apologies, just seen the story and thought it was new. my bad, thanks

I learned this from George Kennedy in Airport.

Airport - Realistic or not? (We all know Airplane was spot on.)

Hi W0X0F,

Just wondering your opinion on the new rules for first officers following the Colgan crash:
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news...s223503-1.html

I had assumed that just about all pilots were against the 1500 hour requirement in particular, then I read the above that says that Capt. Sullenberger is for it. It doesn't seem to make sense to me, given that both pilots had well over 1500 hours in that crash, and that number of hours is not the best way to measure experience or competency.

Running the engine(s) up to taxi seem like it would use a lot more fuel than getting it towed.

I remember the first few times I flew on an airplane. They backed out of the gate with thrust reversers! Meh, oil was a lot cheaper then too.

Very interesting, especially that mechanics can get checked out to taxi the plane. Its one of those things that makes perfect sense but that I'm still a bit surprised is allowed.

Thanks!

This feels like a hole in my résumé, but I've never seen Airport.

I don't know any pilots (except low time pilots) who are against the 1500 hour requirement. My contemporaries all had more than 1500 hours when they got their first airline job. I think I've stated earlier itt that I had about 2300 hours when I got my job at ACA and my time was a little on the low side for what they were hiring at the time.

It's all supply and demand, and towards the end of the 1990s the supply was dwindling and the minimum requirements began plummeting. Some pilots were getting hired at a regional airline with only 500-600 hours. And this same pilot could then upgrade to Captain after a year if he hit the hiring cycle at a good time.

You are correct that number of hours doesn't necessarily equate to competency, but I'd rather have someone with some years and a logbook full of time when I get on a plane.

No doubt about it.

I've never flown anywhere that allowed pilots to back up a plane using reverse thrust. But at ACA, mechanics were allowed to do it. American Airlines used to back out of gates years ago, but I'm pretty sure they've discontinued that process.

This was at Tucson airport, probably in the early 80's. They were undergoing rapid growth at the time, and probably only had 1 or 2 tugs. IIRC they didn't even have jetways - we had to use stairs.

Northwest used to back DC-9s out of the gate at Birmingham, AL as recently as the early 2000s. There were plenty of tugs at the airport, so I guess it was just company policy. Delta MD-88s have always pushed back.

Aeroflot seems to be a lot less sketchy than it was in the 1990s. That said, would you discourage a loved one from flying on that carrier?

On long haul flights do pilots get First Class meals or coach?

I've never been faced with this situation and I really have no reason to think poorly of Aeroflot pilots (or their maintenance, etc), but if I really consider a scenario where my parents, for example, were planning to take a trip to Russia on Aeroflot, I think I'd encourage them to go on an American airline. They're just more of a known entity to me.

First Class, but not necessarily our first choice. The pilots fill out a menu selection before pushback, listing their first, second and third choice of meal along with the time they'd like to be fed.

Of course, in my new life on the MD-88 crew meals are but a wistful memory.

Basically a Snickers in your pocket.

WOXOF:

Last month I was treated to a flight in an RV-6 experimental aircraft. (My foster sister's husband built and assembled the plane himself from a kit. He told me it took him about three years to build the plane, mostly working nights and on weekends.) We flew around North Alabama and Southern Tennessee for about an hour reaching a maximum altitude of about 3,000 feet. Before we taxied out to the runway, I informed "David" (who did all the flying) that I had filed a "Modified Flight Plan" with the FAA. The MFP (which I had written down) consisted of the following:

(1.) On takeoff, fly due south to the Tennessee River. Fly under the Whitesburg bridge five times.

(2.) Perform five barrel rolls and five victory loops.

(3.) On landing back at the airport, buzz the tower. (Make the flight controllers poop in their pants. Ha! Ha!)

David smiled and said "OK, I'll do one of them." He pointed over to the (unmanned) tower and said: "There's your tower. We'll buzz it on takeoff."

Flying in that plane was a blast! I remarked to David that it was the most fun you could have with your clothes on.

In my younger days, I flew under power lines a few times (the lines went across the Potomac River near Leesburg, VA) and several times I flew down the Potomac River low enough to be looking up at the tree tops on either side (pre-9/11 of course; no way to do that with D.C.'s restricted airspace these days). I also once flew from the D.C. area to Pensacola Florida (two fuel stops) and never got above 500' agl. (That was at the request of the guy flying with me, retired Navy Captain Ken Coskey, who flew the A-6 during Vietnam and spent 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton.)

I guess it's good I got all of that out of my system.

CDR. Ken Coskey, 1968

For W0X0F, came across this story of the predecessor of the SR-71, the A-12: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/the-story-...the-1684070908

Seems like it was actually faster and could fly higher!

This is good, from the comments:

The RV's aren't really experimental, are they? More like just home-built.

A friend of mine built one. At the same time, he was getting his license. After his second lesson he decided it was silly to pay rental fees so he bought a Cessna 172. After he finished the Vans, he was probably one of the very few people that owned 100% of two airplanes.

Great article! I always thought that the A-12 and the SR-71 were the same plane and they just changed the designation at some point.

All home-builts are designated as "Experimental" by the FAA, even though they are built from proven design plans (or kits).

Posting for awesomeness.

Actually, I believe there were 4 Airport movies. The original was filmed entirely at MSP, IIRC...my home airport.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...mazing-videos/

Was listening to ATC in Vegas and they cleared a flight for 1R and said they were approved for "full length". I assume that meant they were going to be using as much runway as possible, but didn't know you had to request that?