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Ask me about being an airline pilot or flying in general Ask me about being an airline pilot or flying in general

04-05-2022 , 01:00 AM
W0X0F,

The recent glut of flight cancellations last weekend across the country was because of exorbitant jet fuel prices and not because of covid call-outs like they try to feed us, right?
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04-10-2022 , 08:16 PM
Just been looking through this old thread on the Professional Pilot Rumour Network forum
about crew's best, and worst, celebrities - who are your nicest celebs?

Wondering if you had any experiences?
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04-14-2022 , 06:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by REDeYeS00
W0X0F - i'm guessing you've seen videos, but i'm curious about your opinion on how precise the flying needs to be to pull off an in-flight refueling operation.
this is a very popular vid that seems to be extremely casual, but my hunch is what we're seeing is not as easy as the participants make it seem.

Judging from this video, the hardest part about aerial refueling is the inane conversation with the guy pumping the gas.
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04-14-2022 , 06:19 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by eric_ca
Sometimes on avherald, I read about an engine that failed or had to be shut down but was subsequently restarted in flight. When that happens, does it sound just like an engine starting up on the ground? Or does it sound different? It’s hard to imagine hearing the slow low-pitched growl of a jet engine starting up at tens of thousands of feet.
You wouldn't even hear it in flight. (The MD-88 is a possible exception since the engines are mounted on the rear fuselage. The passengers sitting abeam the engines might hear something.)
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04-14-2022 , 06:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by 27offsuit
W0X0F,

The recent glut of flight cancellations last weekend across the country was because of exorbitant jet fuel prices and not because of covid call-outs like they try to feed us, right?
I've never heard of a flight cancelled due to fuel prices.
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04-14-2022 , 06:26 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by thethethe
Just been looking through this old thread on the Professional Pilot Rumour Network forum
about crew's best, and worst, celebrities - who are your nicest celebs?

Wondering if you had any experiences?
I've seen lots of celebrities on flights, especially when I was flying the Shuttle (BOS-LGA-DCA) but I had very few interactions. The only celebrities I remember talking to were Art Buchwald (Washington Post humor columnist), John McCain, Dan Marino, and Florence Henderson.

My encounter with Florence Henderson was the longest. It was a transcon flight and I went back for a lav break. When I exited the lav, she was in the front galley talking to the FAs. She was really charming and suggested we get a picture together (which I did, of course).
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04-14-2022 , 06:37 PM
I loved Buchwald's columns. I'll bet he would have been fun to have a couple of drinks with.
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04-14-2022 , 06:53 PM
How large are the airspaces (not the right word, I'm sure) when taking off?

I live about 20 miles from DEN. When I see aircraft overhead on departure, their apparent size is noticeably different from day to day. I assume this is due to conditions aloft, some days it's better to fly nearer the bottom of the area, and some days better to get to a higher altitude more quickly.

I'm imagining airspace as restricted areas out from the airport, like duct work from a furnace. Wondering how big the ducts are.

Hope you're doing well in retirement.
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04-14-2022 , 11:51 PM
I'm going to get some popcorn and a soda and wait for the discussion of the upside-down wedding cake that is class Bravo airspace.
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04-15-2022 , 12:58 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by W0X0F
My encounter with Florence Henderson was the longest.
That's what she said.
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04-20-2022 , 03:15 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by STinLA
We've previously discussed planes being grounded during particularly hot days. I believe it has happened in at least Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Denver over the past few years.

What about places in the Middle East where those kinds of temps are more common? Do they have longer runways on average to account for this? Or I guess another option is bigger engines to get up to speed faster on shorter runways? Or do they shift flight operations more into the early morning and late afternoon to evening hours?
Not a pilot, but I work in the field in the ME.

We do have longer runways for this reason, or at least one of the reasons, so that it won't impact operations to any degree. DXB (UAE) will ideally have 1200 movements per day (now at around 950-970) with one of two runways closed for parts of the day. We do not have any restrictions at any point for midday operations for instance, even at 110-120 degree weather. The runways are typically 4000m to 4500m, however that includes the Runway End Safety Area which is roughly 200m at each end.

But, during the hottest months, if there for any reason is work being done within the RESA or the RESA is shortened for periods of time, that will have implications for an operator like Emirates. The smallest aircraft they have is the 777 and they haul a lot of cargo. In these cases they will avoid using that runway from 12 to 4pm ish.
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04-24-2022 , 06:13 AM
Hi there!

Interesting thread!

I've wondered a lot lately about the aviation business. As a kid being a pilot was kind of a dream that slowly got erased by the awful dread that spreads from going to public schools.

How ever how is the industry today? Do pilots get paid decently? Is it worth spending huge amounts of money in order to get that license?
And if one were to get one today how many hours are needed in order to get a full time job as a pilot at a decent company?

And above all how is pilot life flying for a commercial airline? You fly to different cities around the world you get to stay over for a couple of days and then fly back?

Being a pilot still a chick magnet? xD

Might be some silly questions but thanks in advance!
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04-24-2022 , 08:15 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickFoldem
Hi there!

Interesting thread!

I've wondered a lot lately about the aviation business. As a kid being a pilot was kind of a dream that slowly got erased by the awful dread that spreads from going to public schools.

How ever how is the industry today? Do pilots get paid decently? Is it worth spending huge amounts of money in order to get that license?
And if one were to get one today how many hours are needed in order to get a full time job as a pilot at a decent company?

And above all how is pilot life flying for a commercial airline? You fly to different cities around the world you get to stay over for a couple of days and then fly back?

Being a pilot still a chick magnet? xD

Might be some silly questions but thanks in advance!
W0X0F has already answered all your questions ITT. What? Too lazy to read the the entire thread? Come on. It's only 9,500 posts or so.
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05-06-2022 , 11:50 AM
Is this a first?

