Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
I could tell you but then I would have to kill you....:bandit:
What's your Worst/Scariest experience flying cargo?
- Thread starter Flysher
- Start date
ComplexHiAv8r
Well-Known Member
John Herreshoff said:
There have been multiple people talking about that Travel Air over the past year (maybe more) at your field. Why can't you get the FAA over to have a discussion with the pilot? Seems to be VERY UNSAFE!
EatSleepFly
Well-Known Member
John Herreshoff said:They let you drive the crew car? I thought FBO's locked the popcorn machine and hid the keys to the crew car when your kind walked in
I bring my own keys.
Looking4Lower
New Member
:yeahthat: Nicely put. I thought I was the only one who was getting tired of continually hearing about the GV sim!averyrm said:
I congratulate you on getting a little taste of IFR flying in a high-tech sim. That's cool. But it doesn't take "balls" to hop in a sim with the sole intention of having fun and playing around. Might take some balls to go in there with the pressure of training for a type-rating, or taking a type ride. And of course, there's no comparison with flying the real bird and handling abnormals, emergencies, and challenging situations.
As for the original post, I think that the best freight-dog stories will only emerge when you hang out with a freight dog over a beer or two.
BrettInLJ
Well-Known Member
John Herreshoff said:
This happens with all of our instructors at least a few times a week. A couple weeks ago a Shorts had to go around because BAWTA (Blue and White Travelair) did a RIGHT base to 34 and cut between a Skyhawk on short final and the shorts a mile or two behind on final. John, was it you or Austin that said you saw one of them them doing steep turns at ESIKE (FAF for the approach)?
It was yesterday or today (I lose track of days now) that Justin answered the phone and TRACON was trying to track down one of them and calling the different schools on the field.
Tonight the lights in the tower were on in all the windows, the Arlington city logo was painted on the side, and Fish saw them testing the beacon the other night. I cannot wait. Even if I am not scheduled (unlikely), I am going to hang out and listen the morning the tower opens and the first Travelair starts to taxi. I am sure there will be entertainment to be had.
Bigey
Well-Known Member
Looking4Lower said:
I once talked to a freight dog before. Amazing how some of the stuff they encounter they walk away alive. I certainly got the living crap scared out of me and i wasnt even there.
I hear the single pilot stuff is the scariest - anyone can shed some light on this?
EatSleepFly
Well-Known Member
Bigey said:
Um, yeah. It's really not that dramatic.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Me and my student started smelling something electrical burning. It wasn't TOO strong, so I gave it a few minutes to see if it'd go away. When it didn't we canceled IFR and came back to the airport real fast. But my callup could have been better, it went like...
Me: Hey approach this is 043 we've gotta cancel here and head back to Arlington
Controller: Roger sir you need assistance
Me: We.......ahh........no sir........naw we just want to put her down real quick here
Controller: ........ok cancelation recieved squawk VFR
When I said I wanted to put her on the ground real quick, I didn't really mean quickly, I just meant I wanted to get out of the plane and have a mechanic look at it real quick to see what was up, but that wasn't nearly what I conveyed to the controller (I realized how it came out right after I said it).
So they called our unicom and they called the FBO trying to figure out if we were alright. Obviously we put down fine, turned off all the avionics. Honestly I should have called approach, canceled and told them we were turning off our transponder and that we would call on the ground. I should have just hit the master and turned off all the electrical, then just looked for traffic at Arlington. Instead I turned off radio's one by one, but looking back it was a pretty stupid thing to do. When it doubt, kill it all and sort out the bodies later.
If that ever happens again I'm making one final call to approach and shutting it all down ASAP. Even though there wasn't, nor was there any evidence of fire in the avionics stack, there could well have been and it would have been real important to turn off everything electrical in the plane to stop feeding whatever might have been overheating (but then again, a breaker probably would have popped too, which didn't happen).
