F
or Captain Dave Lundy, service
has been an overriding focus of
his career. Starting immediately
after college, he flew active duty in the
military, spending 28 years serving in
the U.S. Air Force before transitioning to
commercial jets.
Now Lundy is engaged in service of a
different kind: He leads the team pu ing
together the flight operations and pilot
training requirements to bring the Boeing
787
Dreamliner into the United fleet.
“
Everyone should bemarried once, and
everyone should be part of a team that
brings on a fleet type once,” Lundy says.
He married his “amazing” wife, Cindy,
some three decades ago; as for the second
endeavor—well, he hasn’t been quite as
successful limiting himself to just one.
Before taking on the plane he calls the
“
Starship Enterprise,” Lundy shepherded
the inductions of the 757 and the 777.
“
The 757 was a piece of cake; the 777
was more complicated,” he recalls. “And
the 787 takes twice if not three timesmore
effort than the 777. There are significant
design and system changes, along with a
very sophisticated electrical architecture.
Although it does have a common type rat-
ing, it’s a vastly different airplane.”
“
Induction” means developing the
aircraft operating manuals and speci-
fications, training programs and other
resources needed to ensure that United
pilots are well prepared to step into the
flight deck of the new fleet.
For the 787, this intricate planning began
sevenyears ago. Then twoyears agoLundy,
six other cadre check airmen and two
ground instructorswent toBoeing to train
and learn about the new aircra , which
the manufacturer was still developing.
Lundy is one of the first four pilots out-
side Boeing to be type-certified on the 787.
He and the others based United’s training
on Boeing’s, but made significant changes
to be er prepare pilots for the job ahead.
For example, Lundy championed put-
ting heads-up displays (HUDs) in all of
United’s flight-training devices. TheHUD’s
glass screen superimposes instrument
data in front of thewindshield, within the
pilot’s field of vision. “It provides informa-
tion without your having to look down
at traditional displays,” Lundy says. “It
enables amuchmore efficient instrument
scan at the same time you look at the far
end of the runway.”
Lundy and others worked with HUDs
in the military, but the technology is new
to United jets. For that reason, Lundy felt
pilots needed to become comfortablewith
it from the very beginning of training.
“
Waiting to provide real HUDtraining to
787
pilots until theyhit the full flight simu-
lator or even the airplane itself is like trying
toadd ingredients toa cakea er ithasbeen
baked,” he says. “It just doesn’t work.”
Thanks to Lundy, United is the first air-
line to put HUDs inflight-training devices.
His a ention to such details makes him a
natural choice when the airline needs to
bring on a new fleet type.
Through the efforts of Lundy and his
team, United will have several hundred
pilots certified on the 787. But beyond
training others, Lundy is excited to be
flying the new aircra himself. “I began
my airline career flying Convair 580s, and
I’ll wrap it up flying the plane that sets
the standard for safety, efficiency and
passenger comfort for the next decade or
more,” he says. “Sure, we had to wait for it.
But it’s worth the wait.”
When Lundy talks about the 787, he
marvels at its 20 percent higher fuel
efficiency when compared with current
operating aircraft, and its 30 percent
reduction in maintenance and direct
operating costs. Those efficiencies open
up new possibilities for customers, such
as additional nonstop markets.
Lundy and his colleagues began flying
the 787 domesticallyNov. 4. The successful
induction marks yet one more achieve-
mentinLundy’s43-yearcareer—morethan
four decades of exemplary service from
just the sort of man needed to captain the
“
Starship Enterprise.”
Introducing aDream
Bringing on the new is familiar ground
for this captain of the fleet
BY A. AVERYL RE
16
DECEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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