A Day in the life of a "Lo-Co" Pilot ...
do you use the same aircraft for a 20-30 minute hop?
does it still have a rocketship departure in the 40degree heat?
Similar shuttles are AUH-MCT and ANU-UVF/TAB/GND. ORD-IAH is longer at around 2 hrs
does the same crew do Heathrow - Cairo - Heathrow in one day on the 777?
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Originally Posted by hollywood285
32 this month am I too old to take the plunge? 130hrs PPL and an IMC??
PP
Age and Pilots
One of the guys who started in the company, but on a different type, on the same day as me last year was in his late 30s.
This was his first job after achieving his frozen ATPL.
This was his first job after achieving his frozen ATPL.
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Really thoroughly enjoyed the post's on here, especially the problems that Pilot Pete faced (if that doesn't sound so mean?!) I say this only because I work on the ground in Ops and have to deal with EXACTLY the same issues affecting departures and arrivals but from a COMPLETELY different perspective... 
It's interesting to hear these issues from the pilot's point of view, and I have to admit to 'forgetting' that you guys have to actually think about getting your flight physically off the ground, and not just away from the gate, which is when people like me lose interest and start thinking about the next one...!
Pilot Pete, I think there are some very good despatchers out there and some very bad ones that can cause problems rather than solve them. Not sure what can be done about them but talking to a despatcher friend of mine on the night shift last night (as we drove around the airfield looking at planes!) he said something that made me think:
He is not trained to do loadsheets for all flights, only those with a 'manual' loadsheet. On most flights he phones load control, tells them which printer he is stood next to and they send him the loadsheet which he gives to the Captain. He confessed that he doesn't really have anything to do. His job is to make sure everyone else does what they're supposed to do. It mystifies me that some despatchers can struggle with this!
Once again Pete, very enjoyable read. Add one more to your captive audience. Give us a wave if your're overheading Gatwick...
It's interesting to hear these issues from the pilot's point of view, and I have to admit to 'forgetting' that you guys have to actually think about getting your flight physically off the ground, and not just away from the gate, which is when people like me lose interest and start thinking about the next one...!
Pilot Pete, I think there are some very good despatchers out there and some very bad ones that can cause problems rather than solve them. Not sure what can be done about them but talking to a despatcher friend of mine on the night shift last night (as we drove around the airfield looking at planes!) he said something that made me think:
He is not trained to do loadsheets for all flights, only those with a 'manual' loadsheet. On most flights he phones load control, tells them which printer he is stood next to and they send him the loadsheet which he gives to the Captain. He confessed that he doesn't really have anything to do. His job is to make sure everyone else does what they're supposed to do. It mystifies me that some despatchers can struggle with this!
Once again Pete, very enjoyable read. Add one more to your captive audience. Give us a wave if your're overheading Gatwick...
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Originally Posted by aw8565
Pilot Pete, I think there are some very good despatchers out there and some very bad ones that can cause problems rather than solve them.
His job is to make sure everyone else does what they're supposed to do. It mystifies me that some despatchers can struggle with this!
I don't wish to moan about Dispatchers, but I think it is a viscious circle, many are part-time for the summer, barely trained and struggle, usually down to the fact that the customer airlines have screwed the handling company down to the bare minimum price!
PP
Last edited by Pilot Pete; 12th Jun 2006 at 11:10.
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Care of Reddo, Pipex aren't co-operating.
A day in the life of an exec jet pilot.
We’re half way through the tour and have just shut down on our final sector for the day. One of us will escort our passengers off the aircraft and unload the bags etc. While this is happening, I am usually writing down the numbers and working out our flight time, fuel burnt etc. Time to switch on the Blackberry and see what’s happening. I used to call in the numbers immediately but nowadays I wait for the captain to add his bit if required. Occassionally there’s an operational thing he needs to explain.
So after the passengers have gone it’s time to tidy the cabin. Throw out the rubbish and tidy the seat belts. Get the vacuum cleaner out and give the floor a once over. Wipe down the surfaces and restock if we can. The captain returns and starts the paper work. Now I scamper outside and put the pins in and the covers on. One of us has sent in the numbers and got the next day’s duty. No point in cheering or grizzling about the duty, it will change.
Off to the hotel and grab a beer or some food or just crash out depending on the start.
Tidy bag so there isn’t much to do in the morning.
Alarm goes off usually far too early the next day. Check Blackberry for any changes. Shower, dress and pack and head down for breaky (if it’s open). Check out and meet n greet the captain. Jump in the taxi or crew bus and go to aircraft. If it’s a positioning flight, we get an hour to prepare. If it’s a revenue flight we get 90 minutes.
