I see that a few of you are pilots...where are you at and what do you fly? This supports the Porsche addiction.

Ty...FedEx A300

This...

I flew a cessna plane a couple of years ago. It was a bday present from my girlfriend

I liked it, but getting the license is expensive.

:\

b

Learned in a Cessna 150.


I have flown:

Cessna 140
Cessna 150 and 152
Cessna 172
Piper Cherokee 140
Piper Arrow
Grumman AA1B with a 150HP Lycoming (RIP)
Citabria and Decathalon.

And a T-28 Trojan. It was a birthday present flight from my wife.


Now I just sit in the back of airliners.....

you know, now that i think about it......i don't ever recall hearing a Fed Ex or UPS jet crashing....do y'all take better care of the jets than the commercial airlines?

Used to own a Cessna 172...great fun...expensive though!

Yea...expensive habit. I wanted to be a pilot or a Porsche mechanic...being a pilot I can afford the Porsche hobby being a mechanic I could not afford my flying hobby.

It not NEWS unless lots of people die...yea we have had a few

I am still trying to convince Betty that we can afford a plane. I want a Swift.


Low wing, 2 seat, underpowered with sports car like handling. Frequently converted with bigger engine. They have a rabid following.

Kinda sounds like a flying 914.... :-D

SWIFTS are KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have some time in a Cessna Sky Master, Grobe, and a ton of 737 sim. time I am a run taxi designee for mechanics at Southwest here in DAL. That is the best game in town. Have done the manditory loop, inverted flight, and snap roles. The last bunch I ran through one of the guys got sick from the motion. We normaly turn it off because it doesnt have a true feel driving around but we were going to fly it and I was showing them how to do some stuff. We took off and I did a roll over down town and the guy was looking out the window. I guess the sim moving and the video spining in front of him was just to much and he lost his lunch We had to stop and get out for some fresh air

Single Engine Land.

Cessna 152
Cessna 172
200 attempts to land the space shuttle simulator at NASA with 1 success.

Actually there was a FedEx plane that went down at Mather here in Sacramento. I never did hear the investigation result but from the characteristics of the crash I would assume the load shifted.

Rob

also Single Engine Land

learned in the Cessna 150
Mostly have flown C172, some C182, an hour or two in a neighbors M20 Mooney, and a few in the local Civil Air Patrols' Maule. Love that Mooney.

Just recently updated my medical, and overdue to get the Bi-Annual flight review. Same delema; which hobby to throw money into!

about 50 hrs of 152 out of WHP;
about 10 hrs of 172 out of VNY.
.7 in sailplane at Warner Springs, forgot the designation.
maybe another .6 or so in a Cherokee at MYF.

and a couple hundred hours of B-52 sim time, from when i was the systems engineer on an instructional features upgrade project on the Aerial Refueling Part-Task Trainer at Castle AFB, CA.

now that i'm on the East Coast with about 6 solid VFR days a year i suspect I'll never finish off my PSEL...

lived near MEV 8 years and never got the chance to finish off a sailplane rating - when i was working, there was no time, and when i had time, there was no money...

QUOTE (ty914 @ Feb 6 2006, 08:11 AM)

It not NEWS unless lots of people die...yea we have had a few

Must scare the hell out of the packages, huh?

John

QUOTE (meares @ Feb 6 2006, 08:08 AM)

you know, now that i think about it......i don't ever recall hearing a Fed Ex or UPS jet crashing....do y'all take better care of the jets than the commercial airlines?

havent you seen CASTAWAY?

QUOTE (ClayPerrine @ Feb 6 2006, 08:13 AM)

I am still trying to convince Betty that we can afford a plane. I want a Swift. Low wing, 2 seat, underpowered with sports car like handling. Frequently converted with bigger engine. They have a rabid following. Kinda sounds like a flying 914.... :-D

They're worse than 914s..........

(except blue w/ yellow trim.)

Back in high school, I used to fly my uncles Mudry Cap10 (Frenchie aerobatics trainer, side by side tandem seating, fun and forgiving little plane). My freinds used to joke that I would have my pilots liscense before I had my regualr drivers liscense. When I was touring colleges, my uncle and I would fly over them before I ever tried a visit. I started learing spins over the chesapeak bay (up, down, turn a-round, and do it all over again ) I went to college and have not been up since. My uncle sold the Mudry, and by the time he bought his Extra I had too much other stuff going on to put the time in again.


Zach

When I was 16 or 17 I did an introductory lesson dealie at Mclellan AFB (my dad worked there, and it was a b-day present)

I got to fly a Cessna 172, a Tomahawk, and a Warrior.

The Cessna was ok, I didn't like the Tomahawk, and I loved the Warrior. My parents went up with me in the Warrior.. I think they were quite puckered.

