Hopping a 737 Today. Haven’t Flown Commercially since 2002.

john_pifer

john_pifer

Joined
Jul 8, 2012
Messages
5,208
Location
Dickson, TN.
Which is funny, since I’m an aviation mechanic for a living. But I work at an OEM maintenance & overhaul facility, so I don’t get flight benefits, like the airline mechanics do. So, I’ve just been on test flights on the Embraers we work on here.

Anyway, I’m flying from BNA - DFW to pick up the wife’s new 2021 4Runner that we’re buying to replace her 2018 Civic that was totaled last month when she was rear-ended.

It‘s 700 miles back to Nashville, but I have family in Memphis, so I might crash there. Then it’s only about 200 miles from Memphis to Nashville.

I enjoy flying, so, I’m looking forward to the flight!

It’ll be nice to just sit back and enjoy the flight and not have to turn a wrench!

Ive attached a photo of the facility I work at, Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services, Inc. The photo is looking west, across the airfield, from my gate at the terminal.
 

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so, even though it's a 737, the fact that you said you're flying to DFW tells me it's not likely Southwest. (their whole Fleet is 737's, but they fly out of LUV ( Love Field, close to downtown Dallas)
leaving me to guess either Delta, or American...

depending on how early you set off from Dallas, it's not that terrible of a drive to Memphis. one time i went that way, leaving Dallas( well, my brother's house on the east side of Ft. Worth) around 6am (beat Morning Rush) pretty sure I got to Memphis between noon and 2, too early to stop for the night, I pushed on to ....Dickson. got there around 6p I think... (granted, this was back in...2008, so my times could be off..)
 
AutoMechanic said:
Nice. I’ve got a friend who is an aviation mechanic in Indiana. I’d never step foot on a plane lol I don’t like heights and I’d rather go by car it feels safer to me
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My wife and I actually enjoy driving, and we choose to travel that way most of the time. And we’re not like some people we know who like to get in the car and just go, without stopping. We like to stop periodically and sample the local coffee, food, and sights.

But sometimes air travel is the way to go. This one-way flight was only $129. By contrast, it will cost me around $77 to drive home, at a fuel cost of $2/gal, and estimated fuel economy of 18 MPG.
 
earlyre said:
so, even though it's a 737, the fact that you said you're flying to DFW tells me it's not likely Southwest. (their whole Fleet is 737's, but they fly out of LUV ( Love Field, close to downtown Dallas)
leaving me to guess either Delta, or American...

depending on how early you set off from Dallas, it's not that terrible of a drive to Memphis. one time i went that way, leaving Dallas( well, my brother's house on the east side of Ft. Worth) around 6am (beat Morning Rush) pretty sure I got to Memphis between noon and 2, too early to stop for the night, I pushed on to ....Dickson. got there around 6p I think... (granted, this was back in...2008, so my times could be off..)
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Yeah, AA
 
john_pifer said:
My wife and I actually enjoy driving, and we choose to travel that way most of the time. And we’re not like some people we know who like to get in the car and just go, without stopping. We like to stop periodically and sample the local coffee, food, and sights.

But sometimes air travel is the way to go. This one-way flight was only $129. By contrast, it will cost me around $77 to drive home, at a fuel cost of $2/gal, and estimated fuel economy of 18 MPG.
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That’s good. I just can’t bring myself to get on a plane lol 😂. I’m one of those people I like to stop occasionally but also get to where I am going soon. Especially if a hotel is involved because I love hotels lol.
 
I suspect you will really enjoy the flight. I took a flight from Boston, MA to Boise, ID at the end of October. I was able to get through the security line in 5 minutes or less both ways. The airplane was not overly crowded and the pace at the airports were leisurely.

I put on my mask and watched Ford vs. Ferrari both ways. It was a great way to travel. And, I couldn't have driven an econobox out and back for less money, even before accounting for seedy motels, speeding tickets and such..