Me: Hey approach this is 043 we've gotta cancel here and head back to Arlington
Controller: Roger sir you need assistance
Me: We.......ahh........no sir........naw we just want to put her down real quick here
Controller: ........ok cancelation recieved squawk VFR
When I said I wanted to put her on the ground real quick, I didn't really mean quickly, I just meant I wanted to get out of the plane and have a mechanic look at it real quick to see what was up, but that wasn't nearly what I conveyed to the controller (I realized how it came out right after I said it).
So they called our unicom and they called the FBO trying to figure out if we were alright. Obviously we put down fine, turned off all the avionics. Honestly I should have called approach, canceled and told them we were turning off our transponder and that we would call on the ground. I should have just hit the master and turned off all the electrical, then just looked for traffic at Arlington. Instead I turned off radio's one by one, but looking back it was a pretty stupid thing to do. When it doubt, kill it all and sort out the bodies later.
If that ever happens again I'm making one final call to approach and shutting it all down ASAP. Even though there wasn't, nor was there any evidence of fire in the avionics stack, there could well have been and it would have been real important to turn off everything electrical in the plane to stop feeding whatever might have been overheating (but then again, a breaker probably would have popped too, which didn't happen).
Bigey
Well-Known Member
EatSleepFly said:
To me i thought it was. Having ice built up on the wings and control surfaces and having partial control of the aircraft and having a RPM dip while over mountainous region. Maybe since i dont know much about freight dogs and what they encounter, but that sounds pretty creepy to me.
EatSleepFly said:
I agree. Its not always pleasant and sometimes not even fun, but I must say that in 23 months as a freight guy, I have only REALLY been scared like I odnt know 3 or 4 times. and even then.. I was only scared for perhaps a few seconds to a minute.
Us freight dogs dont like to admit that we actually DO fly in very smooth VFR on routes we know by heart and lull ourselves with AM radio.... thats not so interesting is it??
Back in early 2004, I almost DID NOT take a freight job because (as a CFI) I heard some really scary stories. As a freight guy I got to actually experience those EXACT scenarios, boy.. I am so glad I didnt turn away from the opportunity just cuz of some freight-dawg bravado
Stone Cold
Well-Known Member
Well, from the sound of it, I'd be scared to fly with your friend. Was he drunk when he told this story?
To correct some stuff you have put in there (not arguing with you, just saying I don't think that's completely your friend's story, from experience):
1) Ice generally does not cover the wing or get to the control surfaces. If it does, you're in deep doo-doo. If you friend only had partial control, he'd definitely be scary to fly with. He/she shouldn't have gotten into that situation. If I'm building ice that badly and there's any chance I might have only partial control of the a/c, I'll put it down on a road before I auger it in due to loss of control.
2) An RPM dip over mountains is generally not good. I don't know if he was in a single or multi-engine airplane, but if SE, I'd definitely be talking to the MX dept about a bad engine. Was it an actual RPM dip, or did he think he heard something in the engine because of his location...it happens. I've heard stuff I've never heard out of the Caravan engine before, over the Great Lakes, and didn't hear it any other time for the entire week I was flying the same airplane. The mind is very powerful and can "see and hear" things it does or doesn't want to see.
3) I second what ESF said, it shouldn't be that dramatic flying freight...as long as you have good MX, and know what you're doing. Now, see my previous post in this thread...freight dawgs, for the most part, are like golfers or fishers, and tend to "add" to the story, or make it seem worse than it is. Get me drunk and I'll tell some whoppers about how I lost my electrical during IMC over mountains and the Great Lakes at the same time, with one wing on fire, and shot an approach to below mins without declaring an emergency since I had deadlines to make. Of course, this isn't true at all, but get me drunk enough and it might make a story more interesting.
ESF, don't you miss the Van...did you see the AD that came out on it...I am expecting the FAA to say no icing for Vans next year, with the way they are treating it. Thank heavens I'll (hopefully) be in the Lear.
