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I dreamed of an airline pilot's career. In it was the FAA, crew scheduling, bad schedules, bad management, unserviceable aircraft equipment, changing weather, no extra holding fuel, ever-changing procedures, endless flight manual revisions, dead heading in the middle seat, broken and lost luggage, nasty passenger agents, crabby 65+ year old 170 lb. flight attendants that were 4 axe-handle wide, all-nighters, foreign countries, sleep deprivation, mergers, seniority squabbles, company threats, food poisoning, no food, bad coffee, bidding, pulled away from my family for weeks at a time, fleabag hotels, late cabs and maniac cab drivers, bidding vacation, waiting for gates, weather, low visibility approaches, aircraft de-icing, PCs, Gestapo FAA and company check air man, medicals, commuting to and from work in unspeakable weather, the parking lot from Hell, parking lot buses, inter-terminal busses, spring break, Christmas rush, Easter rush, PA "PC" announcements, insurance, unscheduled drug and alcohol testing, noise violations, customs lineups, dry cleaning, terrorism, security passes, rude security personnel, high gas/oil prices, pay cuts, pensions reduced/eliminated, rush hour traffic, that infernal alarm clock, crash pads, catching cold away from home, lackadaisical crew members, sexual harassment threats, flight attendants and co-pilots implying that they are a gift to aviation after being there a year, back biting, gossip, cell phones, aircraft cram courses, plus laying my job on the line several times a year with simulators, quick access data recorders to spy on pilot procedures, endless procedural memorization and Annual Recurrent Training days. Then I woke up and joyously found myself still retired! Whew!!! <><><><><><><><><><><> Thought some few of you could relate and enjoy this, others will wonder what the Hell I'm speaking about. Best regards, trapperP 'Hold short at 26R for AA heavy inbound - and keep holding!' | ||
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My list about being an Ag pilot aint near that long! Im gonna save this and when I start feeling down about my job, pull it out and read! Double Rifle Shooters Society | |||
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I got out at 48 on a medical. Now I look up at the RJ's flying into DSM over my house and think "you poor bastards, we really had it good in my day"... | |||
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I've gotta say that I have not talked to an airline pilot in at least the last 10 years who loves his job anymore. for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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Once you get to the end of the runway, in a lightly loaded B-757 and you push the power levers up...it's still fun. | |||
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And here I sit planning on how and whenI am going to get enough money to get my PPL and Com licens. Sure has to beat sitting behind computer everyday sharing office space with 20 other people. Gerhard Gerhard FFF Safaris Capture Your African Moments Hunting Outfitter (MP&LP) Proffesional Hunter (MP&LP) History guide Wildlife Photographer www.fffsafaris.co.za | |||
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I hope you mean the start of the runway. (This is why I don't like flying in airliners.)  | |||
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Technically I think you would be correct, but most of us still think of it as the "end". Particularly after a long wait in line on the taxiway for our turn.  | |||
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Does your duster look anything like this one? I 'helped' get this one ready to give to the Smithsonian a long time ago!  The old timers - mechs and pilots - had some really good stories about the 'north and south' days of dusting when they went down to South America for the winter so the planes would not sit idle all winter. What a bunch they were! Lord, give me patience 'cuz if you give me strength I'll need bail money!! 'TrapperP' | |||
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No matter what job you have after a while it is the same SOS. Even being a pilot would at least be a different SOS for a little while. | |||
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TrapperP, Do you have a full picture of that plane? Double Rifle Shooters Society | |||
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I'm enjoying these posts and can empathize with nearly everything said. I worked for Pacific Southwest Airlines PSA out of San Diego back in the 60's. I started my ag flying career south of Monroe LA in 1967 and did ag work all over the world after that very brief airline career. I'm still flying at 71 doing primary instruction with brand new military pilots. Once in a while I get to exercise my rotor skills flying with Russians in a Mi-17 and that's a lot of fun. The Russians I have flown with are consumate pros and a joy to work with. Did over 13,000 hrs of ag with FW/RW and now have 9,200+ RW. Will probably hit 25,000 hrs by end of year and will keep on flying until I bust my physical. I've got a 21 month old son to support and want to live long enough to take him hunting. God has blessed me with a long interesting and fruitful life. Then he presented me with the greatest prize and challenge of all at this late stage in my life. Wheeeew ....I must have done something right somewhere along the line. I really enjoy reading what you guys have done and where. I lived in Mozambique, Rhodesia, and RSA for a few years while flying/hunting. Did similar in Central/South America. Over the years got shot at, hit a few times and keep on going. Aviation has allowed me to do what many only dream of. Cheers Rocky | |||
