I want to fly the 747!!!
 

Hi everyone,

I suppose its also a dream for a few of you out there , maybe to some others it may sound a bit exaggerated nevertheless;

Averaging 3000hrs total time, from which 2500hrs on 737, late 20´s, European..etc

What is there out there????

Looked in many places, but apart from Cathay, and a few others that you start in other fleets and take ages, found nothing :rolleyes:...

Thankyou in advance ;)

B.F

Go the cargo route. its a hoot!

Try TNT in Liège - their 4th 744ERF arrives next month.

BA is recruiting allegedly 80 direct entry co pilots onto 747 this year.

Why the 747? What about MD11? A300?

Just curious.

There is an outfit called Air Atlanta.

They will train you to fly the 747.

Conditions?? There are none.

Cargolux!

If you're hired, you can be sure you'll fly the 747 (but it's a -400, were you looking for the classic?)

Thankyou guys,,

Waldo, I also love the MD11, any outfits you know for my experience,,

Back to the Queen,
Im taking a look at your recommds in pprune to see what is written on them, Probably for someone looking to commute in D/O the best one looks like cargolux, also BA, although the latter one I think will be a bit out of the reach due to its high application demand.


Cheers,,:ok:

If you don't apply then you only have yourself to blame!

Thankyou overstress but ive applied more than 5 times in the last 2 years,, and i didnt say i was nt gonna try again I just said it seemed difficult to get the position.

Come to QF so you'll have a 50/50 chance of getting a seat on the 74...as a S/O!but why not, atleast you're flying a 7embo.

Jet8 in SIN. 742F now and soon 744F.

747?
 

Yes, I would like to finish my career on the 747. I have over 20,000 hours with Delta and other carriers. I have put an application in with Air Atlanta as well as talked to Jerry o'Sullivan. I can pay for my own type but nobody will talk to me with out 500 hours. Any suggestions? :8

It used to be that case that the 747 was the top rung of an airline's fleet and the recognition in Ts and Cs were appropriately high. But since old 747s could be bought for next to nothing and converted to freighters with ease, the glamour has gone.

Sure pilot's want to fly what was the biggest airliner in existance. Perhaps it's because it is so big and has a deserved reputation for being a nice thing to fly. But the novelty of flying any aeroplane disappears after about a thousand hours, then you are left on a ageing aircraft which has more than it's share of age related problems, flys for far too long for comfort and some of the 747 operators mentioned on this thread aren't the employers of choice!

I've flown the Classic and 400 on both pax and freight routes. I would be happy to never fly one ever again. Now I'm on more modern narrowbodies on short haul routes, I'm a lot happier.

Go for lifestyle, not the aircraft. In my company, the 747 pilots are the worst paid!

With 12000 hours on the classic, I would have to agree with Dan Winterland.
Its lifestyle not aeroplane that matters in the end. A lighty on the Med and the afternoon/evening on the promenade is the way to go!

If you just want to fly the 747 or MD 11 and you don't care about QOL and pay then EVA is the perfect place for you.

I disagree with dan and setright. I fly the -200 and enjoy every minute.
This is the last 'true' airplane out there - this kind of airplane is why I became a pilot. If I wanted QOL, I would become something else. Besides, the quality of living everyone is looking for is different. For some it is the opportunity to be home every night, despite flying 4-6 short hops in a 320 or 737, not even having the chance to enjoy the destinations the fly into.
For others, crossing oceans and deserts in a 380 ton machine, with the option to spend a couple of days at the far corners of the world is the quality of living they enjoy.

As far as eu operators, there's cargo b, girjet, air atlanta. You can also try your luck at jalways, based at HNL, or air india, both flying the -300.

Jett 8
 

Stay away from Jett 8 as you will be considered a scab by every pilot at NCA who are currently fighting for their contracts with NYK who is now conveniently trying to higher low time, clowns who just want to fly a 744 and will do it for nothing. The terms and conditions for Jett8 are laughable...........be for-warned. If you show up in NRT in a Jett 8 -400 expect some very pissed of pilots at the Jet lag bar and other places as your scabbing if you fly a NCA designated -400.

NCA gave notice to management that Nambu is NCA's union and collective bargaining is to start in March. NYK is now trying to transfer hulls to Jett 8 to kill the union before it even gets started.

Pitotman

I flew all the 747's classics from 100 to 300 including SP as a Captain and really enjoyed.
My recommandation would be not to jump to fast on the Jumbo as your carrier will seem to be very long afterwards.
I presently fly a totally automated aircraft and also enjoy but for the silence of the cockpit and for the pilot's aids making the night flights so easier.
So my advice would be to consider more the T&Cs and the Airline before the aircraft as flying for peanuts in poor conditions makes you feel very quickly an enormous as.hole and as big as the aircraft you're flying...:}

Dieseldude - I would agree with you that the 747 Classic is one of the last 'true aeroplanes' available to fly. I enjoyed the machine and preferred flying it to the 744. And I'm a big fan of three crew for long haul. But all told, a career should be a lifestyle thing. Personally, I hated long haul. I couldn't wait to get off it. As I got older, my circadian rythems got stronger and I was finding it hard to cope with the combination of acute and chronic fatigue. My father in law, a doctor said it was killing me. And he was probably correct as I felt so much better after one month of quitting. Plus the hassles of unserviceabilities, and the disruption to schedules and rosters made the job unbearable. (My last 747 job was flying freighters).

And as far as flying aeroplanes goes, I have been spoilt by 18 years as a military pilot which yielded more fun than is possible in airline flying. My last aircraft before the 747 was the VC10. Now there's a machine!