Depending on the airport, get scanned and passport perused or just wander through the gate. Find handling agent and pick up the mountain of paper work. Note the changes
Check in with the Blackberry and get an updated briefing. Sort through the flight plans, wx and notams. Make sure we have the Flygprestanda details for the airports required.
Off to the aircraft. Sort out fueling, toilet service (if req’d) and catering (if revenue). Take out all the pins and stow the covers. Fire up the APU as soon as we can.
Fish out all the Jepps for the day’s schedule and file them in the day book. We carry a full set of European charts up the front and Africa/Rest of Europe and world in the back. (Maybe not USA). Captain sorts out the tech log and so on while I do the external.
Do the daily checks and load up the FMS. Do the performance calcs (in the QRH/Tab data. That’s the old Honeywell avionics, now using Collins Proline 21s. It’s all in the magic box) and sort out the clearances. At 30 min to go, one of us will go to handling agent meeting point to fetch the passengers. With luck, they’re on time. We use the Blackberry for release or phone Dispatch for remote release and lead passenger info. Escort the passengers through customs etc (if req’d) and help them onto the aeroplane. Load bags. Brief them as you’ve seen a million times on an ordinary flight.
Hop in the front and then do the pilot thing. We give a detailed brief about the start, take off and any emergency procedures plus the normal departure. Get the start and taxi away.
While taxiing, play the standard safety brief over the IFE.
From then on it’s like any routine flight. Only for us, chances are we’ve never been here before or it was a while ago. Keep a beady eye on the taxi charts or with luck, follow the car
Take off. Admire view once the flight is under way. (ie all calls done, checklists done, initial paperwork done) If we’re close enough to the Alps take a piccie. Take a piccie of anything that looks interesting. Collect up the departure aerodrome charts and file them away.
Whilst in the cruise, do the paperwork, load up the FMS with the next plan and make sure the passengers are happy. If time and so inclined, wander down the back and check on them. Follow the flight on the charts and have a look at the Pilot’s Atlas for more info if required.
At around 300-200nm to go, start fishing out the arrival charts. Look at the metars and see what the trend is. Do a fair bit of anticipating. Try and get the ATIS and work out what was said. Work out the sums, load up the FMS. Brief the non flying pilot. While on descent, play the Landing briefing over the IFE. Do the approach and land the wee beasty. Taxi in. Again, chances are we’re not familiar with the place so out comes the taxi chart or better, a Follow Me car.
Occassionally on a ferry leg the Sat phone will ring with an inflight diversion. They some how always pick the descent to call us. We then quickly do an inflight plan to check the fuel required, see what’s in the tanks and say “yae or nae”.
Shut down and repeat. Disembark the passengers and escort them to their ground transport. Before leaving, quickly check the cabin to make sure they haven’t left any thing such as children, pets and so on. Scoot back to the aeroplane and see how long we have before departing. If we have a while, shut down the APU and eat some food. If not, tidy up the cabin, do a quick clean. (Although, if in some places we have cleaning crews that come in and do a thorough clean and restock too)
Send in the numbers, make sure we have the latest wx and slot details. Prepare for the next departure. Repeat this routine for 2-4 times a day, 4-6 days in the tour. Often our schedule is changed completely. However, it’s no real biggy. We go where we’re told to go. So long as we have the aerodrome details, it’s fine. All we do is keep an eye on our duty times, we can only do 55 hours duty per tour.
A day in the life of an exec jet pilot.
We’re half way through the tour and have just shut down on our final sector for the day. One of us will escort our passengers off the aircraft and unload the bags etc. While this is happening, I am usually writing down the numbers and working out our flight time, fuel burnt etc. Time to switch on the Blackberry and see what’s happening. I used to call in the numbers immediately but nowadays I wait for the captain to add his bit if required. Occassionally there’s an operational thing he needs to explain.
So after the passengers have gone it’s time to tidy the cabin. Throw out the rubbish and tidy the seat belts. Get the vacuum cleaner out and give the floor a once over. Wipe down the surfaces and restock if we can. The captain returns and starts the paper work. Now I scamper outside and put the pins in and the covers on. One of us has sent in the numbers and got the next day’s duty. No point in cheering or grizzling about the duty, it will change.
Off to the hotel and grab a beer or some food or just crash out depending on the start.
Tidy bag so there isn’t much to do in the morning.
