Our new hire class was the last class to be trained on the DC6/7 as Co-pilot/Flight Engineer. Those were the last days of seat swapping (FO/FE). When the 6's were retired (about 7 months later) we all moved up to copilot in various aircraft depending on where you were based. I went to the BAC111, others to the L-188, some to the 727, etc. Our DC6/7 FE rating just faded away. The 6 was fun, low & slow where everyone looked out the windows to watch the towns slide by. American only had 1 DC7 left (freighter) and I heard some interesting stories about those cantankerous but powerful engines. That rapidly fading era was a memory never to be forgotten.

 

When I went through new hire school at UAL in early 1967, everyone had to go through an abbreviated F/O school on the DC-6/DC-7. The program was cancelled about 6 months after I got on the line.

The school had a number of DC6/DC-7s used strictly for this new hire requirement and the airplanes were only maintained to part 91, so you can imagine their condition.

The new hire F/O training was split about 50-50 between the 6 and the 7. I do recall the DC-7 as having more get up and go than the DC-6.

After that portion of training was over - maybe 3-4 weeks worth - the entire class was assigned as DC-6 flight engineers. The actual domicile assignments to EWR, DCA, ORD, DTW, SFO and SEA were done about 2 weeks before graduation. I went to EWR as I lived on Long Island. The most senior guy got EWR and so did the most junior.

Funny, a class or two after mine was over 50% jet awards. B-727 and Caravelle.

The flight engineer training and line flying was all DC-6. The last DC-7 had been removed from line ops several months before I started.

Came on the line in April 1967, flew two DC-6 S/O trips and then went to 727 S/O school.

Times were different.

 

Crewdawg52.. I should have explained "management pilots" a little further. There are two types of "check airmen" in our company. There is a "L" type (Line Check Airman) who has always been a line pilot. The L type checks-out new captains on the line, captains and co-pilots that require Pacific, Atlantic, Carribian or South/Latin America orientation/qualification. L type also does annual line checks, etc. The L type IS, AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN ON THE SENIORITY LIST from day one. Next is the "X" type. He instructs and has FAA blessing to give rating rides in both Aircraft and Simulators. He is also on the seniority list and was hired just like every other pilot in the system. The L and X type receive the same pay as a line pilot for the equipment flown.
So... before you blow the horn, check the traffic ;-)

 

Thanks for the info guys! Seems like it varies from airline to airline.

 

Management pilots at FedEx are stooges for management. They come from the line, get higher pay (a lot), do anything and everything management demands they do, maintain their seniority number, have very little power to help line pilots when someone needs help or guidance with a corporate shoe clerk who's messing with a line pilot (expense report audit department), are too quick to discipline pilots when management demands action, use discipline to punish union participation (captains who refused non-pilot jumpseaters in the cockpit) but fail to use it on pilots who deseve it (Dick Cotton), and are sent back to the line when they side with a line pilot.

Guess you know which side of the fence I'm on.