The 2000s called and they want their job ad back.

Zaibatsu wrote:

The 2000s called and they want their job ad back.

- King Air, Baron and/or Travel Air time considered an asset.


Sure are a lot of "assets" listed for a 250 hour ramp rat gig.

The King Air, Baron and Travel Air are O.K. but the chance to get a DC3 type rating is priceless.

Of all the airplanes I ever flew my favourite was the DC3.

So if nothing else that would be worth getting.

Cat Driver wrote:The King Air, Baron and Travel Air are O.K. but the chance to get a DC3 type rating is priceless.

Of all the airplanes I ever flew my favourite was the DC3.

So if nothing else that would be worth getting.

Wait... are you advocating a Pilot in Waiting job? I thought you were abhorrently opposed to them?

My comment was meant to give my opinion that the DC3 was my favourite airplane.

I don't know why, everytime I see this idiotic term this image pops into my head:



But I guess the definition seems to hold weight:

Pilots in waiting expected to carry out mundane tasks like making their mistress’s bed, carrying messages, accompanying her on visits or being entrusted with her jewels.

At her coronation, Anne Boleyn’s pilots-in-waiting were on hand to “hold a fine cloth before the Queen’s face” when she needed to spit.

Maybe the "lucky" individual will receive a complimentary box set of Ice Pilots on VHS.

Maybe it would be an opportunity to get to learn to fly an airplane better?

If I was a youngin starting out , I would be all over this.
Sign up, get Paid, watch TV and surf the net all day while waiting,

That is how it works, right?

It is only 'unprofessional' and a 'bringing the industry down' when it's anything other than Cats favourite plane. When it's his beloved DC-3 he calls it, 'an opportunity to get to learn to fly an airplane better'.

A hypocrite if I ever saw one.

A hypocrite if I ever saw one.

Are you saying if someone has a favourite airplane that person is a hypocrite?

Wow you sure have a weird way of thinking.

It is only 'unprofessional' and a 'bringing the industry down'

You are the only one who has control over bringing the industry down.

It is the pilots who work for peanuts and accept being treated like a dumb animal that drives down the industry.

You can insult me as much as you want but I never ever worked for that mindset in the fifty one years I flew for a living.

And I managed to retire from flying with enough money to live very comfortably.

I think you need to work on your reading comprehension skills there Cat, maybe this is why the "Literacy Test" was instituted. Try re-reading what I wrote.

My point was that you're very quick to call "pilot-in-waiting" positions below our profession, to which I agree. But then you seem to throw your conviction out the window as soon as it has the potential to lead to a flying position in the gooney bird.

Q.E.D. You're a hypocrite.

but the chance to get a DC3 type rating is priceless.

Of all the airplanes I ever flew my favourite was the DC3.

So if nothing else that would be worth getting.

Speaking of reading comprehension, re read the above.

If a low time pilot took the advertised job and was guaranteed a DC3 type rating in a reasonable time frame then in my opinion it would be worth the effort.

By the way do you have a favourite airplane?

Would you like to get a DC3 rating?

Well I guess that settles it, I must be a hypocrite.

I hope I can deal with this loss to my credibility in aviation.

Oh, by the way Black_Tusk would you like to get a DC3 rating?

I would have loved to fly a DC3 along with Twin Otter, Beaver and some kind of King Air. If I would have gotten into aviation younger than I did I would have stayed flying in remote Canada a lot longer. However, I for one could see the writing on the wall in the airline industry in regards to lack of pilots, retirements etc. and made the choice to move over as soon as I was given the chance to better set myself up financially in a long term career. I had a very lucrative job offer to remain in 703, which I turned down. Short term successions for long term gain.

Remember, just because someone hasn't flown as many aircraft as you, or been to as many places around the world doesn't mean they never wanted to. I'm sure you can agree as a man of your age that sometimes in life you need to make tough choices and look at all the factors, a big one being what you want long term out of your career. For me, it is to work at a Canadian airline and settle in for the long haul while collecting a pension and living in the country and city I love. For you it was to fly all over the north, fly cool aircraft and such which I can respect. But to constantly berate and compare your flying to people who want to be financially secure, while working for a good airline with good pay and decent schedule is in poor taste. We all got into this career for different reasons, none better than the other.

Black_Tusk you sure don't know me and of course that is because the internet has a way of fu.king up almost everything that gets discussed, and of course I have managed to piss off a lot of people because I quite often word things in a real asshole like manner.

Now to your real good post above I can fully understand why you chose the route you did and it was an excellent choice because it has the best chance of long term stability and a liveable income.

As to the Twin Otter and Beaver they are good airplanes for the work they were designed to do but they are so easy to operate they become boring fast.

Actually most airplanes are quite easy to operate and doing anything over and over gets boring.

I did the Corporate thing ( IGA Food Markets and Mobil Oil. ) and also sched airline flying as well as management in sched airlines and found out I just was not happy in those jobs, so I looked for the speciality type of flying and eventually got to the point I could retire and do what ever I feel like doing.

My last flight as a working pilot was with one of my clients in the jump seat of a 767 and it reinforced my decision the time to retire had come, long haul watching the magenta line and time to go on the pretty coloured screens cemented my decision to quit.

If I had it all to do over I would have quit sooner because I was away from my family far to often.

If you want to get something really challenging and fun take up sail plane flying.

Or even more fun gyroplanes.

Can I also get that offer? I mean, as long as it's not working for Joe in Yellowknife or Frank out of Pickle.

I'd love to get a DC3 type rating. Giving kids rides at a museum would be a great retirement job.

It would be interesting to know what a DC3 would cost per hour for the type rating.

Does anyone even offer type ratings on a DC3 anymore?