Withdrawal?

[noflyingfan]

What's the longest amount of time you've gone without flying? (After your first ever flight. Obviously, if you didn't fly at all till you were 25, that's awhile).

I'm most interested in Ray's answer to this. :)

My answer:
Four years is all. But mostly I have three or four years between trips, so I haven't flown often.

[CaptainStark]

Since I started flying as a profession, the longest spell for me was nearly exactly one year between getting out of the Air Force until my "bounce" ride* after SWA training. Since then, I have never been away for more than a couple of weeks.

Ray:ray

*In the old days (right after the invention of electricity), after completing training, you would go out with an instructor in a real jet and do two or three touch and goes. Then the next guy would do his and then finally the last person. No airline does that anymore because it just wasn't worth the gas and time. A new pilot now flies the first month with a Check Airman (instructor) who shows him the ropes out on the line. Airline training is all about tackling the FAA mandated engine fires and hydraulic failures. Flying into LAX must be done for real and the first time you see it, you have folks in the back and an instructor watching your every move. No pressure.

My bounce ride was extra surreal because we did it at Sheppard AFB. Sheppard shares the runway with Wichita Falls Muni. I went first and for the last few bounces, here I am in a jetliner cabin, all by myself, sipping a Coke, watching the sun go down on the base I first entered the Air Force at. Weird. My tow class mates up front were Navy F-18 guys. I explained to them that a "flare" was a maneuver we do, not a piece of expendable ordnance. They both planted it on the first time but both subsequent landings were sweet as can be. I was so proud of them I wanted to hug 'em when we landed.:kiss

[WillFlyToDisney2]

So Ray, does the Check Airman ride in the jumpseat or is he the First Officer on those flights?

Me? I went from Nov 1989 to June 2003 between the super duper skeery flight from MCO to ATL and the 1st one back in the air from MCO to BNA with the boss man (on Southwest).

I havent been more than a couple of weeks between flights since then and have done several legs in 1 week at times. :airplane

Kelley

[Passenger Mark]

From April 2002, to December 2003, so I guess a year and eight months!

Long enough!