DAL 88 Driver

I agree, Carl. If I were 20 years younger (or maybe even as little as 10 years younger), leaving for SWA would be a complete no-brainer for me.

FlyingViking

What about some of that contract flying offered in Asia? ANA is desperate for 767 CA...

Carl Spackler

It would only be if I got turned down by SWA and FDX. The Asia contracts are great and the money is really strong, but it's hard to also run a small business. FDX or SWA gives you really strong money with the time off to run a business. Best of both worlds.

Carl

Boomer

Well, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

But it does explain why the exhaust sound kept changing. Plus that Nissan ad messed up my retinas a little bit.

acl65pilot

SWA is not somewhere I want to be, I turned them down. (Mainly because I see them as a company that will stagnate, and probably take on a decent amount of debt as the fight to compete with the Transnational airlines of the next decade) FDX maybe, but a two year tour in Asia to get back to a US base may not be good for the SB either. For an Airline DAL can allow a pilot to fulfill their obligations to the company and still get a good bit of time off. I would just bid reserve the rest of my career.

What I am looking at would more than make up for anything I could every make here. If I actually jump in to one in particular, I would be looking at flying as extra in less than five years. It is one of the benefits of taking over a SB that is established, but that someone has not had the time nor the desire to re-invest in. One thing is for certain, there is a lot that I am unscrewing that a group of Doctors did. Man those guys can mess something up.

I am being very deliberate in this process. It would not be just taking a bite off the apple, but swallowing it whole. If this deal is not the one, there will be one that follows shortly after it that I will probably invest in.

Boomer

Here FTB, I stole this for you from some guy on PPRUNE:

The reciprocating Convairs have a wing heated by augmentor duct air from the exhaust. This brings to mind an important distinction.

There are two types of heated wing systems. The system used by the Convair is known as a "running wet" system. It is not capable of evaporating the water impinging the wing. Rather, it simply prevents it from freezing. This usually, as in the Convair, leads to re-freezing aft of the protected surface. The result is typically a sawtooth pattern of thin ice ridges, more longitudinal than lateral.

The more common installation is known as a "fully evaporative" system. This is designed to evaporate the liquid water impinging the wing. The advantage, of course, is the wing will be long gone before the water re-condenses.

One caveat is that all evaporative systems necessarily transition through a running wet period while warming up to operating temperature. This requirement is what drives things like minimum N1 during descent; it wouldn't do to have the system cool into a running wet condition when the power is retarded. This is also one of the shortcomings of such designs as the MD80, in which the wing is cooling while the tail is being heated, and vice versa.

Both types of systems can be used as either anti-ice or de-ice systems. Boeing currently recommends a de-ice method in most designs, although once you select it, it functions as an anti-ice system if you just leave it on.

The required energy is driven by the wing surface area that is intended to be heated, which in itself is a function of how much chord will be protected. It also depends on the operating speeds in the design specification, and whether the system will run wet or evaporate. It can be pretty substantial. Most turboprops try to recover as much energy from the gas turbine as possible; anything that goes out the tailpipe is essentially wasted (yeah, they count it as thrust, but...). So bleed air is a precious commodity, and the energy balance between needs and availability drive manufacturers toward boots. I suppose you could hang a couple of Allisons out there or something like that, but then your specific fuel consumption goes through the roof and the customers don't really care for that.


And all this time I thought they only had anti-skynyrd.

scambo1

Very wise ACL;

I have been doing something else for as long as I have been at DAL. We have done okay and at times very well. The reality of my situation is that I diversified my investments and have 11 high end properties that, while owned outright, are not liquid at this time. Our nest egg is nice, but I dont consider us wealthy.

It doesn't mean I am complaining, all I have to do is look around. The US census said 54% of adult americans dont have $2500 saved, 80% dont have $100k and 90% dont have 200k. My family is not in their boat.

While I count my blessings, I also live very middle class; used cars, bargain grocery shopping, etc. I still save like crazy. I think I had the benefit of growing up poor.

My advice about side business is: Do something you love. Create it yourself. Grow it because you love it and you do it well. Don't start it through debt, start it with used equipment that is owned. Buy new equipment in cash when you can.

Being an employer is a gift. Good employees are a joy, like your own child. Bad employees get the door. Really bad employees get a phone call to the police. Being in charge is a wonderful responsibility because families count on you for their livliehood. You get to see them and their kids grow up, they become like your family.

Some businesses dont go anywhere. Some start making you money from day 1. The latter are the ones you want to be in. Sounds simple, but I've had both and if making money is not happening, drop it like a hot potato.

Good luck with your decisions.

galaxy flyer

Might that apply to the airline biz?

GF

scambo1

airlines are utilities.

Express pilot

So negative on all of this. Why don't we get positive and get 30% plus back and stop all this b.s.
If you walk in to buy a car with sticker price you will get it.
Talking about switching airlines is sad and highlights what our union has done in the past 10 years.
We as a pilot group need to get strong and it's not doing us any favors on this web board b.s about going to another airline. Its like giving up on your team. I'm all for DPA and already sent my card in, but all this another airline is not helping you and your kids.