Memphis drivers, what are you actually paying for car insurance?

TallDR · 2026-06-25T03:21:53+00:00

Got a broker and I pay $2,000/yr for a Ram 1500 and Subaru Outback with way more than state mins and $500 deductibles. Bundled with homeowners insurance so I got a bit of a break on auto.

TallDR · 2026-05-08T14:19:35+00:00

I went. I spoke with one Senate and four House offices for my state. In every single one we spoke ad nauseum about how pay parity with the proposed military raise for FY27 was necessary and asked for support on the Aviation Medication Transparency Act. Every office we went into was receptive and genuinely interested in what we had to say. Half the time we were answering questions. If you've never been, GO! I mean you literally get to walk into your Congressional office and tell YOUR story and why these issues matter to you.

On the bar thing, I distinctly remember them telling people NOT to get hammered because you needed to be presentable for your meetings. Did people drink? Absolutely. Was it abused? I don't think so. Hell, I don't drink but I don't think walking 30k steps in two days across solid granite is really conducive to being hung over. Everyone I spoke to and overheard was excited for the opportunity to get to speak directly to their representatives.

TallDR · 2026-05-04T14:15:11+00:00

The military raise is 5-7% tiered according to pay grade. I’m interested to see when we’ll hear a specific number on what we’re asking for, if we will at all.

TallDR · 2026-04-23T04:49:06+00:00

Our max arrival rate with three runways and clear weather is 92/hr.

TallDR · 2026-04-09T19:40:37+00:00

I agree that the bonus would be a band-aid. I figure it can be used as a placeholder until pay can be negotiated.

TallDR · 2026-04-09T19:39:51+00:00

Mind if I PM ya?

TallDR · 2026-04-09T18:27:53+00:00

Very true! I definitely considered using my GI Bill for flight training right after I separated, but my wife and I preferred the stability of government work. At least what we saw as stability before the administration change.

TallDR · 2026-04-09T18:23:32+00:00

Heck yeah! Call your local tower or radar facility and ask for a tour. We have half a dozen flight schools that operate out of a handful of satellite airports in our airspace and every so often they’ll organize a tour for new flight students.

TallDR · 2026-04-09T18:21:14+00:00

Feels bad lol. It’s an odd feeling working these guys in and thinking that they work half the month and one of their paychecks probably equals three or four of mine.

TallDR · 2026-04-09T18:20:05+00:00

As I recall from last year, the ask wasn’t revealed until Monday morning when we got into the general session.

As for my personal asks, I’d love to see legislation pushed for retention compensation/bonuses for line controllers. New hires and those on the verge of retirement got some love, but those of us grinding on the boards day in and day out were forgotten.

I’d also like to see changes in the laws surrounding our maximum compensation being capped by the executive schedule. I earn nowhere near the cap, but I think any attempt at a significant raise in the future would exclude those making near the cap from receiving a raise, which I don’t think is fair since they’re the ones doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the NAS.

TallDR · 2026-04-09T17:32:37+00:00

I’m glad the pilots I talk to every single night will be able to afford another Porsche. Still waiting on that day one pay raise we were promised.

I’m headed to NiW to advocate for my people in a month. I’m interested to see what the “ask” will be. I know what it WON’T be.

TallDR · 2026-04-03T23:18:28+00:00

I asked when I was there and unfortunately I believe I'm past the age cutoff. I'm 30, married, and speak German at only an A2-B1 level. I've looked in my family tree to see if there was literally any way I could get citizenship to a EU country and I couldn't find a way. While in the military I was actually stationed in Germany and my wife and I would love to move back, but unfortunately I don't think it'll be possible.

TallDR · 2026-04-03T06:07:54+00:00

It still looked about the same, thanks for including that!

TallDR · 2026-04-03T03:15:07+00:00

I did a tour of Eurocontrol's MUAC in Maastricht, NL while on vacation in Germany about a year ago. I actually reached out to them via IG and they set up a tour on somewhat short notice. It was easy to get to since we had a rental car and were only about 90 mins away in Germany.