TX
To correct some stuff you have put in there (not arguing with you, just saying I don't think that's completely your friend's story, from experience):
1) Ice generally does not cover the wing or get to the control surfaces. If it does, you're in deep doo-doo. If you friend only had partial control, he'd definitely be scary to fly with. He/she shouldn't have gotten into that situation. If I'm building ice that badly and there's any chance I might have only partial control of the a/c, I'll put it down on a road before I auger it in due to loss of control.
2) An RPM dip over mountains is generally not good. I don't know if he was in a single or multi-engine airplane, but if SE, I'd definitely be talking to the MX dept about a bad engine. Was it an actual RPM dip, or did he think he heard something in the engine because of his location...it happens. I've heard stuff I've never heard out of the Caravan engine before, over the Great Lakes, and didn't hear it any other time for the entire week I was flying the same airplane. The mind is very powerful and can "see and hear" things it does or doesn't want to see.
3) I second what ESF said, it shouldn't be that dramatic flying freight...as long as you have good MX, and know what you're doing. Now, see my previous post in this thread...freight dawgs, for the most part, are like golfers or fishers, and tend to "add" to the story, or make it seem worse than it is. Get me drunk and I'll tell some whoppers about how I lost my electrical during IMC over mountains and the Great Lakes at the same time, with one wing on fire, and shot an approach to below mins without declaring an emergency since I had deadlines to make. Of course, this isn't true at all, but get me drunk enough and it might make a story more interesting.
ESF, don't you miss the Van...did you see the AD that came out on it...I am expecting the FAA to say no icing for Vans next year, with the way they are treating it. Thank heavens I'll (hopefully) be in the Lear.
TX
Bigey
Well-Known Member
txpilot said:Well, from the sound of it, I'd be scared to fly with your friend. Was he drunk when he told this story?
To correct some stuff you have put in there (not arguing with you, just saying I don't think that's completely your friend's story, from experience):
1) Ice generally does not cover the wing or get to the control surfaces. If it does, you're in deep doo-doo. If you friend only had partial control, he'd definitely be scary to fly with. He/she shouldn't have gotten into that situation. If I'm building ice that badly and there's any chance I might have only partial control of the a/c, I'll put it down on a road before I auger it in due to loss of control.
2) An RPM dip over mountains is generally not good. I don't know if he was in a single or multi-engine airplane, but if SE, I'd definitely be talking to the MX dept about a bad engine. Was it an actual RPM dip, or did he think he heard something in the engine because of his location...it happens. I've heard stuff I've never heard out of the Caravan engine before, over the Great Lakes, and didn't hear it any other time for the entire week I was flying the same airplane. The mind is very powerful and can "see and hear" things it does or doesn't want to see.
3) I second what ESF said, it shouldn't be that dramatic flying freight...as long as you have good MX, and know what you're doing. Now, see my previous post in this thread...freight dawgs, for the most part, are like golfers or fishers, and tend to "add" to the story, or make it seem worse than it is. Get me drunk and I'll tell some whoppers about how I lost my electrical during IMC over mountains and the Great Lakes at the same time, with one wing on fire, and shot an approach to below mins without declaring an emergency since I had deadlines to make. Of course, this isn't true at all, but get me drunk enough and it might make a story more interesting.
ESF, don't you miss the Van...did you see the AD that came out on it...I am expecting the FAA to say no icing for Vans next year, with the way they are treating it. Thank heavens I'll (hopefully) be in the Lear.
TX
Ahh i see - so it very well could be he was giving have real stuff half exageration. I'll have to ask him on that.
EatSleepFly
Well-Known Member
Haha, sometimes! Not really that much though. It was fun, but I got enough time in it so the novelty wore off and then some.txpilot said:
I saw the A.D. That's going to be a really crushing blow to a lot of operators if the known-icing certification goes bye-bye!
Back on topic- I had a good one in the 'Van where I got a wee bit nervous. Had the "Reservoir Fuel Low" light come on one night in cruise (with plenty of fuel in both tanks). Anybody that's flown the 'Van knows that is not a good light to see.
Turned out to be a faulty indication (obviously).P.S.- Heard through the grapevine that Cessna is developing a new wing for it. Have you heard that?