Becoming a FAA inspector

[GravityHater]

The last one I saw was at an airshow last summer.
He was going up and down the rows of GA airplanes in a golf cart. He had stopped at my friends and was pawing it, so I came by and introduced myself - asked him if there was a problem ("GA-Secure", you know). He flipped his Dick Tracy badge in my face, and said he was inspecting each of the 30 or 40 airplanes there and was going to send a letter to each and every one, listing all their defects and probably going to ground a half dozen. The action by itself was not objectionable...it was his tone: He was determined that he would find a reportable defect on each airplane and he wanted to extract some blood from each of owner/operator.
That is not a positive productive attitude. That is a sick mind.

ATC guys are a pilot's pal. These guys are law-enforcment wannabees. He REALLY wanted to have a gun and cuffs, you could tell. Slap the pilot up against the machine and read im his rights while he cranks arms behind the back and applies cuffs.

That is the same attitude I have seen in all but one FSDO guy I have run across. I know I haven't seen em all, but why does my experience coincide with the same story I hear time and time again from other pilots?

If we cannot use our experiences (you may choose to call the "unsubstantiated stories" if you wish) to judge someone, how can we judge them?

Oh well I guess I can live with you thinking I am wrong.

 

[transpac]

GravityHater

I'm guessing the person in question was an Airworthiness Inspector rather than Operations since he was primarily concerned with aircraft condition. But, that shouldn't make any difference in professionalism. However, some of the terms you use tend to lessen the impact of your story: "Pawing" your friend's airplane? "Flipping his Dick Tracy badge" in your face? Makes one wonder if personal animosity might color your perceptions. If you've experienced much the same from every Inspector you've dealt with except one, it sure makes one wonder. I've dealt with a couple of hundred or so over the years and and have found all except one or two to be friendly and competent.

 

[avbug]

I read somewhere that they've moved the torture chambers from Iraq and are putting one in each FSDO.

Don't be ridiculous.

Those have been in place for some time. The recent effort at modernizing them by making improvements gleaned fromobserving the chambers in Iraq may be what you're thinking about. Easy mistake.

 

[AA717driver]

Know a guy from my old airline that fell to the dark side, pretty good pay and working conditions, he never gets to fly anymore except in the sim, Last time I spoke with him he was starting to look for something else. Don't know if he left or not. Anyhow, he had not logged a real hour in over two years last time I saw him, apparantly they hardly do any flying at the Federal Aviation Administration.

My company interviewed an FAA inspector who was trying to escape the drudgery. He NEVER gets to fly. He can't even go out to the airport and rent an airplane because he needs to get permission from the head of the office and they rarely allow it.

This is nothing more than another paper-shuffling, budget swilling bureaucracy. The ONLY reason it keeps functioning at all is that they hire enough retired guys with lots of experience who can deflect a little of the B.S.

I fell for the seduction of "job security" back in the early '90's and applied. I had a friend but not enough experience. There were too many ex-EAL and military guys around so I didn't get hired. Thank God!!!

If you don't want to fly, get into management. If you DO want to fly, stay the He!! out of the FAA. JMO.