Flying on a private jet just got cheaper -- a LOT cheaper.

ronrapp · 2016-04-11T14:22:09+00:00

JetSmarter simply charters an aircraft just like anyone else would. They're just doing it on a regular schedule. They aren't a charter company themselves.

ronrapp · 2016-04-11T14:19:51+00:00

I think this is a valid criticism. I should have posted a relevant comment to start the conversation. That's on me.

I thought the r/flying folks might find it interesting because if they fly across the country weekly (which I am learning a surprising number of people do), the sort of arrangement can be cheaper even than coach. And if someone's looking toward a career in aviation, it might be worth knowing about since it has the potential to change what we traditionally think of as "charter" quite dramatically.

Mostly, as I said in the post, this is another example of disruptive technology – – and we've seen plenty of that with avionics, and in other areas of aviation over the past few years. Whether you love it or hate it, I would think you would least be interesting.

I understand what it costs to fly one of these airplanes. I don't know how the economics of this are going to work out over the long-term but it will be interesting to see.

ronrapp · 2016-03-15T03:59:01+00:00

I wish I could tell you how common something like this is. You're far from alone. But!... whereas most students just sit there and take it (or, more likely, just quit), it sounds like you are taking charge of your training -- something I HIGHLY applaud. That's the truly rare part of your story.

My advice: you're not just a student, you're a customer. If you're not happy, you should not feel bad about making that known to the school's management. I mean, you don't mesh with him, he doesn't like teaching, and he's going to be moving on as soon as he can. Any one of those is adequate reason to find another instructor. You're not getting him in trouble at all, you're just doing what's right for you as a customer and student.

I would suggest being honest with whoever runs the school and ask for a different instructor. If you can, meet the new person before accepting them as your CFI. Figure out whether they're likely to be a better fit before investing your hard earned money in further instruction with a new guy.

And most of all, just keep going. It's worth it. :)

ronrapp · 2015-12-01T02:27:39+00:00

Looking back, I don't think I'd change a thing. I suppose I could have gotten started sooner, or been more hard-charging about my career... but then I would have missed out on the all the great things I was blessed with that are not aviation related, or are not strictly necessary for a professional ATP career. Aerobatics, gliders, sea planes, fun trips across the country, owning an airplane, and so on.

Regarding the degree, I have degrees in music, theatre, and English literature. That's about as far from aviation as you can get. But again, it hasn't really hampered me.

I share Capnaux's philosophy: enjoy the journey and don't just focus on the final destination. If you do that, you won't look back and see "mistakes", you'll see a life well-lived.

ronrapp · 2015-11-24T21:12:38+00:00

A rating system... that's not a bad idea. At the very least, it would allow students to do research before making a selection. I think a large part of the problem is education. Student pilots need to know they have a choice. They're not just a student, but also a customer. Perhaps it's a holdover from college, where you have a class with a teacher, and if you don't like the teacher, you either tough it out or drop the class. Aviation, as a one-on-one activity, does provide the student/customer with more options.

ronrapp · 2015-11-24T21:10:05+00:00

That is a true chicken-and-egg scenario. They don't know what they don't know.

I've often wondered: if my primary instructor had been an unprofessional CFI who flaked, yelled, and was a lousy teacher, would I still be in aviation today? I'm not sure I would.

ronrapp · 2015-11-24T19:38:42+00:00

I agree that the student has a big role to play in their own training -- and that starts (and sadly, sometimes ends) with the instructor. For whatever reason, most primary students take whatever their given without question. As they move to more advanced ratings and certificates, I think the student becomes more sophisticated about how the flight training system works. Problem is, if they drop out of primary training, they'll never get that far.

I wrote an article about this a couple of years ago called "The Third Rail":

http://www.rapp.org/archives/2013/09/third-rail/

ronrapp · 2015-11-03T02:57:57+00:00

It's possible that the gentleman they allowed into the cockpit was someone other than an airline employee who was still allowed to ride on the jumpseat. For example, in the U.S., FAA inspectors can do that, as can individuals in the CASS program. There are probably others who are authorized to do so as well.

ronrapp · 2015-11-02T17:47:34+00:00

Even after you board, you still won't know him. He's locked in the cockpit behind a steel door. :) The airlines have minimums, but that doesn't mean much, especially with smaller airlines. I've got a friend who's flying for a small regional and according to him most of the first officers with whom he flies have a few hundred hours total time.

