Pilots/Aviation nuts? sound off!

[p-factor]

(quotes truncated for brevity)

...I flew a CRJ200 based out of Detroit for a year, and when our Atlanta base opened, I went to go fly the brand new $20,000,000+ airplanes ... shiny new jet syndrome they call it I guess ..

Regarding the mins that appear to be coming forth, Experience is a valuable thing when holding people's lives in your hands, but I am unsure how flying around a pole for 1000+ hours prepares you for a right seat job in a jet. You can get really good at turns around a point and slow flight, but making the transition to an aircraft that is all glass and has a 140 knot approach speed...not so much...

It will be an interesting situation to watch...

Mike

 

Interesting take on this issue.

Why do you assume that *all* career oriented pilots will do nothing but flight instruct to earn the required experience. The proposed legislation only applies to airline pilots, there are many other ways to gain valuable experience other than flight instructing.

 

The industry practice of students learning from 300 hour instructors who themselves were trained by 300 hour instructors who then go on to become 400 hour regional FO's flying 50+seat swept wing jets with 1600 hour captains is troubling.

 

Sure, there are very good schools that have airline/jet specific training and programs meant to fast-track a student to the right seat of a jet. Some of these programs are very good, some are not so good, and others are crap.

 

I wish I had time to discuss further but I have to run. I find your opinion on this issue interesting, and I think it is very typical of a person who was trained at a large Florida flight academy to get to the right seat of a regional jet.

[Rolling Parts]

I think what gives me the biggest scare as a mechanic is how allot of the pilots in our training program (both trainees and instructors) like to just hop in the plane and go.

 

 

Good point.

That's more prevalent at big flight schools that have fuel services, planes are inspected every 100hrs, and every plane has a "squawk sheet" with the keys. It's almost like a rental car fleet mentality where drivers just jump in the car & go because of all the support infrastructure is in place to service and inspect for them.

[S130Z]

Great point ThrustNut. Cracking jokes on the first ride might not be the best idea. I strongly believe in good first impressions and would hate to come off as careless.

[Globerunner513]

 

The three most useless things in aviation... 1. Fuel on the ground 2. Airspeed you don't have 3. Altitude above you

 

4. Runway behind you.

 

Found out first hand the other day how easy it is to start compromising what you know is safe, in the interest of making a flight work. I was planning on taking a friend of mine up this past weekend over the San Juan islands so he could propose to his girlfriend (his idea..lol). Anyway the weather was marginal at best, but doable if you really wanted to. Made it as far as the run-up area at the end of the runway and had to come back to the hangar. Winds gusting to 30kts with pressure falling like an anvil. Not that I couldn't have flown the conditions if it happened unexpectedly, but I figured why go into the situation willingly, and then wish you were on the ground.

 

I know it was the right choice, but still sucked to have to make it. I can't imagine how much harder it is for you commercial folks who have to tell that to a plane full of people.

Edited April 1, 2010 by Globerunner513

[thrustnut]

Good point globerunner... I don't think that part of the runway ever helped anyone. In refrence to your decision not to go, good call. What I like is our charter pilots who come back with problems, so you tell them to write them up so yu can ground the aircraft and dig in and they say "Well I don't want to do that if I'm gonna miss a flight." It's a fine line between safety and buisness.

[Z-Gad]

Interesting take on this issue.

Why do you assume that *all* career oriented pilots will do nothing but flight instruct to earn the required experience. The proposed legislation only applies to airline pilots, there are many other ways to gain valuable experience other than flight instructing.

 

Oh, no!!!

I certainly do not believe *all* career oriented pilots do nothing but flight instruct It is simply the most 'mainstream' method of gaining flight hours, and something is to be said for teaching someone else to fly, as one of the best ways to learn something thoroughly is to teach someone else to do it. It just doesn't prepare you for the transition and I have heard some great instructors wash out of initial airline training... There are many ways to gain experience and I get plenty of different backgrounds listening to other pilots that I fly with (for example, some have corporate backgrounds, some have flown flight watch, some are professional flight instructors, some have gone the cargo route, some have military backgrounds, some have flown for the forestry, some have flown checks, even cropdusting, etc). Right now though, flying jobs "the other ways to gain valuable flight experience", are few and far between in any form. One good thing about the lack of flying jobs is that since there is no movement, the average experience level of all of the airlines (especially the regionals) is increasing...

[S130Z]

Just took my Discovery Flight! I have to say that it was pretty awesome! We will see what goes on from here. I may end up joining the Air Force to get my licence, also wouldnt be a bad career choice.

[Globerunner513]

Be aware that the air force, or any other service requires you to be an officer to fly. (save for the Army warrant officer program...but that's for rotor heads). In order to be an officer, you need a 4 year degree. Also, pilot spots are in short supply, which is why I chose to get my degree first and then go to Officer Candidate School if the chances down the road are better to get a pilot slot. Friends of mine did ROTC and they were lucky enough to land a slot. Props to them for sticking it out.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed it though! Keep at it!

Edited April 5, 2010 by Globerunner513

[S130Z]

I am fully aware of the requirements to fly in the military. And my instructor was very cool and layed back. He had me do pretty much everything. I taxied down the runnway, took off, flew around, and he assisted me in landing. I guess he felt comfortable with my skills to have me land, I told him he was crazy and it would probably be a bad decision. Regardless, I had fun and would love to persue the career, no matter how hard I have to work for it.

[1 tuff z]

i knew several army warrant officers who were flying fixed wing-but they were the exception. this was, however, many years ago and may not be the case today. i was flying hueys at the time and i believe the fixed wing were beech queen airs. then there is always the old ov-10? memory on those is pretty sketchy now. hopefully someone here is active army and will be able to verify and/or add to this.

