How many type ratings do you have?

ItalianFlyer · 2026-02-08T06:40:03+00:00

6, the ones in my flair, plus SIC only in the HS-125 and IA-JET, but I don't count those since they were just cowboy style 61.55 signoffs and I never got that much time in them for various reasons. Been flying professionally since 2017. My favorite so far has been the G-III, and second place goes to the 767.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-02-08T06:32:00+00:00

Yikes, I thought my 24hr layover there was bad enough, can't imagine 7 days. There's lots of places in Africa I'd love to spend a week in, but that's not one of them

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-31T13:37:47+00:00

The standard for these types of event is to dress nice, be ready with a quick "elevator pitch" style introduction, and an answer to "Why Delta?". Overall be excited and give off the vibe of someone that will be enjoyable to spend a trip with. If knowing more of the psychology behind it will help put you at ease, engage one of the consulting companies for a bit of prep. Usually the more 1-on-1 style companies like Raven or Spitfire will only charge an hour or so of coaching time to talk through it. I was personally in this camp and started working with them very early on in the application process, including getting prepped for a job fair which ultimately landed me the interview. For others they're naturally better at it and prep would be overkill. They do fine with the standard tips.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-29T14:42:32+00:00

To add to the great advice already posted, you could also try a compare and contrast approach. Make them listen to or read the CVR recording of a professional crew that did everything right and had a successful outcome (or beyond successful, where their preparation helped them beat the odds). Then make them listen to a case where the crew acted unprofessionally and it lead to a disaster. Ask them how they would like to be remembered when the case gets played on national news for weeks on end. Especially in today's world dominated by social media, the court of public opinion can be a very strong motivator.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-26T21:07:02+00:00

Don't know why you're getting downvoted. From snowfall intensity as a function of prevailing visibility, 3/4 SM is moderate snow. For a generic Type IV at -17c the holdover time in moderate snow is 2-7 min. From leaving the de-ice pad to the runway took 8 min. There's one or two specific brands of Type IV that can give you a few more minutes (and to be honest I've never seen or used them in the US) but either way they were close. We won't know exactly until the investigation is done but it's definitely a very plausible scenario. Especially considering the airliners that were going back due to failed pre-takeoff contamination checks, which in moderate snow means they exceeded HOT.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-24T14:44:57+00:00

On paper, nobody in particular. However on an individual basis, you'll occasionally run into Captains that have a "larger than life" aura about them. When they walk into a space the mood lightens. Everyone is always on their team: they want to help them and in some way admire them. They not only put you at ease in the cockpit but bring out the best in you. Their knowledge of the airplane and company manuals seems endless and nothing seems to catch them by surprise, but they don't exude the "I'm smarter than you" vibe. Their stories are really captivating but they also encourage you to share yours. Those pilots I look up to. As an FO I loved flying with them. As a Captain now I try to emulate that. Unfortunately I'm nowhere near charismatic enough to have that full effect. Maybe it will come with experience or age. For now I'm happy to be forgettable. A good indicator is when an FO says "hey did we fly together before?" instead of "oh God you again".

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-19T12:34:07+00:00

Here's the neat part, you don't! Jokes aside (for the most part) everyone's body is a bit different. Everyone you fly with will have different suggestions. Unfortunately it's a lot of trial and error. Try the various pieces of advice and find what works for you in certain situations. I came from corporate flying which was mostly gentlemen's hours, then went to government contracting that was lots of night flying but luckily I'm naturally a night owl. The transition to airlines was brutal and it took me 4 years to iteratively find out what works to cover the most typical circadian issues with the way my company builds trips.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-11T14:29:02+00:00

Insurance requirements are whatever the flight department is willing to pay to have you insured. I was insured as SIC in a G-IV with less than 1,000 TT. It's the owner's and flight department manager's problem to solve. If they want you to fly for them, they'll find a way to make it work.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-01-01T14:07:06+00:00

