Phoenix Phest Reports and Photos!

[Passenger Mark]

Here we go! The fest started this morning with a great tour of the SWA Maintenance Hangar where we were able to crawl around, under, through, and on top of the planes. Our guide provided information as to just how serious they take their jobs, and it was evident by what we saw!

Our leader Bob!

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In the hangar...

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These planes look BIG in the building!

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Cool picture on the wall!

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Some work on an engine...

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Captain Ray

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The Famous Winglet

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Ray giving some information on the 700 in the background...

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Hmmmmm I wonder what is in here says Deb.....

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THIS!

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Where air goes into the heat exchanger...

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Folks... this is a $3,000.00 coffee maker!

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Looking out the emergency exit door. (got to open one!)

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If you ever wondered what an APU looked like.... here you go!

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[Passenger Mark]

Spoke with Jeff... and they are in Phoenix and heading to their hotel! Welcome to Phoenix Jeff!

[cshollingsworth]

Awesome pics Mark! I can't believe the wing! And this whole time I thought they were dainty and fragile and could not stand much force put on them...hmm...I must have been wrong! :tongue: Looks like fun out there in Phoenix!

[Rebecca]

Okay, I am starting to want to see an airplane up close. Captain Ray looks at them with such ... affection on his face! Thanks for the photos. Glad you had a good time!:cool:

[LeslieDEN]

I think I might be the first one home from this ... It was great! The maintenance tour was fantastic.

I don't have any pictures, but I'm sure Barb-SAN and others will post some when they get back.

Thanks, Deb and Ray!

[Passenger Mark]

Made it home extra early last night! The plane pushed back 5 minutes early, and thanks to some tailwinds we did 600+ all the way home. Arrived 20 minutes early at 11:05. Simply amazing that you can go from Phoenix to Nashville in 2 hours and 35 minutes!

[StPeteMark]

I made it home SOLO by 6:30pm yesterday (uneventful flights) and now back at work. :(

Anyway, it was a weekend of great experiences and good times! Between Nashville and Phoenix, a lot was learned about the airplane, pilots, crew, operations, and maintenance. If this opportunity comes up again, I urge anyone to go!!! It will increase you flying confidence 1000%!

Plus, there are good times at lunch, dinner and breakfast (for those who got out of bed :lol: ) ! Great seeing everyone again, along with Barb's friend Bob from Tucson, who has been grounded for awhile and now ready to get back flying!

Have to get back to work now; will post photos later.

Deb and Ray, thanks again for organizing this wonderful Flight Fest. Thanks also to Bob our co-tour guide and veteran jet mechanic and to Southwest Airlines for making these experiences possible!!! Ray, we really appreciate all the time you take to keep us fearful flyers in the air by participating on this board and in the Flight Fests!!!

Sincerely,
SPMark and Susan :) :)
.

[Barb-SAN]

I'd like to second St.PeteMark's post....it was a great weekend!

Thanks to DebbieLev for organizing the fest, and Capt.Ray for setting up the tour at SWA and spending the day with us and patiently answering so many questions. A special word of appreciation goes to Bob, our tour guide and jet mechanic at SWA who let us see and experience some things that passengers rarely get to do. ;)

It was fascinating and very impressive to see how clean the maintenance facility is, and the efficient systems in place for organizing and stocking parts and tracking them, as well as all the servicing done routinely on all the planes. If anyone has any issues about that aspect of flying....please, please try to arrange to go on a tour like this! It's also helpful, I think, to be able to spend time around the planes and learn more about them in a leisurely manner, without any pressure to have to board quickly and actually go somewhere.

:tiphat: to Passenger Mark too, for continuing to provide this board that makes it all possible for us to have these experiences and share them.

I got back to San Diego last night...beautiful sunset flight, quick and easy. I got to the airport about 3 hrs. early, having spent enough time in the sun at the Phoenix Zoo, and wanting to be sure I got the rental car back in time. So...I was very relaxed and practically fell asleep on the floor waiting at the front of the A line for an hour. It was worth it though...to get the window seat I wanted for sunset photography. Funny thing...some of my photos look just like Mark's!! :D And we were going in opposite directions.....:tongue:

I do have a lot of photos...will post some when I get a chance. But today I have work to catch up on....

[Barb-SAN]

A special thanks to LeslieDen for the very cool present of SWA sweatshirts!! :D Thanks to Deb's friend Nancy for taking the photo. She's had so much fun at the flight fests, even though she doesn't have fear of flying, that she's offered to be our mascot.

[Passenger Mark]

A special thanks to LeslieDen for the very cool present of SWA sweatshirts!! :D Thanks to Deb's friend Nancy for taking the photo. She's had so much fun at the flight fests, even though she doesn't have fear of flying, that she's offered to be our mascot.


Second that! Thanks Leslie for the cool shirt!!!

Here are some photos of our Mexican Fiesta on Saturday Night!!!

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Wonder what Jeff and Leslie are talking about???? Flying maybe???

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St. Pete Mark, Susan, Ray, Lou, Nancy, Debbie, Nick, and Leslie!

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Ray, Susan, Barb, Nick, and Debbie!

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Debbie in a lemon seed spitting contest. Ray is explaining the proper techniques!

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Lou and Nancy!

[Jeff California]

you cant see me in that picture, but I was not laughing when Ray lost his temper and tried to scare fof out of Debbie.