Alarm goes off usually far too early the next day. Check Blackberry for any changes. Shower, dress and pack and head down for breaky (if it’s open). Check out and meet n greet the captain. Jump in the taxi or crew bus and go to aircraft. If it’s a positioning flight, we get an hour to prepare. If it’s a revenue flight we get 90 minutes.
Depending on the airport, get scanned and passport perused or just wander through the gate. Find handling agent and pick up the mountain of paper work. Note the changes
Check in with the Blackberry and get an updated briefing. Sort through the flight plans, wx and notams. Make sure we have the Flygprestanda details for the airports required.
Off to the aircraft. Sort out fueling, toilet service (if req’d) and catering (if revenue). Take out all the pins and stow the covers. Fire up the APU as soon as we can.
Fish out all the Jepps for the day’s schedule and file them in the day book. We carry a full set of European charts up the front and Africa/Rest of Europe and world in the back. (Maybe not USA). Captain sorts out the tech log and so on while I do the external.
Do the daily checks and load up the FMS. Do the performance calcs (in the QRH/Tab data. That’s the old Honeywell avionics, now using Collins Proline 21s. It’s all in the magic box) and sort out the clearances. At 30 min to go, one of us will go to handling agent meeting point to fetch the passengers. With luck, they’re on time. We use the Blackberry for release or phone Dispatch for remote release and lead passenger info. Escort the passengers through customs etc (if req’d) and help them onto the aeroplane. Load bags. Brief them as you’ve seen a million times on an ordinary flight.
Hop in the front and then do the pilot thing. We give a detailed brief about the start, take off and any emergency procedures plus the normal departure. Get the start and taxi away.
While taxiing, play the standard safety brief over the IFE.
From then on it’s like any routine flight. Only for us, chances are we’ve never been here before or it was a while ago. Keep a beady eye on the taxi charts or with luck, follow the car
Take off. Admire view once the flight is under way. (ie all calls done, checklists done, initial paperwork done) If we’re close enough to the Alps take a piccie. Take a piccie of anything that looks interesting. Collect up the departure aerodrome charts and file them away.
Whilst in the cruise, do the paperwork, load up the FMS with the next plan and make sure the passengers are happy. If time and so inclined, wander down the back and check on them. Follow the flight on the charts and have a look at the Pilot’s Atlas for more info if required.
At around 300-200nm to go, start fishing out the arrival charts. Look at the metars and see what the trend is. Do a fair bit of anticipating. Try and get the ATIS and work out what was said. Work out the sums, load up the FMS. Brief the non flying pilot. While on descent, play the Landing briefing over the IFE. Do the approach and land the wee beasty. Taxi in. Again, chances are we’re not familiar with the place so out comes the taxi chart or better, a Follow Me car.
Occassionally on a ferry leg the Sat phone will ring with an inflight diversion. They some how always pick the descent to call us. We then quickly do an inflight plan to check the fuel required, see what’s in the tanks and say “yae or nae”.
Shut down and repeat. Disembark the passengers and escort them to their ground transport. Before leaving, quickly check the cabin to make sure they haven’t left any thing such as children, pets and so on. Scoot back to the aeroplane and see how long we have before departing. If we have a while, shut down the APU and eat some food. If not, tidy up the cabin, do a quick clean. (Although, if in some places we have cleaning crews that come in and do a thorough clean and restock too)
Send in the numbers, make sure we have the latest wx and slot details. Prepare for the next departure. Repeat this routine for 2-4 times a day, 4-6 days in the tour. Often our schedule is changed completely. However, it’s no real biggy. We go where we’re told to go. So long as we have the aerodrome details, it’s fine. All we do is keep an eye on our duty times, we can only do 55 hours duty per tour.
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Yes CP, all apart from my last flight on Sunday night which incurred a 5 1/2 hr tech delay and lead to us exercising 1 hr 58 mins discretion before leaving the UK (2hrs is the limit!!). Two aborted engine starts due to no APU and a ground air start machine not providing enough puff..... Cabin temperature rising to boiling point (yeah, both literally and metaphorically!). All handled in my best apologetic manner with a quick warning not to take it out on the cabin crew whose fault it certainly was not!! Left the house at two in the afternoon, climbed into by bed at 06:30 the following morning.
PP
PP
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I've never flown T-Fly or its previous incarnations (though I dispatched a lot for 6 months 20 years ago at MAN) - I must remember to make sure you have no plans to be in the cockpit if I do!!
Would you say the frequency of the problems you have described this month is about average, or have you been a bit unlucky?
Oh, and if anyone can think of a way for me to get the same job (without my age, mortgage, likely uncooperative family, and unwillingness to study that hard for a couple of years being an issue) then I'm all ears!!