Plane told to return because the FO wasn't certified.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/virgin...B-79700EDC252D
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05-08-2022 , 01:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Videopro
Is this a first?

Plane told to return because the FO wasn't certified.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/virgin...B-79700EDC252D
It’s the first I’ve heard of anything like this happening. As you might imagine, they are extremely anal about checking all of the qualification criteria for pilots. This probably happened on occasion in the pre-computer era of aviation, when all training records were tracked using a paper trail. But now, the computer checks each pilot for qualifications every time that pilot checks in for a trip.

Warnings are also given as pilots get close to being non-current. This comes up most often for international pilots. One of the basic currency requirements is to have three takeoffs and landings within any 90 day period. When flying domestically (2 man crews), this is never a problem. I’ve sometimes gotten three takeoffs and landings in a single day, even in the 757. Many of my trips in domestic flying comprised one leg per day, but occasionally we might have 5 legs in a day (e.g. start in ATL, do a round trip to Savannah, a round trip to Nashville, then fly to BOS for the night).

When flying international, with 3 pilots, one of the FOs will not fly a leg. As Captain, I’d take one leg and the FO getting closest to being non-current would get the other one. There were a few times where I let both FOs take a leg because both needed a takeoff and landing. This was not common.

It’s even worse for the long haul flights. In the 767, we used to fly to Cairo, Tel Aviv, and Amman. These flights required 4 pilots, two Captains and two FOs, because the block time exceeded 12 hours for one leg. For these flights, guess who typically gets the flights? It’s usually the two Captains. It’s quite common for FOs doing long haul trips to have to go to Atlanta every 3 months to get three bounces in the simulator to reset their currency.
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05-10-2022 , 02:06 PM
I'm thinking I saw this. Was travelling on the motorway in that area at that time, and a police car came up behind us and started zigzagging around, stopping all the cars behind us. Was very odd, thought it was some kind of drug's bust.

We kept going on the empty road and 5mins later a passenger plane flew over with a military jet on each wing escorting it.

Can't seem to find jets mentioned in the few articles I've seen though.
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06-23-2022 , 07:53 PM
W0X0F,

Thoughts on the current state of the airlines? Is it simply carriers selling flights they don’t have staff for but hoping they will by the time they roll around? Any chance you get called back with a fake birth certificate to fly again?
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06-24-2022 , 11:34 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Videopro
Is this a first?

Plane told to return because the FO wasn't certified.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/virgin...B-79700EDC252D
This is very surprising especially since it wasn't the FAA, it was their own company's protocols that weren't met but deciding to turn them back instead of just completing the flight didn't really make much sense since no one was in any danger.
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06-24-2022 , 03:45 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by shaft88
W0X0F,

Thoughts on the current state of the airlines? Is it simply carriers selling flights they don’t have staff for but hoping they will by the time they roll around? Any chance you get called back with a fake birth certificate to fly again?
I’ve heard talk of changing the regulation for retirement age from 65 to 67. I’ll be 67 in two months, so no help for me.

I’m still getting texts from Delta Flight Ops regarding significant weather that might affect pilots who commute to work. Someone never flipped the bit to mark me as non-active. The worst was about 6 months ago when I got several texts asking pilots to consider volunteering for extra trips. That was killing me since I’d love to be back in the air. (Plus, those extra trips would be at double pay...nearly $600/hour.)
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07-03-2022 , 07:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by baronworm
Each of the links below takes you to a single looong PDF document that collects EVERY post from W0X0F. These documents were produced by way of this forum's "printable version" capability. The upside of this is the lack of ads or visual clutter, but the downside is that embedded photos are not displayed. :-(

Once again, thank you W0X0F for so diligently quoting the questions you're answering - otherwise this task would've been ugly enough I don't think I would've bothered....
After 23 months, maybe it's time for a fresh update.
(I doubt anyone even uses this cumulative PDF collection, but it's only 15min of my time so why not?)

Below is a fresh PDF collection, up to date as of today July 3rd:
PDF - 2p2 thread - 2009(!) pages
And as an added bonus, here is the equivalent PDF summary of the thread with W0X0F from flyertalk.com (this thread died back in July 2013, so this doc hasn't changed since then):
PDF - FlyerTalk thread - 278 pages
NOTE: The p2p document also includes the posts from our resident helicopter pilot ("d10"), who has tagged along on this thread since the very beginning, asking excellent questions while also providing his own interesting responses from the rotary-wing perspective.
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07-16-2022 , 04:20 PM
How accurate is this characterization of the social aspects of pilot life?

https://www.quora.com/Do-pilots-hang...et_type=answer
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07-22-2022 , 06:29 PM
They're having a 5k race on one of the runways at DEN in September. Details here.

6AM on a Saturday, everyone has to be done by 7. They say it won't affect normal airport operations.

Don't understand the draw. Seems like a logistical and security nightmare.

Any thoughts on this kind of thing from a professional's viewpoint?
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07-22-2022 , 07:05 PM
PDX had a 6k runway run a few years ago in conjunction with their 75 yr anniversary
it was a charity event with proceeds benefiting the local boys & girls club

the 6k was a down and back on the north runway
it blows my mind that's how long that runway is, but at the same time it makes total sense
there's a lot of mass that needs to be brought to a stop

Last edited by REDeYeS00; 07-22-2022 at 07:11 PM.
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07-23-2022 , 09:39 AM
Long, straight, flat races are pretty cool. Way different than on a track or cross county.
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07-25-2022 , 10:33 AM
Heard about this place: FlyteCo Brewing. "By pilots, for pilots".

Currently in northwest Denver, they're supposed to be opening a site in the control tower at Stapleton (the old Denver airport). That sounds fun.

Let me know if you're ever in the area, I'm buying.
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