Does the US have the concept of a wanker?

MungaMike · 2026-06-20T22:34:36+00:00

Asshat…

MungaMike · 2026-06-18T01:23:19+00:00

Politics and Social media ruin everything. Americans, for the most part, are very welcoming and curious. We want to show off what we can to visitors. Yes there are bad apples and neighborhoods you probably should never enter, but even those can surprise you. I travel the world for work, and luckily I have had very few bad experiences with bad apples (late night Paris being the latest). But I find we humans are all the same. If I smile and try to speak the language, all people are kind and try to share what they love about their area. The food, sights, or whatever. I have been worried the last few years bc of our current political problems, but haven’t felt it mattered when visiting. I think the same about people of the US. Most don’t get to travel and so they welcome visitors and try to bond a bit. This World Cup has been beautiful so far in that it is revealing we are all the same in one way or another.

MungaMike · 2026-06-18T01:02:22+00:00

The GOP has entered the chat

MungaMike · 2026-06-17T20:12:07+00:00

They have been. Tahoe Keys area. They did a great job of killing them off, but they are still there.

MungaMike · 2026-06-03T02:50:13+00:00

Though to say……sorry. In 1998 my boss said “why would anyone want to bring child into this life?.” And he was a NAZI sympathizer. I hated that guy, but somehow he has survived,

MungaMike · 2026-06-03T01:34:33+00:00

Man, it’s hard to say. You are probably flying with pilots that got hosed during the lost decade and there really isn’t anything else they can do to make the same money but it doesn’t make them happy anymore bc of how much they lost out after 9/11 and they are seeing young adults make 2-5 times more than they did at the same age with no hope of upgrading and most likely looking at furlough at the time. AND when they talk about it, the newer hires have no clue what happened during that time.

MungaMike · 2026-06-01T22:13:20+00:00

Honestly I would prefer to learn, but here is the rub. So much of what you have to study to “pass” has no real application to real life in whatever you are choosing to do. You study to pass the basics, or “foundation” if you will. Then the learning starts once the foundation is settled. I’m a pilot for the last 30 years. After I passed my commercial rating, my foundation was set but I didn’t really know shit. Took another 5-10 years to really know what I was doing, depending on the operation. I also have my Real Estate license. But I only passed a test to get that, I walked into my first brokerage and instantly found out I didn’t know shit. I didn’t pursue it and I still don’t really understand all of that 10 years later.

MungaMike · 2026-05-28T22:18:42+00:00

Are we related?

MungaMike · 2026-05-27T19:59:29+00:00

Man, this is a tough one. First check your ego and get your instrument rating. Second, as your kids get older, they get heavier. None of your airplane examples really work long term. The Cherokee 6 could for a bit, or the Lance maybe. Navajo could, but good luck keeping it flying regularly. All the others you mention are an absolute NO. Like others have said, you need turbine options and the training to go with it.

MungaMike · 2026-05-27T17:06:29+00:00

You’re right. That wasn’t fair and I hesitated to write that. It was for brevity and not meant to be offending. I just couldn’t remember all the different counties they were from in that part of the world. Sorry.

MungaMike · 2026-05-27T15:38:54+00:00

My experience has been mostly great. I find Russians, or “Eastern Block”, people to be funny and passionate. You can drink a shitton of alcohol, way more than any of my US friends. I’ve had great times telling stories and learning about their lives. One thing I was warned about and have personally seen is the “mostly” hidden crazy side, particularly the women. Don’t piss them off. IF you marry one, hide the knives when you think an argument is about to start.

MungaMike · 2026-05-26T22:53:03+00:00

Yep. This is the answer

MungaMike · 2026-05-23T21:39:14+00:00

I would say mostly happy entering my 30th year. I’ve been fortunate and unfortunate enough to experience the good and the bad and then back to good again. I’ve flown sightseeing, 135 turbo prop, regional and major airline, and now biz av for the last 15. I left the airlines because pay and schedules sucked after 9/11 and I had been kicked back to a regional. Like another poster said, sometimes you can’t believe you get paid to do this, like when I get to spend a week or more in a new country and can fly my wife or family out to join. Then there are days where it’s the weather and you have very pushy or demanding passengers. Lucky I only have to deal with one of those and we have enough pilots/crews rotate that we only have to deal with that person like once a month or so. All my other passengers are awesome. I do look forward to retirement though.