Would you say the frequency of the problems you have described this month is about average, or have you been a bit unlucky?
Oh, and if anyone can think of a way for me to get the same job (without my age, mortgage, likely uncooperative family, and unwillingness to study that hard for a couple of years being an issue) then I'm all ears!!
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A day in the life of a very shorthaul Co-pilot under linetraining
Inspired of all the posts, I feel I want to contribute. We've now seen 737, 777 longish haul and Exec Jet ops. How about really really shorthaul in a Saab 340?
Day starts with check in at 14:00 L. I'm new to the game so I show up one hour early to make shure I can really go into the briefing items such as Notams and weather. Print out the flightplans and calculate the minimum fuel. Planned trip is a triangle leg to HEL-SVL-VRK-HEL. Training Captain is the same as the day before and we discuss yesterdays flight which was a 6 leg nightmare. We recall items that I need to focus on for this flight. Our cabin crew shows up and we call a crewbus. Then we're off to the buisness terminal to go through security. This isn't a good solution but it works ok in the summer weather. While the captain and cabin crew talk in finnish I figure I'll need to buy proper winterboots if this is to be done in slushy finnish snow.
Finally at the aircraft I head straight into the F/D and check that the radar is off. Cdr does the walk around and I start with the preflight checklist. The plane has flown previously during the day and I need not go through all the tests. The avionics comes on and I pick up the departure ATIS. For some reason I go through it several times before I get all information. I take the temperature and go into the gross mass chart and calculate the performance for rwy 22L int ZD. Performance turns out to be way above structural limits and this tends to be the case at HEL in favourable weather. Conditons are within the quick reference limits so I take the lowest power setting and jot down the mass limitation and then I put away the GMC's.
By now the Cdr has entered and made himself comfortable in the left seat. He has anticipated the departure and allready set up the navaids and FMS. Kind, although I somewhere feel this was my job... I call for clearance and get the filed route without any deviations except for the initial climb wich limits us up to 4000 feet.
Passengers step out of the bus as we are on remote stand and we switch on the seatbelt sign to wake up our CC. We run through the crew at their stations checklist and I listen to the Cdr's briefing as he will act as PF the first two legs. We call ground for startup and taxi. The taxi clearance is uncomplicated. I know this on forehand and I do not take out the pinto to write it down. We get to the correct hold line but forget the off block...
I also forget to check the X-ponder setting in the navaid check. Cdr points this out and I try to make a mental note. Cdr does his take off briefing and I listen. We line up after a Finnair airbus that just landed and PF does the las call: Heading, indicated, FD, Ready? Ready, Timing.
I call outocoarsen armed and set the power upon PF call.
Some hundred feet after the gear has been retracted we get a heading and we abandon the SID. I struggle to set climb power in the correct order. Cdr helps me out and once the climb checklist is completed I review the order of setting climbpower. We do, apart from many other Saab 340 operators, turn of the autocoarsen before doing anything else. This is to avoid any prop from autocoarsening incase one torque should for some reason drop below 60%, which has happened to a few unlucky Saab pilots. Then we, turn down the CTOT and put on both bleeds. After this, we reduce PRPM and set the torques according to the chart.
Cruise proceeds inevitably and I try to keep up with the paperwork. Since its a triangle leg I try to do the next leg paperwork which is basically remaining fuel statement for the rodos loadsheets that we get on the outstations. We have a laugh at Tampere ctrl which has to reclear heaps of flights bound for stockholm as the Arlanda radar went down during the morning. Air traffic seems to be in chaos on the FIR border.
The descent starts and due to some explanations from the Cdr about some operational related topic, he gets a little high on profile. I use the first of the three excuses we learnt on the company conversion: "My fault captain". It disarms the situation somewhat and he opts for a downwind on the opposing runway.
Nice landing and short taxi to the apron. After landing and preparing left immediately. Then shut down the right one at the stand. Once the door is open the PAX trod out and allmost immediately the next batch comes out of the terminal. Turnaround is made all within 14 minutes. My head is aching from quick calculations, although they are horribly simple. The thought of this makes me feel slightly simple aswell...Next leg is to VRK, just accros the pond. Cdr decides to do thisone as PF aswell because of the short distance and high workload. We take off and scream across the lake, leveling out at FL60. Although I managed to work ahead on the previous leg, I'm once again faced with a mountain of paperwork that has to be done before landing. I race through the climb checklist and then I listen to the approach brief whilst completing the fuel statement. Descent checklist is called for and I do this and then I call the VRK office and inform them of our arrival in 3 minutes and amount of fuel. As it turns out, we touch down a mere 11 minutes from take off and block on at 16 minutes from block off. Tight.
