CPL - Corporate Pilot LIfe

[AH-1G]

Many of us are fixed wing pilots or rotor, this is one of my favorite video subscriptions called "Corporate Pilot Life".
Sean is a professional Executive Pilot, recording many of his flights also explains technical features of Executive Jets he flies.

Here is a sequence from starting engines on a GULFSTREAM to shutting down.

This flight as you will here starts at Ft Lauderdale area over to West Palm Beach to pick up clients.
At about 22 minutes listen how busy ATC is.
I've flow into Dallas Love Field once, it was busy but this ATC lady is extremely busy today!

Some of you will be bored,? not me!?
Enjoy.

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[SanCap]

Nicely done, not a lot of time to relax on a short flight like that.

 

[AH-1G]

In an environment like this, it's nice to have a second pilot.

 

[R.Perry]

In an environment like this, it's nice to have a second pilot.

Are you looking to get into corporate flying? I know there are lots of opportunities out their right now, I can tell you from experience it can be a real pain with lots of boredom, sitting around airports waiting for you clients to show up and normally are never on time.

 

[AH-1G]

No, I'm 63 now, did my flying time owning my own plane many many years ago. Just wished I had made that leap to ATP.

 

[PatR]

The success of that leap would depend very much on when you made it.

In the late ‘80’s, early ‘90’s I was on that path. That was just before the airline corporate leaders initiated their efforts to decimate pilot and crew member wages, while airline bankruptcies and buy outs put a world of hurt on company retirement plans, leaving a great many air crew people with only a fraction of the funds they had paid into them. The tiered wage levels initiated then, where new hires could never achieve the wage levels of those that got into it before them. The flight engineer, second officer position pretty much disappeared about then.

The process of having to get hired by regional airlines before stepping up to the major carriers, with regionals paying wages so low you were qualified to apply for food stamps, became an industry standard. They still follow that practice. A first officer for the majors flying DC-9’s could expect to stay in the right seat for 6-10 years before moving to the left, while earning less than a good truck driver. Longer if they were flying larger passenger jets on international routes.

I had worked hard and paid the heavy price to reach the point of taking, and passing, the B727 FEX written test and was sending out resume’s when all that happened. Things happened that caused a review of what was happening in the industry, which provided reason to walk away and do something else.

Shortly after all that the military UAV world sort of exploded, allowing qualified civilians to be hired as contractors to operate their UAV’s at wage levels close to or exceeding what carriers were paying their captains, in locations nobody would ever choose to visit on vacation.

But it’s not always about the money. Hardships and success is present in anything, and nothing in life is fair. The sense of reward and career satisfaction has a yardstick that is different for each individual.

 

[R.Perry]

The success of that leap would depend very much on when you made it.

In the late ‘80’s, early ‘90’s I was on that path. That was just before the airline corporate leaders initiated their efforts to decimate pilot and crew member wages, while airline bankruptcies and buy outs put a world of hurt on company retirement plans, leaving a great many air crew people with only a fraction of the funds they had paid into them. The tiered wage levels initiated then, where new hires could never achieve the wage levels of those that got into it before them. The flight engineer, second officer position pretty much disappeared about then.

Isn't it a nice thought that if you jump on a commuter airline the guy driving is making about the same as a Mac Donald hamburger flipper. When I flew back from Alabama the flight landing at Sacramento was terrible, he we overshot the runway, hammered the brakes.
As we walked out the pilot was standing by the exit, I said, "You know any landing you walk away from I've heard is a good one."
I don't think he appreciated my comment.

 

[PatR]

Prolly as well received as my mentioning a need to visit a proctologist to extract the main gear to the pilot after a particularly hard thumper in a 737.

 

[PatR]

Speaking of over heating brakes, I sometimes wonder what our Air Force teaches their pilots about landings.

I was waiting on the ramp at Al Asad for a flight out. The C-130 we would depart on was on final for the 16,000’ runway using a “combat approach”. In such an approach the aircraft stays high over the runway environment and circles down steeply to stay within airspace fairly safe from small arms fire.

The 130 touched down a little late but still within the first 25% of the runway. The pilot dynamited the brakes in order to make the turn out in front of the manifest terminal at the half runway point. You could see the red glowing brake discs and smell burning brakes. We had to wait for 45 minutes for the fire response team to attend the aircraft and for a brake system inspection. Had the guy rolled out and used the brakes sparingly he could have turned off at any one of 4 more turn outs and taxied back, saving the call to the fire suppression crews and the brake inspections.

The Air Force doesn’t do many C-130 carrier landing quals so I’ve never understood why he was so hard on the equipment. He obviously never owned his own airplane.

 

[R.Perry]

Well as you know, that is why we refer to Air Force guys as pilots and us as Aviators. Navy pilots are taught to hit a spot, not 16000 feet of runway somewhere. The carrier as four cables, you better catch one of them. Of course that's why we land with full power for when we miss, and if we are honest we have missed. I remember one night, three approaches in rough seas, and bingo on fuel, doesn't help your stress level much.