Fear Of Flying

[Nearly Retired]

Whenever I post anything on this forum, our old friend Avbug mentions that I have a fear of flying. I don’t recall having written that I’m outright afraid to fly. But Avbug mentions it so often that I got to searching to see just exactly what I wrote. I searched through my postings on this board, and then Googled myself (as I am prone to do) Lo and behold, I couldn’t find it.

Well, you know I write a *lot*. I write in various media and forums. My syndicated monthly column appears in over 20 newspapers. (Okay, that’s a lie.) But I’m pretty sure that if I wrote that I was afraid to fly, Avbug probably would’ve read about it here.

And so I asked myself, “Self? Are you afraid to fly? Could you have written such a thing?”

Here’s the deal, yo. I’m a human. As such, I am subject to the whole range of human emotions…things that the anal-retentive guys among us, like Avbug probably dismiss as childish or at very least un-masculine. I don’t always deal with emotions perfectly - I wish I did, but let’s be honest! I am Mr. Roberto, not Mr. Roboto.

Sometimes when someone I know gets killed in a helicopter crash, I have to re-evaluate why I even do this crazy thing. I’ve often thought about quitting, just as you have, probably. When someone close to you dies, it hurts bad. Unfortunately, it’s happened more times than I’d like in my career.

Not only that, but there have been times in my life when I’ve had flying jobs that I fairly disliked. Okay, one. The last full-time job I had was flying a 206B for a rich guy. It was a hybrid “corporate/personal” pilot position. I really, really disliked the boss. He had more money than God but would not spend any of it on things that would’ve made my job and his life easier and safer. Like night vision goggles. “Oooh, too expensive!” he’d wince.

He owns a big hunting camp in the Middle of Nowhere, Alabama. He also owns a box up at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Any time Alabama was having a home game we’d fly up and land at a business he owned just outside of the stadium TFR ring. It was always me + four and a big cooler full of drinks. With enough fuel to do the job we were up close to MGW.

After the game was over, he’d hobnob with the other rich guys that he’d invited to watch the game in his box. When the party was over, which was usually around one a.m., they’d arrive at the helicopter expecting to go home. And we’d go. On clear nights this was not a problem. But when the weather was, uhhh, “less than optimal” it was a problem because there was no weather reporting anywhere near our LZ. Our farm manager was notoriously bad at giving us weather reports.

And I learned something about flying over timber- and farmland on moonless nights. After sunset there are lots of lights on. People are home, watching TV, doing in-house stuff. But eventually they go to bed. And they shut lights off. And after midnight there are waaaay *fewer* lights down there than there were at six or seven p.m.

So we’d leave Tuscaloosa, zipping along in our overloaded B-model over unlit, inhospitable terrain. I mean, it was black down there. No chance of a successful auto, really. I’d follow main roads as far as I could (so I could at least crash close to where people might see us), but none went where we were going so eventually we had to strike out on our own for the last 25 miles or so.

The boss was oblivious, too drunk to know or care. But I used to worry about the usual things: transmission chip lights, tail rotor failures, engine failures, unusual vibrations - anything that might make me want to be on the ground pretty quickly. It started making me paranoid. And it took the fun right out of the flying. I think it turned my hair grey.

When we got back to the hunting camp, the approach into his house was awful. It was do-able and “safe” as far as that went, but it was not easy, especially at night - it was the true definition of “black-hole.” (Randy Mains would not approve.) We had extra landing lights installed on the 206, plus as many external house lights as I could get installed, but it still sucked.

One night I was on approach. We’d been chasing a cold front down from the north. It had gone through Tuscaloosa early enough, but we caught up to it before we got to the camp. The weather got rainy and the ceilings got low. Still, I thought we were good. Heh, silly boy…

I overflew the single light of a known landmark and turned long final for the house, the lights of which were still hidden by the trees. As soon as I did that I flew into a fog bank and the world went white with the reflection of the landing lights in the bubble. I thought to myself, “I’ve killed us all now, oh boy!”

Things started happening in slow motion. I held what I had, went on the gauges and was just about to pull power and scram outta there when out of the corner of my eye I saw a single sodium vapor light that I recognized as being at our polebarn. Keeping that light in sight, I snatched it into an OGE hover, pirouetted around and landed at the barn instead of the house with my heart in my throat. Everybody was jovial as they jumped out, none the wiser to how close to death we’d all come. As he got out my boss looked around and commented, “Man, it’s pretty crappy here!” I just shrugged, cool like Yeager after dropping the A-bomb in the Japs and dogfighting the Krauts all the way back to Hawaii. All in a night's work...

