Sorry it took me a while to past an update. It has been a tough few days at Ram Air. I have been very busy doing the early morning run, and I had another emergency to deal with. Yesterday I was scheduled to fly a 1969 Cherokee 6. It was the same one that had the magneto problem I talked about earlier. I got in at 0515 to preflight the plane, remove the frost from the plane, and meet my courier to load the cargo. At 0600 I was trying to crank up the engine. This particular plane was always difficult to start in cold weather. It was 30 degrees outside. On my third attempt to start the engine, it caught fire. I did what I was trained to do. I cut off all fuel to the engine and cranked the starter to try and suck the flames out. That is what they taught us during training. It did not seem to be working though. The flames were getting bigger and moving closer to the cockpit.
At this point I decided to evacuate the aircraft. I did that, and the mechanics had seen the fire and come running out with fire extinguishers. It took two fire extinguishers, but the fire was out, and the acrid smell of smoke filled the ramp. One of the mechanics told me that if I had continued cranking, the fire would have eventually been sucked out. Maybe he was right, but I did not like the sight flames engulfing the front of the airplane, and I don’t regret getting out when I did.
Once the fire was out I transferred all of the cargo onto a different airplane, had it preflighted, fueled, and removed the frost. I was airborne by 0700. I didn’t think that was too bad considering what had just happened. I flew to ILM and then onto OAJ. The courier in OAJ was very upset that I came in late. I explained to her about the engine fire, but she didn’t seem to care. I was not too surprised. Luckily the other couriers I dealt with were understanding about what happened.
Since I have been with Ram Air, I have had one engine failure after landing, one encounter with severe turbulence, and one engine fire. Not bad for three weeks.
Also, the person that went to the December 11 ground school with me quit a few days ago. He also had an engine failure after landing in the same Cherokee that gave me the mag problem, and the engine fire that I just described. That engine failure scared him quite a bit and he decided that cargo flying was just not for him at that point.
I think that particular Cherokee is bad news. The other airplanes seem to be in decent shape, but I would be very hesitant to fly that Cherokee again. Yet they are planning to put it back online by the end of the week.
As for the question about flight plans, our flight plans are canned. This can be a bit of problem if you are flying one of the non-GPS equipped planes though. All canned flight plans are filed as /G and usually direct from one airport to another. You can’t go direct if you don’t have a GPS, and it is very annoying when you have to explain to the controller that you can’t accept a “direct to” clearance. That is when you have to pull out your trusty enroute chart to see which VORs and airways you can use to go from point A to point B.
As far as doing weight and balance calculations, those are also done by the pilot. They encourage us to do the weight and balance in the air so that we don’t waste time doing it on the ground. As long as it is done by the time you land, and documented on your load manifest, you are legal.
Here are my overall feelings about Ram Air so far. Like any company, it has its good points and bad points. The good points are you get a lot of valuable experience. You will be an outstanding instrument pilot after your first month at Ram Air, you make a salary that you can survive on, and you get a quick upgrade to the multi.
The downside is that you will be flying airplanes that are minimally equipped. Some have GPS, but not all. I can’t emphasize enough how much I would encourage anyone considering working here to get a handheld GPS. Overall the maintenance is pretty good, but a lot of the older Cherokees were never really designed for Commercial service, and they do tend to be problematic. Most of the Cherokees where built in the early to mid ‘70s and have seen a lot of use. You will also be pressured to fly in a lot of weather that would make any pilot cringe. As the pilot in command, you make the final go or no go decision. Your decision will be respected either way, but you will feel at least some pressure from dispatch to go.
I could see staying at Ram Air for no more than a year. My plan is to get an upgrade to the twin, fulfill my six-month contract after the upgrade, and then move onto a good regional airline. My old flight instructor worked at Ram Air for about 8 months. She told me that she got some priceless experience flying cargo at Ram Air, but that nobody should do it for too long. I tend to agree with her.
As I said in my previous posts, I am not trying to be overly negative, nor am I trying to discourage anyone from working here. I am just telling you guys the truth as I see it. I hope that you all find it helpful. The best advice I could give to anyone coming to work for Ram Air is this: Be safe, be legal, and never let your guard down.
sorry I had to