Ride Alongs in OKC area? (TUL, DFW)

[rcbullock]

Any freight companies that allow riding along and logging the part 91 legs in the OKC area? TUL, DFW, maybe ICT.

Single, Multi, whatever.

 

[Lonestar]

Ride alongs...

Uhh, probably not. I bet,however, there are a few that would gladly allow you to pay them while they let you warm the right seat though. See Pay For Training.

 

[falcondriver]

You would need to make some buddies in the cargo world, to get a free ride.
FD

 

[El Bucho]

I know there are some flight schools that might let you ride along in the right seat if you have one of those CFI tickets....they might even give you a few bucks an hour for you to sit there...single, multi, whatever...

 

[conquest]

Williams Co

Have you hear if the Williams Co flight Dept is closing.
I am from TUL living in CNM, but would like to move back to TUL when Iam done in CNM.

Thanks

 

[rcb]

CFI

Yes, thanks for the tip on getting a CFI ticket. I have both for single engine.

Unfortunately, I also have another full time job working for my Uncle Sam. The guy who collects your taxes.

So let's just say that my schedule is somewhat irregular. Not attractive to flight schools.

Can we limit ourselves to CONSTRUCTIVE comment?

I DO instruct, but it's not as much as I'd like so I'm looking for other options where I don't have to disappoint people by not being available.

 

[celloman]

Do you work at tinker, If so I know a few FE's on the awacs that were able to instruct quite a bit at airman while I was going. Give them a look you might be able to get more flight time!

 

[rcb]

Those guys were pretty much doing both full time or close and working a lot of long days. My wife works too, and 3 jobs is just too much with 2 small kids.

When I get out, I will probably end up at Airman or OU to start.

 

[jamhamms]

I can't help you in OKC, but those programs do exist. I fly DC3s and 402s in the southeast , hauling freight for a living. We have a semi-formal ride-along program that has been in place and working well for years. I'll just give you a real-life example to show you how it works (I just got back this morning from flying this trip). My pager went off Wednesday at 1830, I was at the airport at 1850. I called a ride-along from our list. He's a typical guy - CFI/CFII, with a multiengine rating. About 600 hours total time, but we have a few ride-alongs with less. He's been on trips with me before, so I know he can hold a heading and altitude.

He went out to help with the DC3 preflight, and here's the trip:

Home airport-VPC (empty, part 91) 1.9 hours, night. ride-along flew as SIC and logs the time.

VPC-CRW (freight on board, part 135). 2.5, night. Real FO flies, ride-along in the jumpseat, but watching like a hawk. Cleared Customs.

CRW-CYKF (freight still on board, part 135). 3.8, night. 1.0 actual, 1 ILS to minimums. Real FO still in the seat, R-A still in the jumpseat. All the Customs crap again on the Canadian side. 5 gallons of oil in the right engine, in the windy cold. R-A helps FO.

CYKF-CRW (empty, part 91). R-A in the seat, FO dozing in the jumpseat. takeoff into instant IFR, a little bit of rime ice for the first thousand feet or so, dealing with Canadian controllers and slightly different phraseology. 4.0 total, 1.8 night, 1.5 actual. He watched the sunrise, the FO slept through it. Again. Cleared Customs inbound. Decent landing by R-A. Only two bounces

CRW-Home airport (empty, part 91). R-A still wanted to fly, FO still wanted to sleep. 4.0 total, should have been 3.2, but the ATL Center radar outage had everyone on non-radar routings, complete with reporting points. Took the scenic route home, but great experience for the R-A. I just wanted to get home. We shut down at 1030 on Thursday.

All things considered, not a bad deal for the R-A.

DC3SIC logged:
9.9 total
9.9 multi
9.9 tailwheel
9.9 X-C
5.7 night
1.5 actual
1 landing.

Considering the cheapest DC3 dual I have seen is $880/hr, Our 600 hour ride-along got some pretty valuable time.


Keep looking dude - someone will let you ride along. Did I mention that we only hire new FOs from within the ride-along ranks? Dedication, and being a little crazy helps grease the wheels in the freight world.

By the way, I have never held a CFI