The OTHER Kevin in San Diego wrote:
On Thu, 25 May 2006 22:06:35 GMT, boB
wrote:




Yeah, the loan isn't too bad. Just a tick over $400/month. I just
got a raise which is about that much each month so I figure the
company is paying it back now. I toss in a few extra bucks when I
can and that extra bit goes right to the principal..

I've got a friend who knows everyone there is to know in aviation and
he's already got me interviews lined up for when I get my CFI-H. He
did talk to Papillion last week about getting me in there but I need
about 400 more PIC hours before they'd hire me. Damned insurance
companies... Did PHI send her to the Bell course or was that on her
dime?



I didn't ask. But I assumed, by the way she was talking that she went on
her own. I guess it was an investment which paid off. Papillon goes
through several pilots a season. Chuck was the Chief Pilot back then
(damn, it was 10 years ago) and he was left holding the bag so to speak
when pilots up and went with short notice since he recommended whether
to hire or not. After a couple months I received a request for an
interview with PHI but I asked them if they would put a hold on my
interview because if I left, Chuck would be left holding another bag so
to speak. It worked out great in the end because I met my wife when
she booked a flight on my aircraft. If I had gone to PHI I would never
have met her. Almost at the end of the season Chuck asked me if I would
like to work full time. I told him I would sleep on it and finally
decided to move to Germany for a while with Gabriella. She was a German
tourist on a tour of the southwest USA when I met her. Chuck told me he
could give me a few months off but I was expecting to be in Stuttgart
for much longer than that. My Army retirement was/is more per month than
I was getting at the Canyon anyway. But after the first year the pay at
Papillon went up quite a bit. It would be a great job for hour building
and not bad money after the first year. Very good people there, (at
least 10 years ago)


PS.. I gotta say there was one bad thing flying the Canyon. When it got
windy - 40 knots or so - the turbulence was "disturbing". I had never
had turbulence slam me sideways into the door before flying there. One
day the company asked me on the company freq how bad the bumps were on
the long route and I told them I usually liked having control of the
aircraft most of the time. They shut down the long route. There were
many a scream in my aircraft during the windy season.

--

boB
Wing 70

U.S. Army Aviation (retired)
Central Texas - 5NM West of Gray Army Airfield (KGRK)