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wilburville
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PA
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It's Time for a Minimum Wage for Airline Pilots
from wilburville
wrote 3 years 14 weeks ago
Regrettably low pay for beginning pilots and CFI's has been around as long as I can remember. Decades. Been there done that. I had no responsibilities, virtually lived out of my car, lost an impatient girlfriend, and watched others, just like some here, give it up. Frank Lorenzo would hold up his wallet and say, "People vote with their wallets and pocketbooks". We want everything cheap. Well, I have always said to youngsters wanting to fly planes, "You have to have a passion for it. Live it, breath it, sleep it. Put blinders of denial on because all kinds of distractions will dissuade you from continuing: low pay, insecurity, loss of medical, they might sell the plane, bad weather flying, all the fearful things that could happen". If I had listened to all the naysayers I wouldn't be here typing this. I did use the GI Bill to finish off some ratings, CFI and II but had a commercial as a 19 year old paid for by delivering newspapers and eventually owned an Aeronca Champ to build time towards that commercial. This is the kind of dedication I suggest. Leads to appreciation of what the business is about AND offers seasoning which I fear the pilot factories simply cannot offer. I stuck it out and when the situation was ripe: experience, hours, seasoning, willing to relocate, it all fell into place. Corporate, commuter flying "Bandits" for $15000 a year but a big international carrier rang me up. Retired as a wide-body Captain who lived far beyond his expectations. And I read FLYING magazine and believe it shaped me as well. Hang in there.
Taxiing In Winter Winds
from wilburville
wrote 3 years 19 weeks ago
Have to agree, a mistake in the explanation. Quartering tailwind should be: Upwind wing aileron must be down. I think of it as preventing wind from getting under the wing and lifting it up. Also a bit of down force on the down deflected aileron. Elevator is down for the same reasons: keep the wind from getting under the stabilizer and the deflection offers a down force.
As a Chief Pilot once joked to a demoralized pilot after a busted check ride, "No one gets out of here perfect".
Keep up the good work Mark (and all the cozy pals at FLYING), the magazine that probably saved my bacon over the years with all that I have learned from the pages.
The Cost of Flying Is Down
from wilburville
wrote 2 years 46 weeks ago
Too many airports, because of post-911 paranoia discourage people from gaining access. Going deeply into the countryside, I can find nice lazy airports from the earlier decades without the chain-lock fences, badges, police, and the unwelcome feeling I get around city General Aviation ONLY airports. Here in Allentown, at the small GA airport, we couldn't even get out to the grass by the runway to get a good video shot of my teen-aged daughter on her first solo. Airport authorities would only allow escorted access by an airport employee, time-permitting. For decades I'd park my body in the grass alongside runways and enjoy the show. No longer. I can see through the fence way across the ramp, a "For Sale" sign on a 172. Can't get out to see it. I overheard some talk at the small flight school, how they'd like to put a "Learn to Fly Here" sign out by the main road. The current company name sign is small and lost in the shuffle of other signs for industries adjacent to the airport entrance. Rumor has it the city and airport authorities don't want loitering. There's no airline service. I was watching airplanes from outside the fence in the back parking lot of a Home Depot. The cops had to drive up to see what I was doing. I give up. ATP, CFI, airline retired.
The Cost of Flying Is Down
from wilburville
wrote 2 years 46 weeks ago
Into the country we flew today for the proverbial $100 hamburger at an airport that invites loitering. A month ago they had an open house and were giving FREE airplane rides! Recently purchased by pilots, they've done an admirable job of attracting pe0ple. The restaurant was packed, the menu diverse, prices reasonable, food tasty. Sky Manor (N40) Pittstown, NJ. A few miles away in Irwinna PA, Van Sant airport (9N1) invites loitering. Bikers and pilots find the outdoor grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, a treat while they watch the rental J-3 takeoff and land on the grass runway. A Stearman is due back into service this summer. The Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines comes to mind. Take the kids to these kinds of places. Hope is restored.
The Cost of Flying Is Down
from wilburville
wrote 2 years 45 weeks ago
Hey reykjavik take a deep breath. No one said anything about big bad FAA or TSA.
Only reporting my experiences with some big city GA airports. And airline serviced airports. It wasn't like this in prior decades. It wasn't. Before you learned to fly we could take a date in a Cessna 172 into an airport like Cleveland Hopkins, park at the end of the concourse, walk into the terminal, dine and get back out to the plane without a hassle. No more, for sure.
I was chased away by the police, from looking through fence on the south side, the FBO ramp side, of West Palm Beach airport about 5 years ago. "You cannot be here". "Outside the fence"? "Yes, move along". I was on foot so walked back to the my layover hotel in disgust.
Some of the GA airports require all tenants to get screened, at their own expense, and carry a picture ID in plain view while on the ramp. To drive a car to one's T-Hangar? Proof of a million dollar umbrella insurance policy.
What if I had been a kid truly interested in planes, in each of these mentioned episodes, how should I feel about aviation?
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