We pick up a couple of pax and head off to HEL. This time I act as PF and I try to remember in which order to do the briefings. I look at the flightplan and set the initial course on the EHSI. We do a tailwind departure and I brief it as a flaps 15 T/O. The flight proceeds at a much slower pace and I get a chance to breathe and ask about things that we did but which I'm unclear on as to why. Sounds odd perhaps, but comming from a pawnee into a JAR 25 plane, everything is new and I really find it hard to keep all the items taken up on the company and TR course, fresh in mind.
The landing resembles more a positive arrival than a greaser. I'm happy though because I didn't use up 300 metres by pointless floating. The after landing checklist goes smoothely by heart and the extensive runway and taxiway system gives me ample time to read through the lists thouroghly and to prepare the left. We park and read through the last list to the last point. By now the temp in the cockpit is horribly high and we head out onto terra firma. Crewbus drops us off at the hangar and we head for the office where we fill out training reccords, sort out all the fuel reciepts, flightplans and loadsheets together with other additional info. We debrief the shift and conclude that I'm progressing on profile. Little bits here and there that need to be fixed. There is still a lot of time to rectify the faults before basecheck so I decide to spend the afternoon NOT worrying about my future. We check out and I head off towards the terminal in the hopes of catching an overbooked flight towards stockholm. I succed. My baggage doesn't, but thats a different story.
Regards/ LnS
Day starts with check in at 14:00 L. I'm new to the game so I show up one hour early to make shure I can really go into the briefing items such as Notams and weather. Print out the flightplans and calculate the minimum fuel. Planned trip is a triangle leg to HEL-SVL-VRK-HEL. Training Captain is the same as the day before and we discuss yesterdays flight which was a 6 leg nightmare. We recall items that I need to focus on for this flight. Our cabin crew shows up and we call a crewbus. Then we're off to the buisness terminal to go through security. This isn't a good solution but it works ok in the summer weather. While the captain and cabin crew talk in finnish I figure I'll need to buy proper winterboots if this is to be done in slushy finnish snow.
Finally at the aircraft I head straight into the F/D and check that the radar is off. Cdr does the walk around and I start with the preflight checklist. The plane has flown previously during the day and I need not go through all the tests. The avionics comes on and I pick up the departure ATIS. For some reason I go through it several times before I get all information. I take the temperature and go into the gross mass chart and calculate the performance for rwy 22L int ZD. Performance turns out to be way above structural limits and this tends to be the case at HEL in favourable weather. Conditons are within the quick reference limits so I take the lowest power setting and jot down the mass limitation and then I put away the GMC's.
By now the Cdr has entered and made himself comfortable in the left seat. He has anticipated the departure and allready set up the navaids and FMS. Kind, although I somewhere feel this was my job... I call for clearance and get the filed route without any deviations except for the initial climb wich limits us up to 4000 feet.
Passengers step out of the bus as we are on remote stand and we switch on the seatbelt sign to wake up our CC. We run through the crew at their stations checklist and I listen to the Cdr's briefing as he will act as PF the first two legs. We call ground for startup and taxi. The taxi clearance is uncomplicated. I know this on forehand and I do not take out the pinto to write it down. We get to the correct hold line but forget the off block...
I also forget to check the X-ponder setting in the navaid check. Cdr points this out and I try to make a mental note. Cdr does his take off briefing and I listen. We line up after a Finnair airbus that just landed and PF does the las call: Heading, indicated, FD, Ready? Ready, Timing.
I call outocoarsen armed and set the power upon PF call.
Some hundred feet after the gear has been retracted we get a heading and we abandon the SID. I struggle to set climb power in the correct order. Cdr helps me out and once the climb checklist is completed I review the order of setting climbpower. We do, apart from many other Saab 340 operators, turn of the autocoarsen before doing anything else. This is to avoid any prop from autocoarsening incase one torque should for some reason drop below 60%, which has happened to a few unlucky Saab pilots. Then we, turn down the CTOT and put on both bleeds. After this, we reduce PRPM and set the torques according to the chart.
Cruise proceeds inevitably and I try to keep up with the paperwork. Since its a triangle leg I try to do the next leg paperwork which is basically remaining fuel statement for the rodos loadsheets that we get on the outstations. We have a laugh at Tampere ctrl which has to reclear heaps of flights bound for stockholm as the Arlanda radar went down during the morning. Air traffic seems to be in chaos on the FIR border.
