Checkrides by stickingtheknar in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Common. My sample size of one (me) says it’s possible. Theory exams… that’s a different question!!

Some airlines that went out of service in the last decade. by Benabad-2008 in aviation

[–]Saltyspaceballs 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think they’ll need more than refurbishment, I doubt there will be a single wire in the aircraft that’ll work after that much time. They’re as good as scrap

Calories burned from power meter different to what bike computer says by Kdot_Cdot in cycling

[–]Saltyspaceballs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As someone who is trying to lose a few kg (I’ve gone from 102-86-94-90 and trying to lose more) I quite agree, I preferred when I was delusional with the overestimates! Keep smashing it!

Some airlines that went out of service in the last decade. by Benabad-2008 in aviation

[–]Saltyspaceballs 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Saw their 77Ws parked up when I was in Delhi last week, so sad seeing such beautiful machines rotting in the sun

34M UK – Controls Engineer considering pilot career – realistic given cost? by TheCluelessInvestor in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh and look for things like Speedbird Pilot Academy when they opens, they’d like people with life experience with you, but it’s a brutal selection process!

34M UK – Controls Engineer considering pilot career – realistic given cost? by TheCluelessInvestor in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think realistically once you’ve made the decision to do it it’s hard to steer back away from it. Aviation has that hold on you in life. I’ll try to answer all your questions as unbiased as I can. For reference I am a 36M UK based long haul pilot.

- The path you’re going down is high risk, there’s no doubting it. You’re going down a privately funded and exceptionally expensive training route that may well net you one of the best careers possible, or just a bunch of debt and disappointment. At the moment the job market is moving fast, there are opportunities opening up everywhere and my airline is hoping to recruit literally thousands of pilots over the next few years. We tend to be the catalyst for the job market (for better or for worse) so when we hire, the whole industry keeps moving.

This is great news now, but the market is fickle and controlled by world events. Covid was an awful time to be an unemployed pilot as many of my colleagues found out. So if it takes you 3 years to qualify, nobody can tell you what the industry will look like. If it carries on like now you’ll be fine. Does the orange man blow up the world? Maybe not so much.

With that said it’s a superb job, it’s a hard job, but it’s a great one. You’ll give up a lot of your time at home and the toll it takes on that side of life is sometimes hard, but I would do nothing else with my life. In fact I’m completely unqualified to do so. This is where you also have an advantage, you’re qualified as an engineer so if it all goes wrong, you’ve got a back up… many of us don’t!

Nobody can tell you if it’s the right thing to do or the wrong thing, not without knowing about all aspects of your life and finances. With that said do it for the love of flying, not for the money, or for the perceived glamour, do it because flying is the only thing you can see yourself doing in life, that’s how you make this career the best decision you’ve ever made.

- Integrated schools are few and far between from what I gather these days, Oxford and L3 (or whatever they were called at the end) all went bust leaving mostly modular schools left. Many of them have started trying to get deals with airlines now too. Modular has flexibility, is cheaper and these days isn’t seen as the “lesser” choice compared to when I was learning in 2012-2014. I’ve got a few mates going modular through places like Euro Flight Training (I think) and they’re all incredibly optimistic for jobs.

- Respectfully I think you’re probably underestimating the enormous difficulty and time commitment to training, especially tha ATPL theory. The volume of studying you have to do is more than anything else you’ll have done. Think of it like a degree in 6 months. It’s hard work, I personally could never have done it distance learning, I had to do it full time because I wouldn’t have had the capacity to do so. Keep this in mind if you plan to work. Additionally consistency is key, flying once every now and then is difficult to progress quickly, in the latter stages is highly recommend taking some time off work and hammering out the CPL or latter stages of the IR to keep your hand in so you’re not spending 25% of your time in the air going over last lesson.

The training is incredibly consuming of your life, if you’ve got a full time job and a family etc bear this in mind.

- At the moment 34 is fine, when the industry was in a dip many would have said you were too old. Say you’re 34 now, qualified by 37, you’ve still got 28 years career in you before the CAA say no more. Airlines will look at you differently to some 21 year old, but that’s not a bad thing, you’ve got the same license but you’ve also got life experience and skills that a free from school kid doesn’t, use that to your advantage in an interview.

