Check rides. An hour or two (or more!) of your life that shows just a sample of your knowledge and abilities. Kind of unfair. We all have bad days. If a bad day conicidies with a check ride it could haunt you for the rest of your career. I’m no Superman. Just an average guy, [...]

Slooooow times for me. Flew 2 hours last week. Sat airport reserve 4 days….32 hours. I’ve discussed in the past that I did all my flight training at AllATPs. I did the Self Paced Program for both the Private and the Airline Career Pilot Program. I started with 0 hours on May 5, 2006 and [...]

Two years ago (today I think) I interviewed at my airline. Prior to the interview I studied gouges on line (I used the Will Fly For Food gouges), bought a suit (haven’t owned one since I was a kid), a red tie (not solid red…but red was the main color) and a soft briefcase. I [...]

I showed up for Jury Duty yesterday…waited around for 3 hours…got picked for a Jury that was called in at 9 AM today. I was initially worried about losing money. Once I got home I checked my contract….I get full pay for each day. After a quick call to crew scheduling I was cleared for [...]

Flight schools don’t issue pilot certificates. The FAA does. The FAA could care less where a pilot recieved training. As long as the pilot meets the standards imposed by the FAA examiner, they get the certificate. The proof is in the pudding. When people choose schools, they do so for a multitude of reasons. There [...]

GPS (Global Positioning System). Those three letters have changed the way we live our lives. Twenty years ago most planes got from point A to point B by flying along airways created by ground based radios (VORs or NDBs). Ten years ago most people in the United States got from point A to point B [...]