New to the airlines, help!
 

Leaving my 135 job for a regional in 2 weeks (Compass). What will I need to buy, what works best for all you other guys?

-Jepps Binders, how many? What kind, 1", 2"?
-Flight case, what kind?
-Suit case, what kind?
-Headset, I have a DC, will that be OK?

If I've missed anything please let me know. Any other advice for an airline newbie would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Relax...you'll have plenty of time in the first couple of weeks to buy what you need. You won't be flying the line on day one.

Jepps and binders should be provided by the company. As far as Flight Cases and luggage go, I use Luggage Works products. I would suggest getting the steel frame overnight bag.....I think it is called the 737 Stealth bag. It fits in the overhead of RJ's pretty well.

Your David Clark Headsets should be fine. Of course, if you have the money, I would suggest buying the Telex Airman 850 ANR. It is small, compact and fits in your flight case well.

Good Luck!

I know, I just want to know what to plan for expences. We all know about first year FO pay.

- Get a Scott flight case.
- I have a 1" Jepp binder I used to keep my main airports in as well as the ones for a 3-or 4-day trip.
- suitcase: LuggageWorks - Luggage, Duffels, Flight Kits, Rolling Bags, Airline Discounts - browser

- I use a Sennheiser ANR headset. Love it.

Everything I mentioned here is spendy. Don't get into debt getting cool stuff. Get them one at a time.

The most important thing is probably the suitcase and for starters you probably don't need the best one. But what I linked to is the best.

Do you have a flight case?

Get what you think will keep you comfortable on the road for 6 days at a time. Your DC's might be ok but for me the clamp pressure on my head became to much. I switched to the 850ANR and love them. LuggageWorks makes great products with a 3 year wrnty. Deffinetly get the rollerboard with the steel frame. im amazed how much abbuse they take its not industructble(sp) but they do hold up. Carry a 1" jepp for where you will be goning on your trip and a couple of 3" ones to hold the rest or your charts that wont be getting used

Jepps: Depends on the company and airplane. Maybe the company provides them, probably not. How many and what size depends on the routes flown. You can also save money and use generic binders from staples. You will have time in ground school to get the right answer on this.

Flight Case: A good leather one will cost bank, but will last a long time. Also since it will last you may not want to put stickers on a good one unless you are at your career destination airline...not all airlines allow stickers, and you may not want to display certain stickers while on probation. You can also get $70 fake-leather cases that will last for a few years, hard aluminum cases, or soft nylon/kevlar cases which will also last. Mostly personal choice, just get the standard aviation size.

Rollaboard: Two schools of thought here...

1) $30 dollar job from costco, with a lifetime warranty. It will break several times each year, and you just take it back and get a replacement.

2) $300 Luggage Works PNT specially designed for flight crew. Built exactly like a main battle tank, and weighs almost as much. Commuters probably need this, because a lesser bag will not survive for long in the cargo hold . I went this route after I got tired of taking my cheap one in for repairs every quarter. The Outer Marker Crew Shop - Home Page

Headset: Start with the clamps, then flight test various headsets borrowed from your CA's until you figure out what's best for you and your airplane. Telex 750 and Bose are good ANR headsets. The Bose provides max attenuation (good for noisy airplanes, but is bulky and requires batteries (you will be lost comms if your batteries die). The Telex is very small and light, is powered by the airplane, but provides less attenuation (good enough for most jets). To prevent fatigua and possible hearing loss, avoid lightweight non-ANR headsets such as the Telex 250, unless you fly a VERY quit jet.

As the others said, you've got some time to start looking around. I guess i'm a cheapo, but on the old FO wages buying "the best" stuff can be difficult (especially if you have any other commitments) same time, i wouldn't advocate buying stuff that'll break every other day.

I'm currently using a samsonite 22" rollerboard, i pack lightly and have never had a problem getting everything to fit, plus on my commute, it easily fits in the overhead bins of the -80 or 737 (not on all the SW 735's though.) Besides that. I have a soft cased flight bag (not nearly as big as anything from sportys or the not, but, it carry's everything that i wanted it to carry, has pockets on each side, and works great (fits perfectly into the ERJ side bin as well) only downer is because it's soft, it'll fall outta the holder if you get over aggressive with the taxing....Best of luck though in your search and your training. Sure you'll love the 121 world.

OH, and PS on the headsets, if you've been using them religiously for your 135 life, i'd say typical airline schedules will have you fly 6-7 hrs a day (max), if you think that's comparable to what you've already been doing, then i wouldn't worry about changing them. If you get online, and realize after a week or a month, that you're ears are killing you, then sure, make the investment, i just wouldn't spend money for the sake of spending money.

Make sure you're gonna make it through training before you get to buying alot of stuff.. :)

I would suggest at CS you get the 2" plastic jepp binder. Same thing for the LW Vinyl flight case...mine has stood up to the cargo holds of quite a few 145s and is in perfect shape with the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Obama 08 stickers intact.

When it comes to spending, Less is more...