Pilots, mechanics, controllers, and employers, talking about the work. Anyone can read. You need an account to post, comment, or react.
Ran the north arrivals through a thunderstorm reroute today. Forty two aircraft, one usable corridor, and every crew wanting something slightly different. Everyone got in. My voice is shot and I am…
A principal asked for a specific brand of sparkling water that is not sold in the country we were sitting in. I found four bottles at a hotel bar downtown and paid far too much for them. That is the…
400 hours of banner tow this year. Pick up, orbit the beach at 80 mph, drop, repeat. My friends think im living the dream and mostly im living the same six mile racetrack. But I got paid to fly…
1997, somewhere over the Gulf. My captain was about to do something I thought was wrong and I said nothing for eleven seconds. We were fine. I have thought about those eleven seconds for almost…
We lost two instructors to the regionals this month, which is exactly what is supposed to happen and it still wrecks the schedule. If you are a CFI deciding where to work, ask the chief instructor…
Anchorage in February. Braking action medium to poor, blowing snow, and a 767 full of somebody else's online order. Landed, taxied, drank coffee, went to the hotel. Twenty years of this and the…
Fueled a G550 this morning and then flew a 1.2 in the 152 after shift!! My instructor says im ready to solo in maybe 3 more lessons. Best part of working the line is the airplanes are RIGHT THERE.…
Second month in the left seat. My first officer this week had 400 more hours than me and knew the airplane better in three specific ways. I said so out loud on day one and the rest of the trip was…
Cancelled three lessons today for wind and a parent asked whether I was being overly cautious. 27 gusting 38, direct crosswind, 172, student on lesson nine. Yes. I am being overly cautious. That is…
Pulled the floats and put the skis on this week. Every year I forget how much the airplane changes personality and every year the first ski landing reminds me. Snow hides everything. You land on…
A student in the box today apologised to me four times in one session. I stopped the sim and told him the apologies were costing more attention than the mistakes were. He flew the next hour clean.…
Nine years of corporate flying and I have finally admitted I am bad at saying no to a trip. Turned one down last month for a family thing and the department survived without me, which was somehow…
We are eleven controllers short in my area and have been for two years. Six day weeks are normal now. I am not going to tell you it makes anybody sharper. If you get a slower response than you…
Rerouted 14 flights around a line of storms last night from a desk in Memphis. I have never flown any of those airplanes and I will never meet most of those crews. Somebody once told me dispatch is…
Somebody asked what the hardest part of EMS flying is. It is not the weather and it is not the LZ. It is that you are making a go decision while a nurse you like and respect is standing there…
PSA from the bench. if your radios get quiet in the rain, it is almost never the radio. its a connector, an antenna base seal, or a ground strap somebody painted over. i have replaced maybe two…
A gate agent asked me last week if the pilot was running late. I was in uniform with four stripes on my shoulder. I said he is standing right here and she laughed and apologised and it was fine,…
Reserve life on the cabin side, for anyone curious. I get two hours notice, I keep a packed bag by the door, and I have missed three of my sisters birthdays in a row. Seniority fixes it. Seniority…
Got asked to fly a survey with a drone inside class D on 48 hours notice. Told the client no and explained the LAANC process, the airport call, and why the authorisation exists. He went with…
lost a friend two seasons ago. wire strike, low sun, field he had done a hundred times. everyone said he was one of the careful ones and he was. i walk every new field now even when the farmer…
A word about the checkride, from the chair on the right. I am not looking for perfection and I have never met it. I am looking for whether you notice. Fly through the altitude and catch it and I…
Turned down a very qualified pilot last week. 4,000 hours, spotless record, said all the right things. In the last five minutes he described a maintenance disagreement at his old shop and he was the…
Nine hour duty day, four legs, three passenger changes, and I finished by sweeping the cabin at 10pm in a hangar in Knoxville. Charter is not glamorous. It pays well and the flying is genuinely…
Four years of night freight. My body has never adjusted and I have stopped expecting it to. Blackout curtains, the same three podcasts, and dinner at 3pm. I like the flying, I like the quiet…
Ran the numbers on going commercial next. At my rate, part time, it is about 14 months and the price of a very used car. Eight years ago I would have called that irrational. Now I have a spreadsheet…
Banner pickup for anyone who has never watched one. You fly a low pass, drop a grapple hook on a rope, snag a loop stretched between two poles, and then climb like the airplane suddenly weighs twice…
PASSED THE GENERAL. 82 percent, which is not amazing, but it is a pass and i am not retaking anything. airframe next month. my lead bought the shop tacos which i think means he is proud of me, he…
Wildlife report from the airfield. We have relocated 31 ground squirrels this month, replaced 400 feet of perimeter fence, and had one very determined coyote. Nobody thinks about this when they…
Somebody asked how you get into ferry work. Honestly? You know a guy. There is no posting, no application, no HR. An owner needs an airplane moved, a broker knows three people, and you are one of…
Corporate cabin safety, since people assume we are waiters with a nicer view. I am the only cabin crew on board. If something happens I am the entire evacuation plan, the first aid, and the fire…