Dude,

We all bow down to the master My dad retired from an airline after 35 years and well over twice your total time having started as a flight attendant. I'm guessing he could have taught you a thing or two but reading your post it sounds like you don't ever hear much but the sound of your own voice. Is it just United pilots or airline pilots in general you don't care for? Feel free to add me to the list. Only thing is I work for Frontier and don't like United pilots either. JK, Scott Thing is, having started in general aviation he never lost touch with it and always seemed to have access to a cub that he and I could fly together. After he retired he spent summers in Kalispell, MT flying into the back country strips. He also flew freight around Denver in light twins. He was a rare breed in that even at 70 he loved rolling around in the back of a freighter and helping many young guys get their interviews with Frontier before they went belly up and later the other local lines here in Denver. One of the things he always said mimics almost exactly what Scott said. Don't let your ambition to build time paint you into a corner your family will spend their lives regretting. The simple fact is that there is a historical culture in the 135 world of pushing the limits. IMO this is born out of the fact that many, not all, of those who fly these aircraft are young, ambitious and inexperienced. When so many are willing to do anything the operator demands this makes it that much tougher for an individual to say no. If more guys did and I personally believe they are these days the safety record would improve. I also happen to know for a fact that there are operators doing things right up in AK. It's no secret that on occasion margins get narrowed beyond ideal and there are likely still operators pushing pilots but the FAA has put Alaska flying into much closer examination for the very fact that too many people were lost for the sake of a buck. On more than one occasion my dad went to bat for guys that the company was trying to pressure into flying in highly questionable circumstances. Your comments were rude and arrogant IMO and sound more than a little jealous.

To each his own.

Give me a break about the glorified bus drivers and hours flown. Unplug the autopilot and see how many hours of whining you'll get.

Can't we all just get along.

Who is better boils down to the that person and not what they fly. I have been a professional pilot for over 25 years making my living at it and I have flown with hundreds of pilots from flight instructing to now flying for a major airline for the last 17 years and it comes down to whether that person cares about the type of job they do or not. Just my humble opinion though.
Jeff

Originally Posted by sherman89

It is obvious you have not spent a lot of time in the booneys----unfortunately flying overloaded is just part of the game and of course no one does it. The nice thing about loading float planes when the rear of the float is at the water line it is time to go------any more and the plane sinks---I have over 17,000+ hours and am still alive and now retired. I don't need any lectures from any UAL drivers thank you. i have taught a lot of airline pilots both sea plane ratings and upset training courses. In a difficult off airport situation I will put my money on the "cubdriver" any day----with 12,000 hr under his belt in the bush he has seen most of what can go wrong and survived to fly another day.

Wow.....that is just a bit harsh It didn't really seem like a "lecture" to me even after I re-read Scott's post....just sayin....

Originally Posted by sherman89

It is obvious you have not spent a lot of time in the booneys----unfortunately flying overloaded is just part of the game and of course no one does it. The nice thing about loading float planes when the rear of the float is at the water line it is time to go------any more and the plane sinks---I have over 17,000+ hours and am still alive and now retired. I don't need any lectures from any UAL drivers thank you. i have taught a lot of airline pilots both sea plane ratings and upset training courses. In a difficult off airport situation I will put my money on the "cubdriver" any day----with 12,000 hr under his belt in the bush he has seen most of what can go wrong and survived to fly another day.

If you knew anything about sukhoi26mx you would know he saved many lives at KORD by his situational awareness and airmanship. You should get off your high horse and know he was not lecturing just stating that flying overweight is not safe.

Ah the ego. Gotta love it. I don't have a dog in this fight...I am happily spending my career as a dumb regional pilot. I get it from the bush guys and the mainline guys. I still love my barbiejet though

Wow Guys I just like hearing from other pilots and there stories becoming commercial pilots I know when I was a kid I had no thoughts about being commercial pilot I learned out of necessity from the time I was 9 years old we lived on a small island were my family had a commercial fishing and seafood business and a cub was our pickup truck I cant even repeat my age when I took the family plane for a spin by myself .I only got bribed into flying commercially by friends that had airservices because I knew all the hot fishing and hunting spots and had allot of time in the back country . and although I am instrument rated I don't like flying on instruments. I probably wouldn't be to good in the airbus.

