Snow moves to FlightSafety Atlanta

[Snow]

Sounds like a plan, I'll have a few other Aussies in tow as well. Might even make it there for 4th July celebrations as I'll be in LA on the 1st.

Thursday June 9th

Yay only one more day till holiday! Also got some informal job offers. One to do some ground school instructing at American Flyers (with promise of some flight time too). Funny the guy I talked to was an ex Ft Peirce Pan Am guy. But the other one, much more interesting is doing some contract flying in the Learjet 45 for a couple of days a month. Things are still in negeotation so not many details to tell other than they fly all over the US and fly about 800hrs a year. So I'll be crossing my fingers for that one. Both of these are part time and will allow me to keep working here at FlightSafety.

Other than that I'll probably be leaving on the road trip on Sunday, just in time for that tropical storm to pass through TN, yay. My mate has a digital camera so I'll see if I can upload some pics from time to time.

[Snow]

Tuesday July 19th

Well I'm back... kinda ended up spending 4th July in Vegas, not too bad but rather hot, 108F or so. Plus didn't get to see New Orleans cause of the hurricane, we hoofed it back to Atlanta a couple of days early instead. Started raining about 5pm and didn't stop right until we arrived in Atlanta 9hrs later. I wish I was flying cause at least you can rely on the instruments then, there were times I couldn't see the hood of my car. There was an inch of standing water or so on the freeway coming in on I-20 and our 'basement' had flooded and put out the hot water heater, we had to bail it out so we could relight it, probably 20 5gal buckets or so, and that was just enough to lower it below the burners.

Anyhow, nice to be back and actually not in debt as I would have thought. Although might need to whip out the credit cards a few times before the next paycheck comes in at the end of the month.

Got a lesson in the De Havalland Dash 8 today. It's a new program they're starting here and one of the instructors, also new the aircraft wanted some practice teaching before the real clients come. Of course I was happy to oblige. Maybe it's just because it's a larger aircraft (Max takeoff about 42,000lbs) or that it's just a turboprop but there's a lot more switches and dials than the corporate jets I'm used to. Also the steering tiller is a new concept to me. Plus I was flying left seat this time and I found myself making the FO calls on the first take off It's got amazing short field performance! We were well over 500ft in the air before we were 1/2 way down the runway. Apparently it can land in 1500ft if it had to, impressive. Looks like I'll be getting more time in the Dash 8 before the week is out too, sweet! Single engine should be interesting, no counter rotating props in this thing, oh and did I mention they're like 14ft in diameter!?

Oh and I didn't get that LR-45 gig, their first choice got it since he didn't get hired with ASA like first presumed, which sux for both of us cause I was next in line. But oh well, still looking into some part time CFI jobs in the area, although the flying weather isn't too good right now, a tornado narrowly missed the one FBO I've been hanging out at!

Well that's all for now, I'll keep you all posted on the goings on.

[jonboy34]

Snow hey whats up, I've been reading your posts for a while now, just wondering about some details of the Atlanta FSI internship position. I'm applying for it this week, and hope to be up there soon. Are your days always set at 8-5, or do they change, and is the job very demanding, or would you be able to have time for some flight instructing on the side, such as evenings and on weekends? Thanks for any info, and hopfully I'll be seeing you soon up there. -

[Snow]

Um, you more or less set your own hours since your part time, just need to be here when they need you which might be outside of the 9-5 day. I've been here as early as 0530 and as late as 0130. It seems to be feast or famine around here, either your really busy or have nothing to do. Evenings and weekends are usually free to do what you want. I'm looking for part time cfi work right now. Are you sure there's an opening in ATL? There are already 3 of us here. Savanna might be cool; Dave Davenport the past assistant manager of ATL (also who the interns reported to) is now the manager of SAV. Good luck.

[CLR4ILS]

Snow,
it was good seeing you again mate....Glad you stopped by with your friends while passing through Scottsdale Arizona. Your friends are good people. I might be up in your neck of the woods around end of hurricane season. How about some sim time?

Give me a call...
ILS

[Snow]

Yeah thanks for showing us around Scottsdale, I would have liked to meetup with some other JCers while I was there ie Doug & crew, but the heat had me wanting to get out of there ASAP, lol. Yeah, next time your up Atlanta way, give me a call and I'll show you around the center.

