FDX 2003 hiring

[USMCFDX]

It drives me crazy when I hear people say young guys need more experience flying something like the Boeing before they fly the Mad Dog.
We send nugget Naval Aviators of the front end of the ship at night with 2 LGB's, ask them to drop them while being shot at, and then recover at night after being airborne for 7 hours. All of this with just about 400 hours total time. Maybe we should let them fly a 172 for two years first.
The RJ captain straight from a commuter seems to be the best suited to the task. He has been flying one of the newest aviaonics packages out there, and probably does it great. Maybe we should make him step back 20 years and fly the Boeing for 2 years to get some experience first also.
I fully see the point of not hiring into the Mad Dog, but I see nothing wrong with trying to get it as soon as possible.
It seems that Gemini has no problems of hireing right in to the Mad Dog or Atlas into the 747.
Sorry for sounding bitter, but this thread hit a nerve.

 

[F18-FDX]

I have to completely agree. Obviously I haven´t been through the training, but when I talk with guys and say I´m thinking about the MD, I question whether I should bid it because the majority of my flying (>2500 hours) is in a glass cockpit single seat fighter. Off the boat, at night, getting shot at, etc. as above. But for some reason I think maybe I should `learn` how to fly something else heavy first, but everyone who has flown the MD tells me, but your time is in Hornets, a glass cockpit, you´ll have no problem. It seems that when I talk with the older guys who flew the standard fighter w/out glass they don´t want to make the jump. Is it the `heavy airframe`or is it the glass that makes it such a challenge? Personally I´m a helluvalot more comfortable in a glass cockpit no matter what the size than I am in a 1965 vintage 727.

 

[active_herk]

F18-FDX,

I don't know much about the hornet, but if it has anything like an FMS, it'll help you quite a bit. I flew the T-1s for a while, and found the transition to the MD-11 FMS not too bad at all. I think that once you learn an FMS, its really not too difficult to learn a new FMS, you just have to pick up the little differences between the two. Besides that, I've found with all FMS systems, the hard part isn't in knowing what the system can do, its figuring out how to get it to do what you want it to do. Besides that, I noticed you are coming out of the back of the 10, that will help you quite a bit with the systems since they are essentially the same. Since I came from the back of the boeing, that was more challenging to me than the FMS stuff.

The training program has changed quite a bit over the last year. When I went through, there was very little systems training, but a great deal of training on the FMS. Now, however, there seems to be a much greater emphasis on systems with less emphasis on the FMS. I've heard that the training is very cyclical in the MD-11 dept. They will emphasize systems more for a while, and then change the training to emphasize the FMS, and then back. I guess the pendulum is swinging towards the systems right now.

VaB, where did you hear that about the 1000 pilots? Sounds great to me (and to quite a few others on this board I imagine) if true!

 

[VaB]

Dispelling the "big airplane" myth

Ya know it's funny. I was a little bit worried about going into such a big airplane before I got there. But once you're sitting in the front end with your hands on the controls coming down the pipe, it's just like sitting in any other airplane. Since you can't see behind you and you can't see the wings, there really is no perception of how big the sucka is. Or maybe I'm just thick-headed. The only time I thought the thing was big was during IOE when I sat down in the seat for the first time and saw how high off the ground I was. You get over that quick though, obviously.

Come on over, it ain't that hard. Especially come over if you're junior to me, because there aren't to many down there.

Herk: I was kind of joking about the 1000 thing since that number has been thrown around here a few times in the last week. I doubt that'll happen. I don't think training could handle it without guys going straight to a right seat, which as we discussed, isn't going to happen anytime soon. On the other hand, I wouldn't be upset if they did try to get 1000 in. We'll see.

Later all

 

[Huck]

Boys, indulge me. I was an MD11 Capt. at my last job (sorry, I try not to say that too much but it's hard). Some points:

1. We had a transition program for senior Professional FE's who wanted to move to the front seats. They had (usually) about 1500 total non-FE time, with 500 multi, usually in light twins that they owned. The company chose to let them onto the MD, not the -10 (except for one). I flew with several of them, and they were great. The bottom line: EVERYBODY has a first big jet to fly. Whether it's the 727 or MD-11, I think the challenge is pretty comparable.

2. Sitting on the panel has been a great way for me to transition into the company. Hub-turning is alot more demanding than I thought. I agree that all new-hires ought to sit sideways.

3. The MD FMS is about 10 years older than the CRJ's. It is not as intuitive, is incredibly slow, and was challenging for me to learn, even though I had flown CRJ's and Citation 5's. Another bottom line: not all FMS knowledge is 100% transferrable. It probably does help, however, to understand the concept.

4. Big Jack was in the training center yesterday, and did not disagree with the rumor of a bid in Jan-Feb. timeframe. But he probably doesn't know either.....

5. You guys were talking about approach speeds. We used to take the Mighty Dog into Quito (9200 msl!) It was a challenge to touch down below 182 knots groundspeed (tire limit).

That's all - back to the panel - "Two A off, one B on....."

 

[active_herk]

VaB,

Are you ANC or MEM or LAX (just joking on the LAX)?

 

[PurpleInMEM]

Just another opinion

Huck and others

While I agree that the MD11 is a challenging aircraft to operate I think that it's a sad statement about our training program if there's that much doubt in a newhire making it through. Most airline newhires (lets assume that there are newhires for the sake of discussion) now go directly to the right seat of something because of the demise of the 3 man crew concept. During my short time at another AAirline as newhires we were getting 76's and maddogs if you were senior enough. While the training was difficult, it wasn't impossible. Nothing I've encountered thus far at FedEx or the other AAirline was nearly as demanding or exacting as things we've probably all done in the past. I think it boils down to a training center that's committed to actually training you to proficiency and not just passing the type ride.

While I agree that sitting the panel is a great way to see how the company operates, I know it didn't do me much good when it was time to fly again. Now maybe y'all are more like Chuck Yeager than I am, but flying is not like riding a bicycle. I'm only good at it when I do it frequently. My transition to the right seat would probably have been much easier had I gotten the chance when I was first hired and not after losing 'the touch' by sitting on the panel. FedEx has a distinctly different philosophy concerning bidding and training than other airlines. Not better or worse, just different.

PS....a Jan/Feb bid sounds good to me. Maybe some of the homesteaders in my seat will realize that it's time to move on to that fourth stripe.

 

[CCDiscoB]

Out of curiosity AlbieF15, what are you going to bid for?

 

[AlbieF15]

Nice to be a lineholder. Commuting with double DHs, etc makes it easy to keep flying Eagles. May just stay where I am for a while.

 

[T-38Dude]

Good answer AlbieF15. There's nothing I like to hear more from the guy who is one number ahead of me on the senority list saying he's going to stay where he is. Here I come MD-11. Thanks Albie!

Se ya around the old AOC.

T-38 Dude