How do these things happen? How unprofessional can you get! Why, just tell your boss that the weather is too bad to go! Be a man! Stand your ground! Black lives matter!

Yeah. Right.

Tell that to the pilots of the S-76 that almost killed Paul McCartney in England in 2012. That PIC had, like me over 10,000 hours, and he came within *feet* of crashing that S-76 and giving the world another dead ex-Beatle.

Tell that to the pilots of the AW-139 who crashed and killed British rich-guy Lord Balleydmond back in 2014 whilst taking off out of his estate in dense fog one night. We pilots often find ourselves wedged right between rocks and hard points. Life ain’t perfect. And sometimes they’re just not all black and white.

Why'd I stay working for that guy? Well, the pay was pretty good and we really didn't fly a lot (about 80 hours/year). But, keenly aware of my own mortality, and having been “scared” more than once on that job, I finally just quit. I’d had it. I didn’t like flying anymore, didn’t like the job, or my boss. I didn’t like myself. I was 55 years old and didn’t want to die in some godforsaken Bell 206 flying some rich a**hole around. Let someone else do it.

And so I obviously must have written about these feelings at the time or afterward. I’m certain that I never expressed that I was constantly afraid to fly, nervously hitting the starter button with a shaky finger. Or maybe I did! We go through emotional periods, you know?

That was then, this is now. Right after quitting that job I got a call to come up and fly these old radial-engine Sikorsky S-55s doing cherry drying of all things. It is an odd helicopter and an equally odd job. But it’s fun, and every year I work with an incredible group of pilots. We have airplanes, a Hiller 12E and even a JetRanger to mess around in. Life is good!

But sometimes it’s bad. If you live long enough, you’ll have to deal with both. I recommend that you don’t write about the bad times here. Perfect, sanctimonious guys like Avbug will give you sh*t about it.

Thanks for reading

[r22butters]

Flying at night is awesome, but man you gotta have some lights! One time over the desert I was following a road through a small pass. All I could really see was a few cars, then just two, then one, then he disappeared,...oh' sh*t!

 

We go through emotional periods, you know?

After my near death f*ckup I said to Hell with wanting this as a career, even turned down a guy's offer to help me get in with his company!

 

A few months later I was back in a 44 building up time to apply for a job again,...then I got hired! That brief job experience made me hate the idea of making this a career even more than ever!

 

I must say though, its easy to say no to a flight if you don't care if they fire you.

 

So, will I flipflop again in six months and try for a seasonal job?

 

,...god I hope not!

 

I however am very fortunate. Buggybabby can't see my posts anymore since I'm on his "list"!

[TomPPL]

Nearly Retired: That was a great piece of writing there, very engaging. You didn't have to explain yourself at all, but your post sort of puts things into context and gives a real-world insight into what its like to work for an a$$.

 

It's unfortunate to say this but I'm in no doubt that there will be a great many employers just like the one you mentioned and it's frightening to know the exact same situation is going on somewhere else in the world right now.

[Wally]

Ah, the aviators life...

 

Fear is a productive, rational emotion when your physical integrity is threatened. If you "have no fear" you are an idiot- thank you for wearing the T-shirt, our conversation will be polite, cheerful and short.

I was afraid of flying for 48 years. It focused my attention wonderfully. And. mostly, I managed it pretty well. The little sh..., er- little 'stuff' will kill you dead and/or embarrass you in the job. Anything that makes one diligent and thorough, from checklists on, is a very good thing. You can't anticipate everything (I have been IIMC, unaided, at night as well) but keeping the situation within survivable parameters is the ace-in-hole.

I saw a lot of pilot-friends inadvertently take their last flight in my career. I also saw a lot of non-aviator friends buy the farm from stupid, genetics, and/or being in the wrong place at the wrong (or right?) time, so aviation isn't the most hazardous vocation/avocation in the world. When the stars aligned this summer, I decided to quit a winner, while it was still fun and before I made a fatal error. We'll see if it "takes", I miss flying quite a lot. It also appears that the family is not moving to New Hampshire...

Edited October 3, 2016 by Wally

[Nearly Retired]

And that's the thing, Wally - I was worried about how long I could go before making that "fatal error" of which you speak. We are, as I like to point out, only human. Yes, even me.

