Regionals (the early days)
09-11-2014, 10:55 PM
#31
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2012
Posts: 138
Originally Posted by kfahmi
Heck, when I learned to fly:
• GPS did not exist
• Class B was a TCA, Class C was an ARSA, Class D was an ATA (I think)
• A 'fancy' panel meant you had 2 navcomms instead of just one. If you had DME, you were some sort of sky god.
• Written tests were...actually written tests, not computerized tests.
• Sometimes you'd actually drive over to the FSS to get an in-person weather briefing
• The hardest part about departing IFR from an uncontrolled field without a decent RCO was the sprint from the payphone (after you'd been given your clearance and void time from FSS) to the aircraft, and then the quick startup and 40-knot taxi to the runway, just so you could make your void time. True story: once at a airport without a working payphone, the guy on the field drove me to his house so we could call FSS and ask for a 15-minute void time, which they gave us.
• Most of the instructors remembered flying the old 4-course radio ranges
• Flying an NDB approach was just something you did every day
And so on, and so forth...
• GPS did not exist
• Class B was a TCA, Class C was an ARSA, Class D was an ATA (I think)
• A 'fancy' panel meant you had 2 navcomms instead of just one. If you had DME, you were some sort of sky god.
• Written tests were...actually written tests, not computerized tests.
• Sometimes you'd actually drive over to the FSS to get an in-person weather briefing
• The hardest part about departing IFR from an uncontrolled field without a decent RCO was the sprint from the payphone (after you'd been given your clearance and void time from FSS) to the aircraft, and then the quick startup and 40-knot taxi to the runway, just so you could make your void time. True story: once at a airport without a working payphone, the guy on the field drove me to his house so we could call FSS and ask for a 15-minute void time, which they gave us.
• Most of the instructors remembered flying the old 4-course radio ranges
• Flying an NDB approach was just something you did every day
And so on, and so forth...
$600 a month and all the flying that they could shove up your arse. No per diem, no FAA over site, no adherence to flight time/duty time regulations (try 10 or more days in a row, 120 of actual time a month). Overnights two to a room, 4 if it had twin beds. Maybe in a firehouse, or adjacent to an overnight maintenance hanger.
"• Flying an NDB approach was just something you did every day"
The "hub" had a localizer, no DME.
The F/O station had a "repeater" from the captains side.
You are all a bunch of whiners.
09-12-2014, 06:27 AM
#34
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Position: Volleyball Player
Posts: 3,982
Originally Posted by deltajuliet
Back in my day, we had to fly uphill to work, in the winter, carrying 50 lbs of Jepp charts, using NDB's, down to minimums. Both ways.
09-12-2014, 07:07 AM
#35
Bracing for Fallacies
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Position: In favor of good things, not in favor of bad things
Posts: 3,543
Originally Posted by kfahmi
And on the flip side of that, when I graduated college in 1994, no regional would even talk to you for the right seat in a Metro, Bandit, or SF340 unless you had a bare minimum of 3000 TT, 500 ME, preferably with at least 100 turbine. Competitive mins were more like 4000TT/1000ME/200 turbine.
Even getting a job at Amflight on the Piper Lance required ATP mins if I remember correctly.
How times change.
Even getting a job at Amflight on the Piper Lance required ATP mins if I remember correctly.
How times change.
09-12-2014, 08:23 AM
#36
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Position: RJ right-seat warmer
Posts: 632
Originally Posted by buddies8
ah, the good old days where war stories were war stories.
Did some of my primary training with a gentleman who was the quietest, most humble and retiring guy you'd ever meet. Never talked much about his earlier life. Years later I found out that he had 7 or 8 kills over Western Europe as a P-47 pilot, and I believe he had spent time as a POW.
I wonder if we will see a generation like his again.
09-12-2014, 09:53 AM
#37
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2013
Position: Prone
Posts: 399
Originally Posted by kfahmi
I know, right?
Did some of my primary training with a gentleman who was the quietest, most humble and retiring guy you'd ever meet. Never talked much about his earlier life. Years later I found out that he had 7 or 8 kills over Western Europe as a P-47 pilot, and I believe he had spent time as a POW.
I wonder if we will see a generation like his again.
Did some of my primary training with a gentleman who was the quietest, most humble and retiring guy you'd ever meet. Never talked much about his earlier life. Years later I found out that he had 7 or 8 kills over Western Europe as a P-47 pilot, and I believe he had spent time as a POW.
