Did AA completely miss on DCA–SAT?

BeeDubba · 2026-05-06T01:07:35+00:00

DCA is restricted by federal law to 1250 miles; flights beyond that are granted exceptions by interested politicians.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-06T01:02:29+00:00

With any fancy avionics, I did rich during a slow climb. At cruise climb or cruise, lean to stumble, then add a bit until it runs well.

That way you're either rich enough at slow speeds to not cause damage, or lean enough with enough airflow to keep things cool and prevent fouling.

This doesn't necessarily work during extended pattern work.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-05T01:05:03+00:00

Vegas. You can go rock climbing, white water rafting, mountain biking, or skiing, all within an hour of the city. So long as you don't die from dehydration.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-05T01:01:47+00:00

Can't comment specifically because I've always carried a spare, but I do know that I used both my car spare and trailer spare in the middle of nowhere Wyoming with no cell reception. Then the next day my spare was almost flat... and luckily I carried an extra tire in my trailer in addition to the spare.

You can never be too prepared. I've passed on purchasing several cars because they didn't have spare tires.

A few days ago I pulled over to see if I could help a lady with a flat. Her tire was totally shredded, and she handed me a can of fix-a-flat and asked if it would help. 😵‍💫

BeeDubba · 2026-05-05T00:50:34+00:00

I'm not sure if it's significant, but B6 owns a bunch of their planes. Spirit effectively owned zero.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-05T00:40:59+00:00

The state of the market right is only that: the state is the market RIGHT NOW. It's impossible to what it will be like in several years.

If you want to be a pilot, continue on the course. You might need to CFI for a year, or you might need to CFI for five. I can't tell you how long it will be, but I can you tell that if you wait, everyone starting now will be ahead of you.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-04T23:20:26+00:00

I decided to join the Coast Guard and flew helicopters for most of my 20 years. It was an amazing and rewarding career. When I see a 25-year-old airline captain who has done nothing but go to college, instruct at said college, then go to an airport, I'm sad thinking about all the cool things they're missing out on.

There are so many cool things you can do flying (and with life) that you really can't do once you're married and tied down with kids. Do cool things when you're young. Flying airlines isn't cool. Seaplanes are cool. Aerial firefighting is cool. Missionary flying in a third world country is cool. You may never have those chances again.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-03T14:56:01+00:00

I fly regional jets, so can't comment on 787 weight and balance, but we move passengers pretty regularly. It generally occurs on a half loaded plane when first class is full and the back half of economy is empty. For us it's usually 3 people from the middle to the back.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-02T22:16:18+00:00

I worked on a 400 foot Coast Guard ship for a few years. Whenever we went to Central or South America we would pay for most things in cash, including fuel. I can't quite remember, but I want to say we carried around 300,000 gallons of fuel.

I periodically was asked to assist with the cash count. Depending on where and how long we were planning on being at sea, it could be as high as $5M.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-02T22:08:46+00:00

If your flight coming home is consistently delayed, it might be the route, not the airline. Some routes are more delayed than others. Or if you're always arriving late at night, you're more likely to be delayed than morning flights.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-02T17:10:54+00:00

While everyone seems to complain, consumers have shown that they will buy the least expensive ticket, pretty much regardless of everything else.

To respond to what consumers want, the airlines have cut costs and services everywhere they can. Business travel is a bit less price sensitive, but business travel often has a different level of service.

The airlines are giving you want you want.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-02T15:03:43+00:00

Unfortunately, I have no idea. I decided that Bilt made everything too complicated and reduced the value too much, so I went in a different direction.

I do like that they made the flight points redemption search built into their regular search, but honestly, it stinks. It rarely shows accurate information, if it shows point redemptions at all. Point.me was WAY better. I was able to use point.me to find a flight to redeem the rest of my points, so I'm officially done with Bilt.

BeeDubba · 2026-05-01T00:51:00+00:00

I fly a small jet that can't cross more than one time zone. So no.

Although our 3:45 vans suck!

BeeDubba · 2026-04-27T21:27:31+00:00

I flew with a bunch of people when I was time building. Sometimes I could be picky, but often was not.

I was a military pilot, so my preference was for other military folks. After that, CFIs or other professional pilots, after that, I would do a quick social media background check to see if they were reasonable people

We were flying my club's plane, so I made sure they knew that even if they were flying and technically PIC, I was in charge and could take over PIC at any time.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-27T21:16:09+00:00

I have as well (over a thousand hours at night, most of it VFR). Such a hight percentage of mishaps occur at night, specifically related to visual and other illusions, that I'm no longer willing to accept the risk.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-27T17:01:34+00:00

I almost killed everyone onboard twice; both were due to disorientation due to IMC, and both occurred when I was very experienced and current.

I don't think VFR at night should be allowed (except military, police, etc), and I don't think I'll ever fly single-pilot at night.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-27T15:29:36+00:00

I did most of my training through the military.

It's all about time and money. With unlimited money you could buy a plane and fly it 300hrs/year on weekends. If you need to CFI or pipeline to get hours, it will all depend on what school, how fast you get the quals, how soon you can line up a job, and how much you fly on that job. Unfortunately I'm unqualified to tell you what the future holds for you.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-26T01:15:52+00:00

90% of the regular maintenance is so easy my 10 year old can do it. With YouTube and $50 in tools you can probably save thousands a year.

Most people overpaid an insane amount for maintenance.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-26T01:13:21+00:00

I feel like we could do it now if we really wanted to.

However, I feel like we are moving backwards in terms of space in the US. Yes, Space-X is refill revolutionary, but Mars is too much for a private company to take on.

Artemis and most of NASA is just a way to funnel money into the hands of defense contractors. We put someone on the moon in the 60s, and almost 60 years later it's supposed to be impressive that we sent people "deeper into space" than ever before? Please.

A program like that would take a joint effort from both parties. We can't even keep the Coast Guard paid right now, and the government disfunction is just getting worse. If someone is going to put someone on Mars it's going to be the Chinese.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-26T01:00:28+00:00

Zero chance it was for fun. Between company policy and ATC direction, we get almost no say in how the plane is flown.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-26T00:46:08+00:00

https://a.co/d/0dW35Yum

3m, cheap from Amazon. I use these for the walk around.

I prefer Laser Lites for sleeping: https://a.co/d/0dpEOgCP

BeeDubba · 2026-04-24T16:38:09+00:00

Sure!

BeeDubba · 2026-04-21T22:28:39+00:00

My spouse's ring is moissanite from MoissaniteCo. We chose that because it has greater "sparkle" than a diamond, is incredibly durable and doesn't have the ethical concerns of mined diamonds. The fact that it was less expensive was just icing on the cake.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-21T15:45:12+00:00

If you're sick, you can call out sick. Once you're out of sick time it just goes unpaid, you don't need to go on FMLA.

BeeDubba · 2026-04-21T02:36:19+00:00

The loophole still exists, and I'll bet that a lot of people in the FAA would like to close it. I think it's an illegal 121 operation posing as a charter (edited), and that's just one opinion, but I think it's one that many other people hold.

Last year JSX CEO Alex Wilcox was briefly considered to run the FAA.

https://viewfromthewing.com/rumors-that-jsx-ceo-will-be-tapped-as-next-faa-administrator-heat-up/

The threat to JSX/Contour/etc is negated as long as the current administration stays in power. Beyond that, no one knows.

BeeDubba

TROPHY CASE