gatorbuc99

pre-6am departure outta Indy, I lived about 2 hours away so I planned a 1900 bed time, 0200 wake up, drive to get there at 0430 & give myself plenty of time. I don't think I ever fell asleep that evening due to anxiety...who was I kidding, right? Got there, LCA was super chill, easy going he did the walk around since it was dark and we didn't hardly get any training on the walkaround...I got the box ready and he gets back in, I had a notepad with CRAFT written down ready to call CD. When he saw it he had a lengthy hearty laugh at me, I still chuckle about that to this day.

Ioe was great, learned a lot, went smooth, no issues. I felt prepared, wasn't behind the airplane or operation, and I'm no Bob Hoover. Felt like things transferred from the simulator to the airplane very smoothly. Enjoy it because the first time you launch at the controls of a transport category aircraft you get a feeling you prob won't have again and it's a terrific accomplishment. Now, from leg 1 on, I'm just counting down to the go home leg...and I'm not jaded at all, I'm still relatively speaking a noob at this 2 years in, but trips are pretty much just 12-18 leg commutes home :-)

BlueMoon

I see guys write down CRAFT quite a bit when we can't get The PDC over ACARS. I could not care less. I want you to do it right, however you do that is up to you. Who cares if it looks "cool".

All LCA want is for you to show up prepared, have your flows and procedures down, and have a good attitude.

Phteven

I never had the pleasure of flying with that guy but I hear he is quite intense. Did have an LOE with "little Jack" though. The debrief was essentially "That was awful. Some things there just didn't seem passable. Alright well have fun out there." The CA and I were pretty confused...

cactusflyer

I did my oral with Jack (which was surprisingly painless), but was lucky enough to never fly with him.

The only time I interacted with him after that was when I was swapping airplanes with his crew in PDX, and he completely powered down the airplane despite the fact that we were standing in the walkway (and clearly visible from the cockpit) waiting to take it over.

I flew my last IOE trip with "Little Jack", and had basically the same experience. After said LCA told me "This is how people get violated by the FAA!" when I asked ATC to confirm an altitude change and was generally high strung for the entire trip, he signed me off after the final leg despite a debrief that was basically "these are all the ways you fail at being a pilot".

SurferLucas

I never had any issues with Jack or "Little Jack" (Who I have to say has really gotten better in the past couple years).

The one LCA that I despised, and flatly refused to fly with for upgrade IOE is a BOI guy...thankfully he's no longer a LCA due to his being a wanker.

Most of the former MFR LCA's are awesome (the ones that moved back up to PDX come to mind)...there are a few like MVH, GT, FF and MM that are just great guys to fly with.

Mjm8710

My IOE was super easy, just make sure to relax, have fun, and ask a lot of questions...they are just there to show you the ropes and to make sure you can take off and land safely. Actually the first few trips I did off IOE were much harder, since no one will be there to spoon feed you.

Again, all my check airmen were really cool, and didn't ask me any questions while we were flying. It was just another trip for them....they didn't have any issues answering my million questions though!

The hardest part of IOE was landing for me...for the past ten years I was use to landing in a crosswind using the "wing low" method...obviously can't land that way in a jet or you could accidentally flame out an engine, and also power adjustments I found to be much more touchy than a 172...after a few landings it was cake though.

Good luck! You'll have a great time.

Cruz5350

As soon as I saw Snacky post his IOE experience I knew he was talking about Jack lol. He did my oral and first trip on IOE. I never had any issues with him except for the damn Harley ringtone he had. That got old real quick.

cactusflyer

If you ask the BOI guy, he decided to stop being a check airman because he wanted better schedules, which I don't think anyone actually believed.

That said, I've flown with him quite a bit since he became a line pilot, and he's actually a pretty nice guy now that he isn't an LCA, so I think he might have just been burned out as a check airman and was taking it out on new-hires and upgrades.

I completely agree about the MFR LCA's being awesome, and aside from the individuals already mentioned here, I think the LCA group here is generally a great group of people.

bruhaha

Its been a while since my first IOE flight. Looking back in the logbook brought back all sorts of memories though.

That first leg that day was a blur, the check airman did the walk around with me that first and for the last time, leaving me to do the walkarounds for the rest of IOE.

I remember hanging on to the horizontal stab by the fingernails for the whole day.

The first leg went quick - 25 minutes, it was my leg and less than a minute after second engine start, he had taxiied from the ramp to the runway, called taking the active on the CTAF and was rolling down the runway while I'm trying doing the after start and before takeoff checklist. Right after takeoff, I'm still trying to catch up, he asks me "you want to pick up our clearance or do you want to do the rest of this flight VFR?" "Oh, right..." Radar contact, cleared to Pittsburgh as filed, climb and maintain 7000, squawk xxxx. Ok my aircraft. Level off was okay - getting used to flying the airplane for the first time, very short cruise and now it's time to land... As I'm descending into Pittsburgh and get cleared for the approach, the check airman is laughing, and asking when I'm thinking about slowing down to configure for landing. I've been mentally so far behind the plane, I find myself coming down the ILS inside the marker at 248kts riding the barber pole. I call for a go around, and the check airman said to keep the needles centered, pulled the power levers to idle for me and pushed the prop levers full forward, and threw out all the flaps and gear on schedule. Uneventful landing, taxi to the A gates, 15 minute turn and bam we're off the gate again.

I don't think I was fully with the plane the whole day as we flew a Pittsburgh-Parkerburg-Pittsburgh turn, then a Pittsburgh-Hagerstown-Pittsburgh turn, then a through flight from Pittsburgh-Lewisburg-Washington Dulles. I remember flying into Dulles being painful as they kept issuing speed assignments, and I had no idea what power settings to use to get the speeds, so he gave me some pointers and general power settings. Did the first pushback in Dulles, and since then have never done another pushback ever again in the airplane with this airline. then another through flight back to Lewisburg and finishing leg nine and the day Lewisburg to Charlotte with a total 8.2 hrs and nine landings for day one.

SurferLucas

Right on point...our check airman group is tops here, I can't think of anyone on the list that is a headscratcher. But then again, we've got a pretty stellar pilot group as it is.

Hearing stories from friends at other airlines, I'm glad I'm here...it could be worse, lots worse.