially at this speed...



Almost there... looks like my gambit paid off... managed to shave roughly 30 minutes off the flight... Should be getting there a couple minutes shy of scheduled time now... the rest will be eaten by taxiing. I highly doubt my passengers will complain too much today.



Charlotte looks a little overcast... hmmm that will slow me down some... well I may as well accept the inevitable... no matter what I do, I will be late today. Looks like we are coming down on RWY 5 too... great... so we will top this off with a short runway landing. Let's see... autobrake setting... max.



Hmm not as bad as I thought... Ok Fred, checklist time...



Gear out... still 2 minutes till late... coming in a little fast... better pull back some, I'd rather we get there alive than try to fight being late. Well here we go...



Dang... a little right of center... not my best approach and landing but I suppose considering the rest of the morning I have had, this will have to do.



At least I have plenty of room left on RWY 5, and no fire coming from the brakes haha. All things considered... I think this flight has worked out... now I have 1 minute to get to the gate...



Arrival... 1:14 PM... scheduled for 1:12... well two minutes won't kill me I guess. Once again, good old N733UW has come through for me. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, I turn off what systems I need to since I know I will be back in here later today for the trip to DC.



Oh crap! I told Jessica I was going to meet her at the food court at 1:15....

Late again... Hopefully she won't go "off with his head!"

Once more, the white rabbit... is late.