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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 Summerlin Studios in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, this is the Till Winds 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 triple 7 has been really fun to fly. It's honestly just a bigger Embraer 175.
Mike:But the fact
Manny:that they were sitting on that runway knowing there was a heavy coming their way, unacceptable. I'm from the central part, so I'm from a town. We have more cows than people where I come from. Very country. The aches I have, I can go on.
Manny:Number 1, when the jet bridge is pulled back and we're ready to push and you guys don't have your headsets on. 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. How's it going, everyone?
Manny:Welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. My special guest today is my friend, Mike Strawser. He is a renaissance man. He does a lot of things with his time, with his free time when he's not flying for SkyWest.
Manny:He was also my sim partner during upgrade training. Mike, welcome to the show.
Mike:Thank you. Thanks for having me. Good to see you again.
Manny:Yeah. Yeah. I know. Yeah. We haven't seen each other, what, a month or so?
Mike:It's been kinda weird. I missed you because we spend every day, all day together.
Manny:Right. So for the past, we're, like, a month or so, we literally were kind of, like, seeing each other every single day, driving to the training center and and just been sweating it out in the sim. Yeah. You know? So, We've
Mike:been through the we've been through it, man. We're in the trenches.
Manny:Through the ringer.
Mike:The trenches.
Manny:Yeah. We've been we've been in the trenches to get this stuff going. And it's, so Mike and I actually, well, he remembers me apparently from the training department. He apparently when he went through initial training, he I guess he was running he was in the parallel class. We were running we were running a and b classes, and I was either instructor for the b class or the a class or whatever.
Manny:And apparently, I was one of the instructors and he remembers me from that time. I barely remember anyone from the classes because there's so many that go through that I'm like, I don't know. I don't remember. Oh, yeah.
Mike:I got 2 instructors and you get, what, 30 people a week, 60 people a week?
Manny:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that was when we were still doing, like, 2 weeks at a time, you know, like, ground school was 2 weeks.
Mike:So That's right.
Manny:You real I was having a hard time just remembering the names of, you know, the students in my class. My goal at the time was, like, I I I made it a goal to myself to remember each of their names at least by, like, the end of the 1st week. So that by the 2nd week, I can, like, identify them just by looking at them. I was, hey, this this is you. This is you.
Manny:This is you. But so I was, like, I was using so much mental power. So I've, obviously, I was not focusing on any other class. But, Mike and I, when we went to upgrade class, we were we were seating in the we were seated in the classroom, and we're seated by seniority number. And I think it was number 3.
Manny:And when I first got there, I was like, well, it seemed like everyone had a oh, so everyone knew each other. I feel like everyone knew each other. What do you think? Well, I think the Yeah. Because, like, everyone is
Mike:gets right. They all knew each other, and I think 4 or 5 of them have been in the same initial class.
Manny:Oh, okay.
Mike:And then we had to See, I don't like older the older captains, I think that it was their second try or something. They knew each other. What was it? Yeah. The guys in Europe wrote it.
Mike:They, they were here a year prior.
Manny:Oh, that's right. Yeah. I remember now. Yeah. Uh-huh.
Manny:They all Yeah.
Mike:Or maybe you and I just showed up late when everybody already introduced each other.
Manny:Probably. But I was like, I don't I don't remember. Like, I didn't know anybody. So I was just sitting there. I was like, well, like, I don't know.
Manny:And I was afraid to ask anybody because everyone knew each other. So that's, like, my side of, like, like, rejection. Like, I'm like, I have to say, hey. You have a sim partner? Oh, yeah.
Manny:I already do. So I felt like I was gonna be, like, disappointed or something if I asked anybody. So I just, like, didn't say anything. And I was like, well, if they pair me up with whoever, whatever, I'll just get paired up with what, you know, with whoever, the instructor pairs me up with. But during break, Mike came up to me and he's the one that asked me out to prom.
Manny:You know, he's he asked me. I said, hey, do you have a sim part? I was like, no, I don't. It was like, oh, well, you you didn't even, like, officially ask me, like, you you wanna be sim partners? It just kinda, like, happened.
Manny:Like, you're just, like, you have a sim partner? And I'm like, no. I was like, oh, okay. We just started talking and stuff, and we just assumed that we're like, yeah, we're partners, so we just kinda happened. Is that how you remember it?
