Floaters

[minitour]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

I won't argue with what someone believes but I will tell you that you won't get far with this company when you place a good amount of our prop pilots in a category that you consider unsafe. I'd keep it to yourself.

Can you point out where I said they or the operation is unsafe?

No?

I said,

My tolerance for single engine night is pretty low right now, let alone SE IFR....it gives me nightmares.

-mini

[murphfly]

Originally Posted by minitour

That you guys know of...Any 8/6 floater spots open out of LCK that may only require you to be Baron qualified?

I talked to a guy last night in ops during the meet that said there's a couple of floaters that are only Baron qual'd...I'm just going to try to avoid the van. My tolerance for single engine night is pretty low right now, let alone SE IFR....it gives me nightmares.

-mini

I think maybe you should rethink your decision if SE night or SE ifr gives you nightmares. Brother do you know what this job entails?? Flying near, around and through tstorms, turb, icing, snow, and any other kind of weather you can think of, regardless of what you're flying SE or ME. And that's just weather not to include the quick turns, couriers, big and busy airports/airspace, etc ALL BY YOURSELF. Probably things your should have considered before coming here. If you have 1200 hrs after training you will literally be on the line the night after your checkride. Not much time to figure things out.

How's the training going? Has anyone washed out yet?

FYI, the Van has a heck of a better heater than the Baron does. Good luck!!

[averyrm]

If you're an LCK floater, you will be van qualified. If you don't want to fly the van, you'll have to go somewhere else or get a run.

[mikecweb]

The point is, when you are out there on the line in the suck the last thing on your mind is how many engines you got. PT6 is one of the most reliable engines ever made. I'm sure you'll do fine here man and I'm sure once you get out there on the line you'll see what we're saying but I wouldn't start saying which planes you will and will not fly while you are still in the sims.

[Queboat]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

The point is, when you are out there on the line in the suck the last thing on your mind is how many engines you got. PT6 is one of the most reliable engines ever made. I'm sure you'll do fine here man and I'm sure once you get out there on the line you'll see what we're saying but I wouldn't start saying which planes you will and will not fly while you are still in the sims.

most companies are so hard up for pilots. i bet he could slap the cheif pilot and still not get canned. or easily find another job.

[averyrm]

Hmmm.... I'd bet not - we're hard up for pilots for sure, but everyone still has to pass training.

[ljg]

I'm really thankful the training department has this attitude. 1800 rvr, ice, and chasing a deadline can be a challenging spot to be in.


On a separate issue, I too...have some weird desire to bid a TEB 5-2 floater spot and fly the 'Van. I actually would like the 5-2 schedule for the $$. With the heart of winter coming up I don't know what's wrong with me, but I want roll down the runway in a PT-6!! 142 and 731 still remain uncovered, and Heather's gone today, so there would be lots of opportunity to fly the big box. Am I nuts? Advice or opinions?

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by Queboat

most companies are so hard up for pilots. i bet he could slap the cheif pilot and still not get canned. or easily find another job.

Not so much.

Originally Posted by averyrm

Hmmm.... I'd bet not - we're hard up for pilots for sure, but everyone still has to pass training.

I love you.

Originally Posted by ljg

I'm really thankful the training department has this attitude. 1800 rvr, ice, and chasing a deadline can be a challenging spot to be in.


On a separate issue, I too...have some weird desire to bid a TEB 5-2 floater spot and fly the 'Van. I actually would like the 5-2 schedule for the $$. With the heart of winter coming up I don't know what's wrong with me, but I want roll down the runway in a PT-6!! 142 and 731 still remain uncovered, and Heather's gone today, so there would be lots of opportunity to fly the big box. Am I nuts? Advice or opinions?

Your run can't get cut if you are a floater.
If you are sticking around here just do whatever it takes to make sure you have 2000 by the time your number is up for the jet. Look at the difference in time between when scott and I upgraded. One senority number behind me and he had to wait almost 3 months.
If you aren't sticking around, go with whatever pays the most or works the least. That's the key at airnet. If you work hard and at base pay you are getting the shaft.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

Not so much.



I love you.



Your run can't get cut if you are a floater.
If you are sticking around here just do whatever it takes to make sure you have 2000 by the time your number is up for the jet. Look at the difference in time between when scott and I upgraded. One senority number behind me and he had to wait almost 3 months.
If you aren't sticking around, go with whatever pays the most or works the least. That's the key at airnet. If you work hard and at base pay you are getting the shaft.

Damn good advice, there.

To add to that - if that scenario happens to you, you can always change it. Plenty of runs open these days.

Speaking of open runs - I notice a lot of Priority Air guys covering runs for us. Anyone know anything about that company?

[minitour]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

...but I wouldn't start saying which planes you will and will not fly while you are still in the sims.

Again, please show me where I said I wouldn't fly the van. I said I'm trying to avoid it. I think you're trying to make my posts say what you want them to say versus what they're actually saying. Like some pilots are trying to avoid TEB, I'm trying to avoid the van. Just plain and simple, I don't like single-engine night or IFR. ...I haven't decided how I feel about how "safe" SE IFR is, yet.

Will I like it? No.

Will it pay the bills? Hopefully.

As for slapping the chief pilot...that guy's huge! I'd fold like origami.

-mini

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by minitour

Again, please show me where I said I wouldn't fly the van. I said I'm trying to avoid it.

Will I like it? No.

Will it pay the bills? Hopefully.

