A Reply for Pole Vaulter, et al.

[Le Pilot]

Correction to that shooting incident mentioned by the M: It was a RAC 734... I was having "makan" with the local capt afterwards - He was sitting on the "throne" in the front of the A/C when he felt the movement of the aircraft with the rapid deflation of the nosewheels.
Since I do not wish to hijack Sir M's topic...More of this on the Far East forum..

[Sherm Boy]

While I think of it and while this thread's still open....not a bad time to remind ourselves of the untruths inherent within one of the great urban myths most recently propogated anew by someone revelling in the name "MT Edelstone56" (did he run the Sydney Swans for a while?) namely:

.....probably similar to the dispute,where the elders with the good endorsements and experience found themselves well placed in jobs abroad.

I'm sure statisitics can be found if needed and I know there'll always be the odd anecodatal case someone will trot out in an attempt to try and prove a point. But....my clear impression is that the senior people within the AFAP waited long (and hard) bfore leaving. An awful lot of us who now fly big shiny twins, 340s and 744s spend the 1990's unemployed (for varying periods) or paying hard dues in horrible places on not-so-modern equipment.

I mention this not to "get back" at any who made other decisions back THEN, but as a service to young ex-Ansett F/Os who could easily be disheartened if they don't hear the truth: that you can finally get over to the LHS of something flash, with a good contract (even commuting home) IF you are willing to endure the same things you had to go through in GA to get your first airline job.

It might make a few people with an axe to grind feel good to say that all the best OS jobs were taken by rich early leaver AFAP captains in late 1989 but it just ain't true.

Now....if we want to have a thread talking about the typical career paths that saw people like me (post 1989 unemployed, lots of kids, 727 rating only) finally get onto the finest big Boeing ever made with a good contract...then that might be a useful and overdue service to the young guys who see a world as forbidding as that which faced we 1300 non-returnees as 1990 began to unfold.

It can be done, has been done, and those who care to give their all as decent, flexible and professional pilots can still do it. But it might take time.

Safe flying

Sherm

[Dogimed]

I wonder

I wonder if 100 years down the track this will turn into a religous war, with car bombings and walls and tanks and the endless "But he started it" attitude that seems to occupy a lot of the Middle East these days.

Just a thought.

Dog.

Disclaimer: Dog has in no way any opinion on the 89 conflict, he has listened to both sides and agrees with them.