OJT Honeywell USA 1988

 

The Flight Control Equipment system commonly known as "auto-pilot" was initially invented by Sperry (now part of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies) so World War II bomber planes could fly steady enough to hit precise targets from high altitudes. The first Honeywell C-1 autopilot installation was on a B-17 in 1942. Honeywell Aerospace Technologies provides avionics, aircraft engines, flight management systems, and service solutions to manufacturers, airlines, airport operations, militaries, and space programs.

(Picture from Personal File)

I was one of 8 members of Pakistan International Airlines who attended on job training of B-737 Mode Control Panel (MCP) at Phoenix, Arizona Honeywell Complex. After two weeks it was our Eid-ul-Fitre which we celebrated along with our week end. After Eid prayers we rented a Volvo van accommodating all of us and drove to Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon from Phoenix is about 225 miles by road. Depending on what time of the year and day of the week we plan to go there, it is about a 4 hour drive. The itinerary goes from Phoenix to Sedona to Flagstaff to Williams to the Grand Canyon to Prescott to Jerome and back to Phoenix.

How lucky to enjoying One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Grand Canyon is an unbelievable spectacle of nature. It is a great, huge slash in the surface of the earth - 217 miles long, 4 to 18 miles wide and a mile deep, with the Colorado River flowing at the bottom.