[Barb-SAN]

I was so impressed with how organized and clean the maintenance facility is.
Each mechanic has his own tools (stored in wheeled chests in a central area when not in use).
The sign above "Perfecting our craft daily" says "The Largest Fleet of 737's Flying High" "SWA Maintenance Aviation's Best".
All work performed on the planes is logged in the computer.
There are numerous sliding display boards over near the computer. These show hundreds of different small parts, nuts, screws, etc. Each is neatly labeled with the part number for quick reference.
Organization and preventive maintenance pays when time is money. Bob mentioned that SWA does not fly red-eye flights, reserving that time for routine maintenance of the planes.

[Barb-SAN]

That blue thingy on the floor in front of the plane is a custom built lift. PMark reminded me that: "It is used to lift the front of the plane (lower the tail) to get it in the hangar. The hangar was built for 737-300s, and the 700s have a taller tail." So then that lift is attached to the brown towing vehicle we can see in the 2nd photo...and the plane is pulled into the hangar.

Capt. Ray explained that the white swirl on the tip of the cone in the engine is annoying to birds and keeps them away from the engine.
Nancy is amazed at the size of the jet engine.

[Barb-SAN]

Here are some more photos of Bob explaining how the heat exchanger works.
To access the planes, (as there are no jet-ways in MX), we climbed up these moveable metal stairs. Capt. Ray pointed out that these stairs could be wheeled out to the tarmac to enable passengers to get off the plane if for some reason (like what happened with Jet Blue a couple weeks ago) the plane couldn't be brought to the jetway.

[Barb-SAN]

Capt. Ray explains the cockpit instruments to Bob. This is the newer, "glass" cockpit.
Nancy, Leslie, and Bob in the cockpit.
St.PeteMark, Susan, and PMark enjoy a relaxed stroll through the plane.
The last two photos show details of how the door is constructed. From time to time people here on TF ask if it's possible for the door to open in flight (No). You can see that there is metal on the outside that holds the door in place. Also there is a rubber seal so the pressurized air can't escape.

[Barb-SAN]

Here, mechanic Bob is showing how to open the exit door over the wing. There is a lever you pull down, then the door swings open (up) quickly. He said it is important to let go of the lever once you have activated it, as it will pull your arm (and you). The door is hinged, and automatically swings up out of the way so in the event of an emergency, the passengers can exit out onto the wing.
Debbie enjoys the view of the wing, seeming to be very excited by it.
Bob shows Mark how to safely close the exit door again. ;)

[Barb-SAN]

Bob and Barb at the controls (older style 737 cockpit).
PMark relaxes for a minute in the comfortable, leather, roomy, bulkhead aisle seat of the 737.
PMark in the aisle...I like the converging, clean "lines" in this photo. :) It's a view we don't notice when the plane is full of people boarding, putting their luggage away, etc.

[Barb-SAN]

I was noticing the white board behind the three mechanics in this picture. It looks like a low-tech, at-a-glance, concise summary of what's going on in the hangar...which planes are where, when they came in, what needs to be done, who is working on each one, and the time out the gate. :thumbsup:

[Barb-SAN]

Capt.Ray explains the structure and function of the wing.
Another view of the tool chests.

[Barb-SAN]

LeslieDen and Capt.Ray check out the baggage compartment.
Mark makes a quick cellphone call (great soundproofing in the engine) while Deb catches a quick nap. We seem to be getting more and more comfortable around these planes!

[Barb-SAN]

One interesting "factoid"...the flag is painted flying backwards from how it is usually depicted, as that is how it would look if it were a real flag, flying in the breeze (at 500 MPH)....:D

[Barb-SAN]

Some more plane/hangar/group photos...

[Barb-SAN]

The parts warehouse is in another section of the maintenance hangar. Lots of industrial shelving...lots of components. Bob told us the costs for estimates, repair and replacement of parts...it's much, much higher than auto repairs! Rather than replacing small electronic parts on a board, the entire board is replaced, and then the original board is sent for testing and repair/replacement of individual components on the board.

[Barb-SAN]

Capt. Ray examines the orange "black box" as mechanic Bob looks on.
PMark checks out the seat belt "extenders" (for passengers "of size").

[Barb-SAN]

And here we all are, at the end of our tour. Thanks again to Capt. Ray, Bob Greene, and SWA for letting us have such a wonderful and educational experience! :)

[Passenger Mark]

Barb... Thanks for posting those great photos!

For those that weren't there, it was just like taking the tour!

The thing that I was also amazed with was how clean everything was. Not a drop of stray oil anywhere. Not a bit of trash could be found. Everything was in it's place.

And the planes looked huge in the hangar!

I hope others here have checked out the photos and your descriptions closely. It shows that they don't just "slap" these planes together.

I wonder how much money SWA has invested in all the spare parts, etc? And this is just ONE of their bases!

[Barb-SAN]

Thanks from me, Barb, too. You caught everything we did, and then some! Even though I was there (physically, anyway!), I keep staring at these pics.

Good job!

Deb

I find I often notice more afterwards looking at photos than I do at the time I'm taking them. And, Deb, are we going to see your photos? ;)

[Barb-SAN]

Some of my photos don't have explanations...that may be because I couldn't remember the technical details. So if anyone has anything useful to add, please PM me, and I'll go back and edit and add additional commentary.

Also hope to see photos from others who were there. We all see things a bit differently, so it's interesting to see individual perspectives. :thumbsup:

[Barb-SAN]

Aha...I thought those were Mark's photos! Well, very good. Then all we are waiting for are St.PeteMark's photos...I think I saw him with a camera.