Last of the dinosaurs?

[Dumb Pilot]

Modern airplanes you don't really fly them much, even for those of us that are so called "hand flyers" it all amounts to an average of 10 minutes of actual hand flying in a typical flight. Where I see the difference is in the foundation experience, today the typical pilot considers partial glass "old school" I think that those formation first few years of a pilots career are best spent in mostly a raw data environment, flying steam, once that foundation is there it never goes away regardless of what you consequently fly. The whole pay for training revolution that has brought many pilots from 250 to 500 hours to the right seat of an RJ, creates a weak foundation that will never allow comfort when basic hand flying is needed because the comfort with basic hand flying skills are not mature enough with somebody that has barely 500 hours.

 

[AA717driver]

I hand flew the 717/MD80 and 757 a lot before I got laid off. I flew the G550 by hand more than others in my department.

I don't hand fly the 757 much now because I just don't care to. When/if I get back on the 80 again, I'll start hand flying more. I agree there is a lot of trepidation among people when it comes to turning off the A/P, etc.

Lear70, I whole heartedly agree with your comments re: YIP v. Pilot Mills. You've got way too many "kids" coming out of school and into an RJ. You just deprived them of a necessary segment of their development as pilots.

Pity.

TC

 

[Lear70]

Modern airplanes you don't really fly them much, even for those of us that are so called "hand flyers" it all amounts to an average of 10 minutes of actual hand flying in a typical flight. Where I see the difference is in the foundation experience, today the typical pilot considers partial glass "old school" I think that those formation first few years of a pilots career are best spent in mostly a raw data environment, flying steam, once that foundation is there it never goes away regardless of what you consequently fly. The whole pay for training revolution that has brought many pilots from 250 to 500 hours to the right seat of an RJ, creates a weak foundation that will never allow comfort when basic hand flying is needed because the comfort with basic hand flying skills are not mature enough with somebody that has barely 500 hours.

Perfectly stated.

 

[humveedriver]

So who has it worse? Civilian pilots who skip the night freight in a dilapidated Baron with no autopilot path or Air Force Academy graduates who fly a UAV?

 

[Lear70]

So who has it worse? Civilian pilots who skip the night freight in a dilapidated Baron with no autopilot path or Air Force Academy graduates who fly a UAV?

UAV flight time doesn't exactly translate into an airline flying job, so you're not really comparing apples to oranges. In fact, I would say that it basically is simulator time in a real-time environment.

As such, it's impossible to say which would be "worse" as it applies to stick skills and handling degraded-flight-control issues in an emergency situation, which is what the "Children of the Magenta" suck so badly at. Since you'll never see a UAV pilot behind the controls of an airliner without going back through flight school and flying real planes (at least with the regs the way they are now), trying to make that comparison is pretty much a moot point.

 

[humveedriver]

What I am saying is, things change. Before we start chastising our future airline pilots for not having the "right stuff", consider what opportunities they have early on on their careers. I flew the 1900D, no autopilot through three northeast winters. But there are way less 19 seat operators out there now (J32, Merlin and the mighty beech). Air Force standing up more UAV squadrons and less fighters. So between Uncle Sam scaling back and the fact that there are more RJs out there now vice 15 years ago, that's the reality. It's only going to get more automated in our industry, not less.

 

[Lear70]

Which isn't a problem... Until it's a problem.

This kind of thing is one of the contributors to the AF accident. Two pilots who didn't realize the pitch-power-stall relationship of a fixed-wing jet. An old stick and rudder guy would likely have picked up on it early on in the sequence.

I understand what you're saying, but I'm a big proponent of the new flight time requirements for Part 121 operators. I've been saying an ATP for an Airline Pilot, not just the Captain for over a decade. If that holds, pilots will still have to get that time somewhere, and if pay doesn't come up, people aren't going to shell out $100 an hr for 1500 hrs to get an $18k a year job.

That means they will have to get some time like you and I did. That's a good thing, and hopefully will stay that way. At least until they make a crash-proof plane.

 

[Sluggo_63]

This kind of thing is one of the contributors to the AF accident. Two pilots who didn't realize the pitch-power-stall relationship of a fixed-wing jet. An old stick and rudder guy would likely have picked up on it early on in the sequence.

Yeah, that old stick-and-rudder guy, Bud Holland, sure had that pitch-power-bank-stall stuff all figured out...

 

[whymeworry?]

Great article.

Ironically, I can only assume Skiles, and maybe even Sully, contribute to the reason they're so poorly paid, kicking ALPA out. If they supported or support USAPA then they have nobody to blame but themselves for the continued degradation of pay at their carrier. The company wants a contract, but not without risking lawsuits from that would result from the arbitrated and binding seniority list award being thrown out.

The profession is still good. I'll make $130K as a NB FO this year. Not as much as a SWA FO, but certainly way more than my sister, who is a nurse, will make (referencing the articles comparison to nursing).

USAir FOs could do even better, $180-$200K (as FO, not Capt), if they would stop being so Taliban-esque about their beliefs and views of the Nic award and move on already.

Meanwhile, management laughs all the way to the bank. WAFJ.

 

[Sandhawk]

great article.

Ironically, i can only assume skiles, and maybe even sully, contribute to the reason they're so poorly paid, kicking alpa out. If they supported or support usapa then they have nobody to blame but themselves for the continued degradation of pay at their carrier. The company wants a contract, but not without risking lawsuits from that would result from the arbitrated and binding seniority list award being thrown out.

The profession is still good. I'll make $130k as a nb fo this year. Not as much as a swa fo, but certainly way more than my sister, who is a nurse, will make (referencing the articles comparison to nursing).

Usair fos could do even better, $180-$200k (as fo, not capt), if they would stop being so taliban-esque about their beliefs and views of the nic award and move on already.

Meanwhile, management laughs all the way to the bank. Wafj.

this ^^^^