Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Welcome to an aviation podcast that caters to all aviation enthusiasts, ranging from pilots to airplane spotters. Our show covers a wide range of topics, including private pilot training, airline operations, and the latest aviation news. Our knowledgeable host, an experienced airline pilot with eight years of flying under his belt, is thrilled to share his own experiences and offer valuable advice to help you pursue your aviation dreams. We are here to support you on your journey, constantly wishing you Tailwinds & Sunshine!
From the Baltimore studio in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this is The Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast. You know, I don't know if that's your intent and just kinda start the conversation from there, you know, because I found out that sometimes when you communicate that, the person was not even aware they were doing that, and they'll back off a little bit.
ATC:Possible pilot deviation. I have a number for you. Adviser to 8 copy. Dude, this 777 has been really fun to fly. It's honestly just a bigger Embraer 175.
Manny:But the fact that they were sitting on that runway knowing there was a heavy coming their way, unacceptable.
Rachel:I'm from the central part, so I'm from a town. We have more cows than people where I come from. Very country.
Micah:The aches I have, I can go on. Number 1, when the jet bridge is pulled back and we're ready to push and you guys don't have your headsets on.
Patrick:The plan has to be perfect because you can't turn left. You can't turn right. The only way out of that, if the pilot gets into a bad spot or if there's something that's, like, happened at the airport that shuts down a runway, the only way out is up.
Manny:And now the captain that will do your walk around, yours truly, Manny Ramirez. Hello. Hello. Hello. Welcome back to the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast.
Manny:What an intro. I've been working on that for a few months on my on my time off, and, I think it came out pretty good. What do you think? Let me know. Email me.
Manny:See what you think. Anyways, happy Thursday, everyone. Welcome. I hope you are having a wonderful day today. It is nice here in Colorado Springs.
Manny:That is where I'm at currently. Let's see. We've been just working. I was at the schoolhouse for a few days. I had a couple days off.
Manny:I had an interview with my friend, Micah. So I sat down with him and had a little chat. Look out for that episode. It's coming out on Monday. So keep, keep on, keep a lookout for that episode.
Manny:Let's see. I wanna thank you all for those questions that you submitted suggestions to the show. And, also, what I like is, some of you have submitted some hot takes, aviation hot takes. One of our listeners actually submitted those and I thought, wow, that's actually a really good idea. So I posted that on Instagram and you guys sent me some, really good ones.
Manny:Some really controversial ones too. So, I don't know if I can use them on the show, but I will try my best to incorporate them in the show. Anyways, let's see what's going on. What else is going on? I'm I'm on reserve for a couple days.
Manny:A few days, actually, which, man, I hope I don't I don't I don't get called, but I'm really scared and paranoid that I'm not gonna hear my phone ring in the morning. So I'm just gonna suck it up, and I'm just gonna set an alarm so I can wake up, make sure my phone is in a proper mode. So if if cruise support calls, I'll be ready to take their call and I'll be ready to go. But yeah. All stuff, my bags are packed and ready to go, and, we'll see what what comes of that.
Manny:Let's see. Then after the 2 I have 3 days of reserve. Then on Sunday, I'm going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I'm gonna be doing a check out there. It's a captain only airport, so I have an LCA that's gonna be riding along with me.
Manny:And she was actually the one that, did my line check back in San Francisco, so that's gonna be cool. It's nice to see her again. She's a she's a really nice captain. I really like her. Then after that, I go back to the schoolhouse.
Manny:I have 3 days of doubles, which translates to 12 hour days. So it's gonna be busy. Also, I already got assignments for May, and I'm happy to report that I was able to opt out of the bid. So I got, over a 100 hours of pre assignment credit, which means that I don't have to bid. So I have currently 2 weeks off in May, guys.
Manny:2 weeks off. And I am, gonna work to see if I can get the 1st week of June off, so that makes it 3 weeks. 3 weeks and still get paid over a 100 hours of credit a month. So I'm really excited for that because I know I cannot get get vacation based on my seniority. I cannot get awarded vacation, just through the normal means of, PBS or preferential bidding system.
