Aye Ess, we did not have a AFAP rep meet us, though the AN boys did, and I have always regretted not throwing the sanctimonius little pr$%k (who followed me like a sheep dog onto the flight deck probably thinking I was going to destroy the fltdk with the crash axe) down the freckin stairs. Had I known how it was all going to turn out, it would have been worth a couple of nights in the wallopers B and B for the sheer satisfaction. No mobiles then, so until the AN lads told us what was happening, we had not a clue what was going on. The TAA rep hid in his office, and I felt very sorry for my cabin crew, but they took it on the chin and backed us. Ah the memories.

Captain Sherm. Thankyou. I was away for 18 years. Im now home.

Ive had this discussion in Anchorage, Narita, Bolivia, Rome, San Paulo, The Caymans, New York, London, Guam, brussells, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Macau, Iran, Borneo, Jakata, Singapore, Vancouver, Shaghai, and the Emirati.

I lost my Family ,my lifestyle, my home, my sweetheart and my best mate who could no longer handle the situation. He was a far better and stronger man than I.

I havent however lost my hope for the amazing thing that professional flying is.

Ive only got a couple of years left. Ive found that now I look out the windshield a whole lot more.

I was away for 6668 days. Im now home.

MY HOME. Australia.

We cannot let this happen again to Australian pilots.

Thankyou Sherm. Your beautiful prose made this old bloke teary.

MCD :D

Grow up fellas!...

I don't think you really know how tough it was for some of those less fortunate than you!

Pratling on about the wonderful time you've had o'seas, and the big dollars you've made, and the exotic places you've been to, far beyond your wildest dreams...

and then crying poor and weeping in your wine glass!...

and wanting our sympathy!

Have a think about those who lost their careers, lost their future and are now doing it hard! And have been since 24/8/89...

and there are lots of them, especially the young guys who couldn't sell them selves o/seas as you and I did!...

and you're bleating "poor me"...

gimme a break!

Just belt up, shut up and pull your head in!!

Obie! You still hearing those voices in your head? :E

I well recall walking the streets of Cairns and seeing one sign at a closed down small cafe saying "No tourists - bloody pilots -no money - I'm off" And in a hotel talking to the reception clerk who said no tourists, and his job in jeopardy and a contractor who supplied eggs to same hotel saying he was fast going broke with no one buying his eggs. There are always two sides to a story...

I hope we're finished now and no one will come back next year with this stupid 'anniversary' nonsense !!

Obie, I don’t honestly think there was any triumphalism in anything I wrote. No “Mission Accomplished” no “Weren’t We Great?” or anything remotely similar.
It’s just a date which means something to some Pprune readers that’s all. How could you read into this simple epistle something to be so angry about? If I inadvertently used unfeeling words or phrases that triggered your response then I apologize.

There is no spin to this note. No anguish or recrimination. No hidden message of reproach to those who have different stories, different values, different allegiances. No need for rolled eyes because it’s not your world. If there are lessons to be drawn…..draw them. Sherm neither preaches nor judges. I am, as always on this day, adding another stone to the little cairn I and many others have been building along the road these last 21 years saying to the traveler who takes time to rest and think “Many good pilots passed this way”. Many…… indeed too many, have not passed the other way yet to come home. And they will not. Remember them.

Your correspondent, an aging Sherm, recalls and marks with some ceremony or another, many dates and anniveraries. I certainly remember the ’84 and ’85 Grand Finals and wish, in recalling them, that Essendon had a decent centre half forward now. I recall the day I got my DC-9 command and am embarrassed by how little I knew but am thankful for how well I was trained. I am a keen student of airline accidents, remember the dates and lots of detail of all of them and try to ensure that key lessons are embedded within the Sherm memory banks and passed onto those who Sherm has been privileged to teach.

In every chance I ever had, I looked after any pilots would were “left behind”. I know many, many who have done the same. And I’ve been a proud union member these 40 years. As with many many of the 1300.

If there are shadows from that past that haunt you and bring you unquenchable grief and the need to lash out…….then do something positive so that next year, when a few graying pilots simply remember, you can keep the Obie blood pressure within limits.

"There is no spin to this note. No anguish or recrimination. No hidden message of reproach to those who have different stories, different values, different allegiances. No need for rolled eyes because it’s not your world. If there are lessons to be drawn…..draw them. Sherm neither preaches nor judges. I am, as always on this day, adding another stone to the little cairn I and many others have been building along the road these last 21 years saying to the traveler who takes time to rest and think “Many good pilots passed this way”. Many…… indeed too many, have not passed the other way yet to come home. And they will not. Remember them."

Hmmm!
Did you read the article in the The Australian today, Sherm?
Or do you just read the South China Seas Post or perhaps the International Herald Tribune?
Have a look at todays Australian and the article about the 'chattering classes'...you may recognise yourself! :=

Obie2 you are an idiot!!!

Obie, you need to get out more. Do you think we don't know what happened to a lot of the young pilots? Do you think we didn't give a ratz? Horse****! What happened, happened, if we could change it probably most would, at the time, for a lot of us, we did not agree, but looking back we did not do enough to stop it, and we should have, but we were not radicals, we were pilots, first and foremost, and not really experienced at industrial relations, and followed like lemmings over a cliff. The result was dreadful, for the country, for small business, and worst of all,for our members. Suicides, family breakups, friends lost forever, but for some, it was a new life, another country, but for most it was like a death in the family. It is now in Australia's history books where it belongs, and should stay, it was the start of enterprise bargaining for many other industries, and is used most of the time today, and probably no other PM and his mates would be allowed to do what they did, (that type of cronyism would not be accepted in todays parliment) (if we ever get one). Sherm had every right to bring it up if for no other reason, that we never see the likes of a whole industry so vital to this country, ever have to go thru it again. Onya Sherm, enjoy your final years of flying, and many years more.:D

There is no point paying attention to obie2 and his alter ego amos. He is nothing more than a serial fool who does his best to wind everybody up with his beligerent posting here.

Most responses to him are correct in that he is an idiot, and I suspect that he held a position at an airline once, more than likely in operations or a similar department, and with his limited aviation knowledge he can come on here and pretend to be a seasoned pilot, without ever extrapolating his vague technical assertions and being downright abusive to anybody he thinks will respond.

A very strange little man indeed!

obie, amos, or whatever you call yourself, stop pretending to be a big wig down the airlines and concentrate on getting your dog to stop biting you.

GB