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Old 05-29-2018, 02:37 PM   #1
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Thank a Pilot - They Go Through Hell

My fly guy has been off for seven months on medical leave. It was a scarey time for him and every other pilot who has to endure those extensive medical tests every six months.

He is now cleared "to fly."

But they are putting him through hell in the flight sim first --
just to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything. This is a bit of a joke between us:
Me: I bet you will lose an engine on take-off.
Him: No shite, Sherlock. Thanks for the heads-up.
(see video below - this is commonly practiced in the sim).

It bothers me when airline passengers take every safe landing for granted or make stupid comments like, "Can't airplanes fly by themselves these days."
Hmmm....I wonder if Captain Sullenberger's slightly wet, but they all got to go home that night passengers ever say that?

To all the Captains "M" etc.
Thank-you!

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Old 05-29-2018, 02:58 PM   #2
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Think about this.

How "Average Joe Americans" would be UNEMPLOYED if they too had to re-quality medically for their job every 6 months?

Being a pilot and just maintaining the job you have can be stressful on many fronts including medically, continually re-qualifying for the job through skills testing/training and the union schedule at most airlines where you might just get a really crappy schedule do to "Seniority".

Imagine if the "Average Joe" had to do all this just to maintain employment.

Unemployment in the USA would be 80%!
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Old 05-29-2018, 03:00 PM   #3
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There is nothing quite like the "pucker factor" generated by an "engine out" or "low power output" scenario while trying to climb out on takeoff--especially in a single-engine aircraft.....then add the joy of a suddenly fogged-up windshield, and traffic incoming on the same vector you are outgoing on, then add nightfall over Lake Tahoe to really tie a ribbon on it.

It was an "interesting" night, to put it mildly...especially when the tower told the incoming turboprop to "...Break right, NOW, NOW, NOW!!..", and the propwash darn near tossed us outta control...

Climb problem was caused by the ground crew overfilling our tanks to where we spent 30 minutes burning off fuel to get outta the area--which is surrounded by mountains. That's the LAST time I trusted my 'command pilot' buddy to do the pre-flight all by himself...we were overloaded by about 35 pounds of fuel, and that was enough to keep us from climbing at that altitude. The windshield on the rented plane had a disconnected defroster system...and no squawk sheet to let us know it was messed up--or we wouldn't have flown it to Tahoe...

I guess if you can walk away from the landing, and the aircraft is still usable, it was a good flight? It's a darn good thing I was naturally better on instruments than Seth, because that was too darn close for comfort.

FaN, I don't know about you, but as I exit the aircraft, I always thank the pilots for getting us there in one piece....
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Old 05-29-2018, 03:15 PM   #4
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Take-offs are optional, landings are mandatory 🛫🛬 👍

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Old 05-29-2018, 03:23 PM   #5
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Yup, and that particular airplane only had wheels--no floats. Lake Tahoe, FYI, is real deep and real cold--there are already several airplanes at the bottom, and it was looking like we would be the next one hitting the drink for a while...until we managed to climb out very slowly over the rim...

And I'm sure my two buddies seated in the back of the plane were not enjoying the ride either...

That night, the old adage about, "It's better to be standing on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air, wishing you were on the ground...", was really front of mind for a while...
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Old 05-29-2018, 03:37 PM   #6
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A good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing is one where you can use the airplane again.
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Old 05-29-2018, 04:26 PM   #7
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Thanks to pilots and all the other folks that contribute to safe aviation.

From the doctors and simulator teams, to the designers and investigators, to the mechanics and load masters, to the controllers and airport teams.....

And a special thanks to all that volunteer and serve in our armed forces. Pat
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Old 05-29-2018, 04:44 PM   #8
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In 2017 at the RVIA in Louisville, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger was the keynote speaker at the opening breakfast. His presentation was all about the years of training that prepared him for his landing on the Hudson River. Very impressive presentation and truly an American hero.
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Old 05-29-2018, 04:56 PM   #9
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landings