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I found this one online:  The Delta Museum used to have some really nice prints of the plane when it was presented. I can check on Monday and see if any are still available if you are interested. I do have a Sensenich prop that came off a Pitts; its been made into a clock because it went into some bushes [?] and was condemned. Lord, give me patience 'cuz if you give me strength I'll need bail money!! 'TrapperP' | |||
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Maybe. Haven't flown since '98, but I doubt it. There were some good times, and I flew a lot of bush in the Herc, but the 747, after I got over how much fun it was taking off with no payload, was a real drag. I retired before they made me and never looked back. I miss the action of flying Hercs into bush strips in Papua New Guinea or Africa or down to Antarctica, but what I don't miss is staring into the sunrise at 350 bound from JFK to AMS, or a double-crew out of Joburg to Vitoria, Spain with a fuel stop in Lagos or Kano. The Hercs were fun. The jet was boring as hell. Drudgery. What trapper says is true. | |||
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True. A runway has two ends. The approach end and the departure end. We take off from the approach end.  | |||
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I always enjoy looking at pictures!! Double Rifle Shooters Society | |||
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Speaking of pictures..... I could use some help here. Some years ago I went to a yard sale and found a box of pictures. Seems this guy may have been a test pilot for Lockheed and had pictures of a lot of airplanes - they 'thought' these were all airplanes 'he' had flown - no one there seemed to really know a lot about them. Well, I asked how much and they replied "How about fifty cents?" I said, "Each?" and they lady replied, "Oh, no - fifty cents for all of them - no one else seems interested" So, of course, I bought them. Now, for the rub - they are large, maybe 11 x 14 in. - and they are glued to some sort of fiber board - my thinking is he had them displayed somewhere. How - what - where can I get these things in a format where I can display them online? I've tried taking digital shots of other photos and not had much luck - there has to be better way. The machines I've seen at Wally World, etc won't accept anything this big. Any ideas? A lot of these would be classics, a shot of hat may be a prototype C130, short fuselage with three blade prop, maybe an F104, not really sure about that one, and a lot of planes I have no clue what they are. Any and all advice appreciated. Help? Lord, give me patience 'cuz if you give me strength I'll need bail money!! 'TrapperP' | |||
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Find some one with a 11" X 17" scanner. | |||
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For a bunch of them, I think making up a copy stand would be the best way. It would be a pain to do for just a few pics but for a lot of them it should be easy enough, and then you can use 2 light sources to illuminate it so you don't have to monkey around with your flash. Then you can just slide a pic in, snap it, and slide in teh next one and repeat. for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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First google hit, looks interesting: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=19857 for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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Yeah well, the flight safety people are always trying to allieviate confusion, so maybe they aught to look at it. I suppose one could look at it that each runway has 4 ends. 10 has two then, and 28 has two to? Twr. "taxi to the end of runway 10". Me. "Um, doya mean the start of 28." Twr. "um, Juliet Alpha Lima, return to apron". | |||
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You guys don't know how lucky you were to get decent - and safe! flight training. Just as I got my PPL, I started flying the police Cessna 182 - the only fixed wing plane we had - registraion Police 001! We also had 2 helicopters, and I wasn't allowed to fly these then. So we used to have competitions of how low we can fly down the beach - at full speed! Then one of our friends in the air force decided to add some spice into this race. He flew his Aermachi just above our plane and helicopter. After all the swearing has down - all on the radio - we got called in and told off! So that put an end to our racing down the beach at what looked like inches above the sea! One day it was very foggy, so an argument started who would be the first to go out! One pilot took a helicopter and went out. In those days there were not many buildings around, and we knew the location of the few we had. A little while he called on the radio, that the fog wasn't too bad inland in the desert. So off we went in the Cessna 182. By the time got to where he was, it was relative clear, and he was flying underneath the power cables between the pylons. So we got into the act too - but were careful not to announce what we were doing on the radio. Just in case we get told off again! | |||
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My first spray job was flying a C model Pawnee. The engine (Lyc O-540) has a manufacturer's recommended TBO of 2000 hrs(Correct me if i am wrong). Although it had many cylinder changes in its life the bottom end had just over 3000 hrs before we replaced it with another engine. My total time of instruction for ag flying was under 2 hours in a cub. The rest was trial and error by myself spraying water while working as an A&P at a flying service. Saeed, I dont think I fit your discription, however at the time I dont recall ever feeling unsafe or undertrained. We were having fun!! Double Rifle Shooters Society | |||
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Yeah, sometimes now, years later, I scare myself thinking about all the fun we had...  (But I really miss it...) | |||
