Ice pilots

[Nark]

Eric,
Long time! Welcome back. I’m glad to see they paroled you from that Turkish prison.


I’m extremely fortunate to be in a position with a CV that I can pick and chose certain (flying) jobs. I’m not a god by any means, but I have more than 250 hours.

Click the link in my signature block. I’m at a crossroads with the Beech restoration. Either send the engine(s) down for OH or purchase a hangar to put a roof over its head. I’m not a Delta pilot so I can’t afford both at the moment.

Unless Scud wants to send a little love to get the project finished sooner. I was literally in Bogota today, ya know, doing import/export stuff.

On the mil side I was approached to fly in a fixed-wing transport program. As a National Guard guy, my full time job is flying a jet transport… why would I want to do the same, but wear a green suit doing it?

Same concept I suppose flying a DC3 or C46 for Joe. This thought experiment takes liberties on a few things.

[Squaretail]

Never been a better time for a new pilot.

Indeed. There are so many more initial opportunities, gone are the days of needing three shuttle landings, five combat kills and ten years of bush experience to fly a 206.

That said, with these opportunities, there's all the beartraps for the newbies. If you are one reading this, there are better places to work so don't put up with shyster operator shenanigans. There's another place to get hours at. Learn the rules under 702 and 703, and if your boss ain't following them, go somewhere else.

[Nark]

Never been a better time for a new pilot.

if your boss ain't following them, go somewhere else.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Chuck had in his signature block “the hardest thing to learn, is to say no.”
Never have truer words ever rang out.

It’s a hard thing to say to your boss.

I was extremely blind and ambitious as a youngster trying to break in to this industry, willing to jump on any ladder. Thank God a path was laid out for me that required a pause and leaving Canada. (I’m not shitting in the Canadian industry, I’m just saying working the ramp in -40 sometimes isn’t the only path to sling gear, then move over to the left seat.)

[Colonel]

A constant in your life, will be people pressuring you to do things which are beneficial to them, and of extremely dubious value for you.

If anything bad happens, the reptiles applying the pressure will not lose a moment of sleep.

After a lifetime spent observing the human condition, I sm certain that over 99% of people will make the wrong choice, when faced with a difficult one.

Normalize the deviance and carry on, and hope you’re always lucky.

I think there’s a woman that used to fly for Delta. Fascinating story.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/b ... ught-back/

Delta’s pet contract doctor:

Altman in 2020 forfeited his medical license rather than face charges over his conduct

Is that “business as usual”? Maybe for Southwest.

… all this to say, is that given the choice, I’d rather work for Joe. And not those reptiles at Delta. Or Southwest.

[Squaretail]

I’m just saying working the ramp in -40 sometimes isn’t the only path to sling gear,

There's the flip side to that, I really didn't envy two guys I run into in Nevada doing that in +45C, after their company sponsored rest on a mattress in the back of the hangar. Then they went and flew the planes.

[Nark]

Very much agreed.

If your end state is to switch the autopilot on in the climb and comment about the tranny FA*, there are many paths to that end state.


*ask me what I did this morning…

[Squaretail]

Personally I'm hoping to make it through this aviation career without ever having a co-pilot nevermind an FA to talk about.