Tonala2k said:
If asked the question on an interview I think I'll keep with "At first it takes large balls and small brains. As time progresses and my balls shrink under the presure my brain will need to start kicking in." And when asked about women pilots I'll just shrug and say, "Strap-on's?"
Come on. No reall answeres? Clearly no employer is looking for small brains, nor large balls. And together...
Well, thanks still. This has gotten a lively debate going on in side my head. Clearly they need a subordinate (Not a cry baby) with the skills to safely perform what a small brain pilot would need big balls to do.
Okay, if you want a "real" answer, I'll try to give you one, at least from my standpoint.
Remember, the customer comes first. With that said there is also an exception to the rule, which is, "If I fly tonight, is the airplane or weather going to try to kill me?" If the answer to
that question is "Yes," meaning you have some kind of mechanical problem or the weather is too dangerous to fly or below minimums, then the customer can wait because you want to live. The companies I've always worked for hire smart pilots. Let me rephrase that,
try to hire smart pilots. They want you to show up on time, be off the ground on time or early, get to destination as quickly as possible, and offload as quickly as possible, and always do your paperwork and duty sheet right (that'sa always been a biggy). While doing this they want the customer treated well because that's the only reason you have a job...the customer. They also expect you to make wise decisions...that covers all areas: weather, mx, customer service, even using the company credit card wisely (if issued one), etc, etc. You will be expected to fly in some serious
sh*t, but if you ever feel it is too dangerous (like freezing rain or ToTo just blew by, or wx below mins) then they
should respect your decision. If it's 100 and 1/2, you're going, basically. You are going to have a lot of "firsts" once you start flying freight, and many of those "firsts" will bring on the 2nds, 3rds, 4ths... As in "The first time I flew into a thunderstorm was the 1st time I sh*t myself. The first time I flew into some freezing rain was the second time I sh*t myself." And so on and so on. Just remember to
learn from those experiences. If you start cancelling, oh here's another thing, never say "cancel." Say, "I'm sorry, but because the weather is 1/8 mi, we're going to have to
delay until it comes up." Anyway, if you start cancelling a lot of flights it's probably going to earn you a job at Taco Hell. Your employer will also prefer that you use your head and not do anything stupid, like "Um, I think the tail will clear that wing....CLUNK." You know what I mean.
I'm sure other guys will chime in too, but that sums it up I guess. They'll probably add more and will probably say, "Arg, that Caravanman doesn't know Jack." (Sure I do, he's sitting over there...) They're all pretty cool and have some good advice to give. That's all I can think of now. I have to go pee, later.
