freezingflyboy

Haha...I've tried to fight that fight already with the mods. Better be careful or you might get "infracted" upon.

freezingflyboy

I had a blast. IOE captain was great and called me the night before we were supposed to fly together to make sure I knew where I was going, when to show up, how to get in the crew room, etc. I had never actually been to the crew room before that first trip in the real airplane so it was nice to have someone spell it all out. (Honestly, I can't believe the FAs get a "base orientation" tour but for pilots their like "oh, by the way, theres this thing called an "airport" and its got a bunch of terminals. Our crew room is in one of em, most of our flights depart out of there but some depart way over there. You'll figure it out as you go. Cheers!" Guess they figure most of us are smart enough to figure it out on our own)

I still remember blasting off out of IAH on our way to BNA, feeling that airplane accelerate down the runway for the first time (definitely one of the coolest moments in my life) with me holding on to the tail feathers. Get up to cruise and its kinda like "what now boss? I've never gotten this far into a flight without an engine failure or a flight control malfunction". Plane gets to BNA (I arrive just a few minutes later) and we have to dodge some thunderstorms. Make it in, rush through a 25 minute turn and blast off to IAH to do it all over again.

Ottopilot

My first flight was 2-3 months later after IOE! I forgot how to fly the ATR. I forgot too much. Training sucked (flight safety) and IOE sucked (crappy checkairman-FAA eventually pulled his checkairman status!), but it got better in a few months. I really enjoyed it then; except for the pay. About $800/month after taxes and rent was $760/month. That was back in the mid 90's.

Pilotpip

IOE was a blast. Got to the gate a few minutes early, gate agents could tell I didn't know what on earth was going on and ribbed me a bit. Captain showed up a few minutes later, grabbed the release, invited me to come to the smoking lounge and have a smoke. We went through some paperwork. Back to the gate, and off we go. Down to DAL. The look on my face when the captain threw the couple button to my side and said "It's all yours" back to STL must have been a riot. If only the passengers knew... On the way back we got to dodge some TS. Captains showing me all kinds of neat stuff that the plane can do. I'm sitting there gawking at the storms out the window.

Back and forth to DAL and JAX on a four day with a couple other places thrown in. After a couple legs I knew I was starting to get it when the captain said "You got the walkaround. I'm gonna go smoke."

727gm

Not necessarily: my parents said "you can't be an airline pilot; you have to have 20/20 vision, and they only hire military pilots anyway"...... no internet either back then.

FlyJSH

First flight... and every flight since then I say the "Sheperd,s" prayer, Allan Sheperd that is....
"Oh Lord, please dont let me screw up!"

bustinmins

I was once a regional airline IOE Captain and LCA. My favorite thing to tell my trainees was this: "Let me tell you what I expect from you. First off, today is day one. If we crash today, I totally expect you to be so far behind the airplane that you'll be a witness. Truly. This is a fast paced environment and Philly isn't exactly an easy place to learn. Don't worry about that. I know you're going to be 20 miles behind the plane. I'm going to work you up to the cargo bin by the end of today and maybe into row 4 by tomorrow. My goal is to get you 20-100 miles ahead. To get you there, I'm going to need you relaxed and prepared. So what do you say? Ready to have some fun? Oh yeah, and another thing. When I look over to you and say, How are you doing? If your head is about to explode from the information you're getting along with the operating environment, I only want to hear one thing. "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job!"



If you were an IOE student of mine, give me a PM. It would be great to hear from you again.

1900 RDG

bustinmins

Well said.....we all felt that way on day one...no doubt. "In the day" (1996) when I was a regional new hire, Part 135 ruled the regional skies. There was no IOE. Your total training consisted of being taught how to build the aircraft, three check-rides (training) and a check-ride. You landed in the right seat of a turboprop with only 10 hours in the plane and none of it "normal ops". You might even wait six weeks between your last training event and your check-ride. No kidding! Your first captain had received no special training in regards to IOE etc. He or she was probably upset that their workday was going to be harder than expected when you said, "Hi, I'm new here." Back then, once "trained", you were literally thrown to the wolves. New hire pilots had more flight time back then. The hiring minimums were 1000/300 to 1500/500. Most applicants were piston freighters or had some charter experience before they were thrown into training. Either way, Part 121 training is much better than the Part 135 days...trust me.

bustinmins

And perhaps the most important things to remember:

1. You did this to yourself
2. Have fun while you're there...

A friend of mine is an IOE captain for a regional. The CA was talking to his Probie FO as they were checking into their hotel. The captain noticed that the cute girl behind the counter was taking a liking to the Probie FO. . The captain, with a jaded past, said "Excuse us for just a second.....I'll send him back in a minute or two." They left the counter and walked around the corner. The IOE captain then said to his probie, "Okay, you had a good day today. I expect you to be ready for tomorrow. Take some time and relax. Oh ....and another thing...about the girl at the front desk.....Her panties are in the flight deck tomorrow morning or you go home!" (He had them the next morning.)

tpaRob

That right there is why I want to be a pilot.

Some great first flight stories. Please keep them coming!

Rob in Tampa