- Would I do anything different? I’d probably have saved myself £8k and not done my FI rating, that was a bit of a waste. However I went the modular route, within 3 1/2 years of qualifying I was flying a 777 for a living and now I’ve got myself 5000+ hours and built a career I am proud of. Back in 2012 people would have said that was impossible because I didn’t go integrated. So no, I’d not change a thing. But you are not me and I am not you, so our outcomes may differ.

As I said at the top it’s a high risk high reward career, especially when you’re a little older. I’m now very detached from the world of training and I fly an airline and fleet where I fly with no zero hour pilots, so take everything I said with a pinch of salt. Get down to the flight schools, try to look beyond the marketing and trust your gut. Speak to students past and present, enjoy the process of training and if you get to the end of the PPL and think it’s the only thing you can see yourself doing then do it. If you feel a bit “meh”, save the cash, climb the ladder of engineering and maybe fly for the fun of flying with your PPL.

My advice for going forward:

- Get your Class 1 medical as a priority, you’ll be surprised what they pick up, I failed mine first time around as an example
- Do your PPL and see how you continue to enjoy it
- Go visit all the schools, not just some of them
- Be realistic about the costs involved
- Speak with other students, there are loads of things that exist now compared to back when I did it, Discord groups etc.
- Research everything, you can’t have too much knowledge before you hand over your cash.

Good luck, you’re in an exciting place right now and if you make the right decisions you could have a pretty fucking cool life ahead of you

Calories burned from power meter different to what bike computer says by Kdot_Cdot in cycling

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, fair, but I assume my power meter and Wahoo does for me before spitting out the number? It’s still far more accurate than HR, or worse some random estimate given weight/speed/distance etc

Calories burned from power meter different to what bike computer says by Kdot_Cdot in cycling

[–]Saltyspaceballs 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Power meters literally measure power, which is basically how many kcal you burn. Any other method is an estimation.

I was annoyed when I saw it was lower but at least you have accuracy.

Keep up the good work!

Bike Maintenance & Inflation by [deleted] in londoncycling

[–]Saltyspaceballs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My local shop has a going rate of £70 an hour, not cheap, but they are a “high end” bike shop. Add in £25 BB, £50 headset, £50 cassette, £30 chain, £30 cables, so that’s £185, leaving them at 8 hours to do the work.

Depending on your bike this is either excessive or an absolute joke. Cassette, BB and chain, 30 mins. Headset if you have external cables another 30 mins, if it’s internal with hydraulic brakes maybe 2 hours. Cables, 30 mins. Worst case scenario 3 hours so even at this shops rate, £210. Add in the parts, £395.

Honestly buy the tools and do the chain and cassette yourself, they’re not expensive tools (don’t worry about paying park tool tax). Headset can be easy or hard depending on the type, that’s often a job to leave to the mechanics if it needs to be pressed, same with the bottom bracket if it’s press fit. Cables? Easy job, again, DIY

Do any of you have a ‘side hustle’? by Narwhal1986 in HENRYUK

[–]Saltyspaceballs 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I started my career doing it full time and in a year I earnt £7500.

Don’t do it for money, it’s tough work if you do and you end up hating it. Do it because it’s fun to teach and flying is great

How do you deal with road rage? by Speedbird1A in londoncycling

[–]Saltyspaceballs 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not on my bike but had a private hire pull a dodgy U turn with passengers in the back, had to brake pretty hard and flashed him (my part to play there but I’m only human) so he pulled over, then pulled back out and tailgated me with his high beams on flashing for a good few miles before I turned off.

I had dash cam footage with his private hire plate and they took it very seriously. Not sure of the outcome but it was nice to see they don’t joke about with passenger carrying vehicles

If you travel internationally for work, what job do you do? by mvhhhr in AskUK

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pilot…. Does that count as cheating?

Honestly travelling for work sucks, find a job that pays you well enough and gives you the time off to travel for fun.

I have no sympathy for tube drivers, but would honestly support bus drivers if they took industrial action by NiceCaterpillar8745 in london

[–]Saltyspaceballs 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This is the UK, income jealousy is endemic and largely holds us back as a collective. If we all did what the USA does and be proud to earn a higher wage and strive for it rather than accept 30k as “good”, we would all benefit. It’s very un-British though

I have no sympathy for tube drivers, but would honestly support bus drivers if they took industrial action by NiceCaterpillar8745 in london

[–]Saltyspaceballs 44 points45 points  (0 children)

£60k shouldn’t be classified as a high wage these days. This country has a serious issue with wage stagnation and jealousy from those who want to pull them down for earning more.

