Am I a freight dog?

[Send Clowns]

I am orphaned!

As a flight instuctor, I had a forum here. As a ground instructor I was one side of a forum, helping the students on the other side. Now I fly a little aeroplane for hire, a tart flying anything, pax or freight - am I GA or am I a freight dog? There seems to be no-one flying MEPs on either forum!

Do I count as a freight dog because I have seen the sun beginning to brighten the horizon as I finished tidying the cockpit after my flight? Do I not count because I can put seats in the back and carry 4 anorexics? Are we really so rare that there are no more PPRuNers flying light freight? It's a fantastic job, I enjoy it immensely. Certainly nothing beats the satisfaction of touching down before dawn having delivered transplant organs to the waiting ambulance and police escort.

[Hunter58]

I my extremely humble optinion the fact that your payload (the load generally associated with some revenue for the company) in it's entirety consisted of materials and no human living bodies makes you a freight dog.

Now of course I can be wrong...

[Shore Guy]

:) :) :)

You Know you’re a freight pilot if…

Your aircraft was getting old when you were born...

You haven't done a daylight landing in the past 6 months...

ATC advises of smoother air at a different altitude and you don't give a toss...

When you taxi to up to an FBO they roll out the red carpet but re-roll it when they recognise you...

You call the hotel bus and they don't understand which part of the airport you are on...

ATC asks you to "Keep the cattle down" so they can hear you speak...

Your aircraft has done more than 75,0000 cycles...

Your company call sign is 'Oil Can'...

The lady at the FBO locks up the coffee machine and removes the complimentary mints as it looks as if you are about to make a meal out of them...


Your aircraft has more than 8 faded company logos on it...
You wear the same shirt for a week and no one complains...

Every FBO makes you park out of sight of their building...

You walk bare footed throughout the FBO because you've just woken up...

You mark every ramp with engine oil...

Everything you own is in your flight bag and suitcase

You wake up when the rest of the world goes to bed and go to work when the rest goes to sleep.

You smirk at all the american pilots asking for a ride report.

The cabin is never too cold or warm, always just right.

You never have to explain to anyone why there is a delay.

You're the one flying against the flow over the north Atlantic.

you're the one with the extremely wrinkled shirt because it doubles as your pajamas.

Your dog barks at you when you come home

-You have shirts in the cleaners on three continents

-You've never met your chief pilot

-You can convert dollars to won, yen, pesos, pounds, and francs in your head

-Your frequent flyer miles exceed your salary each year

-you wake up on the hard shoulder of the highway when everyone else is tucked up in bed

When you can eat off of a dinner tray that's been sitting outside someone's room all
night.

...you are cleared direct everywhere.

...you start to wonder what's wrong with ATC if you haven't got your landing clearance by 50 miles from the FAF.

...the first runway condition report of the day is given by: you.

...you have never disembarked your aircraft on to a jetway.

[Send Clowns]

See this is the problem!

While I can tick some of Shore Guy's fantastic points, and while usually my payload has no live people, I do sometimes carry true, live people. At least once a week, as we have a contract to do so. We even do catering, and I have to make the coffee. Yet today I truly didn't care that London kept me high, and I had to make a screaming descent through the edge of a CB. The Toyota parts weren't complaining, and I rather enjoy flying like a hooligan when it's allowed :} Not even other crew to complain, I'm on my own!

I don't always fly late at night (although I do), Dollars and Yen are not very relevant to me, as Poland is as far East as I can get in one hop, but I haven't met my chief pilot, and it doesn't matter that my iron and (by a slight error in a hurried recall) most of my shirts are in Bournemouth! So I feel I have a lot in common with the freight dog, but see no-one here (except Phil Brockwell I have seen does post) mentioning flying in light aircraft!

[redsnail]

At the moment it sounds like ops normal GA.
Not true "freight dog" ops.

You know when you're a true freight dog when the idea of going to Australia or New Zealand appeals because you'll already be in synch with the time zones :D

Enjoy.

[Send Clowns]

Have you looked in the GA forum? There is no-one there flying MEP at all - their passengers wouldn't consider my aircraft after seeing the colour scheme let alone only having one crew and having props at the front.

[captjns]

Lets not forget but we must learn the latin word for cargo pilot, or freight dog:

"Cargo Kaninas" :)

[Phil Brockwell]

Car Parts and Offal, more of a freight guinea pig really.

Phil

[Atlanta-Driver]

Send Clowns... It's spelled DAWG ;) and y most certainly qualify.

Shore Guy. I could Identify myself. Nice one.

Flying mostly cargo and then pax inbetween makes one appreciate cargo ever so much. Getting through customs with 3 crew instead of waiting for 12 to 14 cabin crews is as simple as it gets. You won't hear me complain if I never have to fly another PAX flight :eek: