Aviation BS and Photo Thread

My son-in-law got a gig flying charter. He's been a CFII and check pilot for the last two years, building his time. The charter flying is giving him some good multi and turbine experience, and a crap-ton of over water flying. Most of his trips are to various places in the Caribbean. He got to overfly Cuba last week, went to Grand Cayman and back from Opa-Locka. Also getting some great short field operations. 1st picture is Pittstown, 3200 feet with water at both ends of the runway. 2nd picture is what he was in at the time, a C90 King Air (that's my daughter, his wife, with him in the picture) 3rd picture is the other plane he's flying, a B200 King Air. He's in the right seat for now, but he gets some left seat time when they don't have passengers. Once he meets the time requirements, he'll go left seat. He's at around 1450 hrs. right now.

 

That reminds me of landing on Caye Caulker in Belize many years ago. I think it is still the shittiest bit of "pavement" I was ever happy to be down on. I thought the runway potholes would destroy the Caravan's tires and test every piece of safety wire. Apparently they rebuilt it in the recent past.

Before
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0hJQEGCfhg

After
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSSl2qTmd70

 

Thanks!!!

I went mountain biking in the Santa Cruz mountains for my B-day and I’m going up a Cessna sometime this week. (I’m reaching my 90-day single engine currency so I need to do some bounces).

 

Think after sleeping on it I will save the $810 in the rotary buckles and just get the old school ones. Not like the rotary are any more safe for the extra money.

Awesome. This may be the most fun flying he'll ever do in his career!

Added to my list

 

There are data points out there if you really want to see how many failures occurred prior to the AD being published. That is part of the assessment the FAA will perform before determining the need for the AD, and scope of the AD. It is just a matter of sorting through the various databases, but that isn't comprehensive as some things are not reported for one reason or another. You can comb the NTSB reports for circlip failures, or even the Service Difficulty Reports. SDRs are out there to generate awareness for failures or issues that need to be corrected, sometimes those corrections are through SBs, ADs, revisions to manuals & procedures or other means.

https://sdrs.faa.gov/

 

But will this fit on my tacoma?

 

Nice! I use to fly that exact same mix from the late 90's through 2004. Some of the best times of my career were flying the King Air. Been almost 20 years, but it feels like yesterday. Ah, the wistful reflections of an aging pilot who is closer to the finish line than the starting line. Anyhow, Beech makes a well built, nice to fly product. A real pilots airplane. It's a wonderful airplane for your first turbine command. I'm sure your son in law will carry many fond memories as he progresses through the next steps of his career.

 

Welp...finally made it. Hit 1500hrs. I have a spot in ATP/CTP Sept 11. INDOC for RPA Sept 19. No - I didn't sign the capt contract insanity.

I am going to pursue some other options for better QOL. Anyone work for Kalitta?

 

Completely agree.

I logged 1,500 hours in the KA 350—I really like that airplane. If the destination airport was open, I'm launching. I may have to take the the long way around but she'll get me there. She always went wherever I pointed it.

Good times.

P.S. my photo is me, taken by a fellow captain, climbing out of Mammoth Lakes, CA

 

Do they sell a wiring harness and panel switch for the brake fan? My taco needs the extra cooling for downhill mountain runs.

 

DIY! But be careful, those fans could blow a Geo Metro right off the road!

 

You would never wear them out.

 

Congrats! As far as Kalitta, I know nobody who worked there but I do know a couple guys with Republic and they seem to have positive things to say about their job.

Good thing there aren’t many Metros on the road!

 

I had a few buddies there, it used to be horrible but they've improved a lot, they like it if you like the lifestyle. God knows how much longer Connie will be around, not sure what the plan is after him.

 

Perhaps you all have seen this already.

 

I might have to send that to my friend…

 

Already a quarter of the way through this book. It’s great so far!

 

Have any of you read Bomber Mafia? Fascinating.

 

If you don’t mind a little bit of Canadian, here’s a couple of good reads from North of the 49th:

Bush Pilot with a Briefcase is a good read about Grant McConachie’s rise from young bush pilot to president of Canadian Pacific Airlines. It’s amazing how the airplane opened up the north, flying throughout previously uncharted territory, far from base, and often out of communication for a month or more at a time.

This one is a little more regional, but it’s one that I’ve read again and again and again. OCA The Kenora Years is the story about the rise, and eventual demise of Ontario Central Airlines. The story revolves around an American named Barney Lamb who built a lodge in Northwestern Ontario, and an airline to service it. A business that thrived until a pulp and paper mill dumped mercury into a river system and destroyed the fishery on the lakes that are fed by that river system, and also a way of life for a local First Nation that remains unresolved to this day. This one appeals to me because it’s home, because of my love of bush planes and bush flying, and because I was fortunate enough to have met and heard some of the stories first hand from some of the personalities talked about in the book. It blows my mind that at one time there were 150 movements a day from the downtown float base.

And one that I’ve just recently finished, this one out of Alaska: 81 Days Below Zero. It’s about a young airman whose B24 goes down on a test flight just days before Christmas, and how how he as the only survivor kept himself alive with smarts, and little else, in the cold dark depths of arctic winter.

There’s others, but that’s what I have for now.