RAM AIR called today..

[flightmahtman4n]

Got a call today from Ram Air Frieght to fly the seneca II. Does anyone have any expierances there? I live in the West coast, and that would be a big move to go across the country for a operation I know nothing about!

 

[GLSoar]

Seneca2

No idea on the company, but the Seneca2 is turbo charged and is a good airplane can carry alot of ice and is great in xwinds. It saved my ass once! The only drawback is it is hard to land.

 

[sdflyer2]

Before you go on the interview, W.D. make sure your spelling is as good as your flying.....good luck. Any students you want to pass along?

 

[flightmahtman4n]

Guess your right, I do suck at spelling, that is why I am a pilot, not a english teacher! Do I know you?

 

[CitationLover]

how come you skipped the lance?

i fly a seneca ii and it is an easy airplane to fly. the hardest thing is taking off (you have to make sure to not overboost the engines).

ram air is a competitor, but they are a good company. where are you going to be based?

 

[flightmahtman4n]

Do you fly for the company, they said that I would be based in richmond VA, been there? The Chief pilot said they do not work off of senority and nobody wanted to move, so they hired into it, heard anything about that? I hear that their is a high crime rate in Richmond? Any thoughts about the area.

 

[WrightAvia]

The airport isn't IN RICHMOND. It's in Highland Springs. I went to HSHS. My family lives(d) there. You have quite a few good areas to rent apartments in the RIC, highland springs, Henrico County area.

 

[WrightAvia]

And fairly close to the airport too! I wish I could live in RIC, it'd sure beat the hell out of MKE. That's why I commute by car one hour each way to work.

 

[upndsky]

Actually, we do work off seniority, based on DOH. Normally, all new-hires start in Raleigh in the Lance. In this case, we've had a couple of RIC pilots move on, which happens to be an all-Seneca base. For a variety of reasons, none of which have anything to do with the Richmond area, no one in the company wanted to bid into those open slots. So a lucky new-hire is going to RIC and directly into the Seneca.

Another policy is that a senior pilot cannot displace a junior pilot from a base. So if I decide to go to RIC after this person is hired and is already there, I wouldn't be able to go unless another slot opens up. However, once I'm there, I'd be senior to him which matters when picking runs.

Overall, it's a good company. The only reason I'm in RDU is because I'm settled here with a wife and mortgage. If I was single and flexible, I'd be in RIC right now where you don't have to deal with all the office stuff.

 

[USC***]

I live in Richmond and I think its a great area. Of course I don't recomend living in downtown, though there are nice places there. The area around the airport is the cheapest to live, but older. The West End (west of the city) is more expensive. Chesterfield county south of the city is newer and growing and much cheaper than the west end.

The Ram Air pilots do fly out of RIC. Last year they were based at Hanover County Airport, but there is only a localizer approach with mins about 500 AGL so at times they had trouble getting in, which is my best guess why the company moved them to RIC.

There is plenty to do around Richmond and your close to many other attractions. 2 hours from beach. 2 hours from mountains. A couple nice lakes around state within 2 hours drive. And of course if you like big cities, your about 2.5 hours from DC. You won't get board in VA.

 

[belchfire]

Good luck on the interview! Richmond is in a really nice part of the
world...little too much summer, but you can live with it.
Ram Air was a competitor to my former employer (ex Catbird)...I hung around the RDU base and picked up work from them and took it to CLT. The morale seemed good, and their mx appeared
better than my ships were getting, but that was back in 2000...

I don't know what your current financial situation is, but you won't be getting rich hauling trash in a seneca! On the other hand, I kind of miss that kind of flying. The experience is unbeatable (outside of maybe flying off carriers)...and I'm not
getting that much more now.

If you end up going flying into Roanoke, watch your a$$! I don't remember if it is an SDF or LDA with glidepath to 6 (I think), but
in any case, there's stratogranitus solidus glaore! Whatever the
approach is, stay on the course!

 

[colored_airman]

I flew for Ram Air many moons ago. I was based in ROA, first 3 months I flew the Lance then the Baron 58 afterwards. All night, IMC (idiot messin'in clouds), ice, single pilot, you name it. Only stayed there for 7 months, and got hired by Pinnalce. Because of the high turn over there, guys were leaving in 5-7 months, I dont think I can refer to anyone there. But I will never forget my brothers from Norway, At the time half of the pilot group was from there. The guys there do take care of you. I was surprised that they paid me during training which is only $50/day for a week
at the time but it was more than what Pinnalce paid during training which is ZERO.

One thing about ljving in Roanoke, it was boring to me. There was very little to do there unless you like hiking, a very quiet town.

Flying there its too bad, Belchfire mentioned the LDA 6 approach, maintain the GS isn't as critical as maintaining the LOC because you are desending into a valley with 3600ft mountain peaks on both sides of you. The approach is more challenging with the passing of a cold front, you better have your balls strapped on tight for that. One last thing about the LDA 6, study the miss approach procedure, dont make the same mistake one poor aviator in a V-tailed Bonaza made by turning the wrong way.
Icing is a bitch in the winter, Valley fog is a bitch in the summer, but you will enjoy it, for me it was valuable experience being a
FREIGHT DOG.

 

[upndsky]

Going into ROA in IMC does raise the pucker factor a couple of notches, especially if you don't do it on a regular basis and you have limited mountain flying experience. "Hey, what's that mountain goat doing in a cloud bank?"

ROA is no longer a base, but we still have 3 or 4 flight that go in their daily. As for maintenance, if it's broke, we fix it. That doesn't mean that the plane are shiny and look like new. All are almost 30 years old and flown HARD. $hit will and does break. But I've never felt pressure to take an airplane with a known safety defect.

BTW, pay during training is gone. It's a good thing it lasts only one week.

 

[belchfire]

Shiny airplanes? I'd rather have one with
fingerprints on the cowlings and panels...
That way I know someone has been working
on it!

Paid training? Sweet! I don't know if they were
doing that in my days, I did call them, but went
with catbird cause they only had the one base
in Lincon County NC, and it was closer to home.

Dude, if you can afford to do it, or can make the
sacrifices, go for it! Sounded like you were from
out west...the cost of living is lower out here.

Again, good luck. Unfortuantely, you won't be
able to move on as quickly as many of the
posters did due to slow hiring...but you will
have fun and get some really good experience.

 

[colored_airman]

Wow it seems alot has changed since I was last there 3 years ago, changes for the better I hope. I wish I had the oppurtunity to fly a twin from the start, flying the Lance out on my first night in Roanoke was a real ball buster. My prior experience was a CFI in the eastern portion of MD, flat farm land. Since hiring has slowed hopefully the pay is little better than when I was there, only made $70/run.
Good Luck to you guys and fly safe.