Honestly, that’s pretty awesome!
Cargo is definitely a more stable job, but I would aim a little higher than AMF. Runs get cut and changed all the time on the part 135 side and commuting at AMF is almost impossible. To each his own though. Being home every night is awesome and I’ve pretty much been able to do that my entire career (minus the night cargo I did, but I was home during the day).

 

What made the flying so difficult? The equipment? I've heard Ameriflight's birds are old with old avionics.

 

Avionics? Radios? The pipers use smoke signals from the engines. HSIs? Some planes didn’t have a heading bug. After decades the planes didn’t exactly demonstrate positive flight characteristics. You are single pilot in all the weather of the local area 5 days a week on terrible sleep. This will be the most challenging flying most will ever do who do it.

+1 Your seat is sopping wet and so is your ass for your whole “day” If it rained.

 

All things change with time...cargo has changed lots in the last 10-20 years....
As is typical in cargo, if you have "shiney jet syndrome" you need not apply...you won't be flying new stuff, and rarely will you have a plane with a "pretty" paint job...but work is steady, and we were and are still doing limited hiring, no furloughs as of yet...we still have pilots flowing up to companies like UPS, Omni, etc....
All of the Piper's are in the boneyard....never flown a be-99, so I can't vouch for the door seals on the crew doors, but haven't heard of anyone complaining about wet seats....
Most of the fleet, guessing 65-75% are gps equipped, all received ADS-b upgrades as required.....
Yes... cargo can be a bit of a lifestyle, and some enjoy the free time, others like the time building routes that often are minimum rest....
Challenging weather into some second rate airports where you might be the one of the biggest planes to land all day? Perhaps.
Weather.... depends...Miami FL, Lansing MI, Burbank/Ontario CA, Salt lake City Utah, Portland OR, or Puerto Rico (lots more, but you get the idea) all have their different challenges.....but isn't that true of any nationwide/global company?! Most newbies are in ONE base for several months, helping them learn, so the weather if you are confident isn't as bad as it sounds.
Seriously, some people, me for one, enjoy the flying, but honestly part of that is the intensity of single pilot IFR with a 6 pack with lots of hand flying.
Honestly not for everyone, but weekends off, and working around sunrise AM half a day off and the the evening PM with a typical night off, with one of the periods at home isn't bad for a full time job....some runs fly 100 hrs a month....some barely 30, just depends on what you bid for assignment.

 

Whats the status of the Miami base for pilots? I saw an A&P job listing for Miami so I was curious

 

We are currently staffed in MIA. But that could change as the base hopefully grows. Keep an eye on the job boards. If openings become available...

 

Ever fly a Metro with deferred nose wheel steering? Not only are they old, but a lot of the parts aren't made any more, so you keep getting refurbs (which often don't work any better than the part they replaced). All part of the adventure, right?

 

Even worse, ever fly a Metro with a deferred nosewheel steering and then been stupid enough to try to use it? 🤪😲

 

The metro has 17 memory items. The 767 has one third the memory items. Metro was created by idiots to be flown by geniuses

 

We called it "Zoolander" when it was only able to turn one direction. Oh the memories.