Is this about as boring as flying gets?

Building time for an airline job ... ;)
 
masloki said:
What do you do - read a book?
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I don't know if the newer equipment versions couples the grid to autopilot but all the survey/mag work I was a part of, the pilot hand flew those grid lines watching a magenta line on a screen. Not much time to read.
 
This is the company that owns the plane.

http://marcflightservices.com/

Marc, Inc is North America's largest provider of specialized contract aircraft and flight crews for airborne GIS, survey and surveillence projects. MARC provides the industry a modified fleet of Navajos, Navajo Chieftains and Merlin turbine aircraft, equipped and ready for deployment. Each aircraft is configured for all GIS applications including imagery and LiDAR installations.
 
SkyDog58 said:
This is the company that owns the plane.

http://marcflightservices.com/

Marc, Inc is North America's largest provider of specialized contract aircraft and flight crews for airborne GIS, survey and surveillence projects. MARC provides the industry a modified fleet of Navajos, Navajo Chieftains and Merlin turbine aircraft, equipped and ready for deployment. Each aircraft is configured for all GIS applications including imagery and LiDAR installations.
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Thank you for the infomercial.
 
"Regulars" like that miss a lot of radio calls, and no one seems to mind.
 
Well that big void in the middle is my house so we're good.
Pilawt said:
A few months ago we were climbing out of the PHX area. TRACON was talking to a photomapping flight and asked, "How many lines are you doing today?" o_O
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Was near the fort Knox restricted area and heard atc ask "what are you photographing today?" Response from the pilot...."honestly, I have no idea". Atc- "doesn't sound sketchy at all!"
 
Had a friend who did this a few years before the airlines did one trip in the DC area had to have a Secret Service guy in the right seat.
 
DFH65 said:
Had a friend who did this a few years before the airlines did one trip in the DC area had to have a Secret Service guy in the right seat.
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The thought that I might have had to do that for a few years has disabused me of any regrets I had about not going the pilot route as a career.
 
masloki said:
This guy is flying 6 hours at a time (ouch!), at 12K, doing what appears to be a photo mapping grid.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N59906/history/20220328/1441Z/KENW

What do you do - read a book? I can't imagine a podcast with Chicago Approach bleating in every 5 seconds.
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I got a buddy who is DOM for a company that does that. And yes they have someone from the government with them when they do the DC area.

They told me these cameras cost in excess of a million dollars not counting the lenses that cost big bucks by themselves. They are mounted in chieftains.
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My other buddy does yearly checkouts for their pilots, I got to ride along this past year on one of them.
I can program my GFC500 to do the same thing, sit back and let the plane do the work.

I am not sure if these guys hand fly or have AP?

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At least dusting your rows are considerably shorter and there is the excitement of trees and power lines.
 
AA5Bman said:
The thought that I might have had to do that for a few years has disabused me of any regrets I had about not going the pilot route as a career.
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Don't feel alone. Long duration [non-acro] flying almost cured me from flying professionally outright. Thankfully I found a career-saving reprieve in acro trainers, and never looked back. Happier than pig in poo for the last 11 years. Otherwise, it would have been MCAT time for this guy.
 
I don't know - at least he/she has a turn every now and again. Crossing the pacific on CPDLC with SELCAL HF is a snooze-fest. (but a well-paid snooze fest)
 
This plane was doing something similar over sections of West Texas last year. Day after day I could faintly hear it overhead, sometimes catching a glimpse. One day it landed locally to get fuel and take a break. It was loaded with equipment. I asked the pilot what they were doing, but he wouldn't say.
93AC9AEE-BFF3-488D-8AE2-F219F8614038.jpeg
 
^^ There is a company out of San Antonio IIRC that has a half dozen or so of these equipped in the same way. They fly internal US surveillance missions under contract to the federal government. They were particularly busy during the anti-government protests following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
 
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