 

Be aware that the air force, or any other service requires you to be an officer to fly. (save for the Army warrant officer program...but that's for rotor heads). In order to be an officer, you need a 4 year degree. Also, pilot spots are in short supply, which is why I chose to get my degree first and then go to Officer Candidate School if the chances down the road are better to get a pilot slot. Friends of mine did ROTC and they were lucky enough to land a slot. Props to them for sticking it out.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed it though! Keep at it!

[Globerunner513]

That would be awesome if there was more fixed wing opportunities through the Warrant Officer route. My recruiter was gunning for me to go rotor-head but I turned it down for the time being. Though I made my intentions of fixed wing flying clear, he never mentioned any other options. Then again...that's a recruiter for ya

 

And that sounds like a fantastic first flight!! Always great to have a confident instructor.

[Globerunner513]

Direct quote from a passenger boarding a few weeks ago:

 

Passenger - "Um, excuse me...where's the back of the plane?"

 

(boarding from stairs at front and aft of the plane, with the entire aircraft clearly visible as passengers walk towards it)

 

I can't WAIT until I get to have a nice reinforced door that locks between me and the cattle.

[thrustnut]

Just had a guy nose our 172 RG into the runway a couple days ago. I don't think have ever seen a prop so messed up. He got mixed up in a crosswind and landed on the left main and and the prop, somehow hitting the right wing tip on the ground in the process. After the incident he drove the plane through the dirt between the runway and taxi way... at what point do you just stop and call it a day? BTW the prop on there was a fresh overhaul, less the 15 hours on it. Oh well, whats 6,000.00 in airplane parts.

 

Oh, and this is the third off roading prop strike type incident in this aircraft in three years.

[Globerunner513]

GEEZ. That sounds like quite the spectacle. I'm having a hard time figuring out the right wing tip part... must have been some crosswind.

 

It's a direct drive to the prop right? So I'm guessing a lot of internal parts are going to need replacing as well? Ouch

[thrustnut]

Direct drive prop, engine has to come out and get sent out for teardown and inspection. Got the wing tip off, suprisingly little damage to the forward wing close out end cap. Wing tip is shot though. I will try to post a pic of the prop... pretty cool looking.

[Globerunner513]

A series of unfortunate events...

 

So after pushback today and just as the aircraft started taxiing out, another ramper noticed some fluid gushing out of the nose-wheel area. According to her, it looked pink-ish. We contacted the aircraft and had a mechanic go out to the taxiway to check it out. In the mean time we checked the spot where the aircraft had leaked the fluid.

 

Turns out the fluid on the ramp was COFFEE! Ideas were flung around as to what it could come from, and it was thought that maybe a mechanic left a coffee cup up in the wheel well the night before. Who knows. The mechanic at the aircraft looked around and for the life of him couldn't find any coffee or spill or cup or anything up in the nose gear area.

 

Apparently the drain tube that connects to the front galley sink, front lav sink, and floor drain is located just behind the nose wheel. As it happened, a flight attendant spilled a cup of coffee at the same moment that the plane started to taxi. The bright low morning sun shining through it made the coffee look red/pinkish. Go figure. LOL

Edited May 15, 2010 by Globerunner513

[getoffmyinternet]

Didn't realize there were so many out there!

 

A&P as of January, still looking for a job :/

[p-factor]

Just had a guy nose our 172 RG into the runway a couple days ago. I don't think have ever seen a prop so messed up. He got mixed up in a crosswind and landed on the left main and and the prop, somehow hitting the right wing tip on the ground in the process. After the incident he drove the plane through the dirt between the runway and taxi way... at what point do you just stop and call it a day? BTW the prop on there was a fresh overhaul, less the 15 hours on it. Oh well, whats 6,000.00 in airplane parts.

 

Oh, and this is the third off roading prop strike type incident in this aircraft in three years.

 

Thanks to a similar crap pilot, I have a pristine looking polished prop from a 172 hanging in my house.

Same deal, BRAND new engine and prop, I think it had maybe 20 hours on it. Renter coming home from some trip and encountered some weather, decided to land at a little po-dunk airport with an extreme crosswind. Bounced, skipped, ran off the runway, across the parallel grass runway, and straight out into a field. At which point he ran STRAIGHT into one of those giant 10 foot tall bales of hay. Direct hit, engine first.

Engine/nosewheel ended up wedged under the fuselage, it was pretty yucky.

Well they sent the prop back to hartzel to get it bent back into shape, since he didn't hit anything hard it wasn't scratched or sliced as if it would be if he hit asphalt.

Anyway. Hartzel sent it back, red-tagged, irrepairable. Apparently he hit the hay bale at near full throttle (which baffles me why, but explains why we careened so far off the runway) and the prop was not only bent back under the nose, but it was bent chord-wise along the axis of rotation. Can't be fixed.

Long story short, it looks like a brand new prop, but it just rests in the corner of my stairwell landing looking pretty.

[thrustnut]

The last off runway trip this RG had was an etreamly long landing into the dirt and an embankment at the end of the runway. Again, pilot wrecked the plane, turned around and taxied back to the FBO. The killer is this plane is a replacement for the last 172RG that was totaled on landind (gear up- pilot error). I don't understand what it is about a 172RG that makes them so hard to keep on all three wheels on the runway.

 

I got dibs on the prop, I'm sure it's unreparrable (bent back about 10 inches up the blade, still has some runway stuck in it!)

[Globerunner513]

So Spirit Airlines pilots are now on strike as of Saturday morning. Apparently its going pretty well too for them, not even management pilots or other airlines are willing to SCAB for Spirit. (except i think 2 or maybe 3 flights operated by a small carrier that now no longer will fly either).

 

It should be interesting to see how it pans out. Definitely is the wake up call this industry needs.

Edited June 14, 2010 by Globerunner513