The descent starts and due to some explanations from the Cdr about some operational related topic, he gets a little high on profile. I use the first of the three excuses we learnt on the company conversion: "My fault captain". It disarms the situation somewhat and he opts for a downwind on the opposing runway.
Nice landing and short taxi to the apron. After landing and preparing left immediately. Then shut down the right one at the stand. Once the door is open the PAX trod out and allmost immediately the next batch comes out of the terminal. Turnaround is made all within 14 minutes. My head is aching from quick calculations, although they are horribly simple. The thought of this makes me feel slightly simple aswell...Next leg is to VRK, just accros the pond. Cdr decides to do thisone as PF aswell because of the short distance and high workload. We take off and scream across the lake, leveling out at FL60. Although I managed to work ahead on the previous leg, I'm once again faced with a mountain of paperwork that has to be done before landing. I race through the climb checklist and then I listen to the approach brief whilst completing the fuel statement. Descent checklist is called for and I do this and then I call the VRK office and inform them of our arrival in 3 minutes and amount of fuel. As it turns out, we touch down a mere 11 minutes from take off and block on at 16 minutes from block off. Tight.
We pick up a couple of pax and head off to HEL. This time I act as PF and I try to remember in which order to do the briefings. I look at the flightplan and set the initial course on the EHSI. We do a tailwind departure and I brief it as a flaps 15 T/O. The flight proceeds at a much slower pace and I get a chance to breathe and ask about things that we did but which I'm unclear on as to why. Sounds odd perhaps, but comming from a pawnee into a JAR 25 plane, everything is new and I really find it hard to keep all the items taken up on the company and TR course, fresh in mind.
The landing resembles more a positive arrival than a greaser. I'm happy though because I didn't use up 300 metres by pointless floating. The after landing checklist goes smoothely by heart and the extensive runway and taxiway system gives me ample time to read through the lists thouroghly and to prepare the left. We park and read through the last list to the last point. By now the temp in the cockpit is horribly high and we head out onto terra firma. Crewbus drops us off at the hangar and we head for the office where we fill out training reccords, sort out all the fuel reciepts, flightplans and loadsheets together with other additional info. We debrief the shift and conclude that I'm progressing on profile. Little bits here and there that need to be fixed. There is still a lot of time to rectify the faults before basecheck so I decide to spend the afternoon NOT worrying about my future. We check out and I head off towards the terminal in the hopes of catching an overbooked flight towards stockholm. I succed. My baggage doesn't, but thats a different story.
Regards/ LnS
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I must remember to make sure you have no plans to be in the cockpit if I do
These things have a habit of happening together. You can go for months with nothing untoward and then have more than one flight that ends up as a candidate for 'flights from hell' tabloid TV, all within a week!
low n' slow
Good job!!!
PP
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Wow guys!! Fascinating thread!!!
As someone from a groundie/dispatching/check-in background (and soon to be on the 'other side' of the FD door) really enjoyed seeing things from your perspective!! 
As I have done a (very little) bit of flying myself during high school, I like to think I can understand a little bit the kinds of problems you guys might face from your end during tech/wx delays etc... at my current operation these unfortunately occur all too frequently and I try my best to anticipate what you guys might be wanting/needing for a departure asap!!
Pilot Pete, great examples there of (good) CRM in practise, and a thoroughly interesting read for someone who will shortly be working closely with FD crew herself. Wish all my captains will be like you!! (though I *know* they won't - all aprt of the fun of the job I guess!!
)
Low n slow.... interesting account and I like to see that you guys are always looking to improve just like we ground crew are! Well done.
Keep it coming guys!!! Fab stuff, and one of the better threads on Prune!!
As someone from a groundie/dispatching/check-in background (and soon to be on the 'other side' of the FD door
) really enjoyed seeing things from your perspective!! As I have done a (very little) bit of flying myself during high school, I like to think I can understand a little bit the kinds of problems you guys might face from your end during tech/wx delays etc... at my current operation these unfortunately occur all too frequently and I try my best to anticipate what you guys might be wanting/needing for a departure asap!!
Pilot Pete, great examples there of (good) CRM in practise, and a thoroughly interesting read for someone who will shortly be working closely with FD crew herself. Wish all my captains will be like you!! (though I *know* they won't - all aprt of the fun of the job I guess!!
)Low n slow.... interesting account and I like to see that you guys are always looking to improve just like we ground crew are! Well done.
Keep it coming guys!!! Fab stuff, and one of the better threads on Prune!!