I wonder if we will see a generation like his again.
Every person I've met who definitely has bragging rights, doesn't brag. They are all old school guys. One guy I flew with (Part 91) was a U-2 pilot and was getting qualified in the SR-71 program before it got cancelled. I had to drag that information out of him. There's no way I'd be able to keep that inside if I had those kind of credentials.
His humility was remarkable.
09-12-2014, 10:43 AM
#38
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Position: RJ right-seat warmer
Posts: 632
Originally Posted by sevenforseven
No.
Every person I've met who definitely has bragging rights, doesn't brag. They are all old school guys. One guy I flew with (Part 91) was a U-2 pilot and was getting qualified in the SR-71 program before it got cancelled. I had to drag that information out of him. There's no way I'd be able to keep that inside if I had those kind of credentials.
His humility was remarkable.
Every person I've met who definitely has bragging rights, doesn't brag. They are all old school guys. One guy I flew with (Part 91) was a U-2 pilot and was getting qualified in the SR-71 program before it got cancelled. I had to drag that information out of him. There's no way I'd be able to keep that inside if I had those kind of credentials.
His humility was remarkable.
One of my best private-pilot students was a medical doctor. Very quiet, polite, soft-spoken. If you met him, you'd instantly peg him as an accountant. I knew him for about three years before I managed to find out that he had served multiple tours as an Army Ranger and had fought in the Mogadishu battle depicted in 'Black Hawk Down.' I only got this out of him after a large number of beers, and even then he refused to say anything other than that he had been there and he lost some buddies.
My wife's dad served as a Marine infantry lieutenant in I Corps, 1966-67. To this day he refuses to say anything about the experience, even to his own wife, other than his rank, dates of service, and the fact that he did see combat.
And yet, as a nation, we glamorize and celebrate pop stars, rather than the people who fight and die to keep us safe.
To keep this aviation-related...I learned that SkyWest started with a couple of Cherokees. Who knew?
09-12-2014, 10:57 AM
#39
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2012
Position: ERJ, CA
Posts: 718
Originally Posted by kfahmi
Yeah, I've learned that the folks who instantly volunteer to tell you about their combat experiences...are usually the guys who never got anywhere near the action.
One of my best private-pilot students was a medical doctor. Very quiet, polite, soft-spoken. If you met him, you'd instantly peg him as an accountant. I knew him for about three years before I managed to find out that he had served multiple tours as an Army Ranger and had fought in the Mogadishu battle depicted in 'Black Hawk Down.' I only got this out of him after a large number of beers, and even then he refused to say anything other than that he had been there and he lost some buddies.
My wife's dad served as a Marine infantry lieutenant in I Corps, 1966-67. To this day he refuses to say anything about the experience, even to his own wife, other than his rank, dates of service, and the fact that he did see combat.
And yet, as a nation, we glamorize and celebrate pop stars, rather than the people who fight and die to keep us safe.
To keep this aviation-related...I learned that SkyWest started with a couple of Cherokees. Who knew?
One of my best private-pilot students was a medical doctor. Very quiet, polite, soft-spoken. If you met him, you'd instantly peg him as an accountant. I knew him for about three years before I managed to find out that he had served multiple tours as an Army Ranger and had fought in the Mogadishu battle depicted in 'Black Hawk Down.' I only got this out of him after a large number of beers, and even then he refused to say anything other than that he had been there and he lost some buddies.
My wife's dad served as a Marine infantry lieutenant in I Corps, 1966-67. To this day he refuses to say anything about the experience, even to his own wife, other than his rank, dates of service, and the fact that he did see combat.
And yet, as a nation, we glamorize and celebrate pop stars, rather than the people who fight and die to keep us safe.
To keep this aviation-related...I learned that SkyWest started with a couple of Cherokees. Who knew?
09-12-2014, 11:06 AM
#40
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2013
Posts: 869
Originally Posted by kfahmi
And on the flip side of that, when I graduated college in 1994, no regional would even talk to you for the right seat in a Metro, Bandit, or SF340 unless you had a bare minimum of 3000 TT, 500 ME, preferably with at least 100 turbine. Competitive mins were more like 4000TT/1000ME/200 turbine.
Even getting a job at Amflight on the Piper Lance required ATP mins if I remember correctly.
How times change.
Even getting a job at Amflight on the Piper Lance required ATP mins if I remember correctly.
How times change.
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