I think ATPL’s are generally more aware, due to them being placed in a lot more scenarios. Not necessarily better, it’s just they have had a experience that many GA pilots may not have had.

DME

Be carefull Danny
A PA-28 140 is only certified to carry 3 people although it has 4 seats, a PA-28 150 Cadet can carry 4 but has weight & balance issues once you get to 4 adults, and a PA-28 160 should be ok as long as you are all medium sized adults, obviously always take the W&B into consideration for every flight and there may be ‘some’ exceptions to the things Ive stated above.

Dean

Oh, my instructor had four people in that 140. Bad man!

DME

HAHAHAHAHA

Alex,

Skycruiser is most certainly not the type of guy who looks down on any pilot just because he flys 747s. Quite the reverse in fact, he has been very supportive of me throughout my training and has many times commended my desire to fly anything at all whether it be a Tiger Moth or a A380. I had not wanted to mention this yet, and I will not yet be mentioning it in the Commerical forum, but I have recently secured my first airline job which I will be starting in March. It’s not flying 737s or A320, not even BAe 146s or Jetstreams, but I will be flying an eight seater PA-31-350 Chieftan on regional scheduled services in the UK. As a bus driver as opposed to a sunday flyer I have respect for both parties, but I sometimes feel there is not enough understanding of flying as a profession as opposed to doing it as a hobby. I think far too many people thing of us commercial guys as ‘fly boys’ who just want to be doing it for the money, uniform and women. Inside all over us with only a very few exceptions there is a very deep love of flying and basic aviation and that is what fuels us to go into work each day and fly to a schedule and to a strict code. No one is looking down on anyone else here.

In addition to this I can assure you that you are totally mistaken with my attitude Alex and I must say that your belief that I want to only do the bear minimum to become an FO is unfounded and totally untrue. In fact I have done so many added ratings, extra flying, and additional studying of subjects that are not necessary to gaining an ATPL all out of choice and because I want to be a safe efficient commercial pilot with a total understanding of what I’m doing. I would actually pride myself on my commitment and time spent on my chosen career, and although this may sound somewhat arrogant, this is probably the reason why I have gained a job several months before finishing my training when there are probably 400 or 500 guys in a similar situation in the UK who are out of work because they did the bear minimum or just don’t give it 120%. I have explained my reasoning behind not doing my spin training, I lost a good friend through it and after the event I promised both his brothers, his mother and my own family that I would not do my practical spin training if they did not wish me to and I have kept my word on that whilst practising spin training for probably about 40 hours in the sim (and I wish to add, this is not flight sim as you seem to have suggested here Alex). I feel a prepared as can be to pull myself out of a spin. As a ,aviation is about CRM or team work and that’s something I think we should be concentrating on more in every aspect of flying whether it be PPL standard or flying a 747, so lets all show a bit more respect for each other and get along!

Alex, get some more experience of what you are about to do and the world you’re about to enter before criticising others that have dedicated their lives to it.

Martin,

‘for me’ I agree with you. It’s not a fact of pilots higher up the food chain looking down on PPL’s etc, it’s just that they know for more. In my opinion I should be listening to the Commercial guys, getting the experience and knowledge that they are trying to give me, If I don’t agree with them, then I’ll ask them to explain!

I think it is obvious by the way the training is set out that Commercial folk know more, hence them teaching the PPL’s.

P.S. What sort of a/c will you be going into – if you don’t mind me asking.

DME

the truck travelling in front of u might lose a brick though… :rolleyes:
The recover was at treetop level pal, a $hit in yr pants experience, trust me.. 😮

Alex

What sort of height did they enter the spin? I just hope none off mine end up as scary as that.

DME

That helps!

One of the guys at our Scottish based club has an N registered a/c, I’ll have to ask him why that is. It used to have a UK reg.

DME

Interesting flight to NZ and back just before Christmas. Went BA and Quantas as they have until recently been code sharing. Both of these flights were on 747-400. The two longest flights sectors being to Bangkok outward and Singapore homeward. I was amazed at the difference between these two major carriers. The outward BA flight was great, with very good food and service and the cabin staff were very professional. The leg room was fine also. Quantas, however, left a great deal to be desired. The service was patchy and the cabin staff seemed disorganized and to my mind too laid back. The food, when we finaly got it, was terrible. The seating was pitched much closer than the BA flight and was very uncomfortable indeed. If airlines share the same code and charge the same prices I would have thought that everything else would be equal, obviously not. I heard on my return to the UK that BA have withdrawn from the code sharing agreement with Quantas, I wonder why?
I know many people knock BA for one reason or another, but I’ve flown BA on long haul, European and domestic over many years now and have never so far had a bad flight with them.

I found it to be the exact same. I flew BA from LHR to LAX and found them to be excellent, I then flew LAX to AKL with Qantas and found them a bit too relaxed and the IFE wasn’t to the same standard as BA.

DME – the geography of that area of the country is pretty rugged. Finding a nice flat field could take as long as just flying to Shannon, which (other than small and presumably hard-to-spot strips) is the nearest airfield he could make from a brief look at the map.

I think Shannon was his destination. I understand what you mean, get into a nice safe strip – no hassle, but if It was me I would have been looking to land as soon as I saw land (as long as it was suitable)

DME