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In TRABB I mentioned I sat next to a fellow retiree on my way to HKG last night.

We talked about why we retired. He quit at 54 because he’d had a gutful (he’s 69) and I threw it in exactly 361 days ago. He asked hypothetically “Rod you have a few years left till 65. If you were to go back and fly till then, what and where would you fly given a choice?”

I thought about that and with some introspection replied it’s more a question of when. After going online inflightI dredged these up and showed ‘em to him and said “If I could go back to say the mid 70s as a 727 capt...in the glorious days...before the Dark Times of Hawke and that Fat Prick...when the Oz airline industry was truly something proud to be a part of...oh sh!t yes I’d be there in a frigging heartbeat!











I wouldn’t even bitch about the ridiculous income tax I’d be paying! As an ex-TAA jock would’ve preferred Ansett when Reg was running the show. Would’ve loved to fly the L188 Electra!

He said he’d rather his old USAF days but didn’t elaborate further.

Any other early retirees* here share a similar sentiment?

* Not mentioning any names of course Ex-Ascot sah.

Yes, I'd go back to SIA in a heartbeat, mightn't like the long night sectors tho', have a hard enough time staying awake doing nothing, as it is ! Just renewed my "3 landings in 90 days " to continue carrying one pax., having been away for awhile. No prob. flying the Tecnam P-96 Golf. A Tecnam crashed here yesterday, no details but I suspect "pressonitis" in mountainous terrain in bad weather ( only my opinion, no data released ) and the local Press called it a Tecnum. Bloody Press, at least they didn't say that that the courageous pilot avoided crashing on a local school. Sadly two dead.

I bet Slasher wished he was involved in this training

Yorkshire Airlines would have been fun....
.

I would go back to my first operational aircraft. Flew in it enough know it inside out but more to learn and 5 hours was long enough to get to good places.

Woody wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:09 am

I bet Slasher wished he was involved in this training

Not exactly typical, not one in a skirt, even the one in uniform. Would she change before or after the crash?

The only thing realistic was the hands on training. Probably not allowed today.

Woody wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:09 am

I bet Slasher wished he was involved in this training

True. I’m a firm believer that breasts are the natural handles of women for assisting them escaping a life threatening situation.

I noticed a trace of disappointment in the face of the skipper who wasn’t groped on his way down.

As most here know I was lucky for the first 16 years of my flying career in the Royal Air Force and Household. Flying charter was hell on earth. Flat out in the summer and two flights a month in the winter. They pushed us to the legal limits in the summer. Constantly really fatigued. Half of it was my fault for living 100 miles from LGW. A friend from the Royal Air Force was on direct Honkers flights. Slept most of the way and did I think 3 flights a month. That would be OK. Also maybe regional flying with no night flights. I lasted four years and it was making me ill. Downsized and quit the UK. Would never go back to that particular job. Well can't, cos they have gone bust. Sod the money and staff travel. Just go and live full time where you would go on holiday anyway.

Ex-Ascot wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 03, 2019 12:57 pm

Sod the money and staff travel. Just go and live full time where you would go on holiday anyway.

Yeh, money is only a problem when you haven't got enough!

Ex-Ascot wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 03, 2019 12:57 pm

Also maybe regional flying with no night flights.

Nephew got his first job with squeezyJet. Loves it, grabs all the hours he can and is now working up to captaincy. But from my perspective regional flights are nothing like the 5 hour hops we used to do with occasional double legs in a day. His are often back to back 5 hour legs, or several stages in a day.

You have the young inexperienced hours builders who live nothing better than getting airborne against the older experienced captains looking forward to some home cooking and a warm bed.

Pontius Navigator wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 03, 2019 3:34 pm

You have the young inexperienced hours builders who live nothing better than getting airborne against

Came to aviating for a crust quite late in comparison. Couldn't compete with those above willing to fly just for the hours and a pittance, so didn't give up my day job. Did envision working my way up the ladder to the big boys, but seduced by larger pay packets in electronics/computer industry, so...

My Son in Law decided he would become an airline pilot and blew his gratuity. Did it but doesn't live to fly and at 50 wasn't prepared to do hours building. He wanted the job with BA as offered. They withdrew the offer and he hasn't flown since qualifying.

I’ve talked my 10yo Super Cub captain out of any thoughts about being an airline pilot. It’s still up to him of course but he’s noted how bloody happy I am to be out of that racket.

Of course I’ve encouraged Andrew to get a SPL when he turns 18 (or is it16? I’ll have to check the local Regs) so he can officially learn to fly and continue Cubbing without his old man having to be in the back seat.

Slasher wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 12, 2019 8:18 am

I’ve talked my 10yo Super Cub captain out of any thoughts about being an airline pilot. It’s still up to him of course but he’s noted how bloody happy I am to be out of that racket.