Boy, I sure ruffled some feathers here, my point was not to insult airline pilots i was merely to point out that airline pilots don't know everything about flying as many try to convince us. You airline drivers pull your wagon your way----I gave mine back and am retired. While my daughter was attending the Air Force Academy in C Springs ( she is on B-52's) I spent many hours traveling back and forth on United and Frontier flights and I must say there were a few of them that need to go back to flight school and learn how to land.

Truth is, if I could make the money I do at an airline flying the bush...I'd be on it. My job is easy and affords me certain things. My heart is with cloth covered airplanes sailing over the treetops at sub triple digit speeds. That is the kind of flying I love. After 10 years of flying for an airline, I know I will never love it the way I loved flying a Citabria, but its a good job and I like the folks I fly with so I will keep doing it.

Originally Posted by sherman89

i was merely to point out that airline pilots don't know everything about flying as many try to convince us. .

You are correct about that........and I have been flying in the airlines for 22 years.
Jeff

Originally Posted by sherman89

It is obvious you have not spent a lot of time in the booneys----unfortunately flying overloaded is just part of the game and of course no one does it. The nice thing about loading float planes when the rear of the float is at the water line it is time to go------any more and the plane sinks---I have over 17,000+ hours and am still alive and now retired. I don't need any lectures from any UAL drivers thank you. i have taught a lot of airline pilots both sea plane ratings and upset training courses. In a difficult off airport situation I will put my money on the "cubdriver" any day----with 12,000 hr under his belt in the bush he has seen most of what can go wrong and survived to fly another day.

I, too, would put my money on Cubdriver any day!

I was just offering my opinion, which fortunately I still get to do. There are likely a lot of other pilots reading this, and I'd hate for us less skilled (clearly me) or less experienced pilots to assume that flying overloaded airplanes was promoted as being an accepted part of the "game" by everyone. It is unfortunate that this attitude is as pervasive as it is. There are a lot of really cool airplanes and great pilots lost each year due to it.

Clearly you don't know me if you think I was lecturing. I've done some pretty stupid things in my time flying airplanes, and have tried to learn from it. This isn't about being able to handle "what can go wrong", but rather deciding to avoid starting with a deck that is heavily stacked against you.

Look, I've lost a total of 17 friends to airplane accidents. I'm glad you survived. Many, many, many pilots weren't either as skilled as you or they simply weren't as lucky. In my opinion, mission does not come ahead of safety in non-military or non-life saving flights. I refuse to believe that me taking an unnecessary risk that ends poorly is doing anyone any good.

When I was a kid growing up, my Dad made it all crystal clear. The job, he said (which I still agree with 100%), is risk management. From my perspective, some are acceptable (lowest risk being not going at all), and some are not. I, personally, am not willing to die today by taking an unnecessary risk with a particularly large downside and little upside reward. Does that make me somehow "less" of a pilot than you? Perhaps, but perhaps not.

On the whole airline vs. GA, vs. military thing... it is all baloney. There are both outstanding and weak pilots each of those groups. Personally, some of the best stick and rudder pilots I've ever flown with look incredibly inexperienced on paper, but can fly circles around the 30K+ hour pilots I fly with at work. On that point, I think we would agree.

Scott

I like planes.

Originally Posted by sukhoi26mx

.....On the whole airline vs. GA, vs. military thing... it is all baloney. There are both outstanding and weak pilots each of those groups. Personally, some of the best stick and rudder pilots I've ever flown with look incredibly inexperienced on paper, but can fly circles around the 30K+ hour pilots I fly with at work. On that point, I think we would agree.

Scott

Amen .

How ya been Scott?

Earle

Hey guys Ive did a little basic aerobatics I used to have a citabria but I never really trusted it with anything but rolls and loops. Where would be a good place to take some lessons in a modern hi performance aircraft. On the west coast preferably