bbs993tt

I love how the landing lights on those things alternate and fade in/out. That is way cool! Sending you a PM.

CaptainGSR

If gas keeps going up, I think there won't be a professional pilot left on this forum! And forget about driving a truck. That won't pay either.......:-(

993Maineiac

Oh c'mon, UPS will still be flying

InTheAir

Thanks, Gerry.

Falcondrivr

Without getting off on a rant, fuel prices effect commercial airlines because they operate on very thin margins (sometimes negative ones.) Somehow, airline managers have never figured out that you have to sell the tickets for more than it costs to operate.
On the flip side, corporate aviation has never been stronger, and it continues to grow at a increasing rate. Fuel prices are less of an issue because we aren't selling seats for a profit, we are in the business of maximizing efficiencies for executives. When their time is valued in the tens of thousands of dollars per hour, a fuel cost increase of a few hundred dollars per hour of operation doesn't really make much difference. Put another way; if the cost of the gas is an issue, you really shouldn't be playing with a $35M airplane to begin with.
I know you were saying the above tongue-in-cheek, but I get asked about 5 times a day if the fuel prices are affecting my job. It gets old...

MitchB

I'll chime in...
Started as Navy Helo driver (Even flew with Marlon...), moved to King Airs, then C-130s. Left to fly with airlines - 6 years with TWA, then AA, then - unemployed...

Saw the writing on the wall, and went back on Active Duty. Now I manage operations with these...
It ain't flyin' - but it IS the future...
Please don't ask where the picture was taken...

CaptainGSR

I guess I should have excluded corporate aviation from my "rant."
I too saw the writing on the wall a few years ago, that's why I went to work for a foreign carrier ASAP! I sleep much better at night.
If that does not work, corporate will probably be the next logical step.
So, where was that picture taken? :-)

PD2FLY

Greetings from Camp Narita! NWA past 24 years. Currently SEA based A330 Captain. Retired from AFRes in 2000 after 24 years of active, Guard and Reserves. Waiting for the money!


/Users/PD2FLY/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2008/Apr 28, 2008/P1010400.JPG

Robert Collins - 96 993TT

I'm not a pilot but I have been lucky enough to "fly" a Cessna 195 and a Beech 18. What a rush! I have gotten the chance to fly both because I have about 15-20 FedEx pilots in Memphis as clients that I do full service financial planning/investments for. May sound wierd, but I have always felt very at home around this group of people. Maybe it is the shared passion for adrenaline, precision machines or just the fact that we're a little different, but I definitely like hanging out with them!

Since most of them have private planes, I have gotten to fly with them. I am going up in an old Bonanza and a Bi-wing next trip over. Here are a few pics of one of the Beech as well as my friend/client Jim with my two sons after a flight over southwest Tennessee!

Robert Collins - 96 993TT

Here are a few of the 195 a got to fly. One of them is a pic from the plane right as we were about to buzz the neighbors' house/ grass runway!! The last pic is the rookie himself gripping the controls for my life! LOL!!!

CaptainGSR

She is a beauty! Lucky you!

Robert Collins - 96 993TT

Yeah, they are both beautiful planes. It was fun to fly them, even as little as I did. Really, really neat group of people, and really neat toys too.

I guess that's why I am going to the Porsche Parade this year, I think I will get that same feeling hanging around with 10,000 of my closest friends! :-)

jwlester

Not a 993 owner or a private pilot but I grew up flying. My dad flew in the airforce and spent his civilian career in aviation. We bounced from airline to airline every few years like many airline executives but he started out in maintenance at Piedmont, ironically dad was head of safety at Allegheny at one point (993maineiac), and many others. I spent a lot of hours copiloting 150s and 172s with dad. Its one of my favorite childhood memories. Dad passed away a few years ago, the morning before he had to layoff his entire staff at Midway. I now have his porsche (our other shared passion). Being around aviation and aviation people now is like seeing family that you haven't seen for many years. I miss everything about it and hope to have the time to get my license someday soon. This thread has brought back a lot of good memories. Thanks.

Cheers, Josh

Todd P

USAF E-4B nav (B747-200) and bug smasher pilot

MisterRisky

Wow.. Lots of fun going on with modified C-135s..."Constant Phoenix" um... or maybe "Combat Talon"... or you might be flying Spooky! I remember watching the C-135 gunships raining hell down from the sky in TV coverage of Just Cause in Panama.

And you also flew the Global Hawk. That's really cool.