Mountain Air Cargo

[Piper877]

As many of us in this industry I hate to commute. Given the choice of an Indi or Memphis base what city would you choose to move with your family? I would prefer to see them every day than working all week to commute during the weekend. Let me give you some info: I am not looking for partying (that was long time ago), I am married with children (7 & 9) and trying to decide where to go. I am interested in the school system, safety, crime rate, quality of life. I have been in Dallas, TX, for the last 15 years, and the warm weather keeps me comfortable. Unfortunately the crime rate here has increased exponentially in the last few years. We had a brake in 6 months ago. Schools are OK. Thanks for any info.

Oh, by the way! Got hired and going to class in January. See you out there!!

I'm from Indiana and lived in Indianapolis for 5 years. My brother lives in Hamilton County which is a suburb of Indy. Fishers and/or Noblesville are the cities in Hamilton County. It's in the top 5 fastest growing areas in the country. The schools in Fishers are consistently rated in the top of the state. Crime is very low there and they're dealing with the growth quite well. My brother just had a daughter and is planning to raise her there. I can recommend Indy as a base. I'd recommend you look into the northeast side to make your home.

Now, can you get me a 'van job?

 

[A300FE]

Thank you Piper877.

I think I will be based in Indi for awhile. Will see after training what happens. As far as a "van job", FedEx is pretty strict on 2000 hrs. PIC. I am 250 hrs. short of that, even if I have over 3500TT. I recommend you to get to the 2000 PIC time, or something less if you want to start on the ATR as FO and work your way up. I was told that after a year the co. might waive up to 300 hrs. an let you upgrade to the Van.

 

[astropilot]

Hey A300FE are you in training now? or do you start in Jan? Right now they are hard up for van drivers so throw your resume to them and maybe give them a call (HR) They don't mind.

 

[CargoATRdriver]

Thats great! Congrats! Enjoy that month down there in Houston.. it gets quite long and you'll learn to hate the airplane, but atleast they get you a car. Louthers BBQ and Central Texas BBQ for lunch is a must!! :beer:

We've always said the best place to be in memphis is Out of Memphis. There are a bunch of nicer (used loosly) areas to the south east of memphis in mississippi, Olive branch and what not... Its pretty rural out that way and even where its not, it is loaded with the stuff Jeff Foxworthy got his material from..... Memphis is also a heck of a lot more comfortable in the winter than Indy, are they basing in Indy?? i know there is one crew and a few guys still there from the Fokker days, but i didnt think there would be a lot there otherwise. Sometime in the future the Greensboro hub should be opening up which might be a the nicest of all the areas to settle down. I would also caution you if you decide to base at an outstation that FedEx changes the ATR bases as areas grow and decline... You could settle down in an area and be there and happy for a few years then all of a sudden they decide to bring in a mainline airplane and re-allocate the ATR and now you've got yourself a dilema... do you uproot the family or just never see them anymore and commute??... (Recent example of this is the Nashville base which was lost to 727 service)
Memphis is a sure bet (base security wise) if you can tolerate it and you and your family can be happy there.

Also, if you base at one of the fedex hubs you will have the best life because your duty days will be the shortest. Unless its peak, you will only ever take freight out after the sort which means you will not show at the airport until midnight or so... and then take a load of freight somewhere, they'll unload you and you come home empty.... you can be back home and in bed not long after the sun comes up because they can offload those airplanes in like 15 mins versus the sometimes never ending loading process...

Best of luck to you in training!!

 

[Piper877]

Thank you Piper877.

I think I will be based in Indi for awhile. Will see after training what happens. As far as a "van job", FedEx is pretty strict on 2000 hrs. PIC. I am 250 hrs. short of that, even if I have over 3500TT. I recommend you to get to the 2000 PIC time, or something less if you want to start on the ATR as FO and work your way up. I was told that after a year the co. might waive up to 300 hrs. an let you upgrade to the Van.

No problem my friend. Indy isn't such a bad place. For a family it's great and they got pro football, and basketball if you ever want to take the wife and kids to a game. AAA baseball too.

I'm noticing that about the high PIC requirements for the Van. I'll keep pluggin away though.

Good luck to you in your training and new job!

 

[A300FE]

No problem my friend. Indy isn't such a bad place. For a family it's great and they got pro football, and basketball if you ever want to take the wife and kids to a game. AAA baseball too.

I'm noticing that about the high PIC requirements for the Van. I'll keep pluggin away though.

Good luck to you in your training and new job!

If you are interested in a van job, give Paragon Air Express a call. CP name is Rusty Schaub 615-361-3044. They are looking for pilots to fly the Piper Saratoga first and then upgrade to the van when you have the mins. The van has a one year training agreement. Pay is not bad and fly time is more than MAC. Check them out. http://www.paragonairexpress.com/

Cheers.

 

[A300FE]

Hey A300FE are you in training now? or do you start in Jan? Right now they are hard up for van drivers so throw your resume to them and maybe give them a call (HR) They don't mind.

Training starts in january. One week in NC, and then one month in Houston. Not too bad for me. I will be just 4 hours away from home. Can visit the kids on weekends. I also have friends in HOU.

 

[colt27to42]

A300FE, have they given you a hard start date for indoc???

 

[A300FE]

A300FE, have they given you a hard start date for indoc???

January 2nd. Just enough time to get sober after the new year's champagne!!

 

[fr8r]

fr8r,
did you fly checks in NC/SC for a while back in 2003 or so?

Yes sir.

 

[colt27to42]

good luck with that......is that in Houston or North Carolina on the 2nd

 

[brokeflyer]

Congrats.....just stay clear of the caravan unless you flying in the deep south....they dont take kindly to bagging trips because of "ice".

 

[A300FE]

good luck with that......is that in Houston or North Carolina on the 2nd

Basic indoc in NC on the 2nd. In Houston on the 8th for training at FS. Are you one of the cap. going from the F27 to the ATR?

 

[Nolife]

Congrats.....just stay clear of the caravan unless you flying in the deep south....they dont take kindly to bagging trips because of "ice".

That's the first I've heard of that. A couple Baron guys are friends and they say they are never pressured to fly in moderate or greater ice. Same with MAC.

 

[drinkduff77]

Congrats.....just stay clear of the caravan unless you flying in the deep south....they dont take kindly to bagging trips because of "ice".

not true at all