When dreams come true... (long)

Someone asked me privately here, how old I was, after reading my instructor thread, and wondered whether age would stop them from doing stuff they wanted to do in aviation, recently @LDJones.

I gave some of the reasons I'm chasing the instructor stuff only, but not chasing other forms of Commerical flying, at least for the time being, but told them to look up your thread as an example of how different the industry is now, vs any of the big downturn decades.

It's cyclical, of course, but sometimes the cycle works for anyone at any age.

Here's hoping that person goes and accomplishes whatever they desire. (I won't name them -- they asked privately so that would be rude. But I hope they've run across this thread.)
 
kayoh190 said:
Glad you're still enjoying it, man. And you made the right choice regarding QOL vs. pay, especially with a commute.
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Pretty easy decision after watching more than half my Captains dealing with the pains of commuting. I get why they do it when they're settled where they are and the opportunity is elsewhere. Thankfully, that's not an issue for me. I enjoy the flying regardless of which seat I'm sitting in.
 
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denverpilot said:
Someone asked me privately here, how old I was, after reading my instructor thread, and wondered whether age would stop them from doing stuff they wanted to do in aviation, recently @LDJones.

I gave some of the reasons I'm chasing the instructor stuff only, but not chasing other forms of Commerical flying, at least for the time being, but told them to look up your thread as an example of how different the industry is now, vs any of the big downturn decades.

It's cyclical, of course, but sometimes the cycle works for anyone at any age.

Here's hoping that person goes and accomplishes whatever they desire. (I won't name them -- they asked privately so that would be rude. But I hope they've run across this thread.)
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No question that this industry is timing, timing, timing. I still catch myself giggling sometimes when I realize what fell into my lap at age 57. Who knows, maybe it's sweeter BECAUSE it came later in life and I know there's not enough time for me to get jaded. But that's also why it's pretty easy to not chase the Captain upgrade before I can do it in my home domicile. 121 PIC is only important to those hoping to get to the majors sooner rather than later, a non-issue for me.

I hope you enjoy instructing as much as I do. Still love it. Had my FIRST CFI candidate ever pass his checkride today....his MEI! He'll add the single shortly, I'm sure, but he had recently purchased a Baron and decided to do it in it.
 
LDJones said:
I hope you enjoy instructing as much as I do. Still love it. Had my FIRST CFI candidate ever pass his checkride today....his MEI! He'll add the single shortly, I'm sure, but he had recently purchased a Baron and decided to do it in it.
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I think I will. That is awesome. Congrats on the pass. I know it's as important to the instructor as it is the student!

As you've probably seen from my thread, the whole thing seems to have come to a screeching halt. I'll post more about that later, but at least one of the delays requires me to contemplate the current schedule mess from a beach chair with a beer. First world problems. Ha. Life is good.
 
I keep waiting to hear 'and first officer Jones' on my frequent hops with Skywest, but so far no luck.

Glad to hear you are still enjoying it.
 
weilke said:
I keep waiting to hear 'and first officer Jones' on my frequent hops with Skywest, but so far no luck.

Glad to hear you are still enjoying it.
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I can only recall two captains that actually acknowledge the FO by name in their announcements. When I upgrade I'll make a point to do that!
 
LDJones said:
I can only recall two captains that actually acknowledge the FO by name in their announcements. When I upgrade I'll make a point to do that!
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I always like it when the Captain adds ". . . who's flying this trip to XYZ . ." when appropriate to the PA. There are too many uninformed people in the back who think it's Capt. Psalty and some coffee chaser up front, vice PF and PNF.
 
LDJones said:
I can only recall two captains that actually acknowledge the FO by name in their announcements. When I upgrade I'll make a point to do that!
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Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've heard either the captain or FO's names. Usually it's only the flight attendants who say who they are.
 
Everskyward said:
Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've heard either the captain or FO's names. Usually it's only the flight attendants who say who they are.
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Well, if we say our name and you're back there, you might ban us! BOOM!
 
Everskyward said:
Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've heard either the captain or FO's names. Usually it's only the flight attendants who say who they are.
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I always make a point to refer to the FA(s) by name in the pre-takeoff announcement. We only have one on the -200 and two on the -700/900s so it's pretty easy to be personal.
 
catmandu said:
I always like it when the Captain adds ". . . who's flying this trip to XYZ . ." when appropriate to the PA. There are too many uninformed people in the back who think it's Capt. Psalty and some coffee chaser up front, vice PF and PNF.
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I think only one has actually said that "First Officer Jones will be flying us to XYZ today."
 
