BBall,Just wanted to thank you for these fantastic shots you've posted here. Really enjoying them. Many Thanks,J

I'd like to second that opinion.On top of my gratitude for BBALL taking the time out of his busy day at work to snap some shots and post them for all of us, his articles on Frugal's world are an excellent source of entertainment. He obviously loves his job, and has a great sense of humour.The series leading up to his checkride are the ones that I find most fascinating. I can totally see why a publication like Mike Ray's is so valuable. They really lay it on you guys!! The reroute from Logan to LaGuardia sounds like absolute hell - I would be working away like mad just to reprogram my computer and yank out the appropriate charts - without having to deal with generator problems, glideslope failures, briefing the F/A, playing PR man to a plane full of ###### PAX, and yelling at dispatch. (Of course on VATSIM I would be forced to know what I was doing or else face the wrath of the "King" in ZNY )Wow. After reading all of that I will never again make any bad comments about NWA. The last time I flew with them was from CYWG to KMSP in the dead of a winter snowstorm (and at the end of a LONG day of travelling after my office "dispatch" decided to send me to MSP from YYC via YEG and YWG rather than just take the A319/20 that flies to MSP direct every day) and we landed in what could only be descibed as MINIMUMS. I was staring out the window from the moment we started to descend out of cruise, and the first time I saw anything that was not cloud or snow was as we crossed over the river right before the threshold. It must have been only a few hundred feet AGL. The aircraft touched down nice and light on the numbers. I could hardly believe it! The trip from the airport to my hotel in a rental only served to verify the skill with which these guys perform day in and day out.Thanks again Captain Ball - keep the shots and the stories coming - they are much appreciated.Sincerely,Ian Elchitz CYWG

Nice story Ian. I want to add another note of thanks to Captain Ball for the very interesting insights into the real world side of our hobby.

I'll throw in my thanks to Captain Ball as well. He must have an excellent sense of humor based on the captions. Some of them almost got me in trouble. I guess I shouldn't be looking at them at work. If my office looked like his, I guess I'd be less tempted.

Gentlemen,Thanks for all the kind words. I assure you, if I didn't love darn near everything "aviation oriented", since cancer in '99 and 9-11 in '01 (a different kind of "cancer" IHMO), I would've packed it in and taken that job playing the piano at the brothel I was offered (not really :D, but it sounds good right?).Actually, taking pictures of something you love is the easy part....in fact....I've thrown more up on another thread :D.thanks again guys,oh, and along with my Column over at Mark's site, I also pen what he calls "Logbooks" about my experiences in this wacky world of flying (you'll also find some GREAT reads from two of our other contributors....Ian "Chunx" Anderson who flies the F/A-18 Super Hornet, and my good friend Lloyd "Bozo" Abel who did the F-14 Tomcat flying in the movie "Top Gun"...he also flies for NWA and we were at times roommates flying the DC-10 out of our Boston base)http://www.frugalsworld.com/logbooks/index.shtmlcheck em out...later,BBall----------------------Capt. William "BBall" BallBoeing 757, Northwest AirlinesSenior Editorwww.frugalsworld.com

Fantastic pics and stories, thank you VERY much! :D

I agree...many thanks, Captain, your posts always make for a great read.:-beerchug

Just another 'thanks' captain, really enjoy the shots and your sense of humour, keep 'em coming.