Mike:Yeah. For me, it was kinda similar. You know, everybody really knew each other. And, I'm looking around and I kinda knew the 2 guys that didn't really want to be sim partners with. And, what the a maybe 3.
Mike:The the 2 in the front next to you, and then and I'm like, well, I I really don't know what to do. And I came around the corner. I'm like, you're standing there, and you said, so I hear you're from Vegas. Like
Manny:Yeah. Oh, that's right.
Mike:I was like, well, maybe that's a sign. Oh, geez. That's that's hard.
Manny:Yeah. That's right.
Mike:So that's that's kinda how I remember it. But I think we talked. Yeah. We didn't say, like, it's this simple. That came later.
Mike:So we actually do yeah. That was kinda funny.
Manny:Yeah. It was like it it wasn't, like, official, like, hey, you wanna be my sim partner? It wasn't like that. It was just like we just assumed that that was how it was gonna go down and it did. Right?
Manny:So it was like it was natural. Right? It worked. It was like meeting at a bar and just picking someone up and I was like, woah, wow, it worked. You know?
Manny:So, but Mike and I are from Vegas. Mike is more specific. He's from Henderson, Vegas County. Still has Vegas County. But, yeah, he, so we're both from the same both from the same area.
Manny:And, yeah, it's kind of it's it's really neat how it all worked out. Yeah. It's like, oh, you you were just missing the sign and the, you know, the flowers. It's like,
Mike:you wanna go
Manny:to prom with me? You wanna be my safe partner? Yeah. But so yeah. And after that, we just spent the most time.
Manny:And, honestly, like, I think after starting to work with you, I was like, I was glad that we became sim partners just because I feel like we both had the same work ethic. And, you know, I guess, you know, I I think we're more on the mature side of, the, you know, the other pilots that we're in the room. We're putting in. So I think it was just I'm sorry. It's because
Mike:we're saying we're the older guys in the room.
Manny:Yeah. And I was like I was like, you know, speaking of mature, you know, have you have you ever have you ever heard someone say the word mature instead of mature?
Mike:Yeah. Every now and then. Yeah. I think it's the same people. Yeah.
Mike:It sounds so dumb. Last year instead of glacier and
Manny:I was like, I've seen I heard people that says, like, mature. I'm like, what the hell are you talking about, mature? Different. But, yeah. So I think it was good.
Manny:And also, I think, I don't know. What do you think? Like, I felt like maybe I was a little bit more hands off because I feel like I didn't need to, I I typically find that, I'm the type of sim partner even from the beginning when I when I went through initial, like, I feel like I'm very, like, hey, don't worry about it. Hey, relax, guy. Like, you know, you don't worry about that.
Manny:Like, I'll be fine. Like, I'm really I don't know. Like, I feel like I try not to stress myself out and other people, are like, oh my god. I need to study. Oh my god.
Manny:Like, I need to really be doing something like every moment of every waking moment, I have to be studying something, but I feel like I'm not. And, I've sometimes it's come back and bit me in the butt, but I I feel like I bring this sense of, like, hey, it's okay, man. Like, it's like I don't know. What do you feel like? Do you feel like I was not studying enough or did you feel like you needed more from me?
Mike:No. I think it was fine. I was a little worried in the beginning because I was thinking, oh, no. He's not gonna wanna do any he teaches that stuff. Right?
Mike:So he's not gonna wanna do any flows or call outs or or anything. But I didn't really because I came prepared. I was already I was already practicing those anyways and there's enough
Manny:Mhmm.
Mike:There was enough kids in there. There was, there was kids up going through initial. So so that wasn't that wasn't, I think that wasn't an issue. And then once we started full motion stuff, right, then we're both in the same boat anyways. And, yeah.
Mike:I think what what you did was, it helps me because I go back and forth between the too relaxed and then I completely go, oh my God, I don't know anything. I forgot everything. Yeah. I need to be doing something. I'm doing this now because after 2 months of studying, you're sitting there and you're going to your your flight or your first couple captain flight and and you think like you need to be doing something, studying something, and then I snap out of it sometimes and go, wait a minute.
Mike:We're just going to an airport that I've I've already been to. What am I Why am I what am I gonna study? I've already I've already done
Manny:this.
Mike:Right? So Yeah.
Manny:But it's a different feeling when you're sitting on the left. So it's like you always feel like, am I missing something? Like, that that thought has crossed my head. I'm not missing. I I don't know.
