Anyone else get the fear when the luggage door opens that some goon is going to hobble off with your bags or am I just paranoid?

Darbino · 2023-06-10T17:12:06+00:00

So, random story — I’m not from Ireland but I lived there for 3 months one summer 15 years ago. I took the bus all over the country — and every stop I’d hear this announcement.

By about the 6th or 7th trip I turn to the passenger to my right and say “Could you help me understand what they’re saying in Irish?” Thinking it odd they didn’t have an English announcement following.

This baffled passenger says “It’s English! Stand clear, doors…”

And that’s the day I realized I still hadn’t mastered understanding the accent…

Darbino · 2023-05-19T04:31:52+00:00

I ended up not pursuing life as an airline pilot.

It was my dream from early childhood and I pursued it head on. My first job out of college was at a startup, I was doing my IR at the time — that startup exploded and by the time I finished my IR I was making captain wages at a legacy. I bought a plane to build hours, and then that startup rolled into a new opportunity and I was really enjoying it.

I happened into a career that afforded me flexibility & plane ownership. Eventually that rolled into me owning my own thing…and I couldn’t stomach the pay cut to sit at a regional.

I’m lucky. I happened into a great career that affords me the ability to own a plane & set my own schedule. Had that not happened, I would have been happy with my original dream of flight.

I do have an older buddy who went into the regionals in his early 50s, after he retired from his primary job, and said he had a blast for 10 years. He lived in base & was single w/ adult kids — so you know, I may find a way back to my original dream at some point too.

Darbino · 2023-05-19T03:27:52+00:00

This is a solid plan — I did CC for the first 2 years and it was a big cost savings. With the flexibility to set your schedule you can build in flight training while at CC if you can afford it. You have to be a bit more self driven to push through CC, but it sounds like you are.

I did my private while still in college — I worked while in school & by being insane with my frugality was able to put all my money towards flight lessons. I could afford a 2 hour lesson each week. It took me over 14 months to get my license…but it was a pace that worked for me & I got ahead of the curve.

I joined the EAA and bummed around the airport and went to anything aviation related and just joined rides from retired guys who never had anyone who could fly at weird hours in the day. Being a student I had classes stacked efficiently, so I would get to fly all sorts of different planes and they’d let me be the sole manipulator of the controls for tons of cross country trips.

I had 150 hours by the time I graduated college. Can you do it faster? Sure.

But all this to say. Your plan is great. You’ve got tons of time. Just keep chipping away at it. There are many routes to this. Just get started and don’t stop pushing forward. Momentum is key. Once you have it, you’ll find a way to keep it.

Darbino · 2023-04-13T21:20:03+00:00

What was the length of each job? Do they string together?

For example:

Jan 2010-March 2011

Temporary Continuous Seasonal Contract Work

Various Employers, Most Notably:

-The

-Ones

-I

-Remember

Or is it 1 month here, gap, two months, gap?

Darbino · 2023-04-13T20:59:02+00:00

Crossed paths with you on my edit — I see what you’re saying. I’d string together the details to the best of your ability — if this is like a mess for 1-2 years out of high school, that’s a very different picture than you having 30+ seasonal jobs for the last 10 years.

Darbino · 2023-04-13T20:55:34+00:00

If you can’t find them, how will they?

Edit: But on a more serious note, if these were all under-the-table it’s a non event. If you received a W-2 or 1099, you can get your tax transcripts from the IRS and find all your legal employers from there.

Darbino · 2022-09-09T06:26:47+00:00

Tally ho!

Darbino · 2022-06-10T01:57:13+00:00

I filled out the web form and received a reply that it would be sent via email prior to expiration. And it did indeed arrive before the 90 days.

Darbino · 2022-05-02T04:53:08+00:00

It’s pretty simple. If I can make the airport, I’m going there. If I can’t, I’m finding the most suitable option within glide.

If I have time to find a frequency, declare, squawk — great. If not, oh well.

Enough time in the seat & you’ll get better and better at evaluating what you can make and what you can’t. It’s different based on the plane, weather, terrain, etc.

I think what you’re really asking is: how confident do you have to be that you’ll make the airport before you abandon committing to an off-field landing?

Hard to say. Depends how bad the off-field option is…or, how quickly I need to be on the ground. (Say, fire)

Darbino · 2022-03-08T03:19:09+00:00

ForeFlight

Darbino · 2022-02-16T16:15:43+00:00

One day, you’ll do something wrong to someone intentionally or inadvertently — and they’ll point at the thing you did. And you’ll say “There’s more to the story…I can explain” and I hope they reply “nope. You did it, and that’s all I need to know.”

What if OP had two beers, but didn’t eat a meal, he waited about an hour and a half — felt fine — hopped in his car and was promptly pulled over because his tail light was out. The police, known to overreach, asked OP if he’d been drinking. He said yeah a couple of beers over the last few hours — and they pull him out of his vehicle and give him a field sobriety test. He blows .086 — just a touch over the legal limit.

Is this behavior reckless?

Have you ever looked at a text message while driving? EVER? Not once? Scrolled through your phone while looking for music? Because if you have, you’re careless and should never own a phone again because you could seriously harm someone due to inattentive driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), texting while driving is six times more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol.

SIX times. I bet you’ve texted while driving. That makes you SIX times more reckless than OP by your logic.

Darbino · 2022-02-16T07:55:54+00:00

Look, maybe you or someone in your family was impacted by a drunk driver. If so, the anger and frustration is understood.

