Man, flying is boring...

After doing 5-7 hour legs so much on a plane I didn't really care for, I've developed an acute case of "1 hour butt" on fifi. It's so nice to preflight, hand flies like a freaking dream, lands great, and we do lots of very short legs on her. It's nice to land, get to stroll around, go to the bathroom, walk back on and not a super long flight the next leg.

I do miss going to the west coast all the time, but I have found out that I'm more about the airplane than the destination. /nerd.
 
After doing 5-7 hour legs so much on a plane I didn't really care for, I've developed an acute case of "1 hour butt" on fifi. It's so nice to preflight, hand flies like a freaking dream, lands great, and we do lots of very short legs on her. It's nice to land, get to stroll around, go to the bathroom, walk back on and not a super long flight the next leg.

I do miss going to the west coast all the time, but I have found out that I'm more about the airplane than the destination. /nerd.
I'm the opposite now that SAN is showing up in the bid packs. 82 hour weekend layovers at home? Yes, please. :)
 
Well, hell. After hearing my former company is getting seaplanes, I'm getting nostalgic. I'd gladly go back to a 402 (or a seaplane!) if I could make the same money. In a lot of respects, I actually miss flying airplanes, and I strongly urge those who are on the "big jet/far places" path to take the time to enjoy the act of flying an airplane around (I have almost 2,000 hours in the 767/757, but only ~130 total landings).

Push papers. Make coffee. Do a walkaround. Land sometimes. Once the sheen of a big jet goes away (and it does, quicker than you think), it'll actually make you miss what you got into this industry for.

And @Soku39, $160/hr as a 767 FO?! Sheesh, we need a better contract over here. :)
Doooood. If you miss flying, fly. No one says you got to turn on George at 1500 feet. A long leg in the Lear is 4+. I'll hand fly to cruise just to kill 20 mins. I know its not really flying, but It does force you to pay attention a little more than if the autopilot is on. :)
 
Doooood. If you miss flying, fly. No one says you got to turn on George at 1500 feet. A long leg in the Lear is 4+. I'll hand fly to cruise just to kill 20 mins. I know its not really flying, but It does force you to pay attention a little more than if the autopilot is on. :)
RNAV 1 departure, unfortunately. They want us to turn the automation on ASAP, and well, "they" write the checks. :)

Same thing with the autoland, too. The company specifically asked us to get one done last night. Boooring.
 
RNAV 1 departure, unfortunately. They want us to turn the automation on ASAP, and well, "they" write the checks. :)

Same thing with the autoland, too. The company specifically asked us to get one done last night. Boooring.

The AP on for RNAV 1 is written either by people afraid of flying or that don't fly. There is no statistical spike in handflying an RNAV 1 vs. AP on.... you've got a freaking half mile tolerance, and you've got your deviation right there on the PROG page!

...thankful to fly for a carrier that understands that.


And there are fewer things less satisfying than realizing you've got to do an autoland. Boooorrring, and I can land the thing way smoother.
 
The AP on for RNAV 1 is written either by people afraid of flying or that don't fly. There is no statistical spike in handflying an RNAV 1 vs. AP on.... you've got a freaking half mile tolerance, and you've got your deviation right there on the PROG page!

Preach it. For a while, we could use the FD for domestic RNAV 1 departures, but our books even took that out.
 
RNAV 1 departure, unfortunately. They want us to turn the automation on ASAP, and well, "they" write the checks. :)

Same thing with the autoland, too. The company specifically asked us to get one done last night. Boooring.
That does suck. They do write the checks though. I guess I'll just stick to being a part 91 "cowboy" the rest of my career. :)
 
The AP on for RNAV 1 is written either by people afraid of flying or that don't fly. There is no statistical spike in handflying an RNAV 1 vs. AP on.... you've got a freaking half mile tolerance, and you've got your deviation right there on the PROG page!

...thankful to fly for a carrier that understands that.


And there are fewer things less satisfying than realizing you've got to do an autoland. Boooorrring, and I can land the thing way smoother.

I agree that there's no increase in risk, but it has been demonstrated that AP usage "tightens up" the ground tracks, FWIW. But as long as you're using a flight director it's well within tolerances hand flying an RNAV departure.

Still, I think it should be optional with FD usage mandatory. That's how it is here at least. Hopefully that doesn't change.
 
Push papers. Make coffee. Do a walkaround. Land sometimes. Once the sheen of a big jet goes away (and it does, quicker than you think), it'll actually make you miss what you got into this industry for.
You guys come through ANC on the 76 right? Let me know next time you have a layover and we'll go show you how to fly again ;)
 
You can handfly the departure then grab me a sammich @dasleben
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