I could probably put together a pretty good music video about my freight flying experience. Unfortunately I don't have ERAU's budget, so you'll just have to use your imagination....
(Cut to view of freight ramp at 2 a.m.)
A fleet of ancient freighters speed into the ramp, propellers thrashing. MU-2's, Beech 99's, Cessna 210's, Metros, and Barons, adorned with zinc chromate and the faded logos of a half-dozen defunct Part 135 operators. It looks like a "Mad Max" remake with airplanes. The only thing scarier than the aircraft are the pilots slithering out of their 50 year-old rides. Some of them are dressed in Carhartts, others in what looks like pajamas, and one guy is wearing a full-on airline pilot uniform with a metallic orange tie. All are clutching two gallon, truck stop size coffee mugs.
(Lightning flashes in the distance. The "tornado warning" siren goes off. As the siren howls, you can hear the first notes of "Flirtin' with Disaster" by Molly Hatchet.)
Pilots scramble, unloading medical specimens, radioactive isotopes for the hospital, cancelled checks, airplane parts, and a big box of honeybees that no one wants to mess with. Just like that, the pilots fire up their rides and fast taxi out to the runway. Just another eight-leg night in the life of a freight pilot.
(Cut to view of freight ramp at 2 a.m.)
A fleet of ancient freighters speed into the ramp, propellers thrashing. MU-2's, Beech 99's, Cessna 210's, Metros, and Barons, adorned with zinc chromate and the faded logos of a half-dozen defunct Part 135 operators. It looks like a "Mad Max" remake with airplanes. The only thing scarier than the aircraft are the pilots slithering out of their 50 year-old rides. Some of them are dressed in Carhartts, others in what looks like pajamas, and one guy is wearing a full-on airline pilot uniform with a metallic orange tie. All are clutching two gallon, truck stop size coffee mugs.
(Lightning flashes in the distance. The "tornado warning" siren goes off. As the siren howls, you can hear the first notes of "Flirtin' with Disaster" by Molly Hatchet.)
Pilots scramble, unloading medical specimens, radioactive isotopes for the hospital, cancelled checks, airplane parts, and a big box of honeybees that no one wants to mess with. Just like that, the pilots fire up their rides and fast taxi out to the runway. Just another eight-leg night in the life of a freight pilot.