What's going on at Flight Express?

[drpilot]

Thanks
dr

 

[capt. megadeth]

Gary's Back....? He left and went to AirTran for a while.. Where is Ernst?

 

[Boris Badenov]

Gary's been back for a couple of years now, I think. He's still recruiting away. Ernst is still D.O., and I suspect he hasn't changed much, either. We probably still fly exactly the same planes with exactly the same equipment. FLX is a bright star of constancy in an otherwise changing world.

Keep a seat warm for us at Brown, we'll see you in about a decade (we hope).

 

[labbats]

Ernst, Austin and the whole crew are a class act. Treated me very well and MX was good enough to make me feel safe crossing the everglades single engine every night. Barebones equipment (no gps, autopilot, DME) but the 210 is easy to fly. I guess some planes have gps or DME, it's been a while.

As far as being pushed to fly in weather, that is sort of the mentality. If you've never been blinded by lightning before you hang it up at FLX, then you've been on day runs. I'll never forget when they tried to tell me to split the two "level 5 or 6s" hovering over Tampa. Of course this is all in a single engine cessna with absolutely no WX equipment. I waited them out, and they can stick it where their unlicensed dispatchers sit as far as that is concerned. Stand your ground if you feel unsafe, but keep an open mind because like any frieght job there will be growing pains flying around inclement weather.

 

[Boris Badenov]

There was a serious shake up in the dispatch department a couple of years back (before my time). From what I understand they used to be a lot more uh "demanding". Like I say, I've never had a problem. One time they had me call Matt, and he said "you're the pic, I back you up all the way". Never heard about it again. Obviously it's a balancing act, you can't sit on the ground when there's a cloud in the sky, but I've never felt pressured to do anything really dangerous.

A few planes have DME. Fewer have GPS, Loran, or RNAV, all left over from when they bought them. When they break they get removed. I fly without a handheld, but if I had it to do over again, I'd probably spring for one.

 

[Bryan D]

I'm eyeballing Ram Air and Flight Express. I went to an interview a week ago with a 135 operator (not cargo), whom I shall not name, and I was asked if I felt comfortable flying in "heavy weather". I asked what "heavy weather" was defined as and he said thunderstorms or ice. I told him I have no problem flying in non-convective weather but, I would not fly in ice with a airplane that was not equipped for it and could not carry it. Which leads me up to my question; What is the worst weather Flight Express would expect someone to fly in? I'm not a wuss but I'm no Kamakazee pilot either.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Well, it's hard to put it in black and white terms. One of the more recent hires refused to fly in icing (in a known icing equipped aircraft). She got a visit from one of the management types who went flying with her, she started flying in ice, and that was the end of it (or so I'm told).

Obviously, if you were in a non icing approved aircraft, you will not be expected to fly in ice. In fact, you'd get yourself in big trouble if management found out. They don't want the FAA's attention any more than you do, and you can set your watch on getting ramped within a week or two of any kind of incident, however minor.

Not something to worry about, because it's extremely unlikely. All of the ice-equipped airplanes are kept up north (where the ice is), and there are plenty of them. I've never even seen a non-ice equipped airplane here (I'm in CPS). Most of them are TKS, which works so well it's about as close to "turn it on and forget it" as you can get. Some have boots, but I've never had to fly one of those in ice. Basically, the company makes it work so that you have a TKS plane if you're likely to be in ice.

Thunderstorms are a little bit more grey. I've refused to fly two or three times for CBs. One time was when I was relatively new, and in retrospect, I probably could have gone around it. I called dispatch, they called the chief pilot, he called me and after explaining the situation, he told me that I should depart when I felt comfortable. I did, and I never heard anything else about it. The other two times it didn't even go that far. They can see the radar just like you can, and you are absolutely NOT expected to penetrate serious storms.

In practice, different people have different comfort levels. Yes, there definitely are guys who believe in "don't DEVIATE, PENETRATE, or you'll be LATE", but not because the company pushes them to. There are some who will fly 100 miles out of their way to avoid level 2s and 3s, and they still work here. I'm probably somewhere in between the two. It's definitely something you pick up as you do it.

Will you scare yourself at some point? Probably, especially at first. Will you be in real danger? I don't think so. To my knowledge, we've never lost an aircraft to weather. In my experience, the weather that is seriously dangerous makes it extremely obvious to you that it's dangerous and practically begs you to make a different choice.

 

[YaMama]

Good stuff, Boris - keep it coming!

I am mildly surprised that strike finders wouldn't be cost effective for an operation like Flight Express, especially around these parts (southeast U.S.) Does ATC mind helping you around t-storms when necessary?

It appears that FLX is mostly a daylight hours operation? I'm definitely more comfortable taking on serious weather during the day ... plus I just enjoy daytime flying more.

I was reading some older threads about Flight Express - people saying the D.O. took a dislike to them and was making their lives miserable for no good reason ...?

 

[mcjohn]

Very informative. Thanks. A buddy of mine flew for Ram and he's told me some stories but I think he wanted to get there more himself personally. Not pushed by the company. I was in total awe of his arrival.....in the middle of a hurricane that had just been down graded to a tropical depression!

I'm not a wuss but I'm no Kamakazee pilot either.

I'm a wus and a kamakazee pilot. That's why I insisted on wearing a helmet:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m81/mcjohn766/Pickup2.jpg

Guess where the fuel gauge is:
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m81/mcjohn766/Paramount Cockpit/Helmet.jpg

 

[Nolife]

Some one earlier mentioned getting a hand held and I second that. After two weeks online with FLX I got a used Garmin 195 off ebay and it saved my butt a couple of times. The 195 has the approaches in the database so you can use it for situational awareness especially shooting a night NDB to mins in CRG for example.

As far as the weather goes I scared myself two or three times and after that I didn't do anything stupid and management never gripped. Use common sense and you'll be fine. FLX is one of the best paying IFR experience building jobs out there.