XJPILOT1

Hey, some of your guys came here (XJ) last year and are CA now!

trent890

It's not that DeHavilland thinks that the interphone is so important that you can't MEL it. It's that the interphone is part of the FAR required Crew Fixed O2 system. You can't hear what the other guy is saying when he's got a mask on his face if you don't use the interphone at that point.

But as a long time Dash driver, I agree with the comments about not using the DC headsets and the interphone. Get yourself a nice lightweight headset, single or dual sided (your choice), place it on your outside ear, and speak up!

You don't have to yell at the other guy if you don't use the interphone. More than likely I'm the only other person in the cockpit with you, so I know that you're probably talking to me. But if you don't speak up, and keep talking quietly, then I'm more likely to think that you're having a conversation with one of your multiple personalities!

trent890

Oh really? I guess the single-sided Telex 750's that I wore in the Dash-8 for 5 years must not be reputable then. And the single-sided Telex 5x5 that a major airline company issued me for flying in the 737, that's not reputable either? I won't even bother with the single-sided headsets that the folks in the tower and at the scopes are wearing.

I can't imagine spending $600 for a headset that isn't going to be compatible with the single-sided operation at other air carriers. Drop a couple of Benjamin's down for a "reputable" single-sided headset, learn to work with it, and enjoy your career!

trent890

PDT never "ripped" the interphones out. Again, the interphones have always been there for communication with the O2 mask on. The only thing PDT did with the interphone on the ALG planes was for a time to swap out the locking interphone PTT on the yokes for a PTT that was spring loaded to center (like the one that was original issue on all HA tail numbers). And this was only done as more of the EX airplanes were starting to be flown by the PDT crews as the merger progressed.

In fact, the interchange airplanes that could be operated by either PDT or ALG while we were two separate companies (tails 979,980,981,982,984) actually had the PDT center-spring style of PTT even while ALG operated them for a few months at a time.

If you believe that the FAA required PDT to "put back" the interphones that had been ripped out, then you sir have been lied to. PDT simply returned each aircraft to its original style of PTT switch. The Feds did not require us to do this. Original PDT crews rarely use the interphone, so we could have cared less whether or not the PTT switch would lock in the interphone position.

rustypigeon

Actually the FAA was involved in the "alleghenization" of the PDT aircraft interphone. The FAA was in the jumpseat on a PDT flight shortly after the merger that was being operated by an ALG crew (that is crew as in crew, not crew as in trip pairing as they say at PDT). The FAA inspector put on the extra headset during the ride and was asking the crew why he could not hear what was going on through the observers station. The CA let the inspector know that they were taught not to use the interphone during the transition training, communication difficulties are to be overcome by shouting. Needless to say, mr inspector was not too thrilled about this and let the company know about it.

Trent, spending 900 hours a year in a dash will affect your hearing. There can be no arguing this fact. OSHA requires a hearing conservation program when the db's exceed 85. A busy residential road = 80db's, inside a bus = 90db's. We all know that a dash is at least as loud as a bus. Most of us who want to listen to our grandchild without the aid of an electroic amplifier stuck inside our ear will protect our ears with noise attenuating headsets. I know we might not look like cool airline pilots with DC's, but most of us got over that image thing when we graduated high school.

G2TT

Anyone who says the dash isn't that loud is either kidding themselves or has never flown anything else. I hated flying with people that didn't use the interphone. After eight legs of that my head would be throbbing. I think it's funny that in the two different jets that I have since flown, almost everyone wears two sided, bigger headsets. Both planes are quieter than the dash, but nobody seems concerned with how they look. I'm convinced my hearing is worse off after a couple thousand hours in the dash even with wearing DC's.

Phuz

Haha, yea I'll be out there taking a picture of that too.. Its just hillarious, it speaks volumes about the company. I had to hunt the damn thing down to get a picture of it too, it was like trying to find a pesky cockroach that keeps zippin' off every time you see it.

And for Farrow's sake guys - lets drop the damned interphone discussion already - its not worth 3 pages of banter, really. If you're a CA - you decide whether or not we're using the interphone today, end of story.

NuGuy

Heyas,

Shouting in the Ocho? Whatever for? That bird was silent as the grave. Now a 1900 or a Jetscream...that's something to cry about.

When I was at PDT, NO one used DCs. Only Telexes or the occational Sony. After 5000 hours, I still hear fine, thank you.

Some more blasts from the past...we were all excited once about -200s...in 1995..and they actually showed up when they were new. The aftermarket APUs worked so well that I actually got asked once to "turn the AC down" in Miami.

RT (old Director of Training) made SUCH a huge deal out of differences training. All the FL crews had to go up to the JAX hangar for an all day ground school.

Also in 1995...BP said "flow through is imminent!". Some new usage of the word imminent, no doubt.

EWN was still a nice place to live and 906HA was old then, too. PC's handlebar mustasche was Epic.

LYH and CHO were both open. A greater measure of difference between two cities in one state you would never find. CHO still rocks.

From all your ex-PDT/Henson bros and gals at NWA (and there are a LOT), we send our best...

Now you kids get off my lawn!

Nu

higgi8f6

So much for us not losing flying. Bids came out for Sept.

CHO went from 22 lines in Aug to 19.
EWN went from 16 lines in Aug to 13.
LGA stayed the same.
MDT stayed the same.
ROA went from 33 lines in Aug to 31.
SBY went from 28 lines in Aug to 30.

That doesn't include build-up lines. So we lost about 6 lines of flying.

Sherwood80

ya, I wasn't realistically holding my breath.