Air Grand Canyon

[00Dog]

Has anyone worked there? What is the living situation?

 

[TOGA]

00Dog,
Flightinfo.com user "DragonBravo" is a friend of mine & former AGC pilot. I'll call him & ask him to post here or PM you. I seem to remember him talking about dorm-style living quarters at GCN.

 

[SpiffAV8]

00Dog,

If you flew that hunk of junk in the ditch why in the world would you want to go back? Sure flying the Grand Canyon was fun...but not in the 1st C-207 built.

I heard that Lake Mead Air is out of biz. Anyone know more about that?

 

[CE-172Capt]

What are there mins?

 

[00Dog]

00Dog,

If you flew that hunk of junk in the ditch why in the world would you want to go back? Sure flying the Grand Canyon was fun...but not in the 1st C-207 built.

I heard that Lake Mead Air is out of biz.

Good question! I've been asking myself the same thing.

LMA is gone. Papillon owns the building now.

 

[00Dog]

00Dog,
Flightinfo.com user "DragonBravo" is a friend of mine & former AGC pilot. I'll call him & ask him to post here or PM you. I seem to remember him talking about dorm-style living quarters at GCN.

A PM would be great. Thanks.

 

[00Dog]

What are there mins?

I don't know. Probably VFR 135 mins. I think they're looking for prior 207 time at this point.

 

[SpiffAV8]

00Dog,

When did you fly for LMA?

 

[00Dog]

I sent you a PM

 

[GulfPilot]

Tell you what......the problem these days is you're all spoiled.....not defending the operations of any current operator..in any fashion....just do what you have to to and make the best of it...and when you're sitting in the flight deck of the new generation wide-body jet where all you will eventually find yourselves...be proud you earned it....and you will look foldly on the days that you survived getting there...because I spend many hours flying long haul glass..widebody...blah..blah...blah...hours showing my ab-initio f.o's foto's of the REAL flying I had the PRIVILEDGE of doing...Grand Canyon tours...lunch at the Mushwip lodge,,or whatever they call it now. flaps 40 landings at boo-koo Az airstrip...ERAU guys eat your heart out....the biggest mistike anyone can do in this computer age is..not keeping a good photographic record of their real flying history....coz REAL pilots grew up flying those clapped out C-207's hauling Jap tourists and their 5 cameras 'round the Canyon....bitch all u want..but cherish the time you spent there...I'm an old fart now bitched while I did it...but..VERY glad I had the opportunity to do it ...you fellow professional aviators that still to this day earn your keep flying these time-honored routes...from all of us ex-canyon drivers turned bus drivers..."hats off to ya" n send me some [email protected] bless you all

 

[GulfPilot]

and by the way "oo dog" what a neat pix of the airplane that fed my family and paid my bills so faithfully....

 

[IFlyGC]

It's the only way to go...

I just had to add to this one....no prizes for guessing what the "GC" stands for at the end of my screen-name.

Flying the ditch is the best job you can get for preparing yourself for whiney, pain in the ass passengers who have way too much cash to throw around. I never flew for AGC directly, but they borrowed pilots from my company when they were short. Those bright green 207's (normally aspirated may I add) are great to fly. You will learn a ton of information on what density altitude "really" means, how do fit fat people on little seats without a seatbelt extension and how to reach for a sick sack while trying to flare.

Seriously for a second though, it's a great job. You meet a great bunch of people and fly over some of the most interesting terrain in the country.

Oh, and if your REALLY lucky, you'll get to fly with the same two female pax I had one day....who were more interested in themselves than they were the canyon!

Dave

 

[avbug]

The 207 is a darn fine airplane...very well suited for rough fields, back country flying, and is a great tour airplane, too.

 

[SpiffAV8]

GulfPilot you are right about the paying your dues part. I had a ton of fun flying the ditch. Going in and out of small tight dirt strips was the best. If you ever flew 9100D then you know what I meant. Flying the ditch was a great and wonderful oppertunity. It was a lucky break for a guy who only had 504 hours TT. It was also the hardest period of my life. Not because of the job or the aircraft, it was a lot of things. I learned a great deal and made a lot of good friends. Every time I fly over the canyon I develop a wicked smile and just have to laugh. I will never forget where I have come from or what it has taken to get to this point. It has been anything but an easy road. One that I wouldn't change if I could.

If you want to talk about fav ditch running aircraft....67L (C-206) at LMA is one of the all time best. In fact if I could, I would find it and buy it!

 

[TOGA]

Interesting timing of this thread. Just last week, I flew directly over GCN at 390. I swear I almost cried. It was the first time I've seen the ditch since my last Blue 2. The self-proclaimed "old fart" is right . . . enjoy it while you're doing it, and take lots of pictures! It's only been 4.5 years for me & I already miss it . . . well, some of it.