Jump to content

The Airplane Fanatic Thread

Hornsareus

By Hornsareus
in Hobbies

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

InkaUtexas
InkaUtexas

Was surprised today. went up to see my dad. He says, hey, want to go see a 1929 Ford Tri Motor? Hell yeah is the correct response. So we go out to the airfield near Sherman. He volunteers with the Civ

Longhornmaniac8
Longhornmaniac8

Best office in the world.  

Armybrat
Armybrat

Couldn’t afford it, and have been susceptible to air sickness/equilibrium problems because of inner ear discombobulation caused by being punctured with a sharp pencil in junior high school. (Damn that

Posted Images

markstanco

markstanco 12586

Posted
Posted

Man we are having a tough time finding instructors for our club.

In texarkana we have Henderson state but it is 65 miles away.

We have 2 right now but both have 3 students each and that is pretty much max for them with their day jobs.

Any of yall know how to attract new CFIs? Pretty hard up right now. Need our planes in the air, money had been tight with all the rain in NE Texas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bobby_Batronic

Bobby_Batronic 1994

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, markstanco said:

Man we are having a tough time finding instructors for our club.

In texarkana we have Henderson state but it is 65 miles away.

We have 2 right now but both have 3 students each and that is pretty much max for them with their day jobs.

Any of yall know how to attract new CFIs? Pretty hard up right now. Need our planes in the air, money had been tight with all the rain in NE Texas.

$$$. 

Pay good money and they will come. Pay them like they are a scarce asset and not a rented mule. 

Does the Latech program still have a Shreveport Branch?  Might be another source. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
markstanco

markstanco 12586

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

$$$. 

Pay good money and they will come. Pay them like they are a scarce asset and not a rented mule. 

Does the Latech program still have a Shreveport Branch?  Might be another source. 

We are a club, not a school.  Contract is between CFI and student, so we get $0 from the transaction.  $50 or $60 cash is the typical going rate in the area.  

Shreveport to KTXK is a bit of a haul for somebody, around 70 miles each way.  They would want to line up 4 or 5 hours to make it worthwhile and thats tough to do. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BTW

BTW 370

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, markstanco said:

We are a club, not a school.  Contract is between CFI and student, so we get $0 from the transaction.  $50 or $60 cash is the typical going rate in the area.  

Shreveport to KTXK is a bit of a haul for somebody, around 70 miles each way.  They would want to line up 4 or 5 hours to make it worthwhile and thats tough to do. 

Here in West Texas the going rate is $75 to $85/hour cash straight to the instructor.  Of course, there is pretty much across the board price inflation on everything out here with all the increased oil & gas activity. 

The guy who runs the school will graduate a new CFI and they will immediately begin instructing until their hours get high enough for them to get a corporate job as a SIC.  Then they either leave or cut their instruction hours way back to accommodate the "day job."  Long story short, it's a revolving door of instructors out here, but there do seem to be ample (rotating) supply, due to the high-ish rates they can command.

Edited by BTW
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17742

Posted
Posted (edited)

So this happened on New Year's Eve:

49138049_2070875326288876_23266073936784

Quote

"On 31 December 2018, our XP-82 Twin Mustang flew for the first time since 14 December 1949. Although it wasn’t supposed to fly yesterday, all that was planned to do was the last FAA required runway high-speed taxi test, lift off for a second or two and then back down, deploy full flaps and brake to a stop. It accelerated so fast after the planned lift off that Ray, our test pilot, realized that getting it back down and stopping it in the remaining runway would be marginal. So he pushed the power back up and flew for about five minutes.

The unexpected and dramatic acceleration of our XP-82 at 55 inches of manifold pressure occurred because it was approaching three times the horsepower of a single engine Mustang and one and a half times the weight. The XP-82 has 1860 hp each side for total of 3720 hp, compared to 1500 hp for the P-51. Our XP-82 weighs approximately only 1 1/2 times more than a P-51 - 14,700 lbs. compared to 9500 lbs. for the P-51.

The very short gear-down flight showed zero airframe squawks, hands-off no trim required, with all engine temps and pressures normal.

This wonderful test flight came after a 10.5 year restoration encompassing 207,000 labor hours. Many thanks to Ray Fowler, our test pilot and all of the men and women that made this restoration possible. Thank you, Tom Reilly."
 

Link to FB page:

 

 

Edited by Chad Fuck
Ad link
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
pops

pops 7006

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm aware that nothing in this thread makes a lot of sense financially, but do any of you who took the time to get your certificate(s) regret it at all?

I grew up in my grandpa's 421c and while I could never afford something like that now, I'm in a spot where I can commit the time money and energy to getting my private license. Any reason not to?

Edited by pops
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17742

Posted
Posted
I'm aware that nothing in this thread makes a lot of sense financially, but do any of you who took the time to get your certificate(s) regret it at all?
I grew up in my grandpa's 421c and while I could never afford something like that now, I'm in a spot where I can commit the time money and energy to getting my private license. Any reason not to?


No, I don’t regret it at all.