LDJones said:
I've never made a bad landing. We've walked away from every one! :D
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The F9 flight I just got off of, whoever was PF wouldn't leave the rudder alone. (No it wasn't the yaw damper...)

I'm nearly sliding sideways back and forth in my seat in 3C all the way forward, from the time they punched George off and started maneuvering, until final, and then touchdown, wondering what that felt like all the way in the back... thinking "nice PIO, sheesh... just leave it alone..."

Greaser ... and of course my wife thought it was "great". LOL.

The cliche's are true. As long as the pitch angle is right at touchdown, nobody notices anything else. Haha.

Oh well. Mr. Happy Feet got us there in one piece and it didn't matter, but it was funny sitting there with my butt saying, "stop it!"
 
LDJones said:
I always make a point to refer to the FA(s) by name in the pre-takeoff announcement. We only have one on the -200 and two on the -700/900s so it's pretty easy to be personal.
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Do you announce 'two of Salt Lakes finest' :)

Your captain may not mention your name, but the FAs frequently include names for both in the cockpit crew in their announcement along with the safety spiel. It's usually just last names (but who knows, they may just use the same two names on all flights and it is an inside joke with the cabin crews).
 
Great to hear from you. Keep it up.
A story from back in the day:
Dead heading back from SEA in a C-141. I talk to the pilot, and get invited to sit in the jump seat up front.
From the minute we get off the ground the pilot and co-pilot take turns shoving the rudder back and forth, almost non-stop.
So I ask if there is a problem.
The co-pilot turns around with an evil grin and says "General NoBallsAtAll and his staff are in the last 4 rows of seats. He suffers from massive motion sickness, and I hate that M Fing son-of-a-*****."
The General (and a bunch of his staff) were sick all the way to Elmendorf.
 
Shepherd said:
Great to hear from you. Keep it up.
A story from back in the day:
Dead heading back from SEA in a C-141. I talk to the pilot, and get invited to sit in the jump seat up front.
From the minute we get off the ground the pilot and co-pilot take turns shoving the rudder back and forth, almost non-stop.
So I ask if there is a problem.
The co-pilot turns around with an evil grin and says "General NoBallsAtAll and his staff are in the last 4 rows of seats. He suffers from massive motion sickness, and I hate that M Fing son-of-a-*****."
The General (and a bunch of his staff) were sick all the way to Elmendorf.
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I recall sitting in the back of an LH A-320 from St. Petersburg, RA to FRA that fishtailed all the way. Closest I've come to being airsick on an airliner. I was really glad to get off that plane in Frankfurt.
 
Ghery said:
I recall sitting in the back of an LH A-320 from St. Petersburg, RA to FRA that fishtailed all the way. Closest I've come to being airsick on an airliner. I was really glad to get off that plane in Frankfurt.
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Is your name General NoballsAtAll?
 
This is great! I hope to get to a point where I can stop practicing law and fly for a living. I think I would like to fly medevac helicopters.
 
TylerSC said:
This is great! I hope to get to a point where I can stop practicing law and fly for a living. I think I would like to fly medevac helicopters.
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Confined landing areas at night...
With power lines at both ends...
And some brand new deputy sheriff directing you to land...

It'll be fun they said...

:)
 
jaybee said:
Is your name General NoballsAtAll?
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Million mile flyer with United. Plus a bunch of other airlines. Don't worry, I've been all over the place. That flight was not good (plus, I had just finished several days of meetings in St. Petersburg).
 
LDJones said:
Hey, kids! Long time, no update. Life's been busy, but I'm still "livin' the dream!" :)
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Glad to hear it Loren, and thanks for updating! Every time I hear someone ask if they should pursue their dream of flying for a living at age X, I always point them to this thread. You're a great example of not just having the dream, but living it!

Now, if only I could take the pay cut and do it myself.
 
I've got a question after watching the movie Sully. Both Sully and his FO were captains but Jeff wore the three stripes of a FO on that flight. Is it common and/or airline policy that the Captain wears 4 and the FO wears 3 even though they both may be Captains?
 
FO Jones, sir!
We are all going to show up for a flight some day.
With score cards.
"Lets she how the judges rate that takeoff: That's a good start, a 9.6 from Shep, 9.5 from Timbec. Ouch. That's going to hurt, An 8.7 from denverpilot. What do you think, mscard88?"
"Well flyingcheeshead, I think it's more sourgrapes than a comment on the takeoff." Let's see what happens with the landing."
"Right you are, mscard88. Let's go back to Ghery in the studio. Take it away Ghery."
 
denverpilot said:
Confined landing areas at night...
With power lines at both ends...
And some brand new deputy sheriff directing you to land...