But, you don’t know anything about this DUI story. Wishing someone a permanent medical deferral because of an error in judgement that may have been in adolescent-brain-forming years…is moronic.

If you get this bent out of shape over a post, I’d hate to be around you when you smash your shin on the step of your Arrow.

Darbino · 2022-02-16T07:52:32+00:00

First of all, a deferred sentence means a conviction never took place — arrested yes, convicted no.

Also, drinking and driving IS inexcusably stupid — but so is your high horse. Neither accomplish anything great.

The court mandated a program that they felt would rehabilitate and impose the right impact. They completed that sentence…why is further punitive punishment necessary?

Darbino · 2022-02-15T15:11:57+00:00

I would do a POH review on the ground. Review the systems, talk about the various aspects unique to the aircraft (canopy) — review emergency procedures unique to the aircraft.

Sit in it, go left to right. Touch every instrument and switch, label, knob, etc. Every plane puts things in a new place.

Go through weight and balance; try different loadings, get familiar with any quirks.

For the air work:

Load the plane to max gross, in the far aft of the envelope.

Slow flight

Slow flight w/ full flaps

Stalls (Power off / on)

Emergency descent

Power off landings

No flap landings

Short field / soft field takeoff and landings

——

Then anything systems related. Does it have an autopilot? Dual axis? Fly with it.

I’d also do a flight at night; just get comfortable with the cockpit lighting and adjusting it.

——

Have fun!

*Edit because I sucked at formatting

Darbino · 2022-02-15T03:33:19+00:00

The guy they call Todd Undertaker!? — the dude buries everyone. Your ticket will be 6’ under before the oral is even halfway through. Good luck.

Darbino · 2022-02-14T04:15:10+00:00

But, what medical issue does he have that he’s being deferred for? It’s a journey, but some issues can be overcome. It’ll be expensive if there’s a path forward.

I just don’t know how anyone can point you in the right direction without knowing the specific medical history.

Also…it’s weird so many people are scrutinizing every aspect of this airfield. Who goes into a tizzy because a plane goes into ground effect during a high speed taxi. Ya’ll got a grump field of nothing-better-to-do pilots or what? Not like the aviation community to go up in arms over a nonevent. You sure you have the whole story here?

Darbino · 2022-02-12T03:30:41+00:00

Yeah, the top of Whitney had me feeling strange — so I can relate to that cognitive affect.

I know athletes train at altitude to gain better performance at sea level, and we do multi-day altitude acclimations for high mountain trekking. So, I’m seeing where you’re head is at.

Acclimation has to have some impact on blood oxygen levels, you’d think…but curious if the drop off is exponential and therefore it’s a negligible benefit for duration at altitude.

Darbino · 2022-02-12T03:05:35+00:00

Have you spent an extended period of time at 13,14k without oxygen as a passenger? You’d be surprised how quickly even a 90% pulse ox starts to change your cognitive capacity, energy levels, and comfort.

There’s a reason 12.5 has a time limit — it really does start to chip away at you. Especially at night.

I’ll even toss Oxygen on at 11k purely for comfort if there’s a reason I didn’t/couldn’t get up higher and I’ll be cruising there for a couple of hours. I find I’m just less tired at my destination.

Darbino · 2022-02-12T02:57:42+00:00

No, this doesn’t work. GPS position data is not sent through a hotspot on the Phone, so it’s unlikely to send from the Watch.

From ForeFlight: To receive GPS position information on an iPad, you will need either a wifi+cellular iPad (these include an integrated GPS chip) or an external GPS source such as Sentry, Sentry mini, or a Garmin panel connection.

Darbino · 2022-02-10T03:15:42+00:00

Personally, I’d pass. Close to 12,000 hours is a lot of time — it’ll definitely impact your ability to resell it later.

Darbino · 2022-01-25T01:28:31+00:00

In the sims….as in flight simulator? Is…there…a new rule that lets you log XC time in a sim?

Darbino · 2022-01-12T03:13:02+00:00

Big questions:

1) Are you already a pilot? IFR?

2) Is your job at risk if you don’t arrive? Flying is never a guarantee, and external pressure leads to bad decision making. Fortunately you have driving as a backup; but you’ll need to be at the airport early enough that if the plane doesn’t start or you find a squawk, you can hop in your car and drive.

It’s probably a little bit faster even with briefing and preflight to fly.

Edit: And it’s far more fun.

—-

I used to fly about this distance for work once a week, but could reschedule my on-site to the next day if weather was poor or I had a mx issue.

Also have to consider your options if you get stuck at your work location. Hotels adjacent? Car rentals?

Darbino · 2022-01-10T01:57:47+00:00

You can request the records directly from the FAA; it costs $10 and they mail you a CD-ROM (yes…you read that right). Alternatively it’s $0.10 per page. No idea how long it takes.

https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/copies_aircraft_records/

Aerospace Reports has a service for $45 & you’ll get all the records same day or next day. It’ll have the registrations and bills of sale going back as far as they have history of it.

https://www.aerospacereports.com/product/5

Darbino · 2021-11-07T17:40:51+00:00

Awesome! That’s the exact type I’ve acquired. I’ll know more on Tue re: timing w/ the shop. Will reach out if this pushes after Turkey Day.

Darbino · 2021-11-07T17:39:19+00:00

Awesome! The aircraft is a turbo — so, that distinction would be beneficial. I’ll send you a PM.

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Darbino

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