[Snow]

Monday, 8th August

Well I finally got a job flying real airplanes I actually got this about a week ago but I was waiting for things to be finalized before posting about it. I got hired as a Citation II co-pilot as I trained with the owner of the company when he did his recurrent training here at FSI. I am now a Citation backup pilot until they get a new Hawker. When they get the new aircraft that crew will transfer to that aircraft and I will then become the full time co-pilot on the Citation. Until then I am building some time as a 'cargo loader' on their Beech 1900D, Metroliner and occasionally Caravan, aircraft. They also have a King Air 200B for passenger flights which I might occasionally get to fly on as co-pilot when required. Their cargo aircraft fly roughly 150hrs a month and the Citation is currently flying 1200hrs a year. So far I have flown twice on the Caravan to Memphis and Nashville and once in the 1900 to New Orleans and Mobile. I'm scheduled to fly on the Metroliner for the first time tomorrow evening to Orlando and Jacksonville. It's great to be in the air again and I get some opportunities to start logging turbine time. Until the Citation job goes full time I don't have enough work to justify quitting FlightSafety, so for the time being I will continue to work for FSI at a somewhat reduced workload.

Also another intern here recently got hired flying a Brazilla for a local passinger charter operation and is due to start in Septmeber.

That's all the news from Altanta, till next time.

[ComplexHiAv8r]

Congrats!!! Keep us informed how it goes, and as usually, whats your TT/ME.

Safe Flying.

[cimepilot]

Snow,

Are you still in Atlanta at the FSI center? I am coming there on Oct. 10 to start Lear 60 training. I don't know if you remember, but we met a while back at Orlando Exec. when you were on a cross-country. PM me when you get a chance.

[Snow]

Yes I'm still here, TT is about 256 hrs not including the nearly 190hrs or so sim time. Yes I should be here on the 10th and yes I remember meeting you at ORL.

Thursday, September 29th

Hey all, still here, just haven't had a lot of new stuff to report lately. My 'flying' job has been a bit slow, we lost 2 of 4 nightly freight contracts. Well one of those was to New Orleans, so didn't really lose it, but it will be a while before that starts up again. Still no word when the new Hawker is coming in, so still a back up co-pilot and the regular pilot doesn't seem to get sick or have days off much so I haven't been doing a lot of flying lately.

On another note I have gotten my first student. Met someone through a friend who always wanted to take flying lessons and when they found out I'm a CFI it just went from there. First flight is this weekend, looks like I'll have to dust off my old lesson plans. Doing it at a place that has a Piper Warrior (plane I've done most flying in) and they'll allow me to flight instruct in it as well, so I'm pretty happy with that.

On the FlightSafety Atlanta front, I've been doing a bit of right seat flying in the Learjet 35. Little older than the 45 but faster. Plus it has some unusual items like fuel jettison and a drag chute. Since the other intern left, I'm the only person qualified on those aircraft and with Mike leaving for his CJ1 job, I'll be the only SIC qualified intern here until the newly arrived interns get some intial training under their belts.

All to report for now, feel free to direct any questions my way.

[psalm91]

Hey Snow - Did you ever get my message? I sent you a PM some time ago...

[Snow]

reply sent

[Snow]

Monday, November 11th

Hey folks, sorry for the lengthy delay in between posts but not a whole lot on new stuff has been going on lately. Looks like I could be in all three simulators this week, Learjet 35 and 45 plus the Citation II. The 45 has been super busy lately, I could potentially be doing a check ride from 12:30am to 2:30am cause that's the only time it's free that day.

I have been making some good contacts these past few weeks however, plus I've been treated to lunch or dinner by clients so many times I've lost count! Guess I'm doing a good job! lol Unfortunately none of these clients can provide any assistance in me getting a flying job with low time but they could come in handy in the future once I have more experience. One was a pilot with a major airline's corporate flight department (no I didn't know they had those either) but he gets paid quite well and is home almost every night, plus he has the option to transfer over to the big iron at a later date if he chooses. Something I'll look into more once I get more experience (a lot more!)

Got to catch up with a friend I made from the UK when we did Learjet 45 initial training together back in February. He was back for recurrent training and it was interesting to hear of his experiences flying around Europe. Caught up with another 45 client I flew with for his initial training a few weeks ago too, also from the UK but with a different company.

Pursuing 2 job opportunities right now, one with a client who needs a co-pilot for a month to fly to the Olympics in Italy and another for a large flight department who does a lot of charter work with the military (among other things)

Other than that, been doing a lot of tedious office work like formatting online forms and data entry, not the most fun thing in the world but like every other job it has it's up and downs. For now I'm just happy to be employed in a job that has access to a lot of aviation contacts. So I'm sure sooner or later I'll land a full time flying job, all the interns who precede me have.

All to report for now, till next time.

