Aviation BS and Photo Thread

Non-rev?

And at least im getting out during the week instead of the weekend

 

non-revenue...aka standby because family works for the airline

 

Non-Revenue. means we fly for free, but only if theres open seats.... Christmas means no open seats going anywhere, period.

 

Ah, that's what I figured. And I'm doing my best to stay out of the airports this holiday season

 

If you're a frequent traveler, having status makes a big difference in the experience. The people that travel twice a year to grandma's aren't the target demographic for airlines and hotels. It is the frequent business traveler. Seat upgrades and priority boarding are just some of the benefits. On average, I ride the airlines twice a week and spend 170-190 nights in a hotel each year. Having diamond, platinum or whatever tier with loyalty programs boosts the quality of the experience.

 

Not quite true - it's not when you buy but what kind of ticket you get. A refundable/transferrable business ticket will get you in boarding positions A1-15. I loved flying Southwest professionally. Much better than American or (ugh) Delta.

 

If you don't mind me asking what is it that you do? Your work schedule sounds fairly similar to what I'll be doing

 

I guess it's a good thing they know exactly how much runway would be used since they used it all... with no runoff area if they had to abort. Decision point was when they took their feet off the brakes after powering up. That dark gray dust is probably volcanic ash.

 

You should see them land and take off from Guantanamo Bay. There's a MOUNTAIN on one side and THE FUCKING OCEAN on the other, and tiny bits of warning strip on either side. The C-5 lands/takes off from warning strip to warning strip. They land and take off facing Windward (the runway is on Leeward), fortunately, so they are always facing into a 20ish knot wind. That landing, though; it looks like FRED is sliding down the mountain before hitting the warning strip.

It's an ass-puckerer, for sure.

 

Not something you see everyday, civilian owned and operated refuelers.

 

What. The. Shit. ?

http://www.omegaairrefueling.com/

So...these dudes own old KC-10s. Interesting...

 

THEY bought the old E model KC-135s the Air Force retired. Mind blown.

Makes sense - half the operational tanker fleet is deployed, so they need someone to support CONUS training/exercise refueling. Brilliant, actually.

 

Yep. They just landed another, either a 707 conversion or a surplussed KC-135.

 

Surplussed KC-135E. WANG had a bunch of them. A bit more expensive to maintain, less fuel efficient than the R/T models, and not combat worthy anymore. Good for a private contractor.

 

uh uh.....wang.

 

Used to use them a lot...

 

Wow. Had no idea this was a thing.

 

Only you could. USAF is built around the boom - those birds are boomless. Drogue and chute.

Smells like Navy and USMC.

 

My job is comprised of various facets of the petroleum consumption industry.

1) Meeting strange and interesting people.
2) Endless periods of staring out windows.
3) Traveling to new destinations.
4) Traveling to repeat locations.
4) Critique restaurants and hotels along the way.

I'm a pilot. A charter pilot. Basically a turbine Uber driver, except it isn't a Prius and it costs more than a couple dollars per mile.

 

I first heard about the Omega Tanker outfit my last couple years at RAF Mildenhall (2000 - 2001). I think they even flew out of Mildenhall a couple times contracted to either the US Navy or Royal Air Force. But I don't recall exactly, I just know when ya'll brought them up here, my mind was like "they've been around a long time."