Ask me about being an airline pilot or flying in general
I wasn't even aware of OOT until someone recently suggested I start this thread here. (I had posted a question about Ve
It is imo. It's a weird comedy/reality show which this season took on improving the communication between pilot and co-pilot. It's hard to explain. The creator even became a commercial 737 pilot for the show. This real news segment might give you an idea:
W0X0F,
Story time.
It's fall 2016. I’m working at my dream job as a sportscaster for a four-letter sports network. I’m in my late 30’s and know that, due to the cut-throat nature of the business, the job won’t last forever. I’m up late a few nights caring for a sleepless dog who had just been diagnosed with cancer (he lived another three years and passed at the age of 15. Loved that damn dog).
At some point during one of these sleepless nights, I stumbled upon this twoplustwo thread of yours. I was hooked. Took me a few nights to read all of the pages at that time. Thought to myself holy shit…this guys life/job sounds awesome. I seriously began wondering what life would be like as an airline pilot. So, a few weeks later, I took a discovery flight. I got super sick flying in that Cessna 152 (bumpy, cold, dreary day, hadn't eaten and had a slight head cold) and actually barfed. The old AG pilot/instructor felt super bad because he had no bag...but I managed to keep it self-contained to my person (inside my coat hahaha). Once I finished, I told him I felt better. He asked if I wanted to land and I said “F yeah I do!”.
I was hooked.
Signed up for flight lessons that day.
Full send.
Bought a Cessna 150M five months later and learned to fly in her. Stayed in television three more years, finished my last contract, and wrapped up a 20-year television career to be an airline pilot.
Fast forward to today. I am now a first officer prepping for a move to the left seat on the 767.
And yeah…you were right. This job is f-ing awesome. It’s because of you that I am here. Your stories…your writing…I could tell how much you loved your career. This was just a little thread you started most likely to pass the time on layovers. And, while it was a form of entertainment for most, it was a catalyst for me to jumpstart a second career that I love as much as my first career. Everyone thought I was crazy, but...here I am. It was absolutely the right call. I have you to thank.
Took some searching to find this thread again. I see it continues to live and is still going strong all this time later. This makes me happy. It looks like you’re retired now. Bummer. Would have been awesome to hop on your jumpseat to hear more stories. Hope retirement is treating you well.
Thank you for sharing a piece of your life with all of us. I hope to one day inspire one person in the way you inspired me to make this leap. 10/10. Wouldn't change a damn thing. 😀
What an awesome trajectory and tale of a career change!
Yeah, that's a great story. Congratulations on your second career, glad you're enjoying it as much as you are.
Maybe consider starting a thread of your own. You could be someone else's inspiration!
Yeah, that's a great story. Congratulations on your second career, glad you're enjoying it as much as you are.
Maybe consider starting a thread of your own. You could be someone else's inspiration!
Haha thanks guys.
Like the random church choir singing back-up to Celine Dion, you know when to stay in your lane and back the hell off. You don’t dare attempt to outshine a legend...
Doing my part on other platforms though to give back through philanthropy and scholarships for future aviators.
Super thankful the powers-that-be here opted to keep the forums public. Most likely would never have stumbled on it otherwise. Hopefully, many more will follow suit and get as much out of it as I did!
While scrolling Facebook, this came up. Has to be the stupidest commercial passenger airline crash ever...
awesome stuff waiter - i wasn't strong enough, when the mile high questions were all rejected with a no i decided it wasn't the career for me
That is one of the most gratifying posts I've ever read. I'd love to know more. Please DM me with some other details (airline, domicile, where you live, etc). I'd love to meet you sometime and do some hangar flying.
Going through my career, I was a little different from most other pilots in that I absolutely loved interacting with passengers. I remember a couple of times during ground stops after leaving the gate, we'd get permission from Ground control to shut down the engines to save fuel while waiting out the storm. Then, I'd go wander through the cabin looking especially for nervous flyers so I could talk to them and try to allay their fears. (One of my favorite lines to share with them was something one of my first instructors told me: "It's better to be on the ground wishing you were flying, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground.")
I especially loved having kids visit the cockpit. It was always in the back of my mind that such a simple thing might inspire someone to follow that path. To think that this thread did the job and actually inspired a career change is really something.
You said you read this thread in 2016. How did you stumble upon it if you weren't a 2p2 member? I see that you just joined and I must thank you for going to that effort to let me know about the impact this thread had.
To anyone here who can help...I've got several pics of cockpit visitors that I'd love to share here, but I'm not sure of a good (free) reliable place to post pics that I can embed here.
W0X0F,
Don't need to host them, other than on any hard drive. A couple years back, 2p2 enhanced the forums to let you upload images directly.
- Find image on computer
- Right-click, copy
- Click into 2p2 reply
- ctrl-v to paste
When that's done, it will show "[Uploading image...]" (or something really similar) for a few seconds until 2p2's server download and stores it. When complete, the above changes to the local file name (a random string of numbers and letters). Then you can move on to the next one.