[Snow]

Friday December 9th

Ah the hectic holidays. Christmas madness aside, I got training on a new aircraft this week, the Embraer 120 Brasilla. There's 30 or so inital pilots coming in next year and they need me for FO duties. For those who don't know, it's a fairly modern 30 pax turboprop which ASA used until 2002 or so (I think) Many regionals are phasing them out in favor for regional jets. It's kinda cool, it's a fairly high workload aircraft, not just that a turboprop in general is more complex than a jet but the systems are complex as well, 5 generators, 2 hydralic systems, alternate flap controls, 3 gear extention methods etc etc. It's a few firsts for me, first time flying a plane that requires a flight attendant (20+ pax), one that has most of the systems located on the overhead panel, and first time flying an airliner in general if you will. It's quite fast for a prop too, can cruse upto 300kts if the conditions are right. Has EFIS, GPWS, TCAS, stick pushers, extensive aural alert system and buttons, guages and dials galore! The control force required at speed is quite a handful, think 26,000lbs aircraft with cable driven controls moving at 275kts, you get the idea. Oh and completing the before start checks takes about 30mins if you know what your doing.

On another front, trying to do some more local flight instruction, the one flight school I've been doing some flying with is looking for a full time instructor, so I'm gonna give that a shot come next year, will still come in to FSI to fly in the sims however. Will be a better prospect with some more time in my logbook.

[Snow]

Thursday 19th January

Wow, been here almost a year now, how time flies. Not a whole lot of new stuff going on here FSI, although we do have a bucketload of new interns here. We got a total of 7 including myself now. I interviewed and was successful in getting a job with American Flyers, but for a place that is apparently hurting for instructors, they sure are taking there time giving me anything to do, other than the interview 2 wks ago and a CFI meeting last Friday I haven't done anything. I sent my resume out to a bunch of places and funny enough the place next door just asked me to come in for an interview as well, that's gonna be this weekend. They fly a locally built aircraft called the Alarus CH2000 by AMD (www.newplane.com). Seems ok, kinda like a modern day 152 I guess, but they come standard with a Garmin 430 so that's nice. Also I heard the magic words, we have students we can give you right away and you could work full time in a month. Also they're planning on getting a Seminole come summer so some ME possibilities there too. Anyhow I'll let you know how that goes. Till then.

Also feel free to post any questions.

[neverspeakingup]

Ah, the hilarious. Thats what we call it in Athens. It's a great plane---nice and slow, but IFR cert, so you can do your IFR xc in it and build a great amount of time, not having to fly too far. It is possibly the ugliest plane ever made, but it is pretty fun to fly. Enjoy!

--Marcus

[neverspeakingup]

Does theirs have the fish finder on it? In the one here its got a traffic display, starts yelling "Traffic....Traffic" at you if you get to close to someone else--really makes you feel like you're in a bigger bird.

MWO

[TDoc]

Hey snow, I went down to flight safety and got the internship. Just curious if you have talked to anyone at any of the other centers and what their thoughts were. I am instructing now and i am just looking ahead to see which ones are good ones or which ones might not be quite as interesting.

[Snow]

No it doesn't have TCAS or that fancy digital HSI thingy. It does have the digital transponder and audio pannel though, infact the exsact same setup we had in the Seminoles down at the Academy excipt they have a King com 2 in place of the 2nd Garmin 430. That and no HSI or RMI, or two engines :P

My choices were Orlando or Atlanta cause of the junior aircraft offered there, hence more likely to get a job offer. I heard Orlando takes it's sweet time getting you SIC qualified and elegiable for the pay increase. Super friendly here in Atlanta but I dunno if they want more than 7 interns! What's with the sudden influx of interns, is the waiting list back again or has my posts just made it really popular? :P

Oh and I got the job CFIing in the the Alarus. Just need to fill out some paper work and get a 5hr checkout in the aircraft for insurance, so I could be flying with my first student as early as Sunday.

[Snow]

Sunday April 9th 2006

Hey I'm still alive, just really busy flying, yay! The intern that did the Lear 35 and 31 left 2 wks ago, so I've been doing all his work as I'm the only other person qualified to do that. Between those two, I'm doing more than I ever did on the 45. Also the intern on the 45 might be leaving soon so I'll be doing all the lears but the 60. Most clients on the EMB-120 are crews, so I get to fly in that once a month if I'm lucky. Actually got to fly in the CE-500 about a month ago too, hadn't flown in that in ages. Been getting lots of contacts and business cards but no job offers, more like, come talk to us when you have more flight time.