 

Like any diligent pilot, I read the accident reports. And over the years I've seen some very disturbing fatal accidents occur to some very experienced pilots. In each case I ask myself what I would've done differently in the same situation? Would I have died too? (Probably.) I'm a good pilot, but over the years I've demonstrated some really bad judgment - and not just with regards to aviation, either. Just ask my non-aviator friends. Hell, ask my family!

 

That last job I had, flying that 206...we did more "crazy sh*t" in three years than I'd ever done in my whole admittedly-sheltered career: Night landings to unlit LZ's...long cross-countries on super-foggy days... good-weather low-level stuff (the boss ALWAYS wanted to fly low*)... *really* confined areas... always at MGW...lots of times with drunks.

 

Younger pilots, more bold than I, would maybe have eaten that stuff up - doing what helicopters do! Out of the mainstream, off the radar. Because a lot of it was pretty neat. But an equal amount of it was also way out of my comfort level.

 

There were perks, of course. Trips in the business jet to nice places where I'd be basically "on vacation" until time to come home. That was nice. And I really didn't "work" all that much. As long as the ship was clean and ready to fly, I didn't have to put any "face time" in at HQ. That was the good stuff.

 

But it finally got to a point where the guy couldn't pay me enough to do the bad stuff. I honestly used to wonder, "Is this the night that I make a mistake and kill myself?" You cannot survive for very long with those kinds of thoughts in your head.

 

Those two pilots who killed Lord Balleydmond that night...they had an AW-139, a very capable ship THAT COULD HOVER ON AUTOPILOT! All they had to do was go STRAIGHT UP. Don't push forward, just go straight the hell up until you're out of the fog, boys. But no. Almost immediately they pushed forward...and forward...and forward until they crashed ON THE PROPERTY not far from where they started. What part of JUST GO STRAIGHT UP did they not understand?

 

But even they had misgivings about the flight. The CVR records the PIC saying he wasn't comfortable doing the takeoff. So why didn't he just say, "Sorry, M'Lord but it's just too bleedin' foggy. We're going to have to delay this a bit...until tomorrow when...errr, *if* the fog clears. You might want to call an Uber."

 

But you know...this is what we do - we're PILOTS and we do that pilot sh*t. There's a rich guy in the back who doesn't like to take "no" for an answer. Our egos tell us that we can do it. And so we try. We hope we don't die trying.

 

As Tom PPL surmises, there are lots of pilots in jobs just like the one I had. Jobs that are "okay"...most of the time but occasionally suck because the owner...the guy who signs your paycheck is riding up front with you and likes to call the shots. Mine wasn't and isn't the only one.

 

And let's admit - no job is perfect.

 

My old boss was literally astonished when I walked into his office and told him I didn't want to work for him anymore. He pressed me for reasons, but I saw no point in making it personal. I just didn't want the job anymore, I said. It wasn't for me. I suppose I *could* have used the opportunity to bang my fist on his desk and give him "what for." But by that time I didn't even care anymore. I just wanted out.

 

The guy who replaced me didn't last six months. I hear that the boss uses contract pilots now; I don't know that he's found anyone full-time. Me, I'm just glad to be gone, and still alive and having fun again.

 

*My old boss had an absolute fear of heights. He just did not like flying high in our JetRanger. ​So I flew as low as I felt comfortable when I could do it safely. Our altitude AGL depended on a lot of things, but I generally kept it between 500' and 1,000'. Over open farmland or down the beach I'd go lower, but I was never comfortable with it. I'm not a very good NOE guy.

 

[Wally]

I have had jobs that I hated leaving because I could do it and would feel bad if something happened to my replacement. I got over that. I learned that the pilot sets the odds for every flight, however long the lucky streak has run, the next one stands on it's own. You crash my ex-bird, it's your bad.

 

The job is the same whether you fly for an angel or a devil: you fly when wanted or you don't. Old Nick will put his thumb on the scales when you're weighing risk and reward. Keeping it impersonal is the only way to deal with it.

[SBuzzkill]

I love flying, but it scares the heck out of me.

Edited October 3, 2016 by SBuzzkill

[avbug]

 

Whenever I post anything on this forum, our old friend Avbug mentions that I have a fear of flying. I don’t recall having written that I’m outright afraid to fly. But Avbug mentions it so often that I got to searching to see just exactly what I wrote. I searched through my postings on this board, and then Googled myself (as I am prone to do) Lo and behold, I couldn’t find it.

