I have only been in charter for around a year but my advice:

1) Don't leave passenger bags on the ground.

2) Be happy and upbeat as you can, even if the pax are rude... And always keep them updated as you can in flight on what is happening if you are expecting any delays. Pointing out sights of interests such as the horizontal falls, prince regent river... even if it's only a charter.

3) Be at the departure terminal 20 minutes before departure, have the steps ready by the landing gear, have the pilots seat pushed forward so passengers can step in easy and the seat next to the pilot push to the rear so anyone sitting there can enter much easier. Also make sure the windows are nice and clean and there is no oil streaking down the side of the fuselage.

4) Always make sure passengers actually understand you're safety brief and demonstrate features, ask if they have any questions.

5) Do not read flight manuals in flight unless you're checking something - this only gives passengers the wrong impression!

6) Airmanship - People who rush are often the ones who make mistakes, it's ok to hurry but not to shortcut.

7) Maintaining a good listenout on the airways, and if you are ever unsure about anything just ask! Peace of mind makes for much better flying.

8) Cross check flight planning figures, especially fuel calculations done by those such as champagne. People often just print the paperwork and assume it is correct, sometimes it isn't!

Like the Broome boys 150nm from destination asking departing traffic that is calling rolling what their departure intentions are on Kimberley CTAF :ugh:

My advice is don't over use the radio :cool: (nothing worse than some clown blocking out the entire North Kimberley with useless radio calls at a remote strip)

Oh and make sure you have the biggest watch and those gold ray bans else you're not a real charter pilot! (also keep the CR-2 in the top pocket as redundancy for the said watch)

Aviate Navigate Communicate Commentate

trust your gut if you get yourself in that deep.:ugh:

as previously said , know where has what - fuel/accom/phone/good wet weather strip / normal build ups occur / lay of the land (roughly) for when it goes quiet.

i had a pre paid CDMA phone which lived in my headset bag.

best of luck , it's fun.

Two words:

"No fuss".

no question about safety.

no question about the rules.

no question about client's changes to the plan (no matter how much it ****s you :ugh: )

No question that you will be ready to go, when you're needed.

...and a big watch and a pair of Ray Ban's and a picture magazine with Cisco's sister in it :E

But Horatio if Cisco has a sister I would rather not see her in any magazine . Anything that shares Ciscos DNA shouldnt be seen in public. Cisco sister in law I would like to see in a Picture magazine :)

TQ no not startining my own charter company but just pointing out the pilots that have a personality often get requested by the customers to do the flight again. Something you wouldnt know about :}

FAAAAAARRRKK there's some crap in this thread!

:eek:

10yrs of advice for ya

-Don't crash
-Know how to hold your own at the pub and make friends for life
-have a sense of humour and have a laugh with your pax.
-be a good bull****ter. Gets you out of alot of crap and also lets you have a chuckle.
:cool:

I agree there are plenty of bs radiocalls made but when traffic is conflicting and you can't see it.