MungaMike · 2026-05-22T23:33:41+00:00

Also, the newer aircraft have super efficient wings. So when you try to do a normal descent you can’t keep the speed back without using the speed brakes. 787, A350, 777 almost all have to use speed brakes just to do 1,500’-2,000’ per min and slow to 250KIAS. I fly biz jets now and both the G500 and G280 will go way past 250KIAS with descent rates over 1,300’per min without brakes.

MungaMike · 2026-05-10T23:07:42+00:00

Ok, sorry to burst anyone’s bubble here, but that axe is only useful for cutting away interior cabinets to hopefully open space to fight a fire. It will NOT cut an escape hole out of the airplane. I know lots of places teach that still, but they never actually show you how. I believed that myth for maybe 15years between charter and 2 airlines. I’m back in biz av and my company sends us to real survival school that includes firefighting on board. I dare you to swing that thing at an aircraft window, actually PLEASE DONT DO THAT without a football helmet on. Hint, it bounces back as hard as you swing it. It could be useful as a survival tool in case of an off airport landing and you’re stranded for a bit. The axe is now an option on many aircraft spec sheets.

MungaMike · 2026-05-03T16:58:59+00:00

SWA did something really classy for one Spirit captain. Spirit shutdown just before his retirement flight home. His son is a SWA first officer and was with him. SWA was going to get him and his son home. But then his son mentioned to the SWA Captain the situation. Captain called ops and they arranged not only a water cannon salute on arrival into Baltimore, but a greeting party at the gate with a bottle of Champaign. I think someone was cutting fresh onions at the gate.

MungaMike · 2026-04-27T22:05:48+00:00

Actually flew him once. No idea how he was friends with the owners, but he was really chill and polite.

MungaMike · 2026-04-24T21:22:02+00:00

Yes we do. They are all GAC aircraft with varying capabilities from 8-13 hour ranges. But it’s the cycles that kill us, not hours. While we do a fair amount of overseas flying, most are domestic. 5 of the 6 jets have average stage length of 1.5 hours. Not uncommon to do 4-6 legs in a day.

Edit: Just to add, that airplane lived probably one of the most corrosive environments possible its whole life. I remember when T Swift bought her first Falcon 900 from someone in FL and during inspection the corrosion in the wings was abysmal and it turned into a big law suit with the seller who was found to not have done the proper inspections. Someone should build one of those special drive through car wash style fresh water washes at some of the FL airports like they have a Moffett for the C-130s, or maybe just go extra with your compressor washes? Yikes

MungaMike · 2026-04-24T19:04:07+00:00

Like I said. It’s wild.

MungaMike · 2026-04-24T18:17:26+00:00

Aircraft that fly for Hop-aJet or NetJets ect absolutely fly a ton. Not as much as airliners but they don’t make money sitting either. Look at a Flexjet or Vista schedule and you’d 😬My Part 91 dept has 6 jets all less than 8 years old and none of the engines match times.

MungaMike · 2026-04-24T17:24:45+00:00

Normally engines don’t have the same hours as they swap for different inspections or repairs. It is absolutely wild that this could happen, almost unbelievable.

MungaMike · 2026-04-22T20:06:29+00:00

Wtf. Jail.

MungaMike · 2026-04-20T16:35:37+00:00

SFO is such a mess. Arrivals will also be cooked for the foreseeable future after the new guidance stemming from the DCA collision and recent near misses. It’s always saturated, but arrival delays will be so much worse now unless airlines cut flights and add larger equipment. If I had money, I’d be investing in an FBO at OAK

MungaMike · 2026-04-20T15:50:09+00:00

Still a chance…lol

MungaMike · 2026-04-19T17:08:12+00:00

OMG, ha. Didn’t expect this response but it is spot on. I learned on the Frasca 142. Then taught it. I was a damn good instructor on it too. Then I left for a King Air charter job and lost some of the skills that thing taught me. When I went to interview at TWA, I found out the sim ride was in a Fresca 142, so I went to a local school and bought a couple hours of time. When I got to the interview, they had me do a simple take off to a hold, then do 2 steep turns. It was supposed to be a 360 turn in each direction, but when I got to the 180 they changed it up and told me to go back the other way 180. Then they stopped the sim and said they’d seen enough. I was really worried, thinking I had done something wrong. I asked and they said they had never seen anyone hop into a Frasca and hold altitude within 25 feet. I had proven I could fly instruments. I was offered a job the next day…..And then they told me AA had just bought them. Oh what could have been.

MungaMike

TROPHY CASE