I haven't flown since, but I did take the ground school class at Cal Poly. If I ever have large amounts of surplus money, I'll get an instrument license and build a kitplane.

I remember that crash at mather, I had heard that it was a load shift that did it. It crashed in a wrecking yard.

God... I forgot about flying a Piper Traumahawk......

Hated that little monster with a passion. Best comparison.. a flying Pinto.

is teh amount of money one spends in the thousands getting a license, or high hundreds?

I thought I heard 600 for the course, but the guy didnt say, which leads me to believe I could be in thousands before I get a license.

I wish someday I could be a pilot, i think it would be really neat.

b

QUOTE (bd1308 @ Feb 6 2006, 11:39 AM)

is teh amount of money one spends in the thousands getting a license, or high hundreds? I thought I heard 600 for the course, but the guy didnt say, which leads me to believe I could be in thousands before I get a license. I wish someday I could be a pilot, i think it would be really neat. b

I've heard $1500 for a basic license, but that was a while back, and in CA. Find a club, they'll have planes for rent and instructors, and they'll be cheaper than commercial flight instruction companies.

If I ever do it I'll get an instrument license too. I hear statistically you're much safer with that training, even in clear skies.

You need at least 40 hours flying time and then some ground school...figure about $130 an hour: $5000 and higher...

Great stories by the way...

licensed A&P, so I know how these things are built I'd rather stay on the ground than fly in a VW with wings

QUOTE (meares @ Feb 6 2006, 07:08 AM)

you know, now that i think about it......i don't ever recall hearing a Fed Ex or UPS jet crashing....do y'all take better care of the jets than the commercial airlines?

Go to www.google.com enter FedEx crashes in the images section. You'll find plenty.

MEII

Teach out of RIU, just south east of Sacramento. Trust me when I say instuctors starve.

I first started flying in 1967. I worked as a flight instructor for 2 years. Hated most of it. Worked for 5 different companys after that, commuter airlines and cargo airlines that no longer exist. It took awhile to get here but I just started my 19th year at UPS. I have flown the 727, DC8, 747, and now the MD11. I have flown all over the world. Some of it interesting, some of it boring and some of it down right scary. I've had a good career but it does have it's down side. My son is 22 years old now and because of my schedule I have missed about half of his life. I would incourage anyone who wanted a flying career. It's an interesting and challenging way to make a living.
Cheers, Elliot

I'm an ASEL and fly an experimental that I built in '93. It's a Rans S-6 and is powered by a 2180 VW conversion. I fly just for fun and usually just go out and buzz the beach at about 10' AGL, but I have flown it to Tampa FL and Hayes KS from Atlantic CIty, NJ. (This is kinda' like riding a moped to cali !)

QUOTE (meares @ Feb 6 2006, 07:08 AM)

you know, now that i think about it......i don't ever recall hearing a Fed Ex or UPS jet crashing....do y'all take better care of the jets than the commercial airlines?

here's one that you can confirm...

QUOTE (Rotten Robby @ Feb 6 2006, 08:29 AM)

Actually there was a FedEx plane that went down at Mather here in Sacramento. I never did hear the investigation result but from the characteristics of the crash I would assume the load shifted.

I knew a member on the crash investigation team...final finding was the elevator flight tab control rod attach bolt was not keyed after maintenace, and came out, leaving the jet with only one elevator after takeoff. To make it simple, it had only one working elevator. not enough to keep the nose up on the heavy DC-8. It crashed in one of the salvage yards there, off the end of the runway. The load had not shifted before the crash.

I've never flown a plane before, however, I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. Does that count?

Father was in the air force. I grew up hearing his flying stories. In college I learned to fly a Cessna 150 with an a&&hole former marine corps pilot instructor.

I quickly learned that it was much more fun fantasizing about flying as an 8 year old than actually doing it. It's a lot of work. Take offs were fun, but the pucker factor while landing wasn't fun at all.

Haven't flown in a long time. Might get back to it one of these days.

I dont have my pilot license, but I saved a ton of money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO ™

QUOTE (Elliot Cannon @ Feb 6 2006, 02:03 PM)

It took awhile to get here but I just started my 19th year at UPS.

You know, I'm 20 years old.......

QUOTE (bd1308 @ Feb 6 2006, 10:39 AM)

I wish someday I could be a pilot, i think it would be really neat.

Uh, I'll take the train... thanks.

Elliot had his MD11 rebuilt by FAT Performance..

And the lifters still are noisy..