W0X0F,Don't need to host them, other than on any hard drive. A couple years back, 2p2 enhanced the forums to let you upload images directly.When that's done, it will show "[Uploading image...]" (or something really similar) for a few seconds until 2p2's server download and stores it. When complete, the above changes to the local file name (a random string of numbers and lette
That's a great enhancement. I knew someone reading this would know the answer. Thanks a bunch golddog.
(Some pics will be coming lately as I stroll down memory lane.)
W0X0F,
any comment on the shenanigans of "The Rehearsal"? You must have heard of it by now even if you have not watched the show.
I mean a comedian becoming a 737 pilot just for one scene of a show basically, and then moving 737s as a side hustle is kinda crazy.
That is one of the most gratifying posts I've ever read. I'd love to know more. Please DM me with some other details (airline, domicile, where you live, etc). I'd love to meet you sometime and do some hangar flying.You said you read this thread in 2016. How did you stumble upon it if you weren't a 2p2 member? I see that you just joined and I must thank you for going to that eff
I think it would be awesome to meet up. Would love to pick your brain about flying in the left seat for sure. I know I will learn so much, as I have with this thread.
Will DM you more personal info about my job, etc.
To answer your question, I honestly have no f-ing clue what I searched to find this thread. Most likely something aviation-related, as I do know this thread popped up in my google search as-is. Not a poker person, so I definitely did not find it that way, lol. I was traveling around 150 days out of the year for my sports job covering games…always on DL since I lived in Atlanta. Probably had some random question about something I experienced on one of those flights, looked it up and saw this thread. Regardless, I’m so glad I did.
I’ll provide "receipts" for my story...going to throw on here my logbook entry from my first flight lesson (where it all began) to the picture taken right after receiving my 757/767 type rating (hiding the faces of the chief pilot and check airman--protecting the innocent!). Several years in between obviously, but 55 days total for the type from start to finish, and one of my most proud achievements.
I start our Miami-Bogota run tonight (freight dog!) but it’s a cushy week with 36 hours in between flights. Appreciate all the support from everyone here. Great group!
awesome stuff waiter - i wasn't strong enough, when the mile high questions were all rejected with a no i decided it wasn't the career for me
Hahaha if you knew how absolutely filthy most of these airplanes are...that would be enough of a deterrent. Everything else about the job is awesome though!
That is one of the most gratifying posts I've ever read. I'd love to know more. Please DM me with some other details (airline, domicile, where you live, etc). I'd love to meet you sometime and do some hangar flying.
And shoot. I don't have "sufficient privileges" to DM you on here. Can anyone help?
I'll message the owner to see if they will do it, but it really shouldn't take more than a few more posts to auto trigger DM privelages. Usually 10-15 posts, I think.
I start our Miami-Bogota run tonight
Sounds lucrative. I hope you know who to share with in Miami.
How competent are most pilots? Ever flown with a guy and though "Thank God i'm flying this plane and not him"?
And i'm sure if i don't ask someone else will .... and this is OOT so......... Bang any stewardesses?
That is one of the most gratifying posts I've ever read. I'd love to know more. Please DM me with some other details (airline, domicile, where you live, etc). I'd love to meet you sometime and do some hangar flying.Going through my career, I was a little different from most other pilots in that I absolutely loved interacting with passengers. I remember a couple of times during
vivid core memories as a '74 five year old include having aluminum AA wings pinned on my yellow peanuts t-shirt by the same man who flew me in the plane halfway across our country to the ok state of my grandmother
if you're snooping leads to places beyond testing the charge of any random vietnam era nine volt battery with your tongue
may i suggest you quit while ahead and your buds still appreciate you
Haha. I think people would be surprised to know that most of the fresh cut flowers you see in your local grocery stores come from Bogota. During certain times of the year (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc) we can absolutely have 75,000 pounds in just flowers on board. They are so fresh, the farms near SKBO airport wait until the cargo jets are on approach to cut the flowers. By that time, they've got a few hours to then get the flowers plane-side. By the time we get them back to Miami and they get trucked to the most near locations in Florida, you'll have flowers so fresh they were cut less than 24 hours prior. Pretty cool!
W0X0F,
any comment on the shenanigans of "The Rehearsal"? You must have heard of it by now even if you have not watched the show.
I mean a comedian becoming a 737 pilot just for one scene of a show basically, and then moving 737s as a side hustle is kinda crazy.
I see it listed on HBO and I'll check it out tomorrow evening and get back to you.
And shoot. I don't have "sufficient privileges" to DM you on here. Can anyone help?
Yeah, I forgot that you can't DM until you have a certain number of posts under your belt. I'll try to send a DM to you. Maybe you can reply.
And...I'm back.
I just tried DM to you and got this message:
InADumbWaiter has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her.
I guess we'll have to wait until you have enough posts to qualify for DM.
It was probably going to enable on its own shortly, but I went ahead and manually enabled it for him.
