Baze

^^^ Thanks. Needed a good laugh

DXjr

The dog is there to bite the pilot if he does anything wrong.


Back when I worked cargo, I used to handle shipments of various creatures. The normal cats and dogs (usually from breeders) were pretty common, but I've seen shipped mice, hampsters, snakes, tarantulas, rabbits, chimpanzees, live tropical fish, and even a couple porcupines (which stunk.) The absolute WORST, though, was a shipment of fighting cocks that happened to break out of their shipping containers, and made a bloody mess of themselves, the bin, and the few bags that happened to be in there.

kittiepride

(1) Do you have friends and/or guys (& gals) you respect who are pilots at other major US commercial airlines? Is there a kind of "pilot brotherhood" the way there is a police brotherhood??

and

(2) Is there at all a key that goes into an airplane ignition? Don't laugh at me!

jgreen1024

In a small piston-driven airplane, definitely. And for most of them you turn it just like you do on a car to start the engine. Some newer piston planes as well as turboprops and jets operating in non-airline service have locks on the doors which require a key, but once you get inside you just need to know the right switches to get the plane started up. I have never seen either on a commercial jet though - I guess there's no need to lock the door from the outside thanks to our fine TSA agents guarding access to the airport apron.

It's not particularly relevant here, but I did a single-engine approach in a Seneca I on my commercial/multiengine checkride followed by a single-engine go-around (where I forgot to retract the landing gear) followed by that particular single engine actually failing during the go-around. Fortunately, this time we had only reduced power on the other engine and hadn't actually shut it down, or else it would probably be a much more interesting story.

freshairborne

Oh yeah, a Seneca. To this day, I sometimes get the willies when I think about all the moving parts in those engines, and the big parts are trying to go the opposite direction from each other (boxer motor). Good thing we didn't really shut the motors off on checkrides, as you found out.

I recall once doing a Part 135 check ride, I did the single-engine approach to a missed approach, and as I recall, it was pretty much a dog, even with only me and a Fed on board. As we struggled up the first few hundred feet, the Fed said, "Okay, I'm gonna give it back to you, but only "til we get up to the missed approach altitude, then you're losing it again." That was worth a good yuk!

And that was with the gear up! (Don't feel bad though; I've seen guys forget to retract the gear on go-arounds more than once in the sim).

FAB

Yes, I have quite a few friends at other airlines, some that I've known from before any of us were airline pilots. I believe there's a mutual respect for pilots at other airlines, and I include airlines of every size. No matter which airline someone flies for, they had to go through a lot of training, checks, and we all paid our dues in one way or another. None of us, as pilots for one airline vs another, are necessarily any better than any others. Experience counts, yes it does, and at United and most majors, there aren't any newbies so we've all got years and years of experience, but still, pilots just being hired at any respectable airline know their stuff or else they wouldn't be flying people around in jets.

It's not a job that you just call the HR department up, ask for a job, and get hired. I respect anyone who has the kind of dedication it takes to get into an airline flying job, because everybody has gutted it out at least as much as I have and I know what it took from myself to get here.

Glad you mentioned this, because when someone or some entity claims "we have the best pilots in the industry", it's BS. We're all the best there is.

Nope, no key. Theoretically, if someone knows what they're doing, they can swipe one of these things. Good thing not too many people know how to do that!

FAB

andrewwm

Not really theory: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/justic...plane-incident

A Skywest employee almost succeeded in making off with a CRJ

cblaisd

Was on a flight out of ORD a few weeks ago when, just before takeoff, we taxied back to the ramp. Captain came on and told us that dispatch (?) had discovered that the flight was carrying both some sort of hazmat and live animals and that they were too close together in the cargo hold.

Fortunately, we didn't have to go into a gate (since we were already delayed by over an hour due to late arriving baggage and the need to de-ice) but the ramp crew did whatever they needed to do while we were parking in a holding area near the ramp.

kittiepride

Sorry for all the questions but I just LOVE the aviation industry and culture!!!! I will just put these several ones in list form here so I don't have to keep bugging you!

(1) Over which geographical location is the most beautiful sunrise and sunset cockpit view?

(2) What's your favorite airport??