Manny:And so I have to manipulate my schedule with my pre assignments. So I'm really happy to do that and I'm, I'll keep you guys posted. But today, I am going to answer some questions that you guys submitted. So thank you for that. Also, I wanna take this moment to thank you for your support.
Manny:All the questions, all the suggestions that you submitted, I am like like beyond myself of how supportive you guys have been. I already have some postcards and some trading cards out in the mail, and, I will set some I will send some more tomorrow. Whenever I have some time, I'll get some postage stamps. I'm about running out of those, so I'm gonna have to go buy some more. But I'll go ahead and get some of those out.
Manny:Also, thank you for submitting your reviews. And if you haven't done so, please go into Apple Podcasts. Tap that star. Submit your reviews whether it's Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever whatever platform you're using to listen to the sound of my voice. And let's see what else is going on.
Manny:So, yeah, like I told you, I sat down with my friend, Micah. That is a 2 part series. It's gonna be coming out Monday. And then after that, I have another couple interviews. Actually, I have, like, 2 or 3 more coming up this month.
Manny:So there's gonna be plenty of content for you guys. Anyways, let's just let's get this, let's get this show on the road. Okay? Let's see. Let me get these questions going.
Manny:Alright. First question comes from Cody, fellow US army, who, says, see my battle says, Manny, sick podcast man. Where where was I? Okay. I am having a difficult time honing in on Nerline to choose after my military career.
Manny:I have about two and a half years left and will have my restricted ATP read at 750 hours for when I apply. So I have some concerns about being competitive with the bare minimum requirements. My wife and I want to move back to our home in Savannah, Georgia, which only isn't based for Allegiant. I know Atlanta and Charlotte are next best options as far as a short commute, but is there anything else I should be considering? I see SkyWest is mostly West Coast based.
Manny:Are they still worth considering with longer commutes? Cody, thank you for your question. I think that decision is gonna be be have to be made by you and your wife and perhaps kids if you have them. You're gonna have to see if it's worth you commuting if you guys are gonna be able to withstand the stress of the commute. Right?
Manny:Commuting is really stressful. It's not optimal, and you're gonna have to assume that no matter what airline you're gonna go to, you're gonna be commuting quite a distance away. Right now, I think with the environment in our in the aviation industry, I think it's gonna be definitely easier to get into a regional now just because the majors are are slowing down hiring. United is having even asking their their pilots to, take some unpaid time leave. They I think they paused hiring as well.
Manny:I don't know when they're gonna come back. I think that's what I heard. Spirit is gonna be furloughing pilots. Frontier is enacting a training contract. Yeah.
Manny:I don't know. I think Allegion's still having issues with, contract negotiations. And right now, the regionals are gonna be booming. Right? Because for the past 2 years, they've been just scrambling to keep pilots flying for them.
Manny:And so right now, it's actually a really good time to go into a regional because you are just going to move really quickly. Right? Here at SkyWest, our training department is just running on all 8 cylinders right now. We are all of our classes are full. All of our training devices are full.
Manny:They're running, like, almost 24 hours a day. So we are really busy to kinda catch up with those numbers that we've been trying to catch up for the last 2 years. I'm obviously biased for SkyWest because that's who I work for and but I think if you compare them to any other regional, it's just night and day. SkyWest is the 7th largest airline in the world in terms of daily departures and is 5th in the United States just behind Southwest. So we're a big operation.
Manny:You come to SkyWest, you will be working. There's other regionals out there that they offer up just to throw money at you, to lure you in, but the reality is that you're not gonna be flying as much. So you're gonna need that money to compensate for the lack of flying. Here at SkyWest, you're definitely gonna be flying 80, 80 to 85 hours, you know, per month as a line holder in reserve, you know, a few months and then you're holding a line. And also, to help you with your decision making as far as bases being West Coast, now we have a we're gonna be opening an ERJ base in Austin.
