Ever wonder what the life of a charter pilot is like? So did I, until last Thursday. A friend of mine is the on-call charter pilot for a group of lawyers that own their own plane (it's a Piper Navajo for those that are curious, seats several passengers, two pilots, actually has a cabin and a wet bar in the back). So, he goes out of town and asks me to cover for him.
"Well, I've got this thing on Friday night that I'm going to."
"Hey, dude. Don't worry. They probably don't want to go anywhere until after the holidays anyway.:
So, I say I'll do it. Guess who calls at fucking 4 AM on Thurs? Yeah, the lawyers. They want the plane fueled and ready to go by about 8 AM, there's a meeting in Austin. Okay, I can do Austin. No problem. So, I drag my ass out of bed, hit Starbucks, get the line guys to pull the plane out of the hangar, fill 'er up, and park her.
10 AM these guys finally show. So, we take off and head down to Austin. Normally, this takes a bit, but the Navajo is a sweet ass plane and it's FAST. So, we get to Austin. I hang at the airport while they do their lawyer thing. 5 PM rolls around, and they show back up. I figure "Great, time to go home and get some homework done." Nope. We're going to Shreveport for the night. Okay, that puts me back on Friday, plenty of time to get rested, shower, etc.
So, I get up Friday morning in Shreveport (at least they pay for the hotel room for the pilot, whoever that may be) and get set up. Back to Texas alright, but not Arlington. How about San Antonio? So now, not only am I gonna be pressed for time, the weather sucks balls on Friday, too. I could plead the whole "we shouldn't fly into icing" thing, but I did mention the Navajo was a sweet ass plane. So sweet, it has DE-ICING equipment. Dammit.
You see where I'm going with this, don't ya? xcdat, I didn't get lost, I unfortunately knew exactly where I was. Watching fucking TV in a hotel in San Antonio. If I had known the "quick trip to Austin" was gonna turn into a goddamn four day whirlwind tour of the Southwest, I would have at LEAST brought my laptop. By the time I struggled home on Sunday night (after visiting other locations such as Houston, Oklahoma City and (get this) Albquerque (or however you spell it)), all I wanted was my own bed and a damn shower.
To everyone that I said I'd be there on Friday, I'm SO sorry. To all the charter pilots that have jobs like this, you can fucking have it! I got a shit ton of multi-engine time and some good experience (with a little bit of cash thrown in), but there's no way in HELL I could do this on a regular basis. Give me an airline gig anyday.
"Well, I've got this thing on Friday night that I'm going to."
"Hey, dude. Don't worry. They probably don't want to go anywhere until after the holidays anyway.:
So, I say I'll do it. Guess who calls at fucking 4 AM on Thurs? Yeah, the lawyers. They want the plane fueled and ready to go by about 8 AM, there's a meeting in Austin. Okay, I can do Austin. No problem. So, I drag my ass out of bed, hit Starbucks, get the line guys to pull the plane out of the hangar, fill 'er up, and park her.
10 AM these guys finally show. So, we take off and head down to Austin. Normally, this takes a bit, but the Navajo is a sweet ass plane and it's FAST. So, we get to Austin. I hang at the airport while they do their lawyer thing. 5 PM rolls around, and they show back up. I figure "Great, time to go home and get some homework done." Nope. We're going to Shreveport for the night. Okay, that puts me back on Friday, plenty of time to get rested, shower, etc.
So, I get up Friday morning in Shreveport (at least they pay for the hotel room for the pilot, whoever that may be) and get set up. Back to Texas alright, but not Arlington. How about San Antonio? So now, not only am I gonna be pressed for time, the weather sucks balls on Friday, too. I could plead the whole "we shouldn't fly into icing" thing, but I did mention the Navajo was a sweet ass plane. So sweet, it has DE-ICING equipment. Dammit.
You see where I'm going with this, don't ya? xcdat, I didn't get lost, I unfortunately knew exactly where I was. Watching fucking TV in a hotel in San Antonio. If I had known the "quick trip to Austin" was gonna turn into a goddamn four day whirlwind tour of the Southwest, I would have at LEAST brought my laptop. By the time I struggled home on Sunday night (after visiting other locations such as Houston, Oklahoma City and (get this) Albquerque (or however you spell it)), all I wanted was my own bed and a damn shower.
To everyone that I said I'd be there on Friday, I'm SO sorry. To all the charter pilots that have jobs like this, you can fucking have it! I got a shit ton of multi-engine time and some good experience (with a little bit of cash thrown in), but there's no way in HELL I could do this on a regular basis. Give me an airline gig anyday.
cicatrixsid:
Give me a call some time when your out at caves and I'll come join ya for a bit.