I’ve asked John Tullamarine for an opportunity to include a response to a post made previously in this thread, although the thread is presently closed for comment. One poster in particular claimed to have formulated my resume based on a number of posts that he or she sampled, and apparently intended that as a form of character assassination.
For the record, every statement he quoted me as making, regarding my experience, background, and qualifications, is true. There are no exaggerations, and nothing said there is inaccurate or untrue.
Yes, I grew up working at an airport, bicycling to the airport, and unlike many others, spent two years getting a private pilot certificate in high school because I worked it off one hour at a time. Yes, I began flying as a teenager, and yes, my first commercial flying job was immediately after high school, as an aerial applicator (crop duster). Yes, I flew a number of different Ag aircraft, including Pawnees, AgTrucks, Air Tractors, Dromaders, etc. Yes, I wear helmets when flying Ag aircraft.
Yes, I had a couple of chances to fly an airship, and no I didn’t do it for a living.
Yes, I flew B-24’s; a variant thereof called the PB4Y-2. It was a naval airplane, converted for air tanker work, performing firefighting duties. I fought fire on the ground doing structure and wild land (firefighter-EMT); I flew air attack, and flew single engine air tankers and multi engine large air tankers for a number of years. Yes, the 4Y, and several others, used piston auxiliary power units (Ranger engines with direct driven generators). Yes, it could be leaned by the color of the exhaust flames from the short stacks and collectors.
Yes, I started and ran an aerial advertising business, towing banners.
Yes, I flew the Piaggio Avanti (for about a thousand hours). Yes, I flew the Cessna 421B, and yes I had an rapid depressurization last year when the windshield failed. Yes, I flew the C-130A. It was a great airplane (when the wing stayed on). Yes, I’ve flown approximately 80 different aircraft during my career. I hope to fly a lot more, even if it’s just to sample one, before I’m done. That was always the goal, and I’m far, far from satisfied. Presently I fly the B747; it’s a position I chose not because it furthered a career track, and not because of the type of travel and flying involved, but because I had a desire to learn more about the airplane. In the course of flying it, I’ve had an opportunity to work alongside a very diverse group of aviators who have brought a wealth of backgrounds and experience to the table, from which to sample and learn.
As an aside, my first opportunity to fly the B747 came at the hands of a very generous poster on this web site. At the time, I felt it to be the highlight of a lifetime, and had no idea I would have an opportunity to go on to fly it in the course of employment. That particular individual was gracious enough to invite me into his home, offer friendship and support, and though he seldom posts here anymore, is a consummate professional in every way who always contributed here in his thoughts and comments.
I’m an aircraft mechanic, an ATP, a flight engineer, a flight instructor, and a ground instructor. I have five different FAA certificates. Frankly, I wish the FAA would put everything on one piece of plastic but they don’t. So yes, I have rigged ailerons, and worked as a mechanic and inspector privately, for the government, and for a number of different types of operations ranging from Part 135 charter to fractional to government service, contracting, etc. I have worked as a mechanic in repair stations, on the line, and privately. It’s kept my family fed when times have been lean, and it’s been my lifeline when furloughed. I’ve been a Director of Maintenance twice (and that’s enough). I enjoy turning wrenches, but I’d rather fly. I’ve been turning wrenches longer than I’ve been flying, having worked my way into flying as a kid assisting with inspections and performing maintenance as a mechanic’s assistant. I’ve been doing it ever since. I have six roll-away toolboxes full of tools, collected over my career thus far, one tool at a time, and I know with a near absolute certainty that as unstable as this industry is, I’ll quite likely have to put them to work again (and again).
Yes, I have experience performing sheet metal, fabric, wood, welding, tubing, hydraulic, composite, electrical, plexiglass, pneumatic, and numerous other repairs and maintenance. I’ve timed magnetos, overhauled propellers, changed cylinders on large radial engines, and worked on turboprops and turbojet aircraft. I was fortunate enough for a time to be employed in a repair station that performed nearly every category of maintenance, to be assigned in the course of that employment to every type of maintenance work that we did, in fixed wing, and helicopters. It was an intense, excellent learning experience for which I’m grateful, and from which I drew in later employment.
Yes, I have flown in Afghanistan and Iraq, doing very different things. I will not discuss either at length. Presently I do fly in to several locations in Afghanistan on a regular basis, and I will not discuss that in detail, either. I was in Kabul today.
At the time various posts were made regarding currency on certain airplanes or numbers of airplanes, they were correct. At the moment I am currently flying one airplane. I do hold a check airman letter in another type of airplane, and do maintain qualification for carding and employment purpose in other airplanes, though I’m not flying them at the moment. Throughout my career, I have performed a lot of seasonal, temporary, concurrent, part time, or contract flying. This has necessitated staying current in several airplanes, over the years, and as a general rule, I do. As of this writing, I am currently employed in one. I have been furloughed, laid-off, been out of work due to department closures, downsizing, and any other euphemism one can find for the ups and downs of this industry, and have taken leave of absence otherwise, to work where I could, when I could, doing whatever I could.
Yes, I did atmospheric research, cloud seeding, and related flying. I flew a Learjet 35A while performing that work, especially modified with under-wing equipment and racks of test accessories and pyrotechnics. I flew with others who were truly dedicated to that line of work and who belonged in that industry. I did not. I found the work educational and interesting.
Yes, presently in any given week I am in a number of different countries. Ten or more in a week is very common. My employment is in the Boeing 747, and we travel very long distances to a lot of different destinations. The nature of our work means a lot of variety in the flying we do, as a rule, as well as a lot of unpredictability, which does keep the job interesting. I was furloughed, and am employed again in the 747. During my furlough, I spent most of my time living in a tent in Iraq, I worked for two different employers, and flew 7 different aircraft in the course of employment, while maintaining legal currency in 9 (including the one from which I had just been furloughed, if it matters).
Yes, my experience is very verifiable, and fully vetted. I hold a security clearance which required a substantial background check, far more extensive than the ones I receive from my employers, and it’s done on a recurring basis every few years. No, I won’t provide the details thereof outside of employment, save for specific relevance to a topic under discussion. This post shouldn’t be necessary, except for wasted efforts of one particular poster in this thread.
To one poster who asked: no, I do not have kills in aerial combat, and no, I’ve never at any time claimed such to be the case (and no, it' not relevant to the thread, either). To the same poster, I’ll reiterate that any operation where I’ve had or done any in-flight training involving multi engine airplanes has always required in-flight shutdowns and restarts. Always. I can’t think of any exceptions. When one undergoes simulator training, this isn’t always conducted (sometimes it is), but during any training in the actual airplane, I’ve always shut down engines, and it’s always been required of me. The same poster asked where in the ATP practical test standards an engine shutdown is required; while it may not be a PTS requirement, single engine approaches are part of the program (and as such, it’s a regular part of nearly any multi-engine simulator training and type rating program, too).
No, the poster who supplied the links to the various threads did not come up with my resume, nor will he. He is not my employer. Furthermore, my experience, past, and qualifications are cited only at such times, and only in such detail, as is appropriate to the nature of the thread. It’s not my intention to list a resume here, and I haven’t. It is my intention to respond to the pathetic effort of the poster who attempted to attack my character, but who wholly failed. If any of the statements I made were inaccurate, then assuredly he’d have a “gotcha,” and it would be an embarrassment. As I take great pains to strive for correctness when I post, and as every single statement that he quoted is true, he’s achieved nothing in his effort.
By all means, go back and revisit the threads, if one has the time. None of that addressed the topic of this thread, and it’s the failure to address the topic of this thread that ultimately ended in its closure. That’s a shame.