Monday
Monday was a travel day. I left Winnipeg mid morning and arrived in London (Ontario) by 5 pm. Got a cool rental car and then made my way to the hotel.
Once checked in, I got through some emails and then walked to find somewhere to have supper. And a beer. Or two. Talked to Lola then bed.
Tuesday
Left the hotel at around 8 and went to Tim's to grab some breakfast and a coffee for the road. Then I made the 45 mins drive north to the customers facility to meet with the Chinese. In fact, two of the three guys were the same guys I met with in China! Here's a sneaky incognito picture I snapped:
Tuesday was spent mostly with the Chinese going through the modifications and project status.
Afterwards, I made the drive back to London and hit up the gym for a short run and some weights. Without two sports activities each week (ie. Hockey and baseball) I'm getting stiff in my old age and need to keep active.
After the gym, I walked about 20 mins to a place for dinner. I thought the blue jays game would be on but again I was in the eastern time zone and the jays were playing in Houston, so it was an hour later than I thought. After dinner and walk back through a park, I got through some emails to try to keep up with things. Another FaceTime session with Lola and then bed.
The tower sights of downtown London
Wednesday
The first part of the day was spent on the aircraft, doing some testing in preparation for flight testing. Then it was spent again with the Chinese, going through our certification data. And then back to the aircraft to finish testing. Flight testing is planned for Thursday so we needed to finish up.
After work, I decided to take a drive to Ontario's West Shore. I ended up in a quaint beach town called Grand Bend. If you didn't know it, you would think you were in Southern California.
I didn't talk to Lola this day, she was busy waiting out the storm at the bomber game with some free tickets she got from one of her contractors. Luckily she was in a suite so it was a little more bearable.
Thursday - Flight Test Day
The morning started with a pre flight briefing with the flight crew and operations people, so that everyone understood the plan for the day, the purpose of the tests and roles/responsibilities. As this was essentially my first time doing this myself, it was a little nerve racking.
Once flight plans were filed, it was time to bring the aircraft outside to do preflight checks.
Once all preflight checks were completed, it was time for the shakedown flight with only the flight crew and maintenance engineer. As the airplane was rocketing down the runway, my blood pressure was rising - hoping there would be no issues as the aircraft has been down for over 14 months. But, no issues. Wheels up and it was gone for 30 mins.
Once back, the plane was fuelled up and we quickly ate lunch then it was time for our test - smoke detection and penetration.
Onboard and ready to go!
Testing didn't start out as we hoped. The profile was to climb to 10,000 ft and remain unpressurized for some detection tests. We did the test but didn't get detection within the required 1 min. Since we were using a theatrical smoke generator, I suspected it was because the smoke was more dense and less hot than real smoke. We tried again. And again. And again. After about 45 mins without success, I made the decision that we continue on with the test program and climb to 35,000 ft.
Once at altitude, we started with a smoke detection test again. This time, success. What gives? Well the temperature at 35,000 feet is much cooler than on the ground which was 32*C and high humidity. So I suspect the temperature and humidity in the baggage compartment was an issue with our test equipment.
We continued on with the test plan, successfully. Running low on fuel, we had to cut the test short and return. Another flight will be performed Friday.
After the testing, the customer was taking the Chinese out for dinner at The Keg and invited me along. It was a good time until I got back to find a parking ticket on my car. I thought I had 30 more mins before time ran out but was wrong. I guess that is what happens when you are buying time on the meter when talking to a customer on the phone explaining why something hasn't been done yet. Maybe I'll expense the ticket to the customer... Not likely. I guess some of my per diem will go towards paying this.
Once at the hotel, more catchup was needed. Working until about 10:30 then talk to Lola and bed. Friday was going to be busy - flight test at 8am so need to be there by 7; two telephone meetings with customers and somehow find time to spend with the Chinese to walk them through more data.
Friday
5:30 am came quick. With the Tiguan packed, I made my way to Tim's only to find out that the one in the offices attached to my hotel was not yet opened. So I went to the Starbucks in the hotel to grab a coffee. I wasn't looking to make a 45 min drive without coffee.
Eating left over pizza for breakfast while on the way, the drive was peaceful and not very much traffic.
Arriving at the customers facility at 7, I hung around making sure that things were getting ready and answering questions. At 8 we loaded up and then took off by 8:30. This time we went to 35,000 ft for the detection tests. They were successful. Then we descended to 25,000 for a test point and then down to 10,000 for the rest.
Once done, we could relax for a bit as the flight crew needed to do a functional check of the air driven generator (ADG) that is used if you loose all electrical power on the aircraft. The ADG is like a small propeller that is deployed from the belly of the aircraft and gets driven by the air rushing by.
So, this was a perfect time to stare outside the windows and take in the scenery.
Once on the ground, thumbs up were given. The customer was relieved. Now they wanted me to spend the rest of the day with the Chinese. I had to cancel one meeting and then push another to later in the day.
After going through meeting minutes and having fruitful technical discussions, the Chinese were satisfied for the purpose of their trip. The purpose which I wasn't really briefed on or entirely prepared for but made do.
After one more meeting, it was time to go to the airport.
After dropping the keys in the return box, I made my way to security. The airport was pretty empty. Looking at the screen, I then realized why - several flights to Toronto were canceled, mine included. However I was booked on a later flight to Toronto and then on to Winnipeg. Instead of getting home at 10:45, that was approximately the time I was now departing from Toronto - getting home at around 12:30 am.
The flights were routine, couldn't sleep much so I watched a movie instead.
What a week, ending with a 20 hrs work day. Now, one more thing to take care of for work before packing for camping in riding mountain Sunday to Wednesday. Hopefully the cell coverage isn't very good in the campground...
