I apologize for my comments. The last thing I would want to do is hijack (no pun intended) such a great thread.

As a frequent traveler, I grow tired of hearing people complain about:
1) Security Screening
2) Baggage fees
3) Delays/Cancellations
4) Flight Regulations (i.e. seat-backs up, cell phones off, etc.)
5) Airports (especially big ones like ATL)

The fact of the matter is, air travel is amazingly convenient, ridiculously cheep, exceptionally safe, and people who can't hack removing their shoes and turning their phones off outta drive.

But I will try to keep us on point, and I will simply ask this.
Is there any one thing that you and your colleagues are surprised has not been done, or think should be done to make air travel more secure?

That is very true. Air travel was once the province of only the very rich and you would think that prices would have gone up over the past three or four decades when you consider inflation and rising cost of fuel. But they've remained remarkably steady.

There are some areas of concern, but I don't want to get into them in a public forum. It's kind of like discussions of Air Marshals and other aspects of security. It could come back to bite me.

I had a really strange experience at LGA last week, flying to Denver and then Albuquerque on Frontier. I'm pretty good at packing light and getting through security without a problem so I was surprised when as my backpack was going through the x-ray, the x-ray screen reader guy asked someone to come over, pointed at the screen, and then they both looked at me.

A minute later, a woman was going through my backpack and pulled out a pair of scissors. Not heavy duty garden scissors, and not kids safety scissors. they were a pair of medium size scissors with a blue handle...plenty long and plenty sharp. i was like oh crap, i'm gonna get flagged and i might not even be allowed on the flight.

the women who held my scissors in her hand walked over to another guy, said something, then walked back over to me and handed me the pair of scissors and said, these are fine. i said to her, actually do you mind throwing them out actually, i don't want to have a problem on my next flights. she didn't mind and threw em out.


so uhh...wtf? scissors okay on planes now?

There plan was probably to put a tail on you and let you lead them back to Mr. Big...the supplier.

Actually, the criteria for what's acceptable has morphed over the years and I don't know what the current guidelines are. I'm a little surprised if you say they had sharp points. Makes me wonder if Leatherman tools are acceptable again. Many pilots used to carry a Leatherman in their flight bag and then had them confiscated after 9/11.

That's fine, I just hope none of them involve finger nail clippers.

There a list on the TSA's website here. Scissors with "metal with pointed tips and blades shorter than four inches" are okay, but I can't find anything specifically referring to multitools like Leathermans (Leathermen?) or Swiss Army Knives.

Only giving you **** because of your great posts in the nit thread - the "security guard" sign might be post of the thread.

I asked this before and you might have thought it was too dumb to answer, but I've never been good at taking a hint. Do you have suspension/damping in your seats? If not, and even if so in extreme cases, how hard is it to work the controls in bad turbulence? Do you get a lot of training for that?

A couple times recently I've hit some decent turbulence and wondered how the pilot can control the plane since he's getting tossed around as well. One was landing in Denver. I suppose at cruising altitude you can sit back, relax and enjoy the autopilot getting you through it but I think we were low enough that the pilot should have been in control.

Fair enough...you got me. Too quick with the touch typing. And thanks for the on the security guard post I made...always a thrill to have one's work recognized in one's own lifetime.

Our seats adjust fore and aft, up and down, and the seat back angle can be adjusted (reclines only about 10°). There's also a knob to adjust the lumbar support and the angle of the front edge of the seat (support of the lower thigh). It's all for personal comfort. I'll usually slide the seat back a notch and recline a couple of degrees once we're up at cruise and then put it back in the "business" position when I'm getting ready for the approach and landing. The seat does not have suspension built-in (like you sometimes see for bus drivers).

The controls are easy to use and are mechanical on most of our planes, though we still have some with electric controls for the up/down and fore/aft movements. There is no training specifically for this skill...you learn by asking if you can't figure it out yourself.

If the turbulence is bad enough, it can kick off the auto-pilot. But if the a/p is handling it ok, I'm fine to monitor the situation with my hands on the flight controls. If I'm in moderate or worse turbulence, I put on my shoulder harness (only required for takeoff and landing). I've been in turbulence bad enough that I've risen out of the seat (momentary negative G) and it's not a good feeling having the controls falling away from you.

[Off to Vegas tomorrow...20 hour layover and time for some poker. Wish me luck.]

Not sure if this has been asked before but how is your training split between dealing with situations and not getting into situations in the first place?

Thanks again for the great ready.

Just to go off topic a bit, after reading this thread my brother decided being a pilot would be a good career direction and after buying him his first lesson as a present (I really wanted a lesson after reading your thread but have no time) he has been flying ever since and studying harder than ever.

I just have a couple of questions.

Do you wear your lap belts at all times?
Did you want to become a pilot ever since you were young? Do you feel that people who decide that becoming a pilot is a good career step rather than being a dream job are not as hard working?