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Had a cousin who owned a spray operation in Katy, Texas, who did that a couple of years before he went into business for himself. Long time ago. He went west years back at a very young age. Died in bed, likely from exposure to all those pesticides he soaked up for all those years. | |||
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! 20 plus years left if I make it to age 65! This job gets to be more of a major  every day.I just got notice that I'll be getting surplussed out of DEN so my choices are either SFO or LAX and back to the good old commute and the crash pad and waiting for a call on reserve. I don't know how much more of this airline career shit I've got left in me. Everything in that above post has happened to me some of it multiple times! | |||
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My first Herc capt slot was ORD, flying to LAX and SFO. I lived in Miami, but good old Midway Airlines was flying into Midway then and usually half the cabin was loaded with non-revs. Great outfit, even if the male flight attendants occasionally wore eye shadow and blush. I've commuted all over the world on offshore contracts and when I hear about flying the friendly skies, I grind my teeth. Glad I don't have to jump seat with all this TSA bullshit going on. I feel for you. I really do. I absolutely hate riding in the back. | |||
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Yep. Two, too. Same strip of pavement, with four ends. As if things weren't confusing enough already... What he would actually say is something like "Cleared to taxi to Runway 28 right for departure, via Romeo, Charlie, and Alpha. Hold short of Xray." You really can get lost out there, and if you do it at a major airport, some of those guys will shuttle your dumb ass over to a holding area and make you wait until they're calm enough to deal with you again. The O'Hare controllers used to do that a lot. Sorta like the penalty box at a hocky game. Keeps you sharp. | |||
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OK, did the home work re the Duster prints & etc, here's what I come up with. Go to http://www.deltamuseum.org/MuseumStore_Photos_Vintage_CropDusting.htm and you'll find what is available re vintage crop dusting. And for vintage aircraft prints, including the Duster, go to: http://www.deltamuseum.org/MuseumStore_Photos_Vintage_Aircraft.htm You'll find such pictures as: If you are interested in other "stuff," go to http://www.deltamuseum.org/index.htm and you can find enough stuff to look for a day. Hope this is what you were looking for. Lord, give me patience 'cuz if you give me strength I'll need bail money!! 'TrapperP' | |||
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Thanks for the links TrapperP,  I will give them a look. Technology has come a long ways since those days!Double Rifle Shooters Society | |||
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Well I just got a job that maybe the best one I had in a long long time. I get to fly a whole 1.3 hours a day and get paid to watch tv. On top of all of that its the Airplane that has me really hopping on this one. I am going to let you all take a SWAG on it. | |||
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George, Sounds like you are the new eye in the sky morning traffic helicopter pilot. | |||
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Jet, I don't know what you're bitching about. At least the boys got gussied up for you. | |||
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Yeah, they just loved a guy in uniform...  I had a skydiving buddy that took a job as an FA just because most of the guys were gay and the pickins were great among the females. He gave that up and the last I heard, he was flying C5B's out of Dover. Ran into him at the O club in Mildenhall many years ago. Haven't seen him since. | |||
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Surestrike I am not flying helicopters, its an airplane, I am flying a UPS Run. And its not a Cessna 208B for those of you in Rio Linda. Come on guys take a stab at it. | |||
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 for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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I got my first airline job when I was 26 and I am 48 now. You guys would not believe some of the crap the FAA has imposed on the crew sitting in our airliners cockpits. For instance the crew rest regulations are so convoluted it took a 30 minute conference call to determine what our legal report time would be after a lengthy delay the previous day. Don't even get me started on the TSA. But this type of crap isn't just happening to airline pilots. Look at what your family physician has to put up with. A rancher across the road from me spends as much time filing tax returns and EPA forms as he does with his cows. The american public wanted cheap unregulated air travel. Well, be careful for what you wish for. JOIN SCI! | |||
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Vemo, That's no shit. You get what you pay for. | |||
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Yeah or what you don't pay for anymore. I rememebr old National Airlines. I used to work for a guy who bought and sold and I'd go somewhere and pick up one of his acquisitions or drop one off somewhere and commercial back. I knew the National guys in MOB and they'd upgrade me to first. A typical menu was stuffed breast of capon with fresh vegetables, champange or wine, served on white linen with silver. Find that on an American carrier. You still can on BA or Singapore, but not on this continent, I'd wager. I feel for you, Vemo. I really do. Deregulation ruined it all. Four low budget carriers down in a week. Who's next? Northworst? | |||
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