Manny:Yeah. And, but I feel like sometimes I'm like, yeah. I'm like, I don't know if I'm good. I'm a good SIM partner or a partner period with when I go through training. But I feel like I I really stress about even to when I teach that I mean, I want oh, thank you.
Manny:Thank you.
Mike:I love it.
Manny:You know, I I I teach I teach students when they go through initial that because everyone comes in and they spend a lot of time studying, but you also need to know when to shut off. You know, you need to learn to just like shut it off, just not think about it, and and get some sleep, go out and get some sun because, I've seen people fail validations because they're so stressed out of studying and studying and studying, and and there comes to a point where you're just not even learning anything. I had a student recently that say he was like throwing up, like, before the validation. I'm like, damn. I was like, oh my god.
Manny:She's like, yeah, you need to relax. And, he passed validation. He was fine, but it's like the stress that took him to actually get there. I'm like, man, I don't know if it's worth it. And I had another student, last year, and he said that he was of a more kind of like chill type of studying where I had another, you know, the sim partner, I believe, said that he studied way too much, he feels, and he ended up getting, like, like, 3 or 4 point difference on their validation.
Manny:So I'm like, it does is it really matter to study much more, you know, but you're probably gonna end up getting probably the same score. So but, yeah, it was fun. So, let me see. As far as what what do you think? You know, I was thinking about the the SIM and, actually a couple of guys were asking me, I think they were transitioning.
Manny:Yeah, they're captain upgrades. They were not transitioning. They were on the same plane, but they were asking me what they thought was the most difficult part of sim training. What was the most difficult part for you?
Mike:Sim training? Yeah. I think the for me besides that constant pressure, right, it's always and ever since in there, it's always at night. It's always like afar. Right?
Mike:You never see daylight plus, you know, that's in the dark building. It's it's just such a difficult It's
Manny:just really weird. It's always dusk. Yeah. It always look like look it look it's like the it looks like the end of the world. This is just dusk all the time.
Manny:Yeah. Dreary looking thing outside the sand.
Mike:Yeah. So, for me, you know, because I come from the helicopter side. Right? So for me, a few things were but are you talking strictly with the toughest part about SIM or the the toughest part about up upgrading? Because those are No.
Manny:Just the sim. Like, what like, for example, like, do you think maneuvers was harder or loft was harder or anything like that? What do you think was more challenging for you? Which stage of sim was more challenging for you?
Mike:Which is funny because for me, initially, on my initial training, loft was harder for me. And I think that's because I came from the helicopter set. Because I never loft is a lot of where we're going, which which runway are we using, this this has happened. What are the conditions? Something else have I never had to worry about that with the helicopter.
Mike:Right? Because
Manny:you just put it down somewhere in the middle of the hill.
Mike:Where the wind's coming from. And if you really get in trouble, you stop and you land. Right? Yeah. And and, and and then, oh, what what what's what was harder for me later or even in the sim is but the the sim feels easier than in the real world is helicopter versus versus airplane is it's hard to get a jet to slow down and descend, let alone do both.
Mike:Right? At the same
Manny:time.
Mike:Yeah. Yeah. Which is usually the clearance you get, you know, slow down to whatever, descend and maintain. And that was really, really hard because in a helicopter, you can do you wanna fly slower, you fly slower. You wanna you wanna descend, you know, flat level change in helicopter.
Mike:Just ease off the power and this thing comes out of the air. Jet, not so much. Oh. So that's where the that's the the 2 hardest things for me, I would say.
Manny:So the operation itself or the aircraft itself, because a lot is more I feel like it's more operational. It's like airline operation. Right? So, like, coming from the helicopter side, well, you were fighting fires. So that's a completely whole different world.
Manny:But I feel like, did you, like, for me, I'll give you an example. Like, I feel like when I first when I went through initial for me, the most challenging part was maneuvers. Like I was stressing so much about maneuvers because I've never touched a plane and having to do all these things. Like stressing so much about maneuvers because I've never touched a plane and having to do all these things like the
Mike:upsurgerecoveries and all
Manny:that stuff. For me, that was, like, super challenging. I think this is when I probably almost got an ad session just because I was having just trouble handling the airplane. And loft and initial was just fun. Like, for me, loft was like, oh, this is cool.