Twystd1

Hi Guys,
I am a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the Air National Guard, before that I was on active duty in the Army flying Chinook helicopters (the big helicopter that looks like a flying bus)...in the past few years and recently I have flown in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Turkey...spent a few years in Germany and Korea also.
Joe

QUOTE (Twystd1 @ Feb 6 2006, 07:27 PM)

Elliot had his MD11 rebuilt by FAT Performance.. And the lifters still are noisy.. Twystd1

Thanks to you buddy, my noisy lifter problems are soon to be a thing of the past. I'm afraid even Fat Performance can't help that POS MD11!!!
Cheers, Elliot

Private Pilot since '68....started to do the commercial, multi, instrument yada yada thingy....figured it would cost me $25K to get to ATP and didn't like the idea of flying DC3s in the Honduran Jungle like my friend and he even paid a shitpile of money for 2 hours at the board on a 727...still never made the "big time" and his father was a senior Captain for TWA (it was a while ago).

Dearly loved flying....stopped for about 20 years and then went back with my son....then quit again.....just got to expensive.

Usual 150, 172, 182, 210, P180, Cheetah, Apache, etc. Moth balled myself and the log book.


"I fly so high when I'm stoned" (and it's cheaper too!)

Meares , North Bay 914 , . . . re: your postings. Any crashes or off runway excursions by a FedEx jet , narrow body or wide body jet were not due to any maintenance error. They wereusually due to weather, improper procedures by flight crew etc.but not due to maintenance error or improper maintenance procedures.

Things like flying into the ground on final approach short of the runway I believe that happened in Florida, running off of the runway twice over in the Phillipenes , improper procedure/hard landing in MEM ( picture provided by North Bay 914 ) and others were not caused by faulty maintenance.

FedEx has a better reliabilityrecord thanthe passenger carrying outfits in the US and probably the world for that matter. They have for the most part really good pilots and excellent mechanics and have been doing it since 1974. Most of the accidents have occured in the feeder aircraft and not FedEx Express aircraft.

NOrth Bay 914 , in your reference to a crash in Sacramento at Mather (AFB ?) . When did that happen and are you sure it was a FedEx DC-8 and not maybe another airline ? Maybe it was a charter aircraft and not a FedEx aircraft. After the Flying Tiger merger , we had DC-8's for a short time and I don't remember loosing any DC-8's anywhere. That alleged finaly finding seems rather fishy/bogus to me . Are you sure it was even a DC-8 ?? That flight Tab control rod attach bolt should have nothing to do with the elevator not operating at all . Something ain't right with that info.

QUOTE (joeav8tor @ Feb 6 2006, 11:27 PM)

Hi Guys, I am a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the Air National Guard, before that I was on active duty in the Army flying Chinook helicopters (the big helicopter that looks like a flying bus)...in the past few years and recently I have flown in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Turkey...spent a few years in Germany and Korea also. Joe

OOOH! I know WHY helecopters fly....


Cause they are so ugly the ground rejects them!!!!!


The Chinook was always described as two Hueys mating.....

Don't usually post but, Currently a pro-pilot - King Air 200 & 300, Type rated in Dassault falcon 10 & Lear Jet. Own 2 1974 2.0's, 1st. I've owned for20+ yrs.

Commercial, Instrument, Multi in college. Single enging Seaplane, ATP.
Recently left the Navy after 10 yrs flew S-3B vikings, instructed in T-45 Goshawks, nearly 500 carrier landings.
Currently looking for job, getting a little tired of the airline hiring BS, apparently I'm not qualified enough. Thinking about a change of carreers. Any suggestions?

I also started out as a Huey pilot in Korea.
Joe

Okay, one more heavy driver--that ole Southeast Asian war taught me to fly , and I never looked back (pays better than the the theater lighting I do more for fun than profit, too). EAL, NWA , 22 yrs in the AFRES, 130, 727, DC9, DC10,747, and the most fun of all, the C7 Caribou....retired last year just in time to miss all the fun of 1113c filings and such...if I ever get the Suby engine in the 914, it'll fly,too!

Started flying in 1986 when I had my 2.0L both addictions are hard to quit. Had a girlfriend 300 mi away, long drive short flight. Got a job to pay for the flying habit. Bought and sold a Grumman Tiger, Bellanca 260, and Piper Aztec. Got into flying professionally for Ameriflight 402's, and Beech 99's. Got on with Horizon flying DHC8-200's, right before Sept 11. Still flying, but started a business to help pay bills and hedge my bets. The aviation business is't what it used to be!
I still enjoy it!!!

Any guesses?

My son wishing he could "drive"!

I don't have a ticket, but I have hundreds of hours right seat, 12 or so hours left seat, and a couple hours front seat.

AND THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF HOURS DOGFIGHTING ONLINE!


M

Akellym posting with a drawing/picture . Don't know if you fly them but if one has an engine on a Mohawk go out on takeoff. . . . . it will do a snap roll on you and you better get ready to kiss it good bye.