Welcome. Tell us some war stories.
So you are in your late 20s at a major and are thinking of leaving? Not really sure why, how far up the list will you be when you retire? Why not just fly a min schedule and peruse your interests. I always flew a min schedule and often times dropped trips, some months only flew 50 hours. You will never have another job where you can make the coin and have so much time off. I always looked at the airline like it was a way to do things when I wasn't working. I'll always cherish the flying I did between Japan and HNL. Nothing like departing KIX and doing the big turn to the left seeing the lights of KIX, then NGO, then Tokyo on a clear night then coasting out logging onto CPDLC listening to music while looking at the southern milky way a on the way to HNL.
Sort of like it was 95 years ago when these guys started the airlines in this country. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just remembered that this was my second attempt to paint aviation subjects and still one of my better pieces.
My first attempt. Please don't get the idea that I'm up-staging anyone. That description of night time flying and picking up the lights of civilization below triggered the essence of that painting. Also the lines from an airline pilot's poem, " Way up there in the cold night air, just God, the mail, and him." I did little of it but I always enjoyed flying at night.
I don't like all the traveling and staying at hotels, but I live in base so I am trying to do one or two day trips to reduce the number of hotels I stay at. I agree that the time off to earnings ratio is pretty good and like you said I can use that free time to pursue other interests. I grew up not thinking I would be a pro pilot, I was just going to fly for fun but got addicted to it lol. I retire in roughly the top 50 and am hoping to upgrade next year should things stay the way they are now. That will bring up the hourly rate nicely. I do like the retirement plan and would miss that (16% 401k). Overall I am happy and I know no job will be perfect.
Have you considered just staying as an FO and building seniority so you can have better control of your schedule?
Way back before the NWA/Delta merger there was a group of FOs based in MSP. They were some of the most senior people in the airline. Would bid out and backs. The most senior worked T W Th only. As far as my time at the airline I had a less than ideal career. Took 19 years to get to 50% on the seniority list. Would have ended up around 3200 at age 65. Was super glad to take the early out.
It just depends on what you care about more--money or schedule. Your earlier post seemed to indicate that schedule was a priority.
I do want to be home more. It's just not looking good this coming year with the economy and I'll probably get furloughed. Figure I could at least try to make a bit more money before it happens. I think heavily about leaving the job since I don't like it much but here I am for some reason.
There is a screaming pilot shortage right now. Hard to believe anybody is going to get furloughed without the opportunity to jump ship to another airline.
The airline business turns on a dime. They can go from hiring as fast as possible to furloughing in the same month. And once one airline starts furloughing, they all will. That said, it seems like even if things slow down a bit, a furlough situation seems unlikely any time soon.
Hello, Gents, Nick P. here checking-in from the Florida panhandle. Aviation has been the central theme in my life going all of the way back to my earliest childhood memories, and I've been very fortunate to have made a decent living while pursuing my passion. During my 21 years career in the USAF I was a Crew Chief on F-16s initially, before becoming a Flight Engineer on helicopters (MH-53J/M Pave Low) and then tiltrotors (CV-22B Osprey) in the Air Force Special Operations Command. After retirement I worked as a CV-22 simulator and academic instructor with Lockheed in Albuquerque, before relocating to Florida to assume my current role as Flight Test Engineer (instructor, evaluator) aboard the Osprey. I've been flying since 1998 and I hope to never stop. I have earned both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Apart from work, I enjoy aviation as a Private Pilot (ASEL), A&P Mechanic, experimental/homebuilt aircraft builder, scale plastic model builder, RC plane and helicopter pilot, reader/collector of aviation books, and frequent visitor to any aviation museum I can get to. Yessir....I'm an "airplane guy" (but I do cars and motorcycles, too)! My hero is a guy named Cook Cleland...ever heard of him?
As a design engineer on the V-22 for two years, welcome! I've worked with guys who went to Embry-Riddle. And yes, I know about Cook Cleland.
Nick- Welcome. My office in Albuquerque was right on the flight path for the CV-22s in the early 2000s. Wings were about 2/3 rotated at that point. Interesting airplane and now everybody is trying to do tilt wings.
Welcome, Nick. I did a similar duty in 1944 but not as accomplished as you. I used to build free flights when I was a kid, and built plastic models until recently. I worked on umpteen homebuilts and flew them, also antiques, my L-3 photo attached, I worked a lot with Pete Bowers, too, and not only helped to build Fly Baby but flew both versions. Flew his Pietenpol many times. I worked for the Boeing Kite Works for about 48 years and wrote a little book about all the things that I did. So, welcome aboard and enjoy the crew and the patter. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Greetings, Bob. Thank you for your kind words, and more importantly, thank you for your decades of meaningful contributions to American aviation! I look forward to reading your book ( I will start tonight...). Where you there when Tex Johnston rolled the Dash-80? What an amazing time that must have been!
Jim, thanks for putting-in the work on the Osprey. That plane has been bringing me home safe for 17 years now, and I think it's just the best plane EVER!
Terry, I brought the first CV-22 to Kirtland AFB, and that was in 2005. We had just finished-up DT at Edwards AFB, and were tasked with starting the schoolhouse at Kirtland. The Osprey has to bring the nacelles back (called "converting") in order to land or the proprotors will strike the ground upon touchdown. You can land the plane in "airplane mode"... but you only get to do it ONCE! I could go into great detail about the advantages of tiltrotor technology, and I am a true believer. I really thought there would be more tiltrotors by now, but the technology is so damn expensive.
Well everybody is a critic, right? You and I both know that most people who offer their "opinions" really don't know what the heck they are talking about! I stopped defending the Osprey years ago...when I realized that the plane was pretty good at defending itself.
The Osprey has a much better safety record than equivalent lift helicopters. Do not hear that enough. Plus, cruise speed is close to a C-130.
I was standing on the shore of Lake Washington when the -80 approached from the south and was taking film with my 8mm camera as it approached. When i saw it pitch up and start the roll I dropped my camera to my side, thinking that there was a problem and he completed it with me standing there in disbelief. So, I missed filming it. I said that,"He just rolled it!" The guy next to me said, " No, they can't do that to those big airplanes." The Tex came back to the south and did it again. I asked the guy , "What was that?" No answer. I knew Tex and the flight engineer on that flight and the FE said that if his eyes were closed , he would never have known that they had done a roll. I did some work on the -80 and that was the most exciting days of my Boeing career. From that airplane we went to the model 717 (KC-135) and the into history with the 707 series and all that followed . I worked on all of them up to the 777. A great ride. They finally kicked me out in 1992 and I was called back twice to work on advanced projects. Lots of good memories.
That is amazing...you were there to witness history being made! When we stood-up the first Osprey squadron in the USAF, the 71st Special Operations Squadron and began normal flight operations, we gave the squadron operations desk (a sort of local "command and control" entity that was equipped with a 2-way radio on a dedicated squadron-unique frequency) the call sign "Red Barn". We did this in honor of Boeing, which gave us the Osprey (along with Bell). That call-sign is still in use to this day. Thank you for your service, Bob.