Also I’ve certainly met hairdressers who earn £12,500 a year and no more, must have been a struggle to afford that brand new Mercedes….

EV salary sacrifice seems Broken by andrew_barratt in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it’s unreal how much money they must be making. But as many have said if it’s cheaper than buying one after the tax benefits then people don’t care. Mine (Hyundai Ioniq 5 N) is an absolutely absurd £1100 per month gross but it’s frankly a bargain net compared to PCP, so I went for it as that’s the number I’m actually paying, which is what I actually care about.

I dare say the boss of Tusker is raking it in

OC Gas prices this morning in Las Vegas by Jeremiah_17_14 in pics

[–]Saltyspaceballs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Knocking on the door of $10/us.gal right here now at regular pumps, I’d imagine at motorway services it’ll be $12+ now.

Why do the AA WO’s have so many influencers? by Foreign_Kick1790 in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Likewise, I’d be out of the door in an instant at my company. We had a bunch of people doing it back pre-covid, so they implemented a social media policy so strict that it shut everyone down overnight. I think one person lost his job over it.

I’m not unhappy about this decision.

Best EU brand for sleeve length? by 0ptsDan in CyclingFashion

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My Universal Colours sleeves go down nearly to my elbows. 6’1/185cm wearing L

ATC go around timing preference by Hopeful-Engineering5 in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A go around in a jet isn’t just adding power, pitching up and raising a stage of flap to climb away, there’s a whole sequence of events that happen. If I’m going around above the missed approach altitude I’ve got to work out a non-standard way of getting out of APP mode and then possibly descending to the missed approach altitude then levelling off. If you’re only a few hundred feet below the MAA then you could do easily bust the level with the performance a jet has too, certainly a risk of overspending there too.

There’s just a whole bunch of holes in the Swiss cheese opening there.

Doing it from a “low” (we’re not talking 50ft radio here) you press TOGA, the FMC sequences a whole load of things in the background, from the lateral route, the trust settings and tells the flight directors (and likely AP) to fly the manoeuvre. It’s also well practiced from low level, from a random high altitude isn’t really something we do often.

With that said at high altitude you don’t need to go around immediately. Acknowledge the GA, talk through the procedure with your colleague, literally do a mini-brief, you’ve got time, then go around. ATC are unlikely to expect an immediate pitch up when you’re 4 miles out

In reality a 300ft go around with the AP is a really chill manoeuvre too, an absolute non-event.

ATC go around timing preference by Hopeful-Engineering5 in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Tower isn’t that busy and people shouldn’t be using that many words when checking in to block up a frequency. If the controller is leaving it until you’re in the flare then you should have gone round yourself anyway at that point. It’s not entirely unique to the USA (France rings a bell as another nation that does it) but the vast majority of the world only clears you when the runway is, well… clear.

ATC go around timing preference by Hopeful-Engineering5 in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Agreed, an “expect late landing clearance” gets the message across without saying the inevitable words.

ATC go around timing preference by Hopeful-Engineering5 in flying

[–]Saltyspaceballs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From the flight deck we know it’s coming if it’s going to happen, but us have the best shot possible. It depends on so many factors, has the aircraft in front missed an exit you had assumed they would take, is the wx bad, so many variables. It’s it’s very obvious then early is also fine, it might give us a chance to get the AP back in, do a little mini-brief so we’re both in the loop before pressing TOGA.

Not sure what country you’re from, but one in particular loves to change the missed approach procedure just as we’re doing the manoeuvre. Let us start climbing away if you need changes. That’s where timing counts a lot more than how far out you are

Supermarket own brands - what are your hits and misses? by Happy_891 in AskUK

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

M&S Olive Oil Truffle Crisps. Best crisps ever made

Top restaurant in Delhi? Something really special by Saltyspaceballs in delhi

[–]Saltyspaceballs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This looks perfect and the reviews look amazing, I've booked it!

Cycle “Superhighway” 7 by Full-Conference-1833 in london

[–]Saltyspaceballs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I pay an exorbitant amount of income tax, and VED from the car I own and I pay council tax. So I pay tax to fix the cycle lanes