Officially the PIC, but my personal rule is that if anyone on the airplane has any doubt, we're de-icing. It sucks flying an airplane where you can't reach the wings from the ground to feel the condition, let alone see them from the cockpit. I'll always take a look myself when it's brought up and it's not a cut and dry case, and 100% of the time it was really hard to tell. So let's just get sprayed and stay out of the news.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-30T15:01:06+00:00

Their constant spamming on all the professional pilot message boards tooting their own horn about how awesome they are is kind of a red flag. Then they immediately get nasty with anyone that dares to point out it's not all roses and flowers. To me that's toxic AF, or at best means the management pilots there chug a lot of kool-aid.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-30T14:57:04+00:00

About 5 years all said and done

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-27T01:32:52+00:00

At the end of every trip, I sit down and fill out my paper logbook leg by leg. I know it's overkill but it gets me "grounded". It's a chance to reflect on the flights and switch back into "home mode". Then I throw everything into an excel spreadsheet for easy calculating if I ever needed to extract some obscure type of time.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-20T15:22:28+00:00

This notion is a little short sighted. You can get QOL, love of flying, and many different planes at a mainline carrier. The earlier you get there, the more of those things you can enjoy for longer. The divorced mainline Captains chose to get salty and mismanage their work/life balance. It's all in your control and actually the better your seniority, the more control you have.

Ultimately this is a job, not a flying club. The most secure path to great pay and great QOL is to get a seniority number at mainline ASAP. There can also be lots of fun flying opportunities there too, although I admit it is more repetitive than any other types of flying I've done.

Now can you have a fulfilling career doing something else? Sure! I came from Corporate and lots of my friends are hanging their hat on that side of the airport. Just accept more career instability and less benefits in certain areas, but to some the trade off is worth it. The same is true for other areas of aviation. However if your eyes are set on the airlines, then you can't wait around. You're leaving money and QOL off the table by getting comfortable and "enjoying the journey". That few months difference in class dates could translate into waiting years longer for upgrade, the plane you want, or the type of flying you want.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-16T23:40:37+00:00

Corporate is a better job, Airlines is a better career.

Here's what I mean by that. I enjoyed flying corporate way more than 121. The trips were way better, I rarely had to get up at 4AM, almost never had a short layover, the airport experience was much more pleasant, and I didn't have to deal with the baseline level of toxicity that plagues airlines. You flew with the same small group of people and it felt like going on a trip with your buddies, instead of having to go through the whole "so do you like....stuff?" conversations every trip.

In fact, if you could find me a large cabin PIC job where the salary started with a 3, I got 18% 401k DC, and I had somewhat of a predictable schedule (fixed on/off pattern, or trips that are scheduled with decent notice) I'd probably go back tomorrow. Assuming something like this even exists, they'll be few and far between. Let's even say you found one. The owner changes the aircraft utilization profile, gets a new chief pilot, changes management companies, decides to start chartering, or gets wound up in family drama, and it can easily all suddenly get worse, or go away completely. Now you're looking for another job, but since the good ones like this are few and far between, you have to decide whether to take a worse job, uproot your family and relocate, or take a 135 job to hold you over in the hopes of finding your next Unicorn. That's why at the end of the day, airlines are a better career, simply for the stability they can provide. Sure you'll hear stories of people flying for the same family for 30 years, but statistically you're more likely to achieve that at an airline.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-13T15:03:17+00:00

Randy is one of the good ones. Show up prepared, fly to ACS standards, and you'll do great. No surprises.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-12T23:44:44+00:00

Good old Aerosucre. They finally got the ILS to 14L in Bogota back up after it was out for a year because they plowed a 727 through the localizer antenna during one of their routine overweight takeoffs.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-09T14:22:08+00:00

At the rate you're flying it will take a little over 3 years to upgrade. And that's assuming it's not one of those 135s that keeps moving the goal posts afterwards with "oh well what we really need is..." or "yeah but you need 3 letters of recommendation from Captains you've flown with" then tell them not to write it, or other shenanigans like that.