 

 

http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.com/topic/16388-quitting-time/

 

Over time I started to get a "feeling." I cannot explain it. I was not comfortable flying the helicopter anymore. Even on a "milk run" on a CAVU day I'd find myself feeling uneasy as I flew along. Again, nothing specific, just a general feeling of malaise. I started playing the "what if?" game obsessively. I figured/hoped things would get better, but they only got worse. Each flight became more and more tense.

 

 

But then last season was different. I'd hover along, feeling just super-paranoid about the engine quitting. I knew...believed...hoped...I could put it down okay between the rows or on a road between the fields and then get out if it rolled over. But the worry about the engine failure was beginning to overshadow the pleasure of simply flying the helicopter. And I don't think I'd be any more comfortable in one of the turbine-conversions - I'd just find something else to worry about.

I'm usually not one of those who believe in fate...like those who believe that your "number is up" at some point and there's nothing you can do about it. And I know that I can just as easily die in a car (or more probably, motorcycle) crash as a helicopter accident. Yet I cannot shake this feeling that I'm just not comfortable flying helicopters anymore. (Ironically, I don't feel the same way about airplanes.)

 

 

In closing, I agree with most of you: Trust your instincts, listen to your gut. When it's time to quit, quit! For me, helicopter flying has lost its allure. I know some of you young ones probably think that could never happen, but...I thought so too. It can.

 

So now in this sort-of-post-retirement I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. I mean, I'm only 57. All I know that I *don't* want to fly helicopters for a living anymore. I'll have to make a decision about Washington soon - to be fair to them so they can line up another driver in my place. If you asked me today I'd say no, I'm not going back up. On the other hand, being there is a whole lot of fun. Great people, good times.

So we'll see.

 

Scoff if you will. Whistle past the graveyard all you like. Call me a wuss or a pansy. I can live with that. And maybe that's the point.

 

Edited October 4, 2016 by avbug

[Guest pokey]

round 2 ! MOM ? can i have another quarter?

 

anyone need popcorn, a hot dog? beer? soda? peanuts?

 

are there single engine fire fighting airplanes?,,,,,,,these and more will be answered in the next episode. I grab squirrel, you chase after moose,,, NATASHA?!! don't put a quarter in that,,,,,,,,,,, tooo late.

[Hand_Grenade_Pilot]

Not directed specifically at you NR, but falls in line w/ the general theme of the thread. I find it interesting that quite a few fellow pilots regard our profession as 'dangerous'. Pilots who jump around from hole to hole in the forest, always dreading some impending catastrophic mechanical failure. Specifically, an engine failure. Many pilots obsess over the dreaded engine failure, while neglecting to think all of the other things that could go wrong (like water in an MD500 blade blowing the end of the blade out; when was the last time you thought about something like that?). Our profession has risks which must be managed accordingly, but is by no means dangerous as long as the pilot does their job (and the aircraft is being properly maintained). As long as maintenance has their act together, our own incompetence is our greatest enemy. And statistically speaking, it's usually the pilot that fails, not the aircraft.

 

So what gets pilots killed? Inadvertent flight into IMC. Wire strikes while hastily departing. Taking off w/ engine covers on. Improper fuel management and pushing on toward the destination. Rushing an approach into a LZ, misreading the wind and coming in w/ a tailwind while hot & heavy. Neglecting to monitor OAT and flying into icing conditions. Taking off w/ the hydraulics off. The list goes on and on, yet all of them are 100% preventable.

 

That being said, we are all prone to making stupid mistakes; I certainly have. I've been fortunate enough to come out of them w/ no consequences other than a bruised ego. You learn from it, move on and make damn sure it doesn't happen again. Unfortunately some pilots are not so lucky; they don't get a second chance and end up dead or w/ a ruined career. Could it happen to me? Yes; I'm not infallible. Does that scare me? No.

 

Do what you can to anticipate and mitigate risks. Take your job seriously. Be aware that you are your greatest enemy; your actions (or lack thereof) are statistically what will bite you in the ass, not the aircraft. But don't fear all of the 'what if's...'

 

The reality is, life can be chaotic and unpredictable. There are many things in this world that can get you killed. Living in fear is no way to live life. As for me, if I do die prematurely, it'll most likely be on my motorcycle. And, just like flying, I do everything I can to mitigate the risks and absolutely love it.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Hand_Grenade_Pilot

[r22butters]

I'm not affraid of flying, nor am I affraid of dying,...as long as it doesn't hurt!

 

I am however affraid of being caught doing something stupid,...like landing in the middle of a housing development because I tried to fly under the fog and almost killed myself,...which is why I didn't land, but kept on trying to get through.

