Originally Posted by Mach8Forest

Jetprop,
You saw your father as all of us new Hires in the 80's saw him (The Captain) as a Sky God. When I was a kid I dreamed of being a pilot for TWA and after being a teenage Flight Instructor, Embry Riddle, Commuter Airlines, etc I finally realized that dream. It was a great ride with some great aviators. I was able to fly with these great men to the Middle East, All of Europe, and every Ozark town in the US. After a decade + my seniority allowed me to Upgrade to captain. It was like joining the knights of the round table. I believe it to be the most difficult program in modern aviation. It did not just consist of sim then 4 stripes and 25 hours of IOE. They did it the old way so that when you were done the buck stopped with you. IOE was broken down to months of ungraded and graded time with line checks after that. It was an adventure that lasted many months beyond the normal programs. It was a long and difficult program.
It was a tradition at TWA that the Vice President of Flying would take the new captains out to a country club dinner. TWA's Vice President of flying and current Admiral raised his glass to us and said "Gentlemen Welcome to management"! It was truly an honor to join such a class. It was a dream to fly with pilots like your Dad.
Furloughed! Mach8Forest