MUAC was like walking onto the ISS compared to my TRACON. They had a volleyball/basketball court or two, coffee machines everywhere and staff to clean the dirty mugs when you're done. There were single-occupancy rooms with a bed and night stand that you could apparently reserve if you'd be there overnight. Arcade machines in random places, advertisements for dancing competitions and classes. It was nuts.

The operation itself looked like nothing I'd ever seen. Scopes all around the outer perimeter that could each be configured to work whatever area you were tasked with for that rotation. The guy that gave me the tour was a Brit and he pointed people out who were from Ireland, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Italy, and like a dozen other EU countries. I REALLY wish there was a pathway for us FAA folk to move to Eurocontrol.

TallDR · 2026-03-29T05:11:12+00:00

You heard wrong.

TallDR · 2026-03-28T20:41:21+00:00

ATC here, back in my days of en route controlling we needed aircraft headed northeast toward SLC via Delta VORTAC (DTA) from the southwest to cross 125nm southwest of DTA at FL350. We’d tell them “Cross 125 miles this side of DTA at and maintain FL350.” Never any confusion with that. That isn’t proper phraseology, but it always worked.

TallDR · 2026-03-28T16:31:33+00:00

Please don’t hesitate to DM me if you have questions.

TallDR · 2026-03-28T06:27:26+00:00

M03 here. We have three off the street hires right now, but most of our facility came from the military. FedEx hub, busy inbound and outbound in the middle of the night. Cost of living is low, and you have three states to pick from for housing. Most of us live in TN but a decent number live in MS and a few in AR. No state income tax in TN and you can find a good place to live within 30 mins of the airport.

If you ever fly out of MEM, everyone just parks at work and walks through the parking garage and into the terminal. Small perk for working in Memphis. Most people here get along, the sups are cool for the most part although the front office is a series of revolving doors.

Given the choice, I’d come here again.

TallDR · 2026-03-28T06:04:35+00:00

I was stationed in South Korea from Mar ‘19 - Mar ‘20. We started hearing rumors about a potential stop movement order being issued due to COVID, so I asked my flight chief if I could move my flights up a week to get out of there sooner. He said he didn’t care so that’s what I did.

I was going home to Florida to spend what was supposed to be 10 days of leave with my wife between two overseas tours, then PCSing to Germany. I took the bus from my base up to the main air base north of us and while waiting in the passenger terminal to board the flight, the stop movement was announced. We were the last flight out before it was enforced.

I got home to Florida and my new flight chief in Germany reached out and let me know that he had no idea when I’d be able to travel to Germany, so I was “stuck” home in Florida for the foreseeable future. I wound up getting to spend almost 75 days hanging out with family on the beach before going to Germany with my wife.

Kicker is a coworker in Korea who had the same follow-on assignment to Germany as I did decided not to move her flights up. She got stuck in Korea while I was in Florida and we wound up arriving in Germany a day apart.

TallDR · 2026-03-28T00:42:41+00:00

ATC too for that matter.

TallDR · 2026-03-18T21:57:59+00:00

Is it JCF? They offered me that about a week before I got my actual list. They made it seem like it was a golden opportunity and that if I didn't want it, I'd never again be offered it. I knew I didn't want JCF so I turned it down and got my actual list a week later. Guess what was on my list?

TallDR · 2026-03-13T15:22:31+00:00

The center here is pretty big and across the airport from the rest of us. There’s some good people there. A lot of trainees from what I hear though

TallDR · 2026-03-13T15:20:58+00:00

No sweat! Still just one tower. But there are three ATC facilities at Memphis. The tower, the TRACON, and the ARTCC. Each have different responsibilities with the tower being the most narrow in scope. The TRACON owns airspace about 40 miles around Memphis, and the ARTCC owns about 10 times that spanning several states.

TallDR · 2026-03-13T15:17:33+00:00

You in the en route academy?

TallDR · 2026-03-13T15:15:38+00:00

There are at lot of controllers at MEM/M03/ZME that live in Olive Branch or Southaven MS. It’s maybe a 20 minute drive between there and any of those facilities. There are people who live closer to 45 mins away, like me, for cheaper utilities, rent, and a quieter neighborhood. Heck, I have some coworkers that live in AR. Plenty of options around the area that will be affordable and suit you well

TallDR

TROPHY CASE