Manny:You know, it's kinda normal operations. I'm finally you know, started feeling like an airline pilot. And, but this time around for upgrade, like, maneuvers was the most fun I've ever had in the sim. And then loft was like I'm like, oh my god. Like, now with all the stuff you have to, you know, consider as a captain, you're like, I I felt like loft for me was more challenging.
Mike:That for me is see, that's funny how that's individually different. Right? For me, it was the complete opposite. Because maneuvers, I didn't even stress about it because I've flown I've hand flown 9,000 hours in the helicopter. Right?
Mike:So upsets. Mhmm. And then we, in the Chinook with that simulator as well, and the other one's not so much. You can do some crazy maneuvers like I had, like, real life upsets in the helicopter. Right?
Mike:What would you can call an upset in the jet? And, but loft was hard. But then for the upgrade, it was the other way around. I don't know. I felt maneuvers was hard for me because I Really?
Mike:I just hadn't really hand flown the the jet in a while. Right? Like, all that stuff that they wanted us to do. And, and at Loft because I was back in my old captain decision making role because now I'm the captain. Right.
Mike:And I used to be a captain for 10 years just in a different completely different aircraft. And then Mhmm. This whole, like, where some guys will go, what else, you know, what else what's gonna happen now? I've been through this, right? Yeah.
Mike:So for me, it was completely the opposite for you. That's that's Okay. Which is funny. Right? I asked 10 and a half a couple of guys what they struggled with, when they come in preparation for my initial and everybody had a different issue.
Manny:So Yeah. Yeah. For me, it was like, every every single day we went to to maneuvers into the same. I was, like, super excited in the morning. I was, like, let's go.
Manny:Like, I even told Jan. I'm, like, man, this is, like, I'm having so much fun. This is not even stressful at all. Like, maneuvers was awesome. But then we got to Lofton.
Manny:I'm like, oh my god. I was like, what is this guy talking about? You know, I was like, it was so stressful. Dude, my check right speaking of lot, my check right was rough. It was rough.
Mike:The LOE or the Yeah.
Manny:My LOE. Yeah. Sorry. My LOE was rough, man. I got chewed out.
Manny:I got chewed out good. Wow. Did you have you you had Jason Cross too, did did you? Yeah. Yeah.
Manny:How was how was your checkride experience?
Mike:Oh, it was I thought I did well, and then we had a debrief. And Yeah. It was like one thing after another where you did this. Do you remember doing this? And I'm thinking, man, I I thought I did I did pretty good.
Mike:But he did mention at some point, he said, you did good. Well, we're not gonna talk about everything you did well on because that's gonna take us all day. That built me up a little bit. And then they said, however and then there was this long list of things where you did this, you did this and then they leaned over to Yeah. My, seats sub, my FO that they used for this and said, see, I'm telling you, if you upgrade, like, see if you can do a little bit more of the seats up because they all make the same mistakes, all of them.
Mike:Right?
Manny:Yeah. And Yeah. Yeah. And he kept the he kept my seats up in the room too when he were debriefing. He kept the
Mike:Me too.
Manny:And honestly, like, I I left. So this is I kinda had the same experience with you. It might be just a Jason thing, and that's how he does this thing. So he does it. He makes everyone feel.
Manny:But I I I remember when I got him for initial, like, he was super chill. Like, you know, it was like, hey. Good job. That was really good. Blah blah blah.
Manny:And I was like, I remember this positive experience. And that was an upgrade. Like, I remember just sitting there, and I was like, I was like, I I came in the room, like, no. Like, man, I I nailed it, man. I I completely I got this.
Manny:Like, I was so, like, hyped up. I hyped myself up so much, right, thinking that I did so well. And then he was just like, so how do you think it what? How do you think it went? And I'm like, well, just based on your question, not so well.
Manny:You know? So I was like, oh, man. Yeah. That was a laundry list of things you needed to talk about. And, and like, he didn't tell me if I passed or not until, like, the end.
Manny:Right? But I was like, man, this sounds like it's not gonna go my way. Like, I don't think I think he's just gonna have me have, like, retrain or something. But, finally and he, like, I remember he said, and this was probably was gonna stick with me for the rest of my life. He says, like, that was not your best performance.
Manny:Oh. He said, this is not He said that.
Mike:Say that to me. Oh,
Manny:man. He's just, like, stabbed me. And I don't know if because he knows I'm an instructor or whatever, but he's, like, maybe he was holding me to a higher standard or something, but he was just ripping into me. Not in the mean way. He was professional about it, and I understood I understood where he was coming from.
