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Flying commercially

Airborne_Again wrote:

So you don’t do a preflight check according to the POH? Most people would and then the 15 minutes at the airport could easily become 30. And you have to refuel the aircraft at some point even if you don’t do it before the flight.

Why would it? I do a preflight pretty much ‘by the book’, and it takes about 5 minutes.

My preflight is abbreviated, not exactly by the book, and 5 minutes is plenty

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 12 Sep 03:32

Dispatch rates can be high and for me close to 100% due to the following reasons:

  • Flying IFR instead of VFR gives me way more options to fly, even in a non-FIKI aircraft like a Piper Arrow without any de-icing equipment;
  • The aircraft is FIKI approved and capable (enough power): now I can fly even more in winter time in the SR22T while others sit at home next to the fireplace;
  • Being current in the aircraft type you are flying helps a lot;
  • Being current yourself and confident and with experience flying IFR, the weather helps brings the percentage up.

Being self-employed with no kids living at home anymore and a wife that loves to join me on my flying trips means that I have no issues with get-there-itis.

I have a deep respect for the weather system and stay well clear of thunderstorms and severe weather. But I am not sure how many people actually know enough about weather and how to interpret the data to feel confident to fly out when the opportunity arrives.

EDLE, Netherlands

But I am not sure how many people actually know enough about weather and how to interpret the data to feel confident to fly out when the opportunity arrives.

It’s a lifetime job

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

I stay at home without a fireplace :-)

I fly IFR too, i know the airplane very well. I have a satellite wx receiver, next best thing to onboard radar, a very good autopilot (DFC90), a CAMO maintainef airplane with 1000 h TT – and still i would not do the hardcore IFR flying others do.

I guess it comes down to personality type. I was never among the very brave one in airplanes. I’m ok jumping into the sea from a 30 ft cliff, but i do not feel well in icing conditions/moderate turbulence. So i avoid it.

Personality plays an important role in how we perceive and deal with risk.

EDLE, Netherlands

Personality plays an important role in how we perceive and deal with risk.

Can you be more specific, @Aeroplus?

IMHO personality plays a huge role in the perception, but only knowledge and experience play a role in how one deals with it.

Pilots who are aggressive / ebullient / etc but clueless (or inexperienced and unwilling to learn) will just get killed. Maybe not right away, and maybe not before they run out of money or get bored and find some other hobby, but for sure they will get killed if they keep taking big enough risks for long enough.

I know of aggressive / ebullient pilots who have survived for a surprisingly long time despite taking big risks, but I happen to know that they are actually quite experienced. And all of them are flying planes which can get them out of most sh1t. I won’t mention specific aircraft types because the GA community isn’t that big

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

There are pilots who only fly to an airport after sending 5 faxes with questionnaires and receiving an answer with stamp and apostil including the certified results of the last ICAO fire fighting audit of the airport.

There are pilots who just fly, even when they don’t have the formally required PPR/slot etc. saying it will work somehow and if not, they come up with another solution.

And no, this is not a function of knowledge and experience because both types may have that. It’s a matter of personality…

There are pilots who just fly, even when they don’t have the formally required PPR/slot etc. saying it will work somehow and if not, they come up with another solution.
And no, this is not a function of knowledge and experience because both types may have that. It’s a matter of personality…

I don’t mind somebody taking the p1ss out of me, but that’s nonsense, because PPR/PNR is nothing to do with safety.

The very worst that can happen to you is that you get refused the landing clearance, or maybe (during Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany) the destination will just stuff you by cancelling your flight plan.

Certain nationalities can take an “easy” point of view on this because (a) in their country there is no such thing as PPR (well, not at any airport which they can afford) or (b) the way their country works is that a local language speaker can get away with anything. Or they have inside info e.g. you can get into Bournemouth EGHH without getting PPR… presumably because ATC got fed up with so many cases of it. Unfortunately this cannot be transplanted to flying internationally. Try flying to Padova, Italy, or Corfu, Greece, and see what happens. Not many pilots will be writing about what happened afterwards on a forum

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

PPR is more frequent at non-controlled fields, perhaps even non-towered so that none isp resent to refuse the landing. If not calling such a field before take-off, there is no way to detect the place is closed because (for example) the runway is water-logged (except in silly Belgium where they still use the old-fashioned signal square). And the result will be the same for a local pilot as for a foreigner, and it is unlikely to be a good result. So yes, PPR can be safety-related.

Last Edited by at 12 Sep 12:48
EBZH Kiewit, Belgium
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