"Freight Dog Days are Numbered..." As Tawn Makela grapples with the controls...

[FN FAL]

"Freight Dog Days are Numbered..." As Tawn Makela grapples with the controls...

...of the weather-ragged Learjet.

Grapples? How do you like those apples? I thought only Caravan, Navajo and 400 series Cessna pilots had to grapple for a living.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=34881

A nicely done airticle on Airnet and Check 21.

 

[HAZ-MAT]

Yes, It was a good article, however talking to the crew, they said that most of those quotes in that article... aren't their quotes. Who knows... maybe they were taken out of text, or the author went a little overboard. It made the front page of the LA Times... so maybe, just maybe someone with lotsa $$$ read it and has a good idea for us and the future

 

[FN FAL]

Yes, It was a good article, however talking to the crew, they said that most of those quotes in that article... aren't their quotes. Who knows... maybe they were taken out of text, or the author went a little overboard. It made the front page of the LA Times... so maybe, just maybe someone with lotsa $$$ read it and has a good idea for us and the future

I always liked the idea of going to work for Airnet...it sounded like it was a good place to work. I spoke with one of the Airnet wives once at an FBO in Ohio and she said her husband loved his job. That's usually a good sign.

‘‘These are the farm teams of flying,’’ said Jon Safley, president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots, a Washington trade association. ‘‘When the major airlines hire, they want these folks because they’ve literally been through everything.’’

Although I understand what Safley is saying in this quote, I really think that the "farm team" reference can be a bit of a misnomer. Sure, lot's of guys make a step from Airnet and the Feeders...but places like these can be great careers as well. Like the lady said, there's something to be said for being home more often.

 

[Starcheck]

I spoke with both Tawn and Joe, the article was a work of pure fiction. The reporter rode only one leg, and apparently didn't see any thing too exciting, so like all reporters rather than write a boring story, she made one up.

 

[I.P. Freley]

Grapples? How do you like those apples? I thought only Caravan, Navajo and 400 series Cessna pilots had to grapple for a living.

Hope we're not dumping on the Navajo here.

I loved flying that aeroplane... I remember more of my 300hrs in "my" Chieftain than in three times as many hours in anything else I've ever flown.

 

[350DRIVER]

AirNet employs 165 freight pilots to fly paper checks for more than 100 of the nation’s top financial institutions. These pilots see themselves as daredevils — the toughest and scrappiest men and women in the skies. They boast that they do whatever it takes to get the checks delivered on time, even if it means flying in bad weather or helping with the loading and unloading of the cargo itself. Theirs is a lineage that includes World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker and Charles Lindbergh, who flew bank deposits during the 1920s.

AirNet’s 128 planes, many of them speedy Learjets, are small enough and nimble enough to pack and leave at a moment’s notice. Safety is important, but so are deadlines. ‘‘If there’s a runway, we’ll fly. Ice? No problem. Tornadoes? Go around ’em,’’ said pilot Joe Pyka. ‘‘We had guys flying checks to the banks during the hurricanes in Florida, even though the banks were shut down. Nothing stops us.’’

One has to love the "twist" the reporters put to add fuel to the fire. I think it is safe to say the words were changed, twisted, added, etc, by this reporter. Hard to imagine those words coming from a seasoned av8or in that manner.

 

[PropsForward]

daredevils eh?

 

[LearLove]

Hope we're not dumping on the Navajo here.

I loved flying that aeroplane... I remember more of my 300hrs in "my" Chieftain than in three times as many hours in anything else I've ever flown.

I miss the Chieftain too. Hands down the best all around piston 135 plane out there, IMHO.

 

[Dizel8]

"It’s cool to say that you are responsible for so much cash.’’

If it was in cash, I think I might air filed a destination outside the US.
She should be thrilled though, when that other Check flying a/c went down killing the pilot, the big concern was if the checks were damaged.

 

[FN FAL]

Hope we're not dumping on the Navajo here.

I loved flying that aeroplane... I remember more of my 300hrs in "my" Chieftain than in three times as many hours in anything else I've ever flown.

No...I got a boat load of Navajo time myself.

I was dumping on the fact that they said girly pilot was "grappling" the controls of the lear jet. I thought jet pilots had to have "soft hands" not grappling hooks.

I picture freight dogs flying Caravans, Navjos, 206's and 400 series Cessnas as "grappling". I take that back...I don't have to picture that, I live it every day.

Don't get "grappling" confused with "groveling".

 

[Goose Egg]

Freight dogs' days numbered? Noooo! Anyone but them!!!

 

[Big Duke Six]

I think "grappling" also applies to Metro III's. I thought Metro II's were bad, until I flew the III. The engineers forgot to move the ailerons when they added the 5 1/2' of extra wing on each side. The II's now feel like race cars in comparison!

 

[FN FAL]

I think "grappling" also applies to Metro III's. I thought Metro II's were bad, until I flew the III. The engineers forgot to move the ailerons when they added the 5 1/2' of extra wing on each side. The II's now feel like race cars in comparison!

Ahhhh, yes...forgot about those brave souls. The Shorts and Skyvan people as well!