Professionalism...is sometimes lacking.

ZapBrannigan said:
A lot of good pilots have died with this attitude. Little advise. Treat every flight the same, pax or not.
Click to expand...

Let me clarify, because I think you guys are misconstruing the word "Fun"

Fun to include - Not exceeding any aircraft tolerances

Fun to include - Not violating and FAA regulations

Fun to include - Not breaking company policy.

Believe it or not "Fun" can be something as mundane as a steeper then normal descent that would have normally made the pax uncomfortable. Making fun of a F/A over the PA, or even just flying with the cockpit door open.

Trust me, after my tenure as a military aviator, there is nothing I am going to do in a CRJ that is going to impress me.


ATN_Pilot said:
I knew a couple of guys who felt that it was ok to "have some fun" on a MX repo flight. Both of them are dead. Left a big smoking hole in the ground in Jefferson City. One of them left a pregnant wife behind.

This is a job, not a joy ride. Just do your job.
Click to expand...

I certainly am not one to throw stones, and I don't normally take jabs at the dead, or anyone's friends for that matter. However, those guys were idiots. That is not my bias opinion, anyone in the aviation community that references that incident concurs.


So, you need not concern yourself with how I perform my job. Thanks though
 
cains-train-wreck.jpg
 
SteveC said:
I had the pleasure of riding in the back of an Express Jet plane tonight and I was not impressed.

We were light - maybe 10 pax total on board - so someone up front decides it's a good time for a high performance take-off. We roll around the corner and the power comes in and she accelerates really nicely because we're light. Coming through rotation speed the nose slowly comes off the ground, but to an abnormally low pitch attitude. We roll on the mains for a while, accelerating, and the airplane very slowly begins a climb. By the end of the 10,000 foot runway we are, maybe, 50 feet off the ground and hauling ass. Then, wheeee, hard pull on the yoke and we do a big airspeed/altitude swap. Coming through 500 feet (just a guess) the ailerons get thrown over quickly into a steeper than standard rate turn, maybe approaching a 45 degree steep turn. About a 45 degree heading change and we quickly roll back wings level.

Who does that with pax on board???
Click to expand...

If it's just the captain and I ferrying a jet or a 767-300ER full of passengers, I fly the aircraft the same way.

But then, we've got FOQA on a lot of jets so I'd expect a call from the chief pilot if I was hot-dogging.
 
Doug Taylor said:
If it's just the captain and I ferrying a jet or a 767-300ER full of passengers, I fly the aircraft the same way.

But then, we've got FOQA on a lot of jets so I'd expect a call from the chief pilot if I was hot-dogging.
Click to expand...

FOQA shouldn't be on the list of reasons to fly the jet as the company "mandates".

"Not saying that to Doug, just putting it out there"
 
X-Forces said:
I can't say that there isn't some fun to be had on, well let's say a Mx flight or a repo, but with paxs in the back....No way.
Click to expand...

Fun like a MX flight with an unrestricted climb to 15,000 instead of 5000 :) I am with you and it is the little things that keep it fun.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
So is anyone else who flies the airplane differently on an empty leg than they would with pax in the back. This is a job, not a joy ride.
Click to expand...

Your "let the automation fly it", pay check collecting attitude is the last attitude I want in the cockpit.
 
TowJoe said:
Fun like a MX flight with an unrestricted climb to 15,000 instead of 5000 :) I am with you and it is the little things that keep it fun.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Someone who understands what I am getting at. A flight without pax is not the same as a flight with pax for many different reasons, and that small break from the routine can be enjoyable.

Has nothing to do with safety, or at least it doesn't when I fly.

ATN_Pilot said:
So is anyone else who flies the airplane differently on an empty leg than they would with pax in the back. This is a job, not a joy ride.
Click to expand...

I guess you have a F/A come up to the front and you secure the cockpit door when the cabin is empty?

You still make you cruise and descent PAs to the back when you are flying empty?

An idiot is someone who flies an aircraft above an altitude in which it is designed to operate for the sake of saying they did so.

Anyway, never mind, I have no intention of hashing it out with you. You will feel how you choose, and that's fine.
 
SteveC said:
Nope. Wasn't complaining about their flying. They actually performed the maneuver pretty smoothly.

I'm just commenting on professionalism.
Click to expand...

Still, I don't see how you can make that determination unless you were:

A. Rated and trained to the company standards
B. In the cockpit

This reminds me of the thread where the guy was a passenger on a 737 or something and claimed it stalled during cruise. Maybe it is just me, but I try not to criticize other pilots when I don't know the facts.
 
X-Forces said:
I guess you have a F/A come up to the front and you secure the cockpit door when the cabin is empty?

You still make you cruise and descent PAs to the back when you are flying empty?
Click to expand...

I said "flies the airplane differently." Securing the door and making PA announcements don't involve flying the airplane. I'm referring to manipulation of the flight controls.

An idiot is someone who flies an aircraft above an altitude in which it is designed to operate for the sake of saying they did so.
Click to expand...

The airplane is designed to operate at FL410. The problem was that ambient temperate was ISA+11. Unfortunately, Pinnacle never trained crews to use the performance charts to determine maximum cruising altitude, and never trained them how to use the FMS for performance data backup. But none of that would have really mattered if they had just flown the airplane as they would have if passengers were onboard. The problem with that flight began when the crew decided that since there weren't any passengers on board, they were going to fly the airplane differently.
 
dasleben said:
Done that empty...think we pegged that VSI out at 6000 on the standard profile and speeds. Enough fun for me! :)
Click to expand...

757 out of Lyon, FR that we ferried back to NYC without 3 pilots and 5 FA's, even tower was impressed.
 
Doug Taylor said:
757 out of Lyon, FR that we ferried back to NYC without 3 pilots and 5 FA's, even tower was impressed.
Click to expand...

Ours was a 767-300ER out of some random place in Kansas, ferrying down to DFW. Cold morning, about 25,000 lbs of fuel. Go baby go! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top