As for slapping the chief pilot...that guy's huge! I'd fold like origami.

-mini

That's what he means right there. The wording is unimportant.

[minitour]

Originally Posted by Ian J

That's what he means right there. The wording is unimportant.

Again, I think you guys are trying to make the posts say what you want them to say.

Some people try to avoid being a CFI, some try to avoid TEB, some try to avoid the MU-2...I'm trying to avoid the van.

If the train me and assign me to it, I'll still fly it...that's ma j-o-b. Doesn't mean I can't try to avoid it.

-mini

[Ian J]

I understand.

Please understand that Mike was just trying to help you out. It's not an attack. You have to be willing to fly SE night IFR, and you clearly are willing, yet reluctant. I get it.

What Mike was getting at is he wanted you to avoid the perception of being unwilling. Can we agree to that?

[minitour]

Originally Posted by Ian J

What Mike was getting at is he wanted you to avoid the perception of being unwilling. Can we agree to that?

I'll agree with you on that. Just want to make sure we're reading what's actually in the text and not what you may or may not want to think I'm implying.

...if that makes sense

-mini

[mikecweb]

I'm not really up for word games. I stated my advice. YMMV.

Something else to bring up. I keep saying floaters can't get their run cut. There will be significant route changes in the next two weeks. This isn't a slap in the face before Christmas. It's a realigning of the runs. With the state of the check business this will happen each and every quarter.
With that said don't EVER assume you'll be getting more then base pay here at Airnet. Alot of guys do that and then when their run changes they sound off like they just got their balls ripped off. You're in the world of On-Demand freight. The only that is for sure is there isn't anything for sure.

[Ian J]

You've been around for more than a day... could one assume if they carry a decent amount of work on their run, their run has a better chance of surviving?

[mikecweb]

Not really.
If you really want to take a stab at your run's longevity, take a look at your airbills. If you have all one bank, that ain't good. If you have 5 banks you'll most likely have a run for awhile. Our weight's all night long dropped over half in the month of November. So I kinda know what's coming. Jet guys have another ace in their whole though. We can take over a couple prop runs and not miss a deadline.
There are so many dynamics to the runs. I tried to get us more info from Airline Engineering on the nature of their decisions. It turned into the Airline Report Card which basically just lists the route numbers that were late out of Columbus. Not exactly my idea oh Wells.

[Ian J]

Hmm...

Yeah, the guys who work at BDL have been forecasting doom and gloom with our BOA work. They pretty accurately predicted the demise of 168. They *think* my run is okay, but you really never know. If the BOA work out of Hartford goes away, a jet could pretty easily fill the rest of my run.

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Hmm...

Yeah, the guys who work at BDL have been forecasting doom and gloom with our BOA work. They pretty accurately predicted the demise of 168. They *think* my run is okay, but you really never know. If the BOA work out of Hartford goes away, a jet could pretty easily fill the rest of my run.

I wouldn't worry about it too much Ian. Nothing you can really do about it anyways. And if your run does get slashed you'll become a floater out of BDL. Something you've already considered.

[ljg]

Mike, that's all valid information...thanks.

I'll wait until I have 2000TT to bid on a jet before I consider a possible floater spot in the props.
Scott had to wait another 3 months, but it's nice that he got himself a Midway floater spot. Funny how things always seem to work out.

[minitour]

Are the LCK floaters the guys I see hanging out all night or are they also sent out to cover runs?

If so...who are the guys that are just hanging out all night?

-mini

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by minitour

Are the LCK floaters the guys I see hanging out all night or are they also sent out to cover runs?

If so...who are the guys that are just hanging out all night?

-mini

If the guys are old they are Lear Captain floaters.
Young ones with Airnet polos are Lear SICs waiting to do IOE or possibly prop children waiting on 'Jo and/or Van training.
Young ones with street clothes are IPTP peeps.
For the most part LCK prop floaters are always flying so they don't really hang out much.

Last summer there was at any one time 10-15 guys sitting in the kitchen and they all were waiting for runs. Oh how times have changed.

[minitour]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

If the guys are old they are Lear Captain floaters.
Young ones with Airnet polos are Lear SICs waiting to do IOE or possibly prop children waiting on 'Jo and/or Van training.
Young ones with street clothes are IPTP peeps.
For the most part LCK prop floaters are always flying so they don't really hang out much.

Last summer there was at any one time 10-15 guys sitting in the kitchen and they all were waiting for runs. Oh how times have changed.

Gotcha...just trying to figure out if I'm going to need a crash pad in the LCK area if I end up getting a "floater" spot down there.

Sounds like I can probably skip it with all the flying.

-mini

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by minitour

Gotcha...just trying to figure out if I'm going to need a crash pad in the LCK area if I end up getting a "floater" spot down there.

Sounds like I can probably skip it with all the flying.

-mini

Oh no. If you aren't currently living in Columbus you'll definetly need a crash pad. You won't fly all 8 days. You can probably chance it for a few weeks but eventually you'll need to spend a few nights in Columbus.

Honestly though my best advice, get through training first. I've talked to too many guys making plans and figuring out what they are going to do after training and they ended up never having to worry about it since they never got out of IPTP. Don't EVER assume you have a job until you are assigned a run.

[Citationkid]

Originally Posted by murphfly

Flying near, around and through tstorms

So flying through tstroms is all part of the job? Is getting thoes boxes there that much quicker really worth risking your life?