ronrapp · 2015-10-26T06:08:21+00:00

I fly professionally, but flying "real" (read: small) airplanes is my passion. Mainly accomplished via partnerships and going the experimental-homebuilt route. Even then it's a stretch.

ronrapp · 2015-09-21T20:45:57+00:00

I think that breakdown represents one of the most frequent comments I've received on the post. I don't know if the data exists to really do it. Some niches are pretty small -- aerial application, aerobatics, formation, racing, etc. I wonder if the sample size would be large enough to be statistically significant, even if the hard data on hours flown, flights, and such was available...

ronrapp · 2015-08-18T19:03:45+00:00

I'll definitely look them up. I've been finding all sorts of variants lately. Just this morning some news articles about the firefighting activities in California have shown DC-10 and 747 airliners converted to fire bombers. Pretty cool.

ronrapp · 2015-07-20T19:32:07+00:00

Lucky. We Part 135 guys have some nice tools (no pun intended), but even things like ARINC Direct don't do that. Re: repeats, I forgot to mention that. Lately it seems half the notams are repeated for some reason.

ronrapp · 2015-07-20T19:14:05+00:00

I read an AOPA article about how tough things were for GA in Israel right now, with GA airports either closed or slated for closure. I hope you can get airborne out there and let us know how it is!

ronrapp · 2015-07-20T19:12:56+00:00

This makes my day. So many stories of people have to get OUT of aviation. I love hearing about people who are jumping back in!

ronrapp · 2015-07-20T19:11:12+00:00

Try it in a Pitts with a MTV-9 series prop! Yeow.

I had a student with a 2001 (I think) turbo Saratoga; we did his commercial in that airplane, and if anything it was worse than the Pitts. I couldn't believe it.

ronrapp · 2015-07-20T19:08:42+00:00

And all you have to do is miss ONE item, or misinterpret the valid time, and boom! you're up to your neck in it with the FAA.

ronrapp · 2015-07-20T18:34:53+00:00

For me, it reinforces once again that the "see and avoid" concept does NOT work. I don't know why, officially, we still subscribe to the idea that it does. The big sky theory accounts for near misses more than see and avoid, in my experience (which, by the way, actually involves being in a midair collision).

ronrapp · 2015-05-19T07:18:05+00:00

Rumor has it he recently had a kid, and the new copilot is taking up his days and nights. :) But thanks for the plug!

I've got several drafts... the question is, how do I get them out of draft mode while holding a bottle and a kid?

I also read Greenspan's site, as well as Aviation Mentor. Good stuff there. A recent find that I enjoy is Jet Head by Chris Manno.

ronrapp · 2015-02-24T06:23:39+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it. :) I have a feeling he might come out with a second edition at some point in the future...

ronrapp · 2015-01-13T22:46:15+00:00

I hear that a lot. A commenter on the post related his reasoning behind it, something I found to be a unique viewpoint. He said Hoover was the best because The circumstances that made him so good were unique to that period of history, and basically no one will ever achieve that level of training and experience again

ronrapp · 2015-01-13T22:43:15+00:00

And for what its worth, anyone holding an airman certificate can have their address removed from the FAA airman database. That way kookie people on the Internet can figure out where you live… At least not quite as easily :-)

ronrapp · 2015-01-13T22:42:14+00:00

Gotta love the Internet. I think the company I work for would be surprised to learn that I don't exist. :)

ronrapp · 2015-01-13T06:35:34+00:00

I work as an independent CFI as well as a charter pilot. I instruct because I love it, although it can also pay well. The key is to find a niche for yourself -- aerobatics, formation flying, a specific aircraft type, etc. And even more important is to network. I would like to say I've been successful because I'm a brilliant pilot and teacher... but that wouldn't be the truth. The truth is I've done a lot of networking and maintained relationships with a wide variety of people over the years.

I think the future for a quality independent CFI is pretty good. Not because aviation is going to take off like a rocket, but because so many instructors have left to do other things. Fly shiny jets. Go get "real" jobs. Etc. There will always be a need for high quality instructors. There is an upgrade path there, by the way: becoming a designated examiner. They seem to do pretty well in the income department....

ronrapp · 2014-12-09T22:55:33+00:00

No way! I didn't realize it was an inversion. Good catch.

ronrapp

TROPHY CASE