Becoming a FAA inspector

[Russ]

I know a number of inspectors, all good guys. Don't listen to the nimrods here. The ones I know are all from the same office,so things may differ at other offices. They work what the guvmint call an AWS schedule (alternative work schedule) They work 4 10 hour days and have the weekend off and either the Fri or Mon off. The ones here in the SAN office are all pulling in over 100K with locality pay and have pensions. Not too bad. Yeah, stay away from the feds and listen to the flight instructors chiming in with bad things to say.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

Yeah, WTF? The examinars and FSDO guys only suck when you have something to hide. Im a FED, the FAA pays my bills. What am I an out cast now?

MK

 

[avbug]

I believe you're ATC though, aren't you?

If you're going to work at the FSDO, check your sock drawer. If none of your socks match, then you're golden.

 

[agpilot34]

Yeah, WTF? The examinars and FSDO guys only suck when you have something to hide. Im a FED, the FAA pays my bills. What am I an out cast now?

MK

Spoken like a true Fed! Seriously, some of you guys are alright, but there are plenty of complete DICKS also! Not saying you are one of them because I dont know you, but several of the one's I've met definitely fall into the latter category. And no, I've NEVER had anything to hide. It's just that some of you guys get off on rousting pilots instead of actually doing your job, and that's a fact.

 

[JediNein]

Aviation could use more knowledgable people in the regulatory role. You won't be able to keep the idiots under control, but the good operators will seek you out to get their problems resolved.

The best airworthiness guys and gals at our local FSDO are those with years of industry experience. They know what a bleeping progressive inspection is and how one should be conducted and logged. The best operations guys and gals are the ones that have worked in industry and know how an operation should be run, how to get around inconvienent regulations, and how to put feet to the fire for the operations that aren't up to snuff.

Put your app in. It may be years before you hear back. Get in, get your year, and go wherever you want in the FAA. Be sure to apply for any flight check positions that open.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[Rally]

Yes, obviously with my experience I would be on the GA side. I would not mind that. I think there is a few bad apples. The FAA I've dealt with while a little strange at times only really run into one idiot, that was ticket happy.

 

[Russ]

Its been my observation that the great majority of those bad mouthing inspectors have never encountered a fed and are using stories about the feds that have been told to them by others. They in turn pasas them along to other guys. Its not like I love having one in the JS, but I recognize that the level of safety we enjoy in the US is in part due to the FAA.

Grow up.

 

[91100 100 set]

Less than a week ago, I met with a Fed to get my SIC type for work. I was planning to drive from BUF to the ROC FSDO to get it done, and hit the Dinosaur BBQ for lunch (might as well make the drive worthwhile). So I called up the FSDO, got on the line with an inspector, and as it turns out, he was gonna be at the FBO in BUF the next day (lucky break, even if I missed out on the Dinosaur). Met him at Prior, we did the paperwork, and then spent the next 90 minutes BS'ing. Nice guy. He was United a few years back, went on leave, got hooked up with FAA, and never came back. We talked about airplanes, the job, the industry, ALPA, all kinds of stuff. He even gave me some good advice about how to handle my next medical certificate (with my hand surgery and the reduced function I might experience as a result). Like I said, nice guy, and at no time did I feel like I needed to cut it short and bail.

I'm sure there are certain FAA types out to get you, but I've never run into any.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

Well, people make broad statements by pretty much saying if your FAA your a hatred amongst the flying community. That isn't true. If you believe that you've got some issues.

 

[I'veGot2Words]

I dont believe that all FAA guys are evil. Just most of them. From my experience, both as a flight instructor and in the airlines, the guys I have run into have been real idiots and most couldnt fly an ILS to save their life. You what they say; "those who cant.... work for the FAA.":laugh:

 

[Junkflyer]

They're kinda like cops, always around except when you need them.

 

[Ill Mitch]

I'll give me advice. I have a good buddy that fell to the dark side (actually, he is more like my second father) and he has tried to steer me to join the ranks. I am still giving it consideration.
Anyway, his advice to me to become competetive is to become an aviation safety counselor, current 135 or 121 with at least becoming a check airman, if you can get the CP or the DO slot that is even better, and network network network. Also, some sort of official safety training (like the courses with that company down in Los ANgeles teaches) looks good.

