Any one home ?

[farrari]

Seems no one flys in US of A

[before landing check list]

This is strange, only us here. Oh well, I am Jerry Litton. Good to meet you

[Gentleman Aviator]

Many of us pop in for a look around.
I think most of the Brits, who predominate on PPRuNe, are waiting to hear that INS have changed their rules and that the 'Majors' are waiting with open arms!

[Bokkerijder]

Is there an equivalent to PPrune in the US ?
If so (there must be) what is the www address ?

THX

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¡ Yo quiero Taco Bell !

[britavia]

Hi, the nearest thing to PPrune in the USA that I've found is the Aviation Communication board:
www.flightinfo.com (http://www.flightinfo.com)

It's basicially a copy of the now defunct ProPilot.com board.

PS. Plenty of people fly in the USA. More than in Europe for sure.

[Ignition Override]

Greetings, from near the Big Muddy. The foreign aviation topics seem to have much more variety than US topics. It is interesting to read about the duty period limits etc from e-mails I've exchanged with other pilots who are based in the 'Low Countries', Vienna.... Apparently, many of the British and others are unaware of how much our airlines and vital employee morale/trust were permanently damaged by deregulation over here in the Eighties, and maybe some are surprised at how many management promises are forgotton or disregarded. "Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them..."-is that how it goes? Many of them are getting a bitter taste of it, especially when they go to work for low salaries and see no growth in the near-future.

[pigboat]

Hello from the land of the frozen chosen. Anybody out there know if the Pirates House is still open in SAV?

[farrari]

Well Jerry, we are not alone after all!

[britavia]

Ignition Override:

Would you prefer to be unemployed or stuck in a dead end job, with huge debt in a cold, wet country, waiting for your big break?? I know of two people in that situation. The best they can hope for is a low paid job as a dispatcher or ATC. And that's after several years and a lot of money spent chasing the dream.

Agreed, regional pay sucks but at least you get turbine multi CRM. Better still (for a while) become a frieghtdog :-)

[Diesel8]

Hailing from ORD, joining the fray!

[DownIn3Green]

The lights are not out in Willow Run yet. Hi everyone!!

It hasn't really caught on yet, but AEPS has a duplicate of this forum. Duplicate that is if you count 129 members in 3 months and little to no controversy.

Cheers!!!

[before landing check list]

Good evening all, working mids now.Yes Pigboat, Pirates House, I know it well from 84-89. Lots of good times in SAV. Was a Army pilot there. Hello again Ignition Overide. Good to meet you. Hello Britavia, where are you going to be a freightdog? I am in the pool with ABX, hurry and wait. Just like the Army, lol. Maybe I will check out the AEPS site. Yes farrari, we are not alone


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carpe diem

[This message has been edited by before landing check list (edited 31 May 2000).]

[Diesel8]

Spent many a night in YIP.

[britavia]

Before landing checklist:

At Mountain Air Cargo (FedEx feeder). Not bad, Caravans and F27s. All night/early morning runs etc. Who's ABX?

YIP. Isn't that where Murray Aviation are? Do they still fly MU2s and pay c@#p?!!

[pigboat]

Yo checklist. You must have been at Hunter. Ya ever get to grab a granny night at the Quality, right across from the terminal? Betty was the head barmaid there back in the early eighties, and she used to call it "hawg call" :) We used to get into SAV at least twice a year to Flight Safety when we operated the G1. First time I visited the place, Gulfstream was just cutting metal for the G3. Brings back a lot of good memories.

[DownIn3Green]

Brit,

Yes, don't know, and probably.

Yes Murray, Don't know about the rice rockets but they do have Casa-212's, and the pay is probably as you described.

However, I know this to be fact. Low time guys, sign on with Murray, do one yr only there for the pay Britavia described, and there's a "flow thru" program directly into the right seat of a USA Jet DA-20 or DC-9.

Don't believe me? Call and ask.

And for you DC-9 guys out there out of work, USA Jet just bought (as in paid in full for) 3 more 9's, and can't crew them. I'm on the 727 for one of their subcontractors, and they asked me to come over, into the seat. (Left).

