Flywrite
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2002
- Posts
- 770
I just wanted to take a moment to report another Flightinfo.com success story. Thanks to a post from Floyd94 a week ago I now have a job lined up after not flying professionally for well over a year.
If nobody minds, I would also like to ramble for a few minutes about how it feels to be getting back into the cockpit.
Though this is a CFI job, and would be considered a “lowly” position by many, I am excited about it. I have put well over 2,000 hours of turbine time in my logbook since I last flew with a student, and to be honest, I miss it.
Looking back on my meager 4200 hours I have had several flights that stand out as being especially satisfying. I remember the applause from the dozen or so people in the back of a Jetstream I landed one night with #1 feathered. I remember the collective sigh of relief from another Jetstream cabin when the nosegear did not fold on landing. I remember standing my ground when my Chief Pilot told me to "by-God get my a$$ out" and put 19 people in the back of the plane I refused because the torque rollback was not explained or corrected to my satisfaction. The satisfaction on that flight came in the form of praise from the mechanics onboard the test flight I agreed to when the right engine went to 30% torque at Vr.
The point of this rambling is that in spite of these memorable flights, my two most satisfying flights were ones that I was not even aboard.
Number 1 was the “slow learner“ student who finally soloed after 40 hours. The overhead door latch on the Beech Skipper failed (broke) as he turned crosswind. Both doors flew open on this student who had a problem with distractions. After a beautiful first solo landing he taxied in and told me that he did just like I showed him and didn’t let the doors popping open faze him.
Number two was my first instrument student, the bank executive with his own Archer who complained that I covered up at least one instrument on every "d@mned lesson". He called me at home a month after he got his rating to thank me. His ADI failed the night before in hard IFR over the mountains with his family aboard.
So even though I know that eventually I will claw my way back to a machine with a pair of gas turbines singing away outside and a flock of folks sipping coffee in the back, I am looking forward to being a CFI again.
I look forward to the satisfaction of knowing that I’m not just doing a good job to keep my own butt safe, I’m doing it for my student's wife, mother, son, or daughter.
This is going to be fun!
Thanks Floyd!
If nobody minds, I would also like to ramble for a few minutes about how it feels to be getting back into the cockpit.
Though this is a CFI job, and would be considered a “lowly” position by many, I am excited about it. I have put well over 2,000 hours of turbine time in my logbook since I last flew with a student, and to be honest, I miss it.
Looking back on my meager 4200 hours I have had several flights that stand out as being especially satisfying. I remember the applause from the dozen or so people in the back of a Jetstream I landed one night with #1 feathered. I remember the collective sigh of relief from another Jetstream cabin when the nosegear did not fold on landing. I remember standing my ground when my Chief Pilot told me to "by-God get my a$$ out" and put 19 people in the back of the plane I refused because the torque rollback was not explained or corrected to my satisfaction. The satisfaction on that flight came in the form of praise from the mechanics onboard the test flight I agreed to when the right engine went to 30% torque at Vr.
The point of this rambling is that in spite of these memorable flights, my two most satisfying flights were ones that I was not even aboard.
Number 1 was the “slow learner“ student who finally soloed after 40 hours. The overhead door latch on the Beech Skipper failed (broke) as he turned crosswind. Both doors flew open on this student who had a problem with distractions. After a beautiful first solo landing he taxied in and told me that he did just like I showed him and didn’t let the doors popping open faze him.
Number two was my first instrument student, the bank executive with his own Archer who complained that I covered up at least one instrument on every "d@mned lesson". He called me at home a month after he got his rating to thank me. His ADI failed the night before in hard IFR over the mountains with his family aboard.
So even though I know that eventually I will claw my way back to a machine with a pair of gas turbines singing away outside and a flock of folks sipping coffee in the back, I am looking forward to being a CFI again.
I look forward to the satisfaction of knowing that I’m not just doing a good job to keep my own butt safe, I’m doing it for my student's wife, mother, son, or daughter.
This is going to be fun!
Thanks Floyd!