Manny:So that's gonna be coming live in June. So we're gonna be, supporting the Delta operation out of Austin. We're just continually growing. I don't know what's gonna happen next. In fact, there are are quarter, results calls coming up here at the end of the month, and I'm really excited to hear what they have to say.
Manny:But as far as regionals go, definitely, I think SkyWest is your best choice. However, there's other choices, right, depending on basis. There's more East Coast, airlines or regionals that have more East Coast basis, so it's up to you. But, I like like I said again, and this is the most important, you're gonna have to make that choice with your wife and see where you're gonna go. I think you're competitive, but, I think in the next couple of years, the majors and the ultra low cost carriers are gonna start raising their minimums once again, and they might start even looking at having PIC time.
Manny:And what a better place to build that than at a regional and especially SkyWest. Our training department that's, you know, the pilot that's never touched, you know, a jet, that is, you know, our bread and butter. If you've flown a jet before, we kinda get you into that mindset of 121 operations, and we're more tailored to take those, military transitions. In fact, I was just in the in the schoolhouse a couple days ago, and the 2 guys coming in, one was from the army and one was from from the navy, both doing helo stuff. And I think, I had another one that was doing some jet stuff for Department of Defense.
Manny:But, yeah, that's gonna be a really personal choice. And if you have any other questions regarding SkyWest specifically, you can reach out to me. I'll be more than happy to talk with you. I have a couple of guys that I'm mentoring right now as far as, going into SkyWest. They make that choice, and so we're we're ready to go.
Manny:We're ready to go. So, Cody, thanks again for that question. Hey, man. If you want a a, not a podcast, a a postcard or a trading card, let me know. You can email me back with, your mailing address.
Manny:I'll go ahead and send you one out. Let's see what else we got. Alright. Here we have another one, another email. This is from Mark from Texas.
Manny:I'm a student pilot getting started with an eye on airlines as career 2 point o. While I like hearing about how things are at the majors, my reality will likely involve the regionals, and I enjoy everything you are sharing with the audience, jump seat etiquette, IOE upgrade training, all the things, even the walk of shame to the microwave. Yep. That's, that is shameful. It it definitely is.
Manny:I even have my eye on SkyWest as one of my shortlist regional airlines. Keep it coming. Wish you the best. Mark, thank you so much for the kind words. I think that yes.
Manny:I think as we're moving forward here in the next year or so, I think the regionals are gonna go I I think it's gonna go back. There's gonna be an equilibrium of hiring once again where we kind of go back to the model of just, you know, you go from being a CFI or coming from the military or your other career going to a regional, then getting hired at a major. And, yeah, I think that's gonna or going to an ultra low cost carrier because I think airlines are gonna start raising their minimums once again as they fill their their slots. They're gonna start raising and even looking for PIC time like I mentioned earlier. So it's something to look forward to.
Manny:Yeah. If also, if you have any questions regarding SkyWest, go ahead and hit me up. I'll I'm more than happy to answer those questions. Alright. Here we have, Justin.
Manny:He says, what's up, fellow jungle jet driver? Pick 1, FPA or flight level change? This is a good one. I actually oh, man. It's situational dependent really.
Manny:So f p a is flight path angle. That's one mode of descent or climbing or vertical navigation. That's what I should so the airplane, the Embraer 175 has multiple ways of doing vertical navigation. We have FPA, fly level change, vertical speed, and we have path, which is activated through VNAV. But FPA is I like to use FPA when I start a descent.
Manny:So I want to make the descent the, you know, the smoothest as possible. So I I use FPA and gradually bring that, that laser on my profile down to meet, to meet the, descent profile that the airplane calculated. And once I match it, then I go back to VNAV, and then it'll just, you know, be nice and smooth. Now if it's super busy or if it's already bumpy and it doesn't matter, I'll just do either descend now on the MCDU or I will use just flight level change or just hit vnav or, you know, in our planes, the releases like a like a bug. So if you press if you press f p a and then vnav, it'll start pathing down.