Check it out. Willow Run's hopping, but the door will close on this kind of deal real soon.

[before landing check list]

britavia, ABX is Airborne Express. I have about 2 hours in the 208, thought it was the most fun thing I have ever flown. What is flying Mountain Air cargo like? How long have you been doing that? Anybody remember the Hogs Breath Saloon on SAV?

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carpe diem

[before landing check list]

hey pigboat,
Never been by the terminal, so I missed out on granny night. If it was anything like the "menopause manor" in Fort rucker Al, it must have been interesting. So what are you doing in the great white north? Yes, I was at Hunter for a while. Yes, loys of memories? Do you fly those models you build?

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carpe diem

[farrari]

This is better, keep the posts coming guys. Regards Farrari

[enntwo]

Does anyone have any PERSONAL EXPERIENCE of light a/c flying in Florida in July/August?

I'm thinking of doing some touring/hours-building (from the Vero Beach area) at that time but I'm confused by conflicting reports of beautiful sunshine and rainstorms/bad vis/the odd hurricane in the summer months!

Any advice based upon personal knowledge would be appreciated.

enntwo
(UK PPL)

[before landing check list]

enntwo
Come on over, Spent a year in Jacksonville(north Fl) and spent time in MIA. Yes there is the ocasional Hurricane but you have days warning. Thunderstrms in the summer but that offers great experience (to avoid them) great overall weather. You will be welcome. :)

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carpe diem

[britavia]

BLCL:

I'm not yet flying for MAC (due to the annoyingly slow INS system), but should be in the groundschool early July. Good thing with them is they do have a referral scheme for direct entry to FedEx :-) Not many have been through it so far mainly 'cos they traditionally prefer ex-military guys.

enmtwo:

Florida is fine during July & August. Just gets very hot and humid quickly. Best time of day to fly is early morning or evening & night. Hurricane warnings are posted well in advance. Floyd was being watched as it started to form off the West African coast. Biggest problem at the moment are the bush fires, mainly in the West Central Florida region.

[pigboat]

Checklist, I retired in November '99 after 27 years with a mining company, the last 13 as director of flight operations. Company was downsizing, so I got a sweetheart pension deal. I just make plastic models of aircraft that I've flown, mostly in 1:48 scale. Generally superdetail them with positioned controls, complete interiors etc. The Hogs' Breath sounds familiar. If it's a bar in SAV, I've been there. Last time I was there was in '87, as we sold the G1 that year. (still around, 26AJ) Britavia, hope you get on with Mountain Air. We used to do recurrent at USAir in PIT on the F27, and ran into their crews frequently. Seemed like real nice people. If you got any questions I can help you with about the F27, zip me an email. I've got 12,000+ hours on the turbo blimp.

[before landing check list]

Well, I am on mids again here at Customs. I am also in the pool with ABX, anyone have any opinions on freight over self loading baggage? I am also trying for UPS. Maybe I should stick with Airborne, any opinions there?

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carpe diem

[RRAAMJET]

BL C/LIST:
What a huge debate this'll open up.....
Freight or Pax... there are strong opinions on both sides, it depends on your preferred lifestyle, whether you commute, etc. I was fortunate (?) enough to fly for one of the majors in Asia that did both before I joined all-pax US major. ( Farrari: I saw your un-informed postings at the Fragrant harbour..stay out of it if you haven't worked there ). At that time, I think all the pilots preferred the freight trips because you were your own boss, and the trip usually ran ahead of sched. The pax trips could be chaotic ( try loading 400 non-english speakers off busses in a typhoon onto a 747 - there's going to be frayed tempers and crying kids....! )
The down side was I didn't have a daylight landing in the 747-400 freighter! Freight goes at night, and that suits a lot of people and disrupts others.
I'll say one thing: I've never had an unhappy FedEx or UPS guy/gal in the jumpseat, so they must be doing good things over there.Don't know anything about ABX though, so I won't comment.
Britavia: you know me...hang in there,mate! Hope to see you around the traps at some point.
Good luck to all on this thread seeking new jobs. I used to work night charters in Europe when I was starting my airline career, so I know how tough it can be....