We wear the lap belts at all times that we're in our seats. The shoulder straps are only required to be used for takeoff and landing and many pilots release the shoulder straps shortly after takeoff.

Usually, we only get out of our seat when going to the lav or when going on break but occasionally one of us might feel the need to get up and stretch a bit on a long flight (one of the luxuries of flying the 757/767; impossible to do on the MD-88).

Yes I did and I think that's true of many pilots, though I've met a few who got into it almost on a whim just because they found that they had the qualifications for military flight training.

While I'm not sure that this is necessarily true, and I don't have enough data points to draw such a conclusion (because I don't go around asking other pilots what their motivation was for getting into this field), I can tell you that some of the best pilot employees I've known are guys who have had a lifelong love of flying.

http://www.rd.com/home-garden/50-sec...cle186583.html

This was just posted last week in this thread.

my baad

Although this is probably a long shot as I am 90% certain US airlines don't fly here, have you ever flown to/from Cyprus?

If you're ever over here please send me a PM I'd gladly buy you a drink!

I've gotten to that part of the world (Athens, Tel Aviv, Isanbul, Amman, Cairo), but never Cyprus. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I thought it was closer to Greece (and I also kind of thought it was part of Greece in some way). I had to go to Google Maps to find exactly where it is. Do you speak Greek or Turkish?

I speak Greek as I live on the southern part of the island however as it was a British colony 99% of Cypriots speak English anyway and roadsigns, shops, menu's etc. etc. are all in English.

Anyway, even though you might get lost on the way, you're welcome to a drink if you ever find yourself in Cyprus

Not a very aviation related reply but I've been to Cyprus and it's a beautiful island - and the natives are very friendly.
If you ever get a chance to visit, take it.

W0X,

Do you know much about buying planes for civilian use? I have zero experience with flying, but would like to take lessons. I wanted to join the Navy/AF but there's no way that they'd take me with a herniated disc. I'm interested in learning to fly and then buying a plane of my own - probably some small civilian jet but obviously i'd need to accumulate plenty of hours in a pretty standard prop plane or something to get to the point where they'd even let me get in the cockpit of a jet, such as an L-39 etc. Do you have any experience in flying planes like this? What's the best path for someone who would like to fly jets but not kill himself in the process? I'm still young so I've got plenty of years to be patient and learn before getting into a high-powered plane like that.

W0X, I don't have a question but I want to say I went to the NBAA show here in Atlanta last week and saw some absolutely amazing stuff. The Embraer jets are simply unbelievable, as are many of the other business jets (Boeing,etc). The show was cool to see how much goes on, and everyone is so undouchey compared to many other industries.

So I guess I do have a question..

Do you find that people involved in aeronautics are generally better to be around than other industries? Minus the bottom-line looking businessmen and accountants that make the decisions...

Here's an add for an L-39 from Trade-A-Plane, which is a publication that's been around for as long as I can remember (and it's now on-line, like everything else). $385,000 for a 1984 model. Of course, the operating costs are nothing to sneeze at. If you're thinking of getting an L-39, you must have some deep pockets. You sound like someone I should get to know.

I've never flown a military type jet, but I'd love to have the chance. If you ever get that L-39, promise you'll give me a ride in it. As to the best path to get there, you definitely need to start with baby steps. Get the license and some time under your belt. When you take the plunge and get that jet, make sure you include 10-20 hours of dual instruction from an instructor experienced in this type of plane.

You'd get a ride without question, for sure. Like I said, if you're ever in the SF/Sac/Reno area, let me know and I'll take you for a spin!

I actually lucksacked into a lot of money when a UPS truck ran me over as a kid. Long story. It's been sitting untouched for years and that would be the principle funding for getting this thing off the ground, after of course I got instruction and experience. I guess I just have to be patient about it all.

The only other industry that I have experience in is software development/systems engineering and there were plenty of great people there too, though I have found that software or tech trade shows can have a high percentage of condescending types. People in aviation are usually very happy to talk to others with similar interests...maybe that isn't true in some other fields.

Hey W0X0F, Great thread. I joined the forum just to let you know, haha. I don't even know how to play poker, but a post on the Flyertalk.com forums referenced this thread. I've probably read 30-40 pages of the thread, despite the fact that I should be doing my chemistry assignment.

I'm a ready-reserve DL ramp agent at a regional airport in Iowa. It's interesting to be able to relate to a lot of what you say, especially when it comes to the ramp or my experiences non-revving. Seems like you fly the 767 out of JFK a lot, no? During the summers, I take a lot of time off to travel to Europe (and sometimes Cairo) out of JFK. It would be very cool if I happened to catch up with you at some point.

And now I realize that you have joined flyertalk. I'll repost over there.