Airline Pilot Lifespan

scooter2525 said:
I don't agree. If I'm flying professionally day in and out and want to take a 172 once or twice a year I shouldn't have to go up regularly with an instructor. A year check out at minimum.
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This is where www.openairplane.com may help us airline guys. The concept of a single universal checkout on an annual basis and all participating locations allow you to rent their planes in the same make/model.
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
Some seem to be NAV III with KAP autopilots and others are integrated GFC700 autopilots. Is the difference between these two G1000s only the autopilots? Other than the AP they are the exactly the same?
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As far as I know the autopilot is the only difference. I've only flown the KAP 140 and it was "ok" for a basic rate based autopilot. The GFC700 looks waaaayyy cool.
 
@drunkenbeagle
@word302

I was watching some youtube videos on the G1000 and in a few cases there was an aural voice "TIS not available." It was on approach and then a few times very close to short final. I assume this means you are dropping from the radar range of a Mode S radar site?

Is it just an aural warning or is there some sort of TIS warning flag on the PFD / MFD? What indication would you get when you pick up radar coverage again and have TIS available? Or is that warning mean it's not available due to some internal fault that would need maintenance to be fixed on the ground?
 
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dasleben said:
I wanted to rent a 172 a while back, and it required a 5 hour checkout with an instructor first. No thanks!
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ATN_Pilot said:
That's what I'm having to do with the DA-40. Apparently that's insurance standard nowadays.
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What, really?! I was out of flying for over a year and thought a 14 landing 2.7 hour flight for a 172 checkout was pretty anal. 5 hours? That's insane unless you're terrible. A handful of laps around the pattern and I'd think it would all start to come back to you.
 
You guys joke, but when I was a CFI some of the scariest flights I ever did were checkout flights for airline or military guys.
 
ChasenSFO said:
What, really?! I was out of flying for over a year and thought a 14 landing 2.7 hour flight for a 172 checkout was pretty anal. 5 hours? That's insane unless you're terrible. A handful of laps around the pattern and I'd think it would all start to come back to you.
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That's actually better than it used to be. When I checked with the same flight school a few years ago, they wanted 10 hours. Needless to say, I passed on it then. Now I want to maintain currency, so beggars can't be choosers, and there aren't a lot of options around me. What really annoys me is that a checkout in the DA-40 doesn't get you any reduced checkout requirement in the DA-20, so if I want to be checked out in both, I have to do 10 hours total. Absolutely crazy. I remember "back in the day" you could do a couple of loops around the pattern in a 152 and be checked out.
 
JordanD said:
You guys joke, but when I was a CFI some of the scariest flights I ever did were checkout flights for airline or military guys.
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Oh, good grief, I used to hear this crap from the other CFIs when I was still instructing. When I checked out an airline guy, though, the only things I found were that they flared high and flew the approaches fast. Hardly "scary" or dangerous things. Just something that takes a little adjustment. The reality is that bad decision making is what gets people killed in airplanes most of the time, and that guy has decision making experience in spades while the CFI who's mocking his skills has barely any. It's silly for an experienced airline pilot to be required to do anything more than a quick checkout.
 
JordanD said:
You guys joke, but when I was a CFI some of the scariest flights I ever did were checkout flights for airline or military guys.
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It's just a sight picture issue, and doesn't take that long to correct. When I did a BFR when I was out on furlough, the instructor and I agreed that no matter how hard I tried, I was going to start flaring at 30-40 feet, even though I kept telling myself not to do it. Sure enough, I tried flaring at 30-40 feet.

It just took a few landings to dial the sight picture back in, that's all. Landings, not hours, fixes that problem.
 
jtrain609 said:
It's just a sight picture issue, and doesn't take that long to correct. When I did a BFR when I was out on furlough, the instructor and I agreed that no matter how hard I tried, I was going to start flaring at 30-40 feet, even though I kept telling myself not to do it. Sure enough, I tried flaring at 30-40 feet.

It just took a few landings to dial the sight picture back in, that's all. Landings, not hours, fixes that problem.
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You don't even flare an RJ at 30-40'. What were you doing flaring a 172 that high? HACK. :)
 
ATN_Pilot said:
That's actually better than it used to be. When I checked with the same flight school a few years ago, they wanted 10 hours. Needless to say, I passed on it then. Now I want to maintain currency, so beggars can't be choosers, and there aren't a lot of options around me. What really annoys me is that a checkout in the DA-40 doesn't get you any reduced checkout requirement in the DA-20, so if I want to be checked out in both, I have to do 10 hours total. Absolutely crazy. I remember "back in the day" you could do a couple of loops around the pattern in a 152 and be checked out.
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As if the thing was cosmic to fly. These people are killing aviation all around. A rental rates and associated hoops makes owning more desirable. Of course then you are are the hands of the maintenance guys. I don't know which is worse.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Right...but if @Derg shared that info, they might very well burn him at the stake.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Everyone knows how to modify an NHM-61 "Sportster" to full auto, but to come right out and say that before the laws changed, not the best move.
 
Vector said:
As if the thing was cosmic to fly. These people are killing aviation all around. A rental rates and associated hoops makes owning more desirable. Of course then you are are the hands of the maintenance guys. I don't know which is worse.
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It seriously is making owning a '70s era airplane cheaper than renting, even if you aren't flying all that much. Fly about 75 hours a year, and it's cheaper to own a single.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
It seriously is making owning a '70s era airplane cheaper than renting, even if you aren't flying all that much. Fly about 75 hours a year, and it's cheaper to own a single.
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I have done a fair amount of research and I am going Experimental. The RV line hold their value pretty well and you can almost always get your money out when you are done. With some of the electronic and engines in those machines, their performance is comparable to certified ships. Also of concern is the cost of maintenance while owning. I don't think their accident rates are any severe than some of these flight school spam cans.
 
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