You know your a line person when...

n57flyguy

n57flyguy

Well-Known Member
a few things I've noticed:

....when the weather is always crap when you work.

....Not a thing moves all day, just as you start lunch five airplanes pull up to the pumps.

....Nothing works when you have to use it.

....it takes a half hour to find extension chords for a plug in, its plugged in for 20 minutes then you say screw it and get the preheater out anyway.

....you hear "wake up in there" on the airport unicom

....No one drinks coffee, the day you don't make it...."Is there coffee?"

....the airport cat is almost like your own

What else do you have?
 
You know the cheapest place in town to buy decent work gloves and you always have at least 3 pair available. Same with maglight bulbs.

You no longer notice the smell of JetA that saturates every article of work clothing you own.

You're reasonably sure you can get any piece of equipment to start and run with nothing more than a leatherman tool, a ball point pen, a roll of duct tape and a couple of pig blankets.


You get paid $9/hr to handle 737's while the guy on the other side of the ramp fence gets paid $14/hr to handle rental cars. OTOH its also one of the only times in your life that you'll get paid to read all the books you want, play any number of card games as much as you want and of course, nap.
 
- when every work day is never the same.
- you know what the taste of deicing fluid is like.
- the whole day is dead and then 15 minutes before closing everyone decides they need service.
- you stand out in the pouring rain fueling a Hawker and even though you stand under the tail and wear a raincoat you still get soaked.
- you have to spend the night because of broken a plane being worked on by mx, go home to freshen up when the AM lineman comes in, and then come back midday to do it again.
 
n57flyguy said:
it takes a half hour to find extension chords for a plug in, its plugged in for 20 minutes then you say screw it and get the preheater out anyway.
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You don't know how true this one is....I swear I spent well over half the time I was paid for at my old line service job looking for one piece of equipment or another, or some tool I would need to fix said equipment. More than filling 900 gallons overwing into a dassault during a torrential downpour in 30 degree weather, even more than towing various multimillion dollar aircraft across the ramp in powder snow and zero vis at night with a tug that was nearly out of batteries, I remember these exercises in futility, trying to locate very basic items for hours on end, and it makes me glad I no longer do that for a living.
 
///AMG said:
You don't know how true this one is....I swear I spent well over half the time I was paid for at my old line service job looking for one piece of equipment or another, or some tool I would need to fix said equipment. More than filling 900 gallons overwing into a dassault during a torrential downpour in 30 degree weather, even more than towing various multimillion dollar aircraft across the ramp in powder snow and zero vis at night with a tug that was nearly out of batteries, I remember these exercises in futility, trying to locate very basic items for hours on end, and it makes me glad I no longer do that for a living.
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In that one example I was seriously SHOCKED all the chords actually worked.

I know though, I'll walk by the preheater where it is supposed to be, not need it, then come back and it has vanished. Then the quest to find Kerosene for it begins.

Darren we all started somewhere :D
 
n57flyguy said:
In that one example I was seriously SHOCKED all the chords actually worked.

I know though, I'll walk by the preheater where it is supposed to be, not need it, then come back and it has vanished. Then the quest to find Kerosene for it begins.

Darren we all started somewhere :D
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Yes we did. :D

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...you just finish fueling a plane on the other side of the airport, bring the truck all the way back to the FBO, and just start to back the truck into its parking place when you get a fuel order over the radio on the other side of the airport.

...you start dreaming up marketing strategies for new cologne lines called JetA and Avgas..."Show her how you can make her fly."

...the value of the leftover catering you scarf down exceeds what you make in a day and saves you hundreds in grocery bills.

...NetFlix isn't a convenience, it's a survival tool for the overnight shifts.

...your job is more secure than the pilot of that Lear you just topped off.

...your pay probably exceeds that of the pilot of that Lear you just topped off.

...you start being surprised when the pilot doesn't know how to turn a GPU on or off.

...you start being a connoisseur to the various flavors of de-icing fluid.

...you no longer give a thought to slinging multi-million dollar aircraft into the hangar and towing them around on the ramp.

...how busy you are is in direct inverse proportion to how nice the weather is.

...you've learned to stand clear of the lav puck because the jokers at the last stop may have pulled the handle after they put it back in.

...you know deep in your heart that this is just a stepping stone to a flying career.
 
Joe Gremlin said:
You get paid $9/hr to handle 737's while the guy on the other side of the ramp fence gets paid $14/hr to handle rental cars.
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Damn, I wish I worked at that place. We get the "there's no such thing as a break!" speech.

...You're surprised at the number of pilots who fire up with the chocks still on. I saw a Piaggio crew do it one night. :D

...You don't understand why people can't walk the extra 5 feet to take the chocks off the ramp (FOD!!)

...The minute the other lineguy goes out to buy lunch you get absolutely slammed.

...When you pay half of the vending machine owner's income. :D

when the weather is always crap when you work
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If only... Seems like I always get the severe clear days when everybody and their mom is out flying.

You no longer notice the smell of JetA that saturates every article of work clothing you own.
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My dad was complaining about the smell of my Carhartt jacket that I left in the closet haha. One night I left my work gloves in my car when I came home. I swear I almost passed out the next day when I got in.

you know deep in your heart that this is just a stepping stone to a flying career
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:yeahthat:
 
KLOU117 said:
...You're surprised at the number of pilots who fire up with the chocks still on. I saw a Piaggio crew do it one night. :D
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I can't count the number of times I've seen chocks go flying across the ramp after guys removed them from the nosegear but left them in line with one of the mains and then hit them as they taxied out of their parking spot. A rolling main gear wheel tends to pinch the chock and send it flying.

But I also can't count the number of times I've stopped guys from trying to taxi out of their chocks and I say that as a guy who has tried to taxi out of his own chocks more than once. :o
 
...you're OK with non-dairy creamer.

...you hear "rough night?" from the three people that come in the office that day.

...your too cheap to pay $10 for the four or five books you need so you borrow the display ones for your shift.

...you have perfected the art of fueling a Cessna 152/172 15G30 winds without spilling it allover the wing.

...you watch as parents tell their kids to watch out as an airplane taxis to the pump, you look at them as you walk by with LL scent prop blast hitting your face.
 
Oh yeah, when you have a running battle between you and the CFIs at the flight school next door of chocking each other's cars. :D We were trying to do it to an airport MX guy's truck when he fell asleep in it in front of our FBO. He woke up before we could do it though.
you have perfected the art of fueling a Cessna 152/172 15G30 winds without spilling it allover the wing
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I'm still trying to master fueling the 150 without needing the ladder. Fail so far.
...your too cheap to pay $10 for the four or five books you need so you borrow the display ones for your shift.
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Yep, I think I bent the cover back pretty bad on our of our display copies of the FAR/AIM lol
 
KLOU117 said:
Oh yeah, when you have a running battle between you and the CFIs at the flight school next door of chocking each other's cars. :D We were trying to do it to an airport MX guy's truck when he fell asleep in it in front of our FBO. He woke up before we could do it though.
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:laff: we do that all the time as well. It doesn't work out all the time but when it does it's very well worth it. We use the nice big chalks so that they just can't drive over them and make them get out of their vehicle.
 
beechpilot said:
:laff: we do that all the time as well. It doesn't work out all the time but when it does it's very well worth it. We use the nice big chalks so that they just can't drive over them and make them get out of their vehicle.
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Man, I would not want that under my tires! :p

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OK, OK, I'll stop. :D
 
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