Manny:He's he kept it professional, but firm. You know, he's like, you can't do this. You know, this is the mistakes you made. And I was writing notes, and I was like, you know, and and kinda discussing with him, and, you know, there's stuff that, like, he asked me questions, and I told him I really don't have an answer. I don't have an excuse for it.
Manny:It's just, you know, I felt like I, yeah, I didn't do well, you know, based on what you tell me. And he's like, well, it's like, I don't think any retraining is really gonna help you. I know that after this, you know, this long this tongue lashing this tongue lashing yeah. It's like, this tongue lashing, you're not gonna make those mistakes again. You know, it's like, it's within the standard, but it's something that you're, you know, you need to learn how to, manage out in the line.
Manny:And one of the big things for me was my taxi speeds. He was like, what's the taxi speed on the on a contaminated way to, you know, a wetter contaminated, taxiway? I'm like, 10 knots. You were not doing 10 knots. I was doing, like, 20 or I was doing like 15 or something like that.
Mike:I wasn't doing Same. Right? Yeah.
Manny:But it's like their your ground speed is right there on your PFD. And I was looking at it. I was like, nah. I'm okay. Like, I was like in my head.
Manny:I was like, I'm okay. Yeah. And so I was like, just get it done. Right? And he's like, yeah.
Manny:And now every time I taxi, I, like, I never done 30 knots. And the turns, I'm, like, hitting the brakes and making that turn at 10 knots, you know, and drive run drive taxiway. He was right. I'm not making that mistake, you know. I was like, and then when we talked about, approach speeds, I called for ice speeds on one leg and not the other.
Manny:And I think or and then I had speeds and, you know, my vref and my v a p were exactly the same, but I said, oh, it's ice speeds. They're already fast enough. And it was gusty going into Vegas. And apparently, my speed dropped below v ref when we were in approach, and he's like, no. And he's like, where'd you get that from?
Manny:And then I gave him that stupid excuse. I'm like, oh, well, it's, you know, high speed's already above, you know, they're pretty it was like 140. Like, VAP was 140. So I'm like, oh, it's fast enough, you know, and, like, whatever. He's like, no.
Manny:No. That's not SOP. It's like, we have to add the gust. Right? So no matter what, I'm like, yeah.
Manny:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, kinda left that room with the, with the tail between my legs.
Manny:But I really felt like I shook his hand before I left and say, you know what? I'm sorry. I feel embarrassed and, you know, disappointed that I did, like, daily. So, oh, don't worry about it. You're good.
Manny:You know, it's like just, you know, just go out there and and improve. And I'm like, alright. Cool. And so I left and I was like, man. But over the, like, 2 days that I was like staring staring at the wall in the ceiling.
Manny:I'm like, man, that sucked. It was so bad. I felt like I was like, holy crap. Yeah. But but other than that, I mean, it's just been, the experience as a captain has been pretty nice.
Manny:I gotten some abnormals. I know you have some abnormals as well. Maintenance issues, you know, that, you know, minor minor maintenance issues, but I think it's been, I think it's been pretty fun. Have you had fun on the line? What do you think?
Mike:I yeah. I was lucky I had, when I had all these issues, I had a real good, FO. I think that makes and breaks the thing. Right? Just like it did when you when you were the FO, if you had a good captain or not.
Mike:Right? So it's that's the same part. Right. For me, the my IOE was pretty stressful because we had I had my first two flights were beautiful, like, the the best flights ever done. Sunny skies, no bombs, and I had this really good, really good captain, Right?
Mike:And I'm already starting to think, man, this is kinda I'm not learning anything here. Right? Because I have I was kinda wishing for something to happen and I got I got that wish. And
Manny:And you got
Mike:it. And then there was You
Manny:asked and you should receive.
Mike:Did I receive? Did I receive? And then there was just one thing after another going wrong. And there was one situation, coming into San Diego where and we just talked about Cascos through these scenarios, so there's no idle time. What would what would we do that kinda didn't give us, like, a whole lot of extra fuel?
Mike:And can we even go around and do this? And I said, no. We have one we have one try and then we have to go to Long Beach. And and this this unforecasted thunderstorm happened, and it threw everybody through a loop. In the same time, I think they had some sort of a radar outage there as well.