(3) Favorite airplane to fly?

(4) Most beautiful airplane??

(5) Do you really make lists for everything?

(6) Do most pilots pathologically hate clutter?? (I've heard)!! ;D

(7) Do you really get irked by "regular people's" directions because ATC's are so perfect? ; )

(8) Do you really set your watches to Zulu time??

(9) Can you identify every single type of cloud in the sky for real?

(10) Is your layover clothing really as "bad" as people say, (like the "1980's prep-style" of khakis, polo shirt, Topsiders, brown leather bomber jacket)?? Not saying how I know that particular fashion example!

DXjr

To be fair, he was a fully qualified, and competent (though, at the time, not sane) captain. Not just any employee.

freshairborne

(1) Over which geographical location is the most beautiful sunrise and sunset cockpit view?

Probably somewhere that I've never flown. Been a domestic and South America guy for the whole 26 years.

(2) What's your favorite airport??

The one I'm based at. Second favorite is JAC

(3) Favorite airplane to fly?

Airbus 319/320. Not because it goes fast, flies nice on one engine, lands smooth, etc, etc, but because the cockpit is quiet, comfortable, and doesn't have that silly steering wheel in the way of everything.

(4) Most beautiful airplane??

P-51D Mustang

(5) Do you really make lists for everything?

No, not everything, just what to get at the store on the way home from work, who I'm supposed to call, and a set list of songs to play with my band. There enough checklists in my life that I prefer not to get too crazy with that. Besides, my wife reminds me of everything I'm supposed to do. She has a master's degree in planning (urban long-range), of all things. And she got laid off last year. You need a planner?

Nice list you have here, by the way.

(6) Do most pilots pathologically hate clutter?? (I've heard)!! ;D

I would say that we're maybe a little more organized than most, but I've seen the gamut of organization and lack thereof.

(7) Do you really get irked by "regular people's" directions because ATC's are so perfect? ; )

You kidding me? I'm the first one to ask directions, and I'll ask three different people and average the answers.

(8) Do you really set your watches to Zulu time??

Mine's set to my home. Never changes. I just add or subtract as necessary, even on the odd trip out of the country. I have a lot of watches, though, just resetting them for Daylight Savings is a chore. In fact I wear a different Swatch every day, just to throw off peoples' perceptions of how pilots are stereotyped. The "clashier", the better.

(9) Can you identify every single type of cloud in the sky for real?

Yes. You mean bumpy or not-bumpy, right?

(10) Is your layover clothing really as "bad" as people say, (like the "1980's prep-style" of khakis, polo shirt, Topsiders, brown leather bomber jacket)?? Not saying how I know that particular fashion example! 

The current "layover uniform" is jeans, a pullover shirt of some kind or a T-shirt with some school or branch of the military emblem, and sneakers. I personally like tye-dye. The bomber jacket is popular among pilots that have an airline-style leather jackets, considering that the wings are removable. In winter, I'll wear my jacket on trips, but it's not the $450 Glenn-approved (but pilot funded) leather, it's a nice jacket I got at Costco about 15 years ago. No wings or grommets, no identity crisis.

Once, I went to the front desk to cash a check (before ATMs were everywhere) in a NYC layover hotel. I was dressed in a tank top, cutoffs, and Teva sandals. The front desk lady says, "What's yer file numba?" I asked her how she knew I was an airline person, she says, "C'mon, what's yer file numba?"

We're not that hard to spot.

FAB

freshairborne

Maybe not exactly competent at the moment in question.

FAB

Firewind

FAB @5114:

Bouyant - er, brilliant.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Baze

^^^^ I think so too. My favorite of all time.

Firewind

The PBY

Loaded them with fire retardant at SBA, back when they were used as brushfire fighting air tankers. The guy who had the concession for them to the USFS had his own pet one outfitted inside with mahogany paneling, wall sconces, low light, classy head, and, of course, the centerpiece... It was the most awesome f--- t---- we VW bus-driving college students ever did see. (Or since, come to think of it.)

But they were pretty enough with their bellies stained red.

Baze

I used to be a USFS Dispatcher in Goleta. Dispatched many a tanker for fires from SBA. 1991-96.