Even tho it is a gov't job and you have that application process to go through, the more people on the inside helping out the better.

As to my opinon about the Feds, the ratio of "good" inspectors outweigh the "bad" ones I have met.

 

[avbug]

Its been my observation that the great majority of those bad mouthing inspectors have never encountered a fed...

You apparently do very little observing. It's best done with the eyes open.

Well, people make broad statements by pretty much saying if your FAA your a hatred amongst the flying community. That isn't true.

Actually, it is true. That broad statement is quite accurate.

Now I don't like to generalize, and I hate to jump to conclusions...certainly not from the two inspectors who showed up one morning demanding to see my airplane at a remote location...demanding to see two items that were airworthiness issues, both hidden, both inside a locked aircraft...both things they couldn't have known about unless someone had entered the aircraft and removed the items...and who clearly had an agenda in mind before arriving on site. Certainly not from the inspector who was so hot to trot about busting me that he jumped out of a twin engine airplane with an applicant on board during a practical test, and ran to my aircraft, waving his form 110A and baning on the fuselage before my engine was shut down. Certainly not from the inspector who called me at ten at night saying he would drop everything, but that my report implicated him, and he was going to "nail me to the wall." Certainly not from the inspector who brought enforcement action, then told me he had done so to force me to obtain incriminating evidence for his investigation against my employer...and who told me he'd drop the matter if I helped violate my employer...and who let the paperwork go through after I refused. Certainly not the inspector who screamed and yelled on the ramp during a patient drop in an air ambulance, who siezed and went through the patients medical records, stomped his feet, turned purple and yelled and spat, and used language that few sailors know. Certainly not the FSDO manager who threatened to revoke my certificates for failure to be polite to the front desk secretary, but who dropped the issue when I agreed to buy her flowers.

Not those folks...I'm sure they are the exceptions to the rule. As is the gentleman who was in the cubicle next to me during a practical test, whom I overheard discussing a private pilot who had accepted money in reimbursement for carrying a friend from A to B. I'm sure he was just kidding when he said "I want to ruin this man's life. I want to make him an example. But not just an example. I want to crucify him. I want him miserable. I want to pull his beating heart out of his chest and hold it up, beating and bleeding for the world to see. I'm going to destroy him." Folks like that give the FAA a GOOD name, and engender feelings of warmth and brotherhood in the flying community.

I walked into a hangar years ago to see two classic aircraft on the floor. The shop manager, apparently thinking I was FAA because I was dressed and had an ID, quickly turned off his office lights, locked his records office, and disappeared for lunch. I'm sure he normally waits with baited breath for the FAA to come calling, hoping for a hug and friendly conversation...this was just something out of the blue. He was probably having a bad day.

The industry at large cherishes the opportunity to spend time with the FAA. I know I certainly do, because I understand that each of the few examples cited above, while personal unpleasant experiences, were probably just isolated instances that would never happen again in a million years. In fact, I bake a cake every day in the hopes that an inspector will drop in for a spot of tea and a snack.

I always keep an eye out for mismatched socks, just in case.

If you believe that you've got some issues.

Apparently I do. Even service as an aviation safety counselor didn't blind me to those things...but perhaps they're just abberations, and issues. What those issues might be, I can't say...but maybe if I just keep buying flowers, it will all go away.

D'ya think??

 

[G21Agoose]

Rally,

We could use more Feds who like their job for the right reasons...and not the "I have the power" piece. I know a few of them, and they are a pleasure to work with.

I bet you know a few of them........ I bet you do.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

I dont believe that all FAA guys are evil. Just most of them. From my experience, both as a flight instructor and in the airlines, the guys I have run into have been real idiots and most couldnt fly an ILS to save their life. You what they say; "those who cant.... work for the FAA.":laugh:

IM assuming we are talking strictly FSDO and not ATC man.