At the rate this month started out at, I'll have 60hrs dual given by the end of the month working at the flight school. Have 1 new career orientated student, 2 instrument students and several private students that have kept me flying almost 7 days a week. It's a lot of fun and the weeks are just flying by. I'm finishing pages in my log book faster than you can say 'what the heck? I just totaled my logbook last week!' It's great. I'll let you all know of any developments. Until then! keep the greasy side down!

[Snow]

Thursday, June 6th.

Well I got a call on the weekend that a LearJet 45 pilot was required for a month, just so happens the person recommended was me! I came down the day before to meet the cheif pilot and the captain I will be flying with for the month. The next day I left bright and early (or more like dark and early, the sun wasn't due up for another hour or so!) Pre flighted the plane, got ice and coffie going & the GPU hooked up. Then we wre tugged to the FBO where we started up the APU and got the pack going to cool things off. We flew from Atlanta to Huston, with a stop over in Huntsville. We cruised at FL430 at about .80 mach. We flew into George Bush Intl, which has a rather complex layout, 3 arrival runways and 2 for departures. We came in behind a 777 so we kept it high on the approach. We got a rental car and were put up for the night at the airport hotel. Not bad had a king size bed to myself. Went out and got Sushi courtsey of the company and had a leasurely 1pm departure the next day, so we were able to sleep in and get the breakfast buffet at 10am. Flew back, landed, had a tug park it in the hanger, then cleaned the inside and left for home, to get up early again for this morning's departure. Which is were I am now, waiting for pax to arrive for a short trip to Destin FL. The airplane has this cool 'airshow' system where it displays info to the pax like a moving map where we are, time enroute, outside temp etc etc, pretty cool. Also has a recorded before take off, before landing and turbulance breifing. I didn't know such a thing exhisted. Anyhow, about time for the pax to arrive so I need to get going. I'll give you all more details later, checkout the pictures in the 'pictures from the road' section.

Later!

[aeroman2]

awsome, keep us updated, where is the plane based?

[Snow]

KCSG

Originally Posted by aeroman2

awsome, keep us updated, where is the plane based?

[Snow]

Thursday, August 10th.

Hello all, sorry for the long delay in posts, but I just haven't gotten around to it. So here it is! Well after a crazy 3 wks of flying, I got 35hrs in the LearJet 45 aircraft and flew 8 legs. Which means I actually got to take off and land 8 times. The simulator prepared me fairly well and I could hand fly and use the automation fine, but the ground handling is a bit different from the simulator. And of course then there's all the stuff that they don't teach you in the simulator like, proper use of the radar, turbulence avoidance, dealing with customers, getting ice and coffee for the plane, cleaning the plane etc etc just to mention a few.

The ground handling takes some getting used to. Instead of cables attaching the nose wheel to the rudder pedals, you have what is essentially position sensors in the rudder pedals that the nose wheel steering computer interprets and feeds to the nose wheel electric servo motor to turn the wheel. There is no feedback what so ever and no dampening. So if you move the rudder pedal just 1/2 an inch, the nose wheel moves 10 or 20 degrees in a flash, resulting in an unpleasant jerking. It's 'fly by wire' control in other words and you have to be really smooth with it to get a smooth taxi.

Flying was fun, and it's a lot more interesting being up in the cockpit as apposed to a passenger when flying cross country. At 450-550kts ground speed your forever hoping from one enroute controller to the next. And those thunderstorms on the horizon are only 10-15mins away at that speed. Plenty to keep you occupied in other words.

A long term job didn't come out of it, but I was compensated well and it was nice to get the chance to fly the real thing and get a taste of corporate flying for 3 weeks. I got to fly for another company the Monday just gone. Got to experience a non-APU operation, a paperless cockpit and flying with 9 pax on board. That's all seats and the rarely used potty seat taken. Got to experience frozen custard in South Dakota too, mmm yummy! To bad it ain't here in Georgia. I did reach that much yarned for 100hrs ME time, 115 now to be exact, so that was a relief, least that's one requirement I can scratch of most regionals' lists. I should get more co-pilot time in the LR45 from time to time now that I have real aircraft experence, a lot of these departments are 2 pilot operations and need contract pilots to fill in any gaps.

That's all to report for now, I leave you with some photos from my trip on Monday. These pictures were taken returning to Georgia from South Dakota @ FL450.

[psalm91]

Hey Snow...what's your TT? I'm heading to FSA in October to do my CFI - do you recommend instructing there to get the hours, vs. moving on to a jet center after my CFI?

Thanks.