I'll bet it's fun to go on test flights after working on airplanes? I come from the pilot side, but am working towards getting my A&P license. I still need to convince my local FSDO that I am qualified to take the test (after test prep). I am gathering pay stubs and putting logs together..

Have a nice road trip!
 
Enjoy your flight John.
Are you a window seat to stare outside, or aisle seat to just relax kind of flyer?
Your drive should be fun in a brand new vehicle. As mentioned earlier, be sure to shift down out of overdrive every now and then to mix up the revs.
 
wpod said:
The 4 runner is not a light weight vehicle.
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You’re so right, my friend.

No, it’s not light, and, even with this version of the 1GR-FE having dual VVT-i (exhaust cams as well as intake cam), and rated at 270 HP instead of 236 HP like the earlier, single VVT-i version in my Taco, it still doesn’t feel as peppy to me, so far, as my truck. However, I’ve only driven it less than 150 miles so far.

It’s hard to find actual weights, but from what I can find online, the 4Runner, even the 2WD version, which is (again, from my research) ~ 275 lbs lighter than the 4WD, it’s still a few hundred lbs heavier than my PreRunner.

From what i saw online, the 2WD T4R is about 4400 lbs.

I floored it on a highway on-ramp and let it get up to around 5000 RPM (about 1000 shy of redline), and everything does feel a little tight, still. That’s to be expected...it had 15 miles when I left Vandergriff Toyota.

I think it’ll loosen up a bit.

I’ll say this - I absolutely love the ride and handling of the 4Runner so far. Great RWD steering feel that I also love in my PreRunner. And a very good suspension. Some people complain about the ride of these - I honestly have no idea what they’re talking about.

My mom was nice enough to let us borrow her 2013 Ford Edge after Britta’s car was totaled, and while it is a nice car, I hated the FWD, floaty handling. I thought it severely needed more suspension damping, both rebound and compression. Plus, in higher-speed highway cornering, that FWD feel with a taller, heavier vehicle isn’t confidence-inspiring at all.

So, it’s really nice to be back in RWD!

Oh, and this Apple Car Play is awesome!

The LED headlights and fog lights are very, very good.

The radar cruise control sounded cool, and it’s OK in some situations, but it can be annoying. Sometimes, in a curve, it will pick up the car in the next lane up ahead, and throw out the anchor. Oh well...

Very comfortable seats, in my opinion. Being taller (6’2”), I like a lot of lumbar support, and these seats have it.

Really enjoying it so far! I think the wife will, too.
 
RoadDukie said:
Enjoy your flight John.
Are you a window seat to stare outside, or aisle seat to just relax kind of flyer?
Your drive should be fun in a brand new vehicle. As mentioned earlier, be sure to shift down out of overdrive every now and then to mix up the revs.
Click to expand...
Definitely window seat! I took some good video that I’ll post. 4K @ 60 FPS on my iPhone 11!
 
One thing, that was really neat about the flight, is that, at one point, I happened to look out the window just in time to see a Southwest airlines 737 whiz by only a few thousand feet below us And to our left.

Of course, I have seen videos of this. I have even had pilot friends who shared videos with me that they took from the cockpit, where another airplane flew directly overhead. But, this was the first time I have seen this myself.

It is absolutely unreal to see another airplane fly by, not that far away, in the opposite direction, with an approximately 1000 mph closing speed!

Wish I’d been filming!

RVSM is a helluva thing! It really brought home for me how important it is that the systems that allow RVSM are maintained properly!
 
john_pifer said:
It is absolutely unreal to see another airplane fly by, not that far away, in the opposite direction, with an approximately 1000 mph closing speed!
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Another really cool thing about RVSM is passing 1000 feet underneath a 4 engine'd airliner. Him going about M 0.8 (or less) and us going M 0.93 in a G650ER. The contrails from the huge plane move down a little and seem almost to be in our flight path. Despite the modest difference in speed, it's impressive to view the big beast from underneath as he is being passed.
 
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