Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Glasgow

I’m on my last trip for Evergreen; the mission is to ferry a LearJet 35A from UAE to McMinnville, OR. I’ve been gone for two weeks and still no end, I may end up flying commercial home. We left Dubai a couple of days ago and made it as far a Glasgow, UK. During the pre-flight walk around the pilot flying with me found a loose wire next to the left engine fuel shutoff valve. We found a mechanic to work on it but so far he has not found the correct “pin” to replace the defective one.

I’m like a horse with the smell of the barn, all I want to do is strap the Lear to my ass and fly. If we get out of here this afternoon I expect it will still be a couple of days before I’m home. I’ll give it one more day then I’m pulling out the AmEx and buying a ticket out of here.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Goodby Evergreen

I have posted my resignation letter. I’m on what I expect to be my last trip as a corporate pilot and boy did I pick a dozy. I’m bringing a LearJet 35A back from UAE to McMinnville, OR. So far we have made it from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. We have been in Dubai for almost a week and I do not expect to leave here for a couple more days. I expect once we are moving it will only take two or three days to finish the trip. The good news, by the time I make McMinnville I will be through flying for Evergreen.

My new gig will be teaching. Life many times comes full circle; this is one of those times. I started flying so I could teach. That was all I wanted to do. The realities of life soon convinced me that I would have to find another way to earn my living or starve. As they…. who ever they is…. say the rest is history. I’m looking forward to the opportunity of returning to the classroom and to the Sim.

Hard time off had a little to do with it as well.

What a Company

A friend wrote the following in response to one of my emails:

“What an amazing company, but I have a feeling we have no idea what goes on behind the scenes that make your missions so unpredictable. They are tied into a lot of situations we will never know about”.

Oh how I wish you were right. I fear it is nothing but incompetence and ass covering. This trip is a prime example.....Smith was on my boss’s ass "I want my airplane here now". So JK is on the mechanic's ass in Abu Dhabi. The mechanic in Abu Dhabi tells JK that the airplane will be ready last Sunday even though he knows there is no way in hell it will be to get JK off his ass. JK then tells Smith the pilots are on their way to Abu Dhabi on Saturday to pick up the aircraft so he gets Smith off his ass. I know it happened that way because I was sitting in JK’s office while all the conversations were taking place. When I had talked to the mechanic about the airplane the night before he had told me it would not be ready before mid week at the earliest. Pure ass covering, so I get to lay around a J.W.Marriott for a week ($500 USD/day/room) paying a contract pilot $1,000 USD a day just because no one will tell Smith the truth. The only reason the company makes money is because of Crony Capitalism, we suck on the government teat. It always amazes me how many right wing nutjobs owe everything to fucking the government but if you were to ask Smith or any of his kind they would tell you government was the problem not the solution. That it is all those welfare queens and immigrants that are sucking the US dry.