The Flying Turkey Update

[TheFlyingTurkey]

The journey from dreamer to airline pilot is complete.

3 weeks ago I finished SOE (supervised operating experience) at Piedmont Airlines and now I am on reserve, based in New Bern, NC. They have been using me almost every day that I am on reserve. Now that training is done and I have been flying for a couple of weeks, this is by far the easiest job I have ever had. Reserve is a little tough, but I dont think I will be on reserve for very long. Piedmont is owned by USAirways.

What a difference from flight instructing. I am still getting used to being away from home and sleeping in a different hotel every night. Sometimes I dont even know what city I am in. I guess the realities of the job are starting to sink in.

Training was pretty tough, mostly because I was gone for 4 weeks before I had the chance to go home. We had 2 weeks of ground school, then 3 days of cockpit procedures training (flows) in the actual airplane, and 2 weeks of simulator training. Then SOE for a minimum of 20 cycles (legs). My training took about 7 weeks.

The aircraft I fly is the De Havilland Dash8 100/200/300 also called the Q100/Q200/Q300 now owned by Bombardier. There is also the Q400 which Piedmont does not fly...yet.
Check it out: http://www.bombardier.com/index.jsp
It is very easy to fly, a heck of a lot easier than the sim!

I started flight training in September of 2002 with 0 flight time. I was hired at Piedmont on August 8, 2005 with 1150 hours. Its been a journey of a lifetime...

[Bigey]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingTurkey

The journey from dreamer to airline pilot is complete.

3 weeks ago I finished SOE (supervised operating experience) at Piedmont Airlines and now I am on reserve, based in New Bern, NC. They have been using me almost every day that I am on reserve. Now that training is done and I have been flying for a couple of weeks, this is by far the easiest job I have ever had. Reserve is a little tough, but I dont think I will be on reserve for very long. Piedmont is owned by USAirways.

What a difference from flight instructing. I am still getting used to being away from home and sleeping in a different hotel every night. Sometimes I dont even know what city I am in. I guess the realities of the job are starting to sink in.

Training was pretty tough, mostly because I was gone for 4 weeks before I had the chance to go home. We had 2 weeks of ground school, then 3 days of cockpit procedures training (flows) in the actual airplane, and 2 weeks of simulator training. Then SOE for a minimum of 20 cycles (legs). My training took about 7 weeks.

The aircraft I fly is the De Havilland Dash8 100/200/300 also called the Q100/Q200/Q300 now owned by Bombardier. There is also the Q400 which Piedmont does not fly...yet.
Check it out: http://www.bombardier.com/index.jsp
It is very easy to fly, a heck of a lot easier than the sim!

I started flight training in September of 2002 with 0 flight time. I was hired at Piedmont on August 8, 2005 with 1150 hours. Its been a journey of a lifetime...

FRIGGEN AWESOME MAN!!!

Sounds awesome!!! I visited new bern 2 summers ago, family lives there!

Got me excited to start training full blown!

[Window_Seat]

That's totally awesome, and I hope that you make it as far as you can with your career! Hopefully I can follow in a very similar way, but it's hard to tell with the way things are going for me, but I still don't plan to give up. Thanks for keeping us up on what's going on with the great updates!

Erik.

[sherpa]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingTurkey

The journey from dreamer to airline pilot is complete.

3 weeks ago I finished SOE (supervised operating experience) at Piedmont Airlines and now I am on reserve, based in New Bern, NC. They have been using me almost every day that I am on reserve. Now that training is done and I have been flying for a couple of weeks, this is by far the easiest job I have ever had. Reserve is a little tough, but I dont think I will be on reserve for very long. Piedmont is owned by USAirways.

What a difference from flight instructing. I am still getting used to being away from home and sleeping in a different hotel every night. Sometimes I dont even know what city I am in. I guess the realities of the job are starting to sink in.

Training was pretty tough, mostly because I was gone for 4 weeks before I had the chance to go home. We had 2 weeks of ground school, then 3 days of cockpit procedures training (flows) in the actual airplane, and 2 weeks of simulator training. Then SOE for a minimum of 20 cycles (legs). My training took about 7 weeks.

The aircraft I fly is the De Havilland Dash8 100/200/300 also called the Q100/Q200/Q300 now owned by Bombardier. There is also the Q400 which Piedmont does not fly...yet.
Check it out: http://www.bombardier.com/index.jsp
It is very easy to fly, a heck of a lot easier than the sim!

I started flight training in September of 2002 with 0 flight time. I was hired at Piedmont on August 8, 2005 with 1150 hours. Its been a journey of a lifetime...

thats good turk. you were the model student for pan am. and your three years zero to hero timeframe isn't even close to their 14 months zero to an airline.

it was the same for me too. three years almost to the day i think i was three years and five days.

[DE727UPS]

"you were the model student for pan am. and your three years zero to hero timeframe isn't even close to their 14 months zero to an airline"

See why I don't like the marketing statements....