No sense in having a forum if it's just going to be opinions you agree with. You might as well just write down your thoughts for the day and then read it a couple times. You take the good with the bad and find the truth between the two. I say who cares...? On SkyHigh, I've seen him write things people would consider "negative" but I've seen as "the other side of the coin." People like that are often very useful in preventing tunnel vision...at the very least you can usually get a good laugh out of it.

Exactly. I consider SkyHigh's point of view to be a negative one, but a majority of it (AFAIK) is well intentioned to keep those informed and to keep them from getting the tunnel vision you speak of. BrownTail, although not as "informative" at times as SkyHigh, still can just as easily contribute to the well being of the forum. Hence my reason for voting the first choice. :)

Brown Tail
 

I like BT simply because he is proof that it doesnt take a person of character, intelligence or temperament to fly for the airlines. In fact BT is a self professed non-college 1.7 High School GPA who probably was destined for a life as a garbage man who now pilots a jet for one of the most coveted companies in the country. If he can operate a big jet then ten years from now perhaps managements dream of having the rampers fly the planes will become a reality.

SkyHigh

BT you are my hero !!!

Interesting. Read before u make an opinion.
 

I am sorry that my personality tends to offend you. I am an opinionated person; it is who I am.
I have a degree in Aerospace Engineering. I have all my licenses and ratings (minus ATP). I flew at a flying club with all airline employees, mostly pilots. I fly 40-50 times per year on airliners. I sit in first and coach, and I talk with lots of passengers (and frequent flyers). I worked at an FBO catering to private jets (many fractionals). I have invested in the airline industry (Boeing, SW, Skywest), and made lots of $$$. I have worked internships designing aircraft. I have traveled the world, even circled it.

I have a vested interest in this industry. Furthermore, I bring a perspective about this industry from my experience. Perhaps it is different than yours. I make decisions based upon facts, and form opinions.
I am sorry that people disagree with my opinions.

-Boeing is a better company than Airbus. Airbus squeeked out a few more orders last year than Boeing, but Boeing sold many more widebody a/c, --> more money!!. The 777 is killing the A340. The 787 is killing the A350. The A380 sold less than the 747 last year. And lets not forget all the R&D costs that Airbus has yet to recoop from it. The A320 is selling, but there have been over 6000 737's sold, representing over 25% of the WORLD'S airliner fleet. The 737 still dominates this market.

I invested in Boeing in March 03 at $30 a share, and it has recently been around $85 a share. Boeing has outsold Airbus this year. When I came to this board, lots of people thought I was crazy, saying Boeing is "downright dominating" Airbus. But I think I have changed lots of peoples minds. I brought a new perspective.

-American, United, and Continental are the top airlines in the near future. Southwest will come out of its protective bubble. Frequent flyers are valuable. Business travelers are valuable. The hub and spoke system is the most efficient for a large airline. The most efficient way to move people from obscure point A to point C is to route them through the hub, point B. Legacy loadfactor is in the 80%'s. Southwest has the lowest load factor in the industry. They use point to point. Also, here is a simple formula.
(Southwest's quarterly profit) - (gains from fuel hedging) = Operating loss!
Everytime. I think Southwest has undercut the industry in the past few years due to their fuel hedges. But when those hedges soon runout, Southwest will be forced to raise fares. When Southwest's fares go up, so will legacy fares. Airlines will become profitable again. Expansion may occur. Furloughs will be recalled and more pilots will be hired.

I owned Southwest's stock from March 03 until December 05. I bought it because of the fuel hedges (and I predicted a rise in oil prices), and I sold it because of the fuel hedges running out. Southwest has FINALLY raised fares. That allowed some legacies to raise fares (without losing market share). And now, finally, legacies are going to return to profitability.

-FBO's are better for flight training than airline academies (Lets compare DCA). It will save you at least $20,000 for the same training. At DCA, you will pay $55 an hour for instruction. At an FBO you will pay about $35 an hour for instruction. The flip side, when you want to instruct to timebuild, DCA will only pay you $14 an hour. The FBO will pay you $25-35 an hour. BIG DIFFERENCE! At DCA, you will pay $105 for an old cessna, while at an FBO you will pay $80-90 for an old cessna. At DCA you will pay over $200 an hour for a multi, while those cost about $150 at an FBO. As crazy as these prices are, the place where these academies make their money is ground school. If you take the hours of ground school divided by the total cost, it works out to like $20 an hour for a class of 10-20 people. That's too much!
That is why I recommend an FBO over an airline academy. It is much cheaper, you will make more money, and the training can be accomplished in the SAME amount of time.

I paid for every cent of my pilot training from my own pockets, and I did it at an FBO. I am so happy with the decision. Saved me money. Got me plenty of hours as a CFII. And they pay me $35 an hour (good for CFI).

-Regionals should be limited to 70 seats. Every airline should have a scope clause for all airplanes 71 seats and up. US Air is headed in the right direction with mainline EMB-190'S. Hopefully they will get rid of Mesa's CRJ-900's. JetBlue has the right idea, but they are still at regional pay. Northwest pilots caved, and they should have set 70 seats as the absolute minimum for NewCO. I believe if every airline has a scope clause for 71+ seats, pilot salaries and QOL will improve vastly.


Most of my arguments stem from these 4 strong beliefs. You are welcome to go back and read any of my posts (like u did with skyhigh), and challenge me on an opinion of mine. But please don't call me marginally annoying unless you discuss some opinion with me.
Ryan

Wow. . . I'm impressed Ryan.

Pretty much on track...
 

There are lots of posts on this forum that really contribute to the "art" of aviation and then there are those that, well, don't. Browntail and his kind fall into the latter category but you don't have to read his posts nor respond to them either.

He's the type that likes to launch a "stink bomb" in the room and then sit back and watch the commotion he started without getting into it constructively other than to keep stirring the pot.

Harmless at best. Don't let him get under your skin and that's all he will be.

It's a shame Kill Bill is gone, from the few posts of his that I read, he seemed entertaining as well, although I may not have the full picture on him (or should I say his "online personality.")

For what it's worth...

Gotta agree with Ryan on a few points though. Boeing does kick the tail off Scarebus. :D No pun intended.... really, I mean it.

What exactly has BT contributed to the board, besides being annoying, giving bad advice, and never answering any direct questions? Is he the type of user that APC wants to have around?

See what I mean?
 

Here's an example of a "Browntail maneuver."

Awsome. I love it.