 

Better off dead than embarrassed,...kinda f*cked up way of looking at things if you ask me.

 

,...now!

[Nearly Retired]

Thank you, Avbug, for finding that piece on “Quitting Time.” I knew I could count on you. I owe you a big…some might say huuuuge debt of gratitude. And no, I’m not being serious, but you obviously don’t understand humor to include sarcasm.

Every year…every damn year I leave Washington State after the cherry drying gig is over, and I say I’m done with flying…not coming back…fini! My friends all make fun of me now. They laugh and go, “Sure, sure, Bob, you always say that. And you always go back.” Which I do. Every Spring the boss calls and offers some extra bit of compensation or incentive. I heave a big sigh and agree, “Oooookaaaaay…one more season.” It is, after all, only two months of sporadic flying, and not much if it doesn’t rain a lot.

But see, flying these big old radial-engine beasts is fun. I could have a turbine version (we have three turbine conversion S-55‘s). I could even have the Huey if I made a big, whiny deal about it. But no, I stick with the radials. Leave the turbines to the young guys.

Sometimes, after I get it started (always a challenge, especially when hot) I’ll sit there, looking around the cockpit as the temps come up. And I’ll think to myself that it’s pretty much the same view and sound and feeling that my dad experienced back in 1954 and ‘55 when he flew these things, when I was being conceived. And I have to admit that it’s neat. I mean, how many of you out there currently fly aircraft that are equally as old as you and that your father’s flew back when they were new? (Ehhh, come to think of it the Huey is pretty old, and there are probably some young guys doing Utility in Hueys that are as old as they are - maybe older.)

My paranoia comes and goes. Sometimes I think to myself, “What the hell am I doing, flying these crazy machines? Haven‘t you pushed your luck far enough?” Then other times I remember that it’s not about luck and I just enjoy it and not think of all the bad stuff.

Although the cherry flying ended back in August, there’s other stuff going on. So I’m still up in Washington and probably will be until early December. Then I’ll go back to Florida for a couple of months and debate whether I want to come back up next season. Again, my friends will laugh. By the end of March I’ll be north-westbound again.

I was talking to a young pilot friend recently. He’s doing basically the exact same job I did thirty years ago: Sightseeing tours and charters in and around NYC. As he told me his stories, I mentioned how cool it was, me being a “has-been” and yet seeing things through his young, enthusiastic eyes. His reaction was one of genuine hurt for me. “You’re not a has-been!” he said. “You’re still a pilot.” And I said, “Nah, for me it’s over. My day has come and gone, and I’m cool with that. It’s truly been a fun ride. But it’ll be the same for you,” I warned my young friend. “One day your career will be over. And it’ll happen in the blink of an eye. So, as Warren Zevon told us before he died, ‘Enjoy every sandwich.’ Enjoy every friggin’ minute of flying now. Time passes quickly.”

Believe it or not, I still get offers to do full-time stuff. I always turn them down. I’m done with commercial full-time flying. I am, after all, nearly retired. Now I get to be the geezer who tilts at windmills and rails at the FAA. And who just flies for fun.

And come to think of it, has Avbug *ever* started a thread on any subject? He always seems to jump in on existing threads with his pedantic, sanctimonious views. It's like, he thinks he has some valuable things to say, but his false humility prevents him from bringing them up...UNTIL someone else makes a post, and then here comes ol' papa Avbug stomping in to set the record straight and tell us the Real Story.

[avbug]

 

And come to think of it, has Avbug *ever* started a thread on any subject? He always seems to jump in on existing threads with his pedantic, sanctimonious views. It's like, he thinks he has some valuable things to say, but his false humility prevents him from bringing them up...UNTIL someone else makes a post, and then here comes ol' papa Avbug stomping in to set the record straight and tell us the Real Story.

 

 

And that, folks, is a perfect example of a poster who fits the definition of "butthurt." "Nearly retired" vomits up more bile in the hope of public applause.

 

You really are the original apologist, aren't you? Most tilt for a cause, but yours are incessant justifications of self, and you seem to lash out like a drowning swimmer as you try to make your case. A self apologist.

 

Whatever you need to do to get through another day, mate.

 

A lot of us enjoy and fly radial equipment. Get your hands dirty working on it, then we'll talk.

[r22butters]

 

 

A lot of us enjoy and fly radial equipment. Get your hands dirty working on it, then we'll talk.

HA! I've been waiting for this one. Evey frickin' time someone mentions doing something eventually buggybabby lets us know he's done it too!

