I spent this week pilot testing at the Stockholm Arlanda Airport. I realize in this context, ‘pilot testing’ sounds like breathalizing the flight deck. We were actually doing some advance test measurements for the big sampling campaign we plan to start in a few weeks.
The first workers we were scheduled to measure worked the afternoon shift, starting at working 14:00 and ending at 23:30. It was a great test, and helped prepare us for the next afternoon shift on Tuesday, during the first big snowstorm of the year.
If the goal of piloting is to test our methods and our mettle, mission accomplished! It was cold and chaotic and blowing ice shards and everyone was really busy trying to de-ice the planes and get the bags loaded and unloaded. It was a little surprising to me that tractors and other machinery at Arlanda has non-pneumatic, slick tires without any tread at all. There is no chance for these to get through the snow when it starts piling up!
That is a cool shot: it feels so immediate, a view that most people don’t get to see.
Did someone forget to tell me about the height requirement for the Flight Loader Research Team?!? Good grief – I had no idea how much shorter I was compared to the rest of you! Good thing you let me into the group anyway 🙂