Mike:So the the controllers are freaking out. They don't know what to do. We don't know what to do. Nobody can come in. The basically, the the approach is, you know, down the coast.
Mike:Right? And then the right downwind into into the runway over the buildings. But they they didn't know what to do because right over these buildings was suddenly, approaching thunderstorm. Mhmm. And everybody just went, ah, on the ground Yeah.
Mike:And then the air. All the other pilots and and this captain goes, like, well, how about can you give us vectors to do a left downwind instead of a right downwind? Just route us across the airport and this there's better weather on that side and then the ATC went, oh, basically, he didn't say it but that's a great idea but it's kinda what what it sounded like and they routed everybody around the other way and then everybody landed and then the storm hit and and but it helped out everybody and I'm I'm thinking, man, if this is just me because this is my 3rd flight. Right? I wouldn't have Yeah.
Mike:I wouldn't have thought about wouldn't have thought about that. I do now. Yeah. But look at that.
Manny:You saved the day, all of, all of SoCal trade on in in San Diego.
Mike:That training captain was was great. And then and then on the next trip, we had, I mean, de icing and and and delays and canceled flights and reflow, and I didn't even get my checkride done because of that. So I had to do a 3rd trip. Yeah. And, it was very stressful, but I'm glad it happened, right, when I still had a trainer on the side.
Mike:So
Manny:Yeah. It needs to happen.
Mike:Yeah. I wouldn't say I
Manny:got a lot of the deicing stuff out of the way. Training. Yeah. Yeah. But in retrospect, you're like, oh, that was kinda cool.
Manny:But, yeah, it's definitely good training. Yeah. I had a lot of stuff, I had to do deicing and, you know, make decision whether we're just gonna get type 1 or type 4 because it wasn't snowing, but it was active frost. And I was like and then I'm like, you know what? Let's just get type 4.
Manny:And as soon as they said that, the snowflakes started falling. I was like, yes. I was so, like, happy with my decision. I was like, I look good. You know?
Manny:I was like, I made the right call. And, some maintenance issues, minor maintenance issues that we had to deal at the gate. Some, Denver shut down for about half an hour because of microburst activity there. So we had to, like, start thinking about diverting somewhere else if we, you know, we have the fuel for it or we don't. So we had a full discussion about that.
Manny:And, but it's it was, let me see. Almost every single day, we had crosswind landings, crosswind landings, crosswind landings. And I remember the I had to go to Gunnison twice, and, it's a mountainous terrain airport, and it was already and it was really windy, and it was a crosswind landing, and I plopped that guy that sucker down on the runway. It was like, vroom. I mean, it was hard.
Manny:It was probably one of my hardest landings. And, part of my, line check oh, my, sorry, my, flight deck observation, from Denver to Arcata in California. And, yeah, that was a full flap landing with gusty winds, and I just plopped that guy down on the runway too. So I was like, oh. And yeah.
Manny:So but a lot of good learning. I'm having I'm having fun, especially with the, with the announcements. I I really get into those.
Mike:I can see that being the talking in front of a class. You don't have you don't have any problems. Yeah. I've flown with new captains. They said, oh, I don't make any announcements, but I'm I'm kinda I'm I'm there with you.
Mike:I'll just make it Yeah. Yeah. I'll make it I'll make it fun.
Manny:I make it flowery. I make it flowery because I remember even yesterday Flowery. It was just such a nice day to go to, like, yeah, flowery. Just make it, you know, give us some panache. Right?
Manny:So I was, you know, I I I understand and some people have said, why do you do that? Like, no one even listens to those things. No one cares. I was like, you know what? As long as even one person pays attention, I'm okay with it.
Manny:And, yesterday, I knew I was gonna fly to Jackson Hole, and I looked at the weather in Denver and Jackson. It was, like, perfect weather. It was, like, 60 degrees in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was, like, 72 degrees in Denver. It was beautiful clear skies.
Manny:Nice ride all the way over there. And so I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna kind of, so I when I made my announcement, I said, hey. You know, I said, hey, guys, you know, like, this plane has really nice big windows. So take advantage of this and keep them open because we're gonna see some really nice views going into Jackson Hole and, you know, whatever.
Mike:Sounds like it.
Manny:So I get to Jackson Hole. And, when I get to Jackson Hole, like, I'm we're waiting there, so I kinda started walking. I look at you know, I'm walking, around the plane, and, going down the aisle in the cabin, I noticed that every single window shade was open. And I was like, I actually paid attention. And I asked the flight attendants.