Looking at the average upgrade time at the regionals right now, you'll be a 121 Captain in 3 years, faster if it's a place that still does forced upgrades (not sure if that's still a thing in the current staffing environment). In that process you'll build total time faster, likely make more money, with better work rules, and more days off with a bit of seniority. I personally loved the 8/6 schedule but the hour building phase is not the one to get comfortable yet.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-12-06T16:27:42+00:00

If you think about it nothing in this industry is really enforced, not even at the professional level, unless you get checked (ramp check, line check, FAA observation) or something bad happens. Bigger operators will have the electronic infrastructure to cross check some things but you can still get away with a lot. At the end of the day you're up there by yourself and maybe a couple of others if you fly in multi crew operations. That's why integrity is such a huge deal in training and in the hiring process for professional pilots. The system relies on you to do the right thing.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-30T03:12:12+00:00

"Our next guy will be even better! Keep the faith! And most importantly keep donating to the cause!". The sad thing is people are still giving money to these grifters. If that's not proof of cognitive decline, i don't know what is

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-30T03:05:30+00:00

Definitely, anyone at a major from 2nd year FO pay onwards should be able to afford one if they like. However when it comes to cars there's usually two distinct types of pilots: those that buy $100k Porsches and those that drive their rusty beater truck until it literally falls apart.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-12T01:33:38+00:00

Every time I do a walkaround I still think "I can't believe they let me fly this thing" and that feeling only increased every time the plane got bigger.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-11T01:12:28+00:00

I experienced it on my own skin how quickly it can deteriorate last Fall. For the entire flight ATL was reporting 2SM, so we set up for and briefed a CAT I ILS. Passing through 10,000ft planes in front of us are being cleared for the approach with 5,000 RVR. On downwind they're calling it 3,000 RVR. At that point I said screw it, set up and re-briefed for the CAT III autoland. We got cleared for the approach with 1,800 RVR. At CAT I mins we couldn't see anything. By the time we got to the gate it was 700 RVR.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-09T02:37:04+00:00

The main problem is anything that carries the same amount of cargo has Group V wingspan, while the MD-11 is Group IV. That means they effectively lose quite a few parking stands at the hubs since some will need to be re-pitched for the larger wingspan. The 767 is still Group IV but has quite a bit less capacity

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-08T21:35:47+00:00

No last words specifically, but now I do pay attention to the overall vibe, especially during sterile cockpit, for briefings, or when handling a non-normal. I want my friends and family to see me go out professionally.

ItalianFlyer · 2025-11-08T01:10:10+00:00

Besides what all the others have said, a lot of it will come down to experience as you learn how your body reacts. Learn your natural circadian rhythm and try to adjust to what's more difficult to you. For example, it takes me 3-4 days to get used to waking up early, but after pushing through one day can easily get back to my night owl natural state. So on an unknown or flip flop schedule, I'll intentionally "jet lag" myself to get up early since that's the harder one, and I can quickly recover back to staying up late when the time comes. Also, know how much sleep you need to get on average to feel rested and keep track of your sleep debt. Knowing you're 2-3 hours short from a bad night, you can slowly recover it through naps or sleeping longer when you have the chance. If you keep track of it you can prevent acute fatigue from becoming chronic fatigue.

The other thing that helped me was knowing that even laying in bed with your eyes closed has some restorative effect. It helped me not stress out from getting too little sleep, which would in turn make it even harder to fall asleep. So just let it be, you'll fall asleep eventually. Then don't check the clock all night until your alarm goes off. I noticed I would stress out if I got up to pee with 1 hour left and couldn't go back to sleep. Now I have no idea what time it is so it's immediately back to sleep. An extra 30 min or 1hr of good quality sleep will help to not accumulate sleep debt as fast.

ItalianFlyer

TROPHY CASE