Join Date: Jan 2003
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from DC 3 to A 330
preparing for a take-off outta youngstown ohio. DC 3 packed with car side- panels, edges sharp as razors, one atop the other, strapped down (?) properly the full length of the fuselage...wore thick gloves to save slicing through cold numb skinned hands and fingers...was normal to cut yourself, blood feels nice and warm inside the leather till you realize it aint gonna stop bleeding. run over to the closet FAK, iodines gone, bandaids too old to be sticky and useful. time running out, pager call from the guys, usually truckers making extra money for loading or off-loading the material waiting at dumdunk municipal airport where unicom is the only way to communicate. it is snowing out. 3 am and i still have to fill both oil tanks up on the upper wings. blood flow is closing on itself, pager screen is barely readable smudged in rusty red brown smears. tell the truckers were running a little late, will call them 50 miles out on unicom. pilot controlled runway lighting. hand hurts. climb the step ladder and slowly, very slowly, manage my way to the tank filler cap. all this trying not to slide back down the slanted wing unto the icy ground, ouch.
made it after spilling a couple of quarts over my snowmobile suit and boots. damn. looking upwards at the lightning to the west. we were to fly west. oh boy. get in the cockpit, run through long ago memorized pre start list, hit the magneto, rooommmm roooammmmphhh, bahkkk bakkk, thick exhaust blowing out the PW 1830-92´s. real airplanes have round engines. do our run-ups on the active runway, theres no one out here at 3:20am. rains thundering down.
i check the quarter inch toothpick carefully placed on the wing leading edge.
our tool to activate the rubber boots; when the ice built up to the tip get the boots going. worked fine, this cowboy technology. full takeoff power, long run before the tail took to flight, pushing the horns forward to accelerate till lift off ( in the butt basically ) the cabin shaking and heaving in its indestructible airframe...smack into low cloud, imc, icing and thunderous explosions all around. water flowing down over our audio panel, unto our laps ( thankgod for the yachting gear ) bird climbing at maybe 400 fpm. moderate turbulence, cant see the engine dials, barely able to keep wings level. plowing on through. water everywhere. reminded me of my sailor days, short steep and violent waves of the mediterranean dominating the worse days. no time for a butt, no time but to forge on. climbing through 2500 feet, a great shrieking grind of loose car parts going every which way but mainly towaards the tail....still in imc, freight fully aft now, can barely keep the nose down. both pilots pushing pushing pushing forward. slowly accelerating again. i run aft and start hauling throwing parts forward, one by one, no gloves, slicing my hands in a zillion places but after 20 minutes flight was under control. we licked our mental and physical wounds as we battled the rest of the mid west storm ( no radar, no autopilot ) with the cold water raining down on us. as we laughed at how close we had been to stalling in, all kinds of thoughts came to mind...give this up, this is crap living dangerously, poor pay and leaving detroit for youngstown then tumbunk, night approach, non precision to a short lonely airfield with pilot controlled lighting....irrate truckers waiting to get us un-loaded and get home to a warm bed and beer...pager goes off. my hands hurting more and more, even i can see im in need of several stitches, but the freight must get delivered.....
There is MUCH MUCH MORE TO TELL....:
freight dog to executive pilot, to turpo prop regional captain, ad hoc 737 charter captian all over europe and lately A 330 long haul relief captain.....
made it after spilling a couple of quarts over my snowmobile suit and boots. damn. looking upwards at the lightning to the west. we were to fly west. oh boy. get in the cockpit, run through long ago memorized pre start list, hit the magneto, rooommmm roooammmmphhh, bahkkk bakkk, thick exhaust blowing out the PW 1830-92´s. real airplanes have round engines. do our run-ups on the active runway, theres no one out here at 3:20am. rains thundering down.
i check the quarter inch toothpick carefully placed on the wing leading edge.