It'll be fun they said...

:)
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Of course, it's fun when they misidentify the wires also. "Power lines are marked on both ends of the LZ with EMS vehicles parked below them. The middle is clear." About 50 ft up, in the middle of the LZ, you see telephone lines directly below your chin bubble! :(
 
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jordane93 said:
Are you a captain yet?:)
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Might have been here or might have been FB but I think he said he was putting off upgrading to hold the trips he liked, and wasn't in any hurry to change his schedule. Of course, stuff changes so he'll probably be along shortly to get us all up to date on that. :)
 
denverpilot said:
Might have been here or might have been FB but I think he said he was putting off upgrading to hold the trips he liked, and wasn't in any hurry to change his schedule. Of course, stuff changes so he'll probably be along shortly to get us all up to date on that. :)
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He better upgrade before I do! On track to upgrade in the winter like November or December.
 
kayoh190 said:
Heh - he doesn't need the turbine PIC and he sure as hell doesn't need the money, so it's hard to blame him for not effing up his QOL!
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I had dinner with a United captain a couple weeks ago who said he's been a captain 18 years on the equipment he's on now, it's not the big stuff, it's not international or fancy in any way... he's the BOTTOM line holder or dang close to it here in DEN.:.

"But I get to DRIVE TO WORK... and live in Denver!" ... he said multiple times that evening.

He hates commuting with a passion.

Another guy at that dinner said he's thinking he doesn't care anymore and may bid somewhere else. They had a heated and funny discussion that went something like...

"Don't do it man. You won't be back here for five years if you do!"

"But I could get weekends off, and wife and kids would like that..."

"And spend all of both days commuting anyway..."


This banter went on for hours. Fun to listen to.

The commuting discussion all ended when the somehwhat junior guy flying 767s for a cargo outfit showed up late after getting in from commuting. He'd been "enjoying" a little too much of the Middle East lately he said. The other guys knew not to rub it in. :)

They all got a little kick out of me talking about students probably trying to kill me starting this year.

One joked, "You get really fast at saving your own butt when you're teaching. You fix it and the student didn't even realize they were about to kill you both. My airplane... Your airplane!" LOL.

Fun folks. Met them all through the wife's singing habit. The wives were all engrossed in a completely different conversation across the room. I poked my nose into that one for a couple of minutes and then backed away slowly back over to the airplane talk. LOL.
 
jordane93 said:
Are you a captain yet?:)
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Greetings. Sorry I've been out of touch, but it's been a busy spring!

I could have upgraded in January or February if I was willing to commute to DTW, our most junior domicile. Most of my ground school study group, all but one junior to me, have upgraded and are sitting reserve as Captains.

But not me. I'm doing this because I enjoy it immensely. I would NOT enjoy commuting! MSP-DTW is one of or toughest commutes. Not going to do it.

So my bid is in for upgrade, but only in MSP where I live. I recently updated it so I'll take the upgrade if it comes before June 20th, otherwise I'm holding off til after my son's wedding in September. And if I wait that long, I'll probably push it off til after the first of next year and enjoy my sweet schedule and time off for the holidays.

This month so far I've worked two, had four off, worked three, have ten off (displaced for training...paid to not fly!), will fly three, have four off, then finish with a three day. All in our 700/900s which pay a premium and are our best trips.

So Quality of Life trumps stripes and $$. Captain will come soon enough. I'm loving the gig I have right now!
 
Timbeck2 said:
I've got a question after watching the movie Sully. Both Sully and his FO were captains but Jeff wore the three stripes of a FO on that flight. Is it common and/or airline policy that the Captain wears 4 and the FO wears 3 even though they both may be Captains?
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No idea what was going on there. At my airline, once you upgrade to CA you can pick up FO trips while waiting on IOE as long as you're still right-seat qualified. (Meaning you're still in your FO 13 month qualification window.) That's why I wanted to make sure I got through CQ this year before upgrading if it happened. You can pick up time and a half open time trips at CA pay for doing your old FO duties...a pretty good gig!
 
I could add to my previous message that I haven't had to work a weekend in over a year and a half, or about three months off IOE. Having a wife that works a normal work week, that's pretty huge....especially to her! As they say, if momma ain't happy...

Hence, another reason to delay upgrading.

The beautiful thing about seniority is that, by holding off, when I finally do upgrade I'll slide in right ahead of all those junior to me who've already upgraded. So holding off until you can hold a line is not unheard of. The CA I just flew a three day with held off upgrading two years, til he could slide into a line holder position. I won't wait that long, as reserve in base won't bother me. I'll just be teaching students while waiting for crew support to call!
 
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