RMKrum and Country boy have it right. I was a commercial pilot for 30 yrs. (Not an ATP). Commercial is basically charter flying. Nonetheless, we have the same brown pants happenings. Maybe more/maybe less. It was a great 30 yrs of experiences. Thank God, I still walk the earth !
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Old 05-29-2018, 05:44 PM   #10
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Thanks to the efforts of every aviation professional we can safely ride in a thin aluminum tube seven miles high at 650 miles an hour...and human beings have the arrogance to laugh and serve drinks, never giving a thought to what's going on. I get chills just thinking about it. Kudos to all who make that happen.
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Old 05-29-2018, 05:58 PM   #11
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I retired from Boeing. While I did not build aircraft directly, I think about it every time I fly somewhere.
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Old 06-02-2018, 03:49 PM   #12
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In my 22 years as a simulator instructor at a major airline, we often got thank-you notes from pilots after real-world incidents. All that trouble we sim instructors cause has a purpose. We weren't just trying to harass the folks we trained.
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Old 06-03-2018, 11:48 AM   #13
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I still remember checking out in a retractable gear aircraft (Cardinal if I recall correctly). On downwind I went to lower the gear and nothing happened. Left the pattern, my instructor acted clueless so I pulled out the manual, paged to the manual gear extension procedure, and pumped the hydraulic lever till the three green lights came on. Was very pleased with myself until He said “now raise and lower them electrically”. Then he reset the breaker he had deliberately tripped and started laughing. I was so busy planning to bring it in wheels up that I forgot the first step-check the circuit breaker lol.
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Old 06-10-2018, 03:58 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mimiandrews View Post
In my 22 years as a simulator instructor at a major airline, we often got thank-you notes from pilots after real-world incidents. All that trouble we sim instructors cause has a purpose. We weren't just trying to harass the folks we trained.
My friend would agree.

The policy at his airline is to make the sim experience instructional vs. adversarial. He still gets nervous and worked-up, though, and is absolutely exhausted when it's over.

But...he passed.
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Old 06-10-2018, 04:14 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmkrum View Post
There is nothing quite like the "pucker factor" generated by an "engine out" or "low power output" scenario while trying to climb out on takeoff--especially in a single-engine aircraft.....then add the joy of a suddenly fogged-up windshield, and traffic incoming on the same vector you are outgoing on, then add nightfall over Lake Tahoe to really tie a ribbon on it.

It was an "interesting" night, to put it mildly...especially when the tower told the incoming turboprop to "...Break right, NOW, NOW, NOW!!..", and the propwash darn near tossed us outta control...

Climb problem was caused by the ground crew overfilling our tanks to where we spent 30 minutes burning off fuel to get outta the area--which is surrounded by mountains. That's the LAST time I trusted my 'command pilot' buddy to do the pre-flight all by himself...we were overloaded by about 35 pounds of fuel, and that was enough to keep us from climbing at that altitude. The windshield on the rented plane had a disconnected defroster system...and no squawk sheet to let us know it was messed up--or we wouldn't have flown it to Tahoe...

I guess if you can walk away from the landing, and the aircraft is still usable, it was a good flight? It's a darn good thing I was naturally better on instruments than Seth, because that was too darn close for comfort.

FaN, I don't know about you, but as I exit the aircraft, I always thank the pilots for getting us there in one piece....
If they are standing there, I do too.
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Old 06-10-2018, 04:40 PM   #16
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Don’t forget about us Air Traffic Controllers [emoji3]
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:16 PM   #17
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Thank a Pilot - They Go Through Hell

I suspect that the ATC on duty that night was a big part of saving our butts and all the passengers in the turboprop when he made the call for the inbound to ‘break right’ immediately after we told him we were maneuvering with great difficulty. The “pucker factor” was rather high that night in both cockpits and the tower, no doubt in my mind.

The controller stayed with us and diverted other traffic while we burned off excess fuel doing wide slow turns in the dark. He was totally calm and professional.

The thing that still gets me is he did all this based on visual cues. I don’t think Tahoe had radar in those days...

The whole thing is replaying in my mind again. Too darn close for comfort....young, dumb, and unkillable.

And yes, our last call to the tower was to thank him for saving our lives, and to let him know we had cleared the terrain...
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:53 PM   #18
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Thank you. I'm glad to hear he is headed back to the line. I'm scheduled for my six month physical tomorrow. Thinking calm thoughts and lowering my blood pressure/pulse. Hopefully I will have a chance to meet up with him on a layover sometime. Especially now that his company and mine are "Joint Venture" partners.
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Old 06-10-2018, 09:16 PM   #19
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I have always had a great appreciation for pilots. If I had it to do over again, I would have liked to learn to fly at a young age, probably fly in the military, then do something as a flying job later. Every person that I have known and I have learned that they are a pilot of some sort, I always said, "That figures, and I bet they are a good one!" There is something about a pilot.
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Old 06-11-2018, 08:39 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by azflycaster View Post
In 2017 at the RVIA in Louisville, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger was the keynote speaker at the opening breakfast. His presentation was all about the years of training that prepared him for his landing on the Hudson River. Very impressive presentation and truly an American hero.
The YouT vid of his check ride in a Douglas 7 is fun. Long. Informative or restorative depending on your age.

Big radials and an agile flight engineer. When men were men. (There’s a sextant somewhere around that cockpit).
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