[britavia]

RRAMJET:

I'm hanging on here..just don't know what to!
However, if all goes well, on Tuesday I'll get my EAD :-)

Freight or pax? Obviously I'm gonna say freight right now, but I'll be keeping my options open. The F27 stuff is Pt.121 which is handy.

[britavia]

EAD is in hand as from today, and I've been thrown a curveball. ACA (United Express) have just rung me and start talking about an interview! Hmm..Junkstreams and Barbie jets w/self loading freight or F27s/Caravans at night? What a decision!

[before landing check list]

Well, still in the pool at ABX, good news is that I am "I am in the 40's" so almost there I guess. How is everybody else doing?

[britavia]

ACA rang again, this time to schedule an interview. I think it will be either the 20th or 22nd. No news on a start date with MAC yet. ACA only pay $200 pw flat rate whilst on IOE though (2-3 months).

[before landing check list]

Hey Brit, check out Wiggins Airways. They start at 500+ flying c208's or B99's. # is 6036299191 ext 235.
good luck

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carpe diem

[britavia]

Oh yes..I remember seeing them when I was up in MA a couple of years ago. FedEx feeder correct? I doubt the wife will like going up to New England though. She doesn't like anything north of Carolina!

[vampire]

B4lndgcklst.

About ABX.Nothing wrong with the equipment or training,certainly one of the top four freight airlines to work for,the others being UPS,FEX,DHL.ABX hiring is now up to a trickle.DC-8s are being parked and replaced with the B767.In other words,three pilots are being released into a two pilot aircraft resulting in a pilot surplus.Pay and working conditions are at the upper end,15 days a month off guaranteed with base left seat salary after 5 yrs service at around $150K.Some senior guys actually more than double this figure,those at the 10 yr point take in over $200K with overtime.

A friend 6 months ago was #60 in the pool,he ended up going to UPS which was a good decision because:

1)ABX will in time either merge,get boughtout or go Tango Uniform.
2)The rapid upgrade is a thing of the past,a lot of stagnation on the seniority list nowadays.
3)Contract talks start next year,will probably very quickly turn ugly.

If the other 39 ahead of you are still in the pool then it will be a good while prior to your being called.

As for flying at night,as the user name suggests,I love it.Morning type people of course never adapt and move on.Horses for courses and all that.

[rnobson]

Willow Run is still alive and well and some of us can still make a shilling or two

[Ignition Override]

Greetings Britavia: Good to see you have the ground school date. I agree with you on the tough choices, and certainly didn't mean to sound critical of those of us who had to work at low salaries-either a terrible salary or no job opportunity: I did my share.

My comments were only intended to suggest that the problems caused by US deregulation here, long ago in the early thru late 80's, appear (to me) to often be a surprise to pilots in other countries, when similar results take place. It is a shame what has happened around the world where this happens, but it is real hard to anticipate the job market and pay/benefits until it happens in a given market. It was a disaster here for thousands of pilots.

Will you guys be based in the eastern US, or out in the mountainous regions?

[before landing check list]

Hey Vampire, we need to talk. Write me will you?
thanks

[ironbutt57]

hey pigboat you can still HEAR? amazing!

[britavia]

Ignition Override:

Thanks for the email. Looks like MAC will be starting either August or September. TBD in about 2 weeks time. Whilst $22,500 for an FO in the F27 might not be great, look at the regionals, some of which start as low as $14,500 (mentioning no names). Training package is very good though, all expenses paid, $50 a day pay and $27 per diem on top. After nearly 3.5 years instructing, I'll be rich again LOL.

ACA interview was supposed to have been on the 26th, but the flight from JAX to IAD was cancelled (suspect no crew available?) so it is now to be July 7th.

[A and C]

When you guys say that there is life at willow run is it at zantop or USA jet ?

[britavia]

Looks like it will be MAC for me as ACA didn't like me (ahh..shame ;-) I think had ACA hired me, I would have gone for it. Seems like a good operator to work for with plenty of expansion in the pipeline.

To those flying cargo, how difficult is it to adapt to a noctural existance?

[britavia]

North Carolina calls...August 21st, at last!