Manny:So it depends. But flight level change, not I don't use it in the thirties. I use it more like twenties and below or, like, when I'm in the approach environment of the airport, that's when I use fly level change in green in green mode. And also something to add, I actually like to use speed intervention in the MCDU when I'm climbing. I only use it on climb because I feel like in the descent and when you're in the approach area of the airport, it's a little bit higher threat.
Manny:And because, you know, it's magenta, the speed magenta, so you kinda think it's like an FMS speed. So and if you get task saturated, you might fall into this false sense of security that you're actually being, you know, protected by the by the MCU. So good question, man. I appreciate it. Let's see what else we have here.
Manny:What else? What else? What else? What else? Let me take a look here.
Manny:Okay. This question is from Rachel. Rachel says, what are some of your favorite overnights? But more importantly, are you a slam clicker? Love the show.
Manny:Rachel, thank you for the question. Thank you for your support. Oh, man. Let's see. Favorite overnights.
Manny:The one that comes to mind right off the bat is State College Pennsylvania. We stay at the Graduate downtown, and it's, like, literally walking distance from Penn State, and I really love going there. I haven't been in a while, but I really love to go back. It's a really cool I like to take a walk into Penn State and get some ice cream, go and walk around the park. It's just a beautiful location.
Manny:And and if you time it right, the, the Amish are actually out there selling baked goods. So I remember a captain bought, banana nut bread and was really good. So that's one of my favorite overnights. Portland, Maine is another one. Let me see.
Manny:Where's another one? Providence, Rhode Island. The you know, I just fell in love with the northeast recently because I went out there and I tried a lobster roll for the first time in my life, and I'm not a lobster guy, but, man, those lobster rolls were on point. And I really love the, their lobster there, so I really did enjoy it. I'd like to go to Bangor, Maine.
Manny:I just did a turn out there, but I never stay there. But I like to go and visit Bangor. Let me see. Another overnight that I like. I'm trying to think what other ones.
Manny:Tucson, Arizona was during the, during the spring is really nice. Once again, we stayed at a graduate hotel there downtown. Actually, not downtown, but actually, right down the street from the University of Phoenix or not Phoenix. You never see a Phoenix University of Arizona Tucson. And we stay there, and it's really nice.
Manny:It's a really nice walk there. And the hotel has a rooftop pool. It's really nice. Has a bar and a restaurant up there. It's a beautiful hotel and beautiful location there in Tucson.
Manny:Trying to think other ones. Spokane. Spokane is another good one that I like. The hotel we stay there is really nice as well, and it's, literally downtown. So I really like Spokane.
Manny:It's another one. Now am I a slam clicker? I wouldn't call myself a slam clicker, but, typically, when we have shorter overnights like 12, 13 hours, I don't have much time to go out. Or if we do, we go downstairs to the bar, have a drink, and then, you know, go to sleep, you know, go out, go to sleep afterwards. So, on a longer overnight, I try to encourage or I I go out with my, with the crew.
Manny:I've done that before, but I haven't had an opportunity to do so. I've just been really busy. Most of the trips that I picked because I was trying to upgrade were really just fast, efficient, short overnight flights to get as much credit in, So I haven't been able to go out, but I definitely take the initiative and try to get out on my on my longer overnights. I definitely do. Let me see.
Manny:Rachel, thank you so much once again. And let's see. I have a oh, man. I have a ton more, but now we're going on on 17 minutes here. So I'm gonna I'm gonna call it a night today, and I have some more questions, that I had that that I wanna answer.
Manny:And please keep submitting those questions. I really do like it. So, anyways, guys, thank you so much for spending some time with me today, and always keep growing, always keep learning because good enough to earn a living may not be good enough to survive. See you. The statements made on the