So Capt, how many Super Cub sims in the world for Andrew to follow in his father's footsteps?

Just for a matter of interest, with a SPL is he allowed solo without being cleared by a local QFI? Also, is he allowed to log hours before getting a SPL.

Hes not actually following my footsteps sah - he just happens to love flying too.

He has to do the full training shebang with an approved QFI like everyone else. It just means he may solo after 2h iso the usual 5-7. He could go as far as a ME CPL with CIR but that’ll be his choice not mine.

Yep he keeps an unofficial log book. It’ll be discreetly shown to the QFI so he knows what he’s dealing with, but the book itself of course means squat as far as the Thai Authority is concerned.

I never flew commercial and never flew at the pointy end of Ascot Airways but, when the writing was on the wall in the 90s, I did give it some serious consideration. Spoke to mates who had gone down that route. Sifted through their ***** (people don't like to admit mistakes), did the numbers etc, etc.

And decided not to.

It really came down to one thing: I didn't want the responsibility for the lives of people down the back. Simple as that really. I admire those who can do it but, to be honest, it scared the ***** out of me.

Moved on to other things; got a PhD, became a qualified interpreter, had huge experiences in the Balkan wars and basically had a great time. Also met and married the wonderful Señora Larss.

And somehow managed to get in some fun flying in aircraft I owned and tasked and had a maximum load of 1 human.

Well mine wasn't airline flying although my final 26 years of following tram lines to oil rigs in the North Sea perhaps equated to that. Do I miss that job? No - and just after I retired I was offered some offshore oil contract flying which I turned down. Do I miss pure flying? Oh yes. The best times? In the RN travelling about, Singapore, Oz, East Africa, the Med etc., whilst flying from an aircraft carrier, RFA oil tanker and a guided missile destroyer, followed by a few years inspecting 11 and 33kv electricity lines in the UK. The latter job sounds boring but it was really enjoyable with no passengers to worry about, just me and the Line Observer. We got up to all kinds of mischief....!

Of course I’ve encouraged Andrew to get a SPL when he turns 18 (or is it16? I’ll have to check the local Regs)

When our aero club moved to Microlight flying - read LSA in USAspeak - one of our first customers was an "older gentleman" who said he "had flown before", so I sat him in the left hand seat and once airborne gave him control.

Clearly he could fly, and so I eventually let him line up for the approach. The Tecnam Golf is a bit 'slippery' and with an engine cowling permanently rigged pointing down, there is a tendency to end up high on finals until familiar with it. " No problem " he said and exexcuted a nicely controlled sideslip to a credible landing !

"You didn't tell me everything" I complained ! and he then explained that he had learnt to fly when he was 10, later forged his birth certificate to gain a PPL before he was 16 but had to re-forge it to prove that he was 18 and join the NZ Air Force during WWII. Flown Hurricanes,Tomahawks and Corsairs during the Pacific War, and after that taken the three week boat trip to England from where he and a friend had then flown a Percival Proctor the multi-million short sectors back to Australia, but even tho' fitted with extra tanks, "They" wouldn't let him cross the Tasman, so the aircraft was shipped to NZ.

He then started crop dusting with a Tiger Moth, flew the DC-3 and was involved in an aviation project in the Islands - Samoa ? - during the time that the astronauts were being dunked in the Pacific before being picked up and taken to the nearest land, prior to the Moon landings, and he reckoned that he had met most of them.

My only comment was " and I'M teaching YOU to fly this ? "

A couple of years later he asked if he could book the aircraft to take his wife flying at 11.00 am on the 11th of November, having been married at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th day of the 11th Month in 1944 - 11.11.11.11. (He said that the vicar of the day had to pause for 2 minutes to observe the Armistice Day silence ! ) but 60 years to the minute later, he took his wife flying around the Bay of Islands on their Anniversary. I have a photograph that I took of them in the cockpit, for the benefit of the local Press. Magic.

He subsequently turned up every two or three weeks and flew a couple of circuits, and tho' he rarely left the vicinity of the airfield he religiously carried the local Topo. map and the airield chart on a clipboard strapped to his thigh. A true professional.

Lost touch since he moved away from the area, but I have his later produced Biography, an interesting read.

Good yarn ExSp33d.

The little bloke is highly intelligent and good with numbers. He’s indicated he’d probably like to go the same way as his mum - insurance and investment brokerage. But then he’s only ten years old. For all I know at 18 he might wanna be an apprentice meat chopper-upper or something.

Yes, my grandson showed interest after I had let him fly me around a bit at that age, but being 12,000 nm. away doesn’t help and he is drifting towards I.T. stuff now, but then that's his generation thing.