At the same time, it can be an expensive hobby to keep up a perishable skill. As Doolittle said, “flying should be a vocation, not an avocation.” As long as you have the time/resources to keep the skill set up, I don’t think there’s a much more thrilling way to spend your time (with your pants on).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Armybrat

Armybrat 40874

Posted
Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, The People’s Elbow said:

Flying in a 747 for the first time tomorrow. I’ve always wanted to see one up close and personal. 

We flew one (BA) for the first time last summer - direct flight from Austin to Heathrow. Didn’t get a look at the exterior at all because the jetway from the ABIA terminal to the forward door was a quarter mile walk.

It was a really smooth ride, but the old Queen was showing its age.

Edited by Armybrat
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Telegraph_it

Telegraph_it 3359

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, The People’s Elbow said:

Flying in a 747 for the first time tomorrow. I’ve always wanted to see one up close and personal. 

There is no better seat in the air then 1A or 1B on a 747, right at the nose. You are basically looking out front of the plane and views at takeoff and landing our incredible. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Your Mom

Your Mom 4843

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

There is no better seat in the air then 1A or 1B on a 747, right at the nose. You are basically looking out front of the plane and views at takeoff and landing our incredible. 

The left seat a little further forward is better. You know why the 747 has that hump?  

 

 

 

So the Captain has room to sit on his wallet.  Buh dum bumm..

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
elfenix

elfenix 34331

Posted
Posted

The last 727 in passenger service retired last week

https://thepointsguy.com/news/worlds-last-passenger-727-just-flew-for-last-time/

Last time I flew on one was Lima-Cuzco on the way to and from Macchu Picchu in 1999 or so. It was a dawn flight - apparently the runway in Cuzco was so short, and the air at 10,000 feet altitude so thin, that nothing but the 727 could get back up in the air after the sun was up. Deplaned via the back stairs. Seats were tiny. Good times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Homercles

Homercles 10206

Posted
Posted

Yeah I’ll miss the days when aircraft design had some variability. Naturally they’ve all coalesced to underwing engines pushing along a giant tube as the most efficient and easily serviced design, and ETOPS allows them all to be 2-engined outside the queen and whale...but I’ll miss 727s, L1011/DC10s, Fokker, etc.

Back in 2007 when I was in the Philippines for work I took a flight to Boracays tiny little airfield. Flight there was on a BaE 146 with its four engines, high wings and incredibly quiet interior. That landing was awfully intense.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bobby_Batronic

Bobby_Batronic 1994

Posted
Posted
On 11/28/2018 at 9:06 AM, Your Mom said:

Basler converts DC-3s with a PT-6.  That'd be the ride of my choice.

Just saw a video on one of these conversions. They zero time the airframe, all new avionics, controls and systems, the fuselage is stretched 40 inches, payload is almost doubled and cruise speed is increased about 50%. Pretty awesome. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AnotherUTFan

AnotherUTFan 9771

Posted
Posted

Ya, i picked those 2 for a reason.

 

My Dad worked as an Avionics tech for PSA when I was a kid. That was the airline Southwest modeled themselves on, PSA only flew 727s - later adding L1011's. I'm probably the only kid who grew up with a 727 maintenance manual laying around the house. I used to look through it too.

 

Later I was an A&P and went to work for NorthWest. We only had like 10 727s left at that point and they were all decked out for flying sports teams around. For me it was a treat when I got to work one. I remember changing a #1 engine on an overnight once. If I recall it carried the gear for the engine change rather than needing to land at a base equipped for it as most jefs do now. It also had the built in jet stairs that dropped from the espionage, which was cool cause you didn't have to drag stairs to it.

 

That's some of the cool stuff about older airplanes, they were very self reliant. Carrying stairs, tools, etc. Hell, they dont even have fuel dumps anymore, they just land at full weight if needed. DC-10's had a whole patio that opened up unter the back of the tail so you could work on the #2 engine. Even a ladder that dropped down so you could get to it. The old 747-200's had periscopes built into the flight deck so the Navy pilots could navigate by stars if the avionics went down.

 

Speaking of Branniff, I started working out of their old Love field hanger on DC-8's doing contract heavy maintainance for UPS. Dont get me started on those DC-8s. I love those beasts. I worked with bunch of guys who had been fucked over by their bankruptcy, including a pilot who basically stole a jet from the tarmac in Seattle to get back to Dallas after the announcement that the fleet was grounded.

 

I haven't worked in aviation in ages, but I still love thinking about those jets sometimes.

d8023bc70ad336d7f0c13d1df6af946f.jpg

 

f5c6c1fca6c431ea4b9ef6e9c0276724.jpg

 

09381ef34d285e08b8ef9b5b371dc157.jpg

 

d73ecf9257f8475d5602ae786518e9fb.jpg

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Buffsoldier

Buffsoldier 1895

Posted
Posted
On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 7:20 PM, AnotherUTFan said:

Later I was an A&P and went to work for NorthWest. We only had like 10 727s left at that point and they were all decked out for flying sports teams around. For me it was a treat when I got to work one. I remember changing a #1 engine on an overnight once. If I recall it carried the gear for the engine change rather than needing to land at a base equipped for it as most jefs do now. It also had the built in jet stairs that dropped from the espionage, which was cool cause you didn't have to drag stairs to it.

archer-confused.jpg

 

 

(I know what you meant, but it was a perfect opportunity to throw an Archer quote/meme in here).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...