our tool to activate the rubber boots; when the ice built up to the tip get the boots going. worked fine, this cowboy technology. full takeoff power, long run before the tail took to flight, pushing the horns forward to accelerate till lift off ( in the butt basically ) the cabin shaking and heaving in its indestructible airframe...smack into low cloud, imc, icing and thunderous explosions all around. water flowing down over our audio panel, unto our laps ( thankgod for the yachting gear ) bird climbing at maybe 400 fpm. moderate turbulence, cant see the engine dials, barely able to keep wings level. plowing on through. water everywhere. reminded me of my sailor days, short steep and violent waves of the mediterranean dominating the worse days. no time for a butt, no time but to forge on. climbing through 2500 feet, a great shrieking grind of loose car parts going every which way but mainly towaards the tail....still in imc, freight fully aft now, can barely keep the nose down. both pilots pushing pushing pushing forward. slowly accelerating again. i run aft and start hauling throwing parts forward, one by one, no gloves, slicing my hands in a zillion places but after 20 minutes flight was under control. we licked our mental and physical wounds as we battled the rest of the mid west storm ( no radar, no autopilot ) with the cold water raining down on us. as we laughed at how close we had been to stalling in, all kinds of thoughts came to mind...give this up, this is crap living dangerously, poor pay and leaving detroit for youngstown then tumbunk, night approach, non precision to a short lonely airfield with pilot controlled lighting....irrate truckers waiting to get us un-loaded and get home to a warm bed and beer...pager goes off. my hands hurting more and more, even i can see im in need of several stitches, but the freight must get delivered.....
There is MUCH MUCH MORE TO TELL....:
freight dog to executive pilot, to turpo prop regional captain, ad hoc 737 charter captian all over europe and lately A 330 long haul relief captain.....
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Dc3 to A 330 part II
needless to say, i was a youngster of 35, late starter too. family back in españa, wife bringing up the son, thousands of miles away. vocational ? you can bet on it. lonely nights, pager existence and 1-800 toll free call backs for latest flight orders. 30 minutes to wheels-up, summer winter spring and fall. hip hoping across the vast lands of continental north america. crew crash pad, single run-down airport wheels, used excess drained 100 LL to fill the tank, enjoying the extra whooomph it gave the cheap pinto...late night weekend drinking sprees with the rest of the ypsilanti airplane-driver-boozers, then two days rest and back at it. leave a wednesday and not be back before the following thursday week...no autopilot, no radar. never fixed routing, running parts ofr general motors, ford, chrysler, ups, fedex, you call we haul.
cheapest motels, food simulator location experts. no time but to sleep, find a burger joint and bum a ride with the FBO courtesy drivers to the ramp, carrying tons of paperwork, charts, flight plans, extra fruit and water and the holy marlboros...
wait hours on end in mexico for the lazy deliveres to show up. pagers beeping all day long, hurry up, fords got 75,000 dollars in seat buttons to be picked up in Kentucky. Take em to Atlantic City, chop chop. Weathers marginal. get Flight Watch brief, tale off VFR, pick up atc clearance climbing through3000 feet. Hermosillo to Atlantic City....trucks passing us underneath on the highway...dme roller barely rolling. deathly slow....and i know i can meet my bills when, when, i finally get some time to bank a little and call home, thousands of miles away.
when we were exhausted we´d fall asleep. yes, for up to thirty minutes. our faithful N 302 SF minus autopilot would fly straight and level on its own. wake up startled, chechk heading. right on course. atitude...302 plugging along dolphining between 17,500 feet and 18,000...the days before three sweeps and you´re out....but thats another story as well
ML
cheapest motels, food simulator location experts. no time but to sleep, find a burger joint and bum a ride with the FBO courtesy drivers to the ramp, carrying tons of paperwork, charts, flight plans, extra fruit and water and the holy marlboros...
wait hours on end in mexico for the lazy deliveres to show up. pagers beeping all day long, hurry up, fords got 75,000 dollars in seat buttons to be picked up in Kentucky. Take em to Atlantic City, chop chop. Weathers marginal. get Flight Watch brief, tale off VFR, pick up atc clearance climbing through3000 feet. Hermosillo to Atlantic City....trucks passing us underneath on the highway...dme roller barely rolling. deathly slow....and i know i can meet my bills when, when, i finally get some time to bank a little and call home, thousands of miles away.
when we were exhausted we´d fall asleep. yes, for up to thirty minutes. our faithful N 302 SF minus autopilot would fly straight and level on its own. wake up startled, chechk heading. right on course. atitude...302 plugging along dolphining between 17,500 feet and 18,000...the days before three sweeps and you´re out....but thats another story as well
ML
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Meatball:
When I think back to when I was 10 or so and my dreams of becoming a pilot, your story is what I would see. Perhaps not the cuts and slices from poorly packaged cargo, but the rain, the storms, the poorly equipped planes and the relaxed attitude towards it (although you haven't said anything about your attitude towards it then, perhaps it wasn't so relaxed).
/LnS
When I think back to when I was 10 or so and my dreams of becoming a pilot, your story is what I would see. Perhaps not the cuts and slices from poorly packaged cargo, but the rain, the storms, the poorly equipped planes and the relaxed attitude towards it (although you haven't said anything about your attitude towards it then, perhaps it wasn't so relaxed).
/LnS