 

You know I'd love to fly a blimp, tell me buggy ol' chap, what was it like when you flew one?

 

,...oh' wait, you can't see this post can you

 

HAAAAAAAAA!

[Eric Hunt]

I stopped flying 3 years ago, after 45 years and 15,000 hrs, and haven't missed it one bit. I miss the money, though.

 

I stopped flying because I was sick of making decisions about small things that could develop into big things - like preparing for a night sortie with a below-average student, the forecast says we can do the trip, but looking out the window and relying on experience indicated otherwise. The boss expects me to fly the student and take his money and is applying pressure. I expect to come home safely.

 

Lots of discussions with the junior instructors who have less than 2000 hrs, they are looking to me for guidance, and are fearful of their jobs if they say that they are cancelling. But experience gives me the right to say NO when others are bullied into saying yes. A further phone call to the Tower, and I can the flight. I know I will cop flak from the boss, and at that stage I decide I have had enough. If I said YES and got caught out in the storms, he will criticise me. If I say NO he will criticise me. So, STUFF IT, hand in the flight suit and go home - in a raging thunderstorm which was not on the forecast, but I knew was gonna happen. One of the juniors rang later to say he was glad I canned the night, they were too timid to do so.

 

Over the decades I have had many close calls, some avoided by experience, others by intuition, and others by pure luck.

 

And anyway, "Experience is just an accident you DIDN'T have."

[Guest pokey]

 

 

are there single engine fire fighting airplanes?,,,,,,,these and more will be answered in the next episode. I grab squirrel, you chase after moose,,, NATASHA?!! don't put a quarter in that,,,,,,,,,,, tooo late.

 

 

to answer my own question? yes, i googled it (prolly same way the bug gets his info). Who knows? (as butters puts it: this could be our "buggybaby" flying this video) Oh wait? I don't see anyone in there that looks near 150 years of age.

 

[Nearly Retired]

As mentioned in that video they call them the SEAT (single engine air tanker) and we see them a lot up here in Washington State during fire season. I haven't personally seen any of the "regular" (non-float-equipped) Air Tractors. But there are plenty of amphibs, and they are interesting to watch, scooping out of the rivers or lakes and then dashing back to the fire. Looks like incredible fun.

[Nearly Retired]

A lot of us enjoy and fly radial equipment. Get your hands dirty working on it, then we'll talk.

 

Uhh, you cannot even preflight an S-55 without a rag and clothes you don't mind getting ruined. As far as working on them, well I'm not an A&P and never claimed to be. However, under the supervision of real mechanics I've done a whole bunch of things. So yeah, I've gotten my hands dirty working on them.

 

But trust me, Avbug, we will never talk.

[r22butters]

 

Lots of discussions with the junior instructors who have less than 2000 hrs

So 1999 hrs and you're still considered a "junior" instructor? I flew with a 200 hr instructor for a while, what would you classify him as?

[Guest pokey]

So 1999 hrs and you're still considered a "junior" instructor? I flew with a 200 hr instructor for a while, what would you classify him as?

 

i think my 1st airplane instructors back in ohhhh,,, 1983 or so? they were ALL 200 hours, then when i found my (what i wanted to fly from day one) helicopter instructor in ? about 1987, he claimed to have "thousands of hours", he was good tho, talked a good line, taught me a heap. Did he have the 'thousands'? he sure flew like he did, but what didn't add up was? i was also a mechanic that worked on his ship,, the ship didn't have the "thousands" of hours like he claimed he had, and? he only had his instructor license for a couple years. SO?! i guess my point here is : Junior or not, some learn really fast. Ya want to do full down auto's in a 300? this guy taught himself !, was he good at it? ,,,indeed ! how many helicopters has he wrecked?,, so far only one, and was 30 years ago... where is this post going?. guess i can sum it up in 2 words: "interesting pilots"

[avbug]

 

But trust me, Avbug, we will never talk.

 

 

Quite right. I value my time more than that.

[Eric Hunt]

The question was asked "Is a 2000 hr pilot considered a junior instructor?"

 

In that particular school, definitely. "Senior" started at 6000 hrs and went up over 15,000. Lotta grey hair in that lot.

[Guest pokey]

 

 

Quite right. I value my time more than that.

 

 

Posted 03 October 2016 - 23:44

 

only 2 days? OH c'mon bug, we seen ya value more of your time for less than this millions of times.

Edited October 6, 2016 by pokey