DC-3 / C-46 Ramp Slave

[mixturerich]

Valid points from both sides. I don’t think it’s fair to shit on Buffalo, however, it’s not fair to shit on 705 airline flying either.

Personally I did the whole ramp to flying thing up north and a mix in between, and it helped toughen my skin, but otherwise I don’t use any of the ramp knowledge or “skills” at the regional airline job I have now.

Ask any old airline pilot and they will tell you seniority is everything, and this can’t be overstated, so the advice for those wanting to fly 705 is to get to the company you want as fast as you can. Especially because right now, you’ll have people filling the seniority list below you quicker than ever. You never know when the music is gonna stop, some idiot bombs a plane, epidemic, recession, etc. Your buddies may or may not be facing layoffs at a regional but at least they’re not stuck loading a belly pod and pulling engine tents in -40 for a now indefinite number of years because some crusty old 703 guy on avcanada told them it would be worth it to become a better pilot. Just like there are a some bitter regional guys that didn’t go to the majors, there are also bitter 703 guys that didn’t go the regionals, by choice or maybe not. Either way, often these guys will passionately defend their career position, while shitting on the alternative to no end. I can even picture their hot red faces of anger and resentment as they read this.

As far as the “mindless, boring, A to B, planes fly themselves” airline flying perspective goes, I personally feel like that is a bullshit way to frame it. Most commercial aviation is about picking as straight a line as possible anyways. It’s supposed to be boring and uneventful - that’s what makes it safe. Personally, I can handfly a Q400 whenever I want and I fucking love it, or I can chill and keep the autopilot on down low. At least I have the option. I don’t miss tossing bags, scrubbing planes, checking oil, hand de-icing, filing flight plans, loading freight, dealing with passengers, or hand flying it straight and level for hours. Sure, sometimes I miss the wildness of the 703 flying but in the end it’s not worth it for me with all the other bullshit one has to deal with, and I ultimately feel better working in a vastly safer environment.

I might have rambled on but in response to this thread discussion, now would be most ideal time to work for Buffalo as there so much movement going on. You may not be exclusively a pilot but it sounds like you’ll fly a lot, on a cool old airplane to boot that will undoubtedly teach you great hands and feet. If you get checked out on different birds too, even better. Get it while it’s hot.

[digits_]

So are you looking at this strictly through your own lens and preconceptions or do you honestly believe that the airlines is the ultimate, and everything else is second best? Do you seriously believe that everyone should either aspire to that, or deny their aspirations for $37k/yr? If you seriously believe that, I can't see any possibility for a reasonable discussion. You would essentially be saying we should all be mindless drones, one way or another. I can't imagine what a depressing 40+ year career that would be.
I'm going to guess you haven't been in aviation all that long if you think the airline life is "stable." Just because the getting is good now and you've never known anything else, it wasn't always this way, and there's nothing guaranteeing that it will stay that way. This is from just 10 years ago: https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-air ... 0120080702
Things look good now. Let's hope they stay that way. Until then, there's plenty of room and opportunity for most everyone to do whatever it is they want to do, whether it's 18 nights a month in hotels or a summer in a cabin by a lake.

I'm sorry, a single Otter FO? What would be the purpose of this? Our example assumes she will start on the 172. I'm not aware of too many companies that operate single Otters two crew. I am, however, aware of a number of companies that start pilots on small Cessna singles.
So you're of the opinion that a 20 year old city kid could, after a week on the job, be sent off alone into the bush, fully equipped for whatever situation might confront them? You really believe that there is that little to such a job?

Not sure where you get it from that I consider airlines to be the ultimate goal. I'm not even trying to get into the airlines myself. However, as stated before, ANY flying job would help develop your skills as a pilot more than any ground position you could find.

For some reason I thought we were talking about twin otters. In case of a single otter, a 172 or 206 progression might be better. But yes, you hire them, give them some company indoc, and send them off in the bush. What useful info about flying the plane are they going to learn by loading fuel drums washing planes and flight following other planes? Not much. Do a few hours of line indoc with them at low level in marginal weather and simulated emergencies, and that's how they will get trained.

If you hire a 250 hour pilot, and you train them for 10 hours, eventually you are going to have to send a 260 hour pilot on their first commercial flight. No point in dragging it out and letting their flying skills degrade and turn them into master airplane cleaners before you send them out 6 months later. No 260 hour pilot will be fully equipped to deal with whatever situation they will encounter. You just hope they have learned enough in those 260 hours to come up with something vaguely resembling a solution.

Just because companies get away with it, and they prefer to do it like this for cheap labour or to have a pool of pilots available if someone quits, doesn't mean it is actually necessary to do so.

[TheRealMcCoy]

Oh my fcuk this is redundant, someone please just bury the horse before it gets beat to a slushy mess.

edit: can't even fucking swear, @#$!.

edit: oh, there we go. whoopie