Fate is the Hunter

[FN FAL]

True, "jet pilots" have it pretty easy today. If all we have to worry about is whores and shylocks squeezing us then yeah, we have it good.

You, playing with antiquated equipment and crappy conditions, more than anyone,(aside from our brothers-in-arms) demand that you and your family are fairly compensated for your trade. To settle for anything less than what you are truly worth is a travesty.

High five to you sir!

 

[House_X]

Two summers ago I got introduced to an NWA retiree at an airport campout party. This retiree was named Chuck Severson.

Anyway, me and him sat up untill the sun rose...trading story for story, drink for drink. It was pretty cool.

Imagine taking off out of GRB with a DC-3 headed for Chicago and having to shoot an ILS at MKE just to shed enough ice so you could do a go around and get the plane into ORD. You can't...but I can. Every story he had about weather and icing, totally related to what I see on a regular basis flying a barn door in 135 flying.

I've never read any of Gan's work, but I'm thinking big fat wing, slow ass airplane, not much ATC radar help and those big stupid round engines...yea, you're going to have stories to tell.

Jet pilots almost have to get kidnapped or get a dui in airliner in order to have a new story to tell...

Really, what is jet pilot going to tell you for a story..."there I was, diverting for kxyz because a thunderstorm was next to kabc, when all the sudden I heard kabc approach vector 20 freight dogs for an approach..."

Really....

This "jet pilots are wussies" arguement only prevails in one place...the local FBO's where all of us "jet pilots" managed to escape. Nice try, but the jet job" wins over beat up pistons anyday...ask all of us who flew those pistons....

 

[FN FAL]

Really....

This "jet pilots are wussies" arguement only prevails in one place...the local FBO's where all of us "jet pilots" managed to escape. Nice try, but the jet job" wins over beat up pistons anyday...ask all of us who flew those pistons....

Mmmm...I don't fly for an FBO and I don't fly pistons...and most of all, I have no need to 'escape'.

It's good to see you again House_X, but do you really know what time it is?

 

[FN FAL]

House_x...nobody was calling the jet guys the p word. If you take the original poster's post in context with what I was saying, you'd...never mind...

Ha...what the hell was I thinking?...this is like those stickers soccer moms put on the back of their jeep wagoneers..."If I had to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand!"

 

[Vector4fun]

Has anyone read this book?
[snip]
But now I'm almost done and finally my BS meter went off. He just described his fifteenth or twentieth harrowing, wings-on-fire, weather below minimums, out-of-gas skillful approach and landing. Either this guy spent his whole career wearing an instrument-training hood, or he found more bad weather than I've ever seen.

I've read a half dozen of Gann's books. Read Gann's Flying Circus for more about even earlier Air Transport.

Gotta remember, these guys were flying un-pressurized -3s and -4s in God foresaken weather, like the North Atlantic. How much real weather can you get over at 90-110?

I also know some retired piston Airline Pilots, and the stories they tell are just interesting and harrowing as can be.

 

[SenorSpielbergo]

Ernest K. Gann happened to be a gifted writer (Band of Brothers, The High and the Mighty).


Actually, Band of Brothers was written by Stephen E. Ambrose.

 

[radarlove]

I didn't mean to disparage the book or anybody's hero, it just struck me that weather always seemed to be below minimums with the "airport closed" whenever he was on fire.

Also, a lot of his emergencies were self-inflicted. Not checking that his cargo was tied down? It's not like that was invented in the 90s. Or not weighing his cargo or at least estimating before it went on? That's just suicidal.

But the poster that mentioned it's all about numbers is right--he gave up his seniority number to go to an upstart that looked like cookies and cream, until it went (here comes the punchline) bankrupt. Then he flitted from upstart to upstart.

Again, he is a gifted writer, but I started to whiff the perfume of embellishment as the autobiography wore on. I guess that's forgivable.

 

[Corn Julio]

Fantastic book! I also recommend North Star over my shoulder by Bob Buck.

 

[AA717driver]

The Captains I flew with when I first got hired at TWA had generally started on the Connie or had learned from the people who flew the Connie or Martin.

They said it was unusual to go through a whole trip without shutting down an engine. This was especially true on the North Atlantic.

Yes, many got in trouble because of their egos. Back then, a lot of people died because pilots "pressed on, regardless".

Today, the flying I do isn't heroic. If I do something that resembles heroism, it's because I'm scared to death of screwing up or I'm trying to save my own a$$... TC

 

[some_dude]

Try to find a copy of his autobiography, "A Hostage to Fortune." He had a fascinating life, and flying was only part of it.

The flying portion of A Hostage to Fortune is similar to Fate is the Hunter, but with different, more personal, details (including airline names).