Manny:I said, did you guys tell them to open the the no. No. No. It's like no. Like, oh, so they actually paid attention.
Manny:Because usually you see when you when you look at it after you arrive anywhere, you see some of the shades are closed. Right. Because there's some people that just don't want them open. They just keep them closed. Right?
Manny:But now this time, it was like all of them were open. Not a single shade was closed. So I was like, oh, that's kinda cool. So but it was yeah. It was a really nice trip.
Manny:And, this summer, we the, LCA was like, oh, I want you to do a flaps full landing. I'm like, why? In my head, I was like, why? It's like 6 it was like 6,300 feet. Like, we got plenty of runway.
Manny:It's not contaminated. Yeah. You know, I don't care. So, no. I was like, just do a full flat lining.
Manny:I'm like, okay. So this time, I'm like, I promise you. Because it was a line it was the same, it was the same line check air woman that I had for semi line check. So it was the same one. She's like, yeah.
Manny:It's like, I I told her I promise you this is gonna be a better landing than when we went to Arcata. And, yes, it was it was a really good landing, but I got spooked when I heard, like, 10. I hear 20, 10. I was like, oh. So I pulled, but I didn't pulled hard enough.
Manny:I didn't pull back in a yoke, so I yanked it. So the nose went like this, and then then came down, like so I kinda floated just a little bit just because I yanked on it so hard, but still it was, it was a pretty good landing. And, yeah, Jacksonville was really nice. I like that. Good.
Manny:Good. Good experiences.
Mike:Yeah. Yeah. But Being a new captain.
Manny:And now you've been sitting out so because I know that you were kind of moved around a little bit more than I was. So you did out of base reserve.
Mike:Yeah.
Manny:Right? So tell me how that went.
Mike:First time, it felt the same way it did when I did reserve, the FO because I didn't fly. So when you don't fly, I don't I can't tell the difference between being a captain or being an FO.
Manny:Yeah. So, like, you were
Mike:you were sent to Houston.
Manny:Right? So they flew you out to I've
Mike:been at to Houston. 17 minutes into my first reserve test, change plans, go to Houston, and then just they found it to Houston. You sit there. I was going for
Manny:And how long did you sit there?
Mike:4 days. Just it was
Manny:Did you so you didn't fly anything at all of those 4 days?
Mike:Yeah. And then the second reserve, they flew me to LA, but that was that was for trip. The LA was hurting for for captain. So it was flying a Los Angeles line. Okay.
Manny:How many hours do you have now as 18.2. 18. Wow. I only have 2 hours and 45 minutes of PIC time. That's how much I have in the same time frame that you've been, we've been in reserve because we basically started reserve at the same time.
Manny:I think I started just a little bit before no. We started no.
Mike:We started reserve
Manny:days on the same
Mike:day we had. How was it? Yeah. Because I had to do that extra that that extra day of of IOE, right, because of whether all my channels got canceled. So yeah.
Mike:I mean, it's been a while. Right?
Manny:I got
Mike:We basically 9,000 something hours. It's been a while since I counted, like, every every minute. Right? I'm still
Manny:I'm still logging everything in my logbook. Like, I have logged in pro, and I'm like, every time, every leg we stop, I have the, crew, what's it called? The,
Mike:what's the app called?
Manny:I forget what the app is called. It's crew something.
Mike:Oh, that crew support. That's the one that ties into Yeah.
Manny:Lock 10 Pro. Yeah. Forgot what it's got. Jesus. Crew something.
Manny:Now it's gonna drive me nuts. Let me see. It's called crew control. Crew
Mike:control. Yeah. Not crew support. Crew support. Yeah.
Mike:This control.
Manny:So that
Mike:Oh, they'd call you when you don't want them to.
Manny:Yeah. They call you. Right? So they yeah. Crew control is it's a really nice app, and I started using it.
Manny:And when I found out that it connects right to Lock 10 Pro, it's like it's amazing. All I do is as soon as I get to the leg, I finish it. Like, before I start the other leg, I just go in there and automatically transfers the time, the nighttime, PAC, all that stuff. The aircraft, you know, the type of everything transfers over, and it's really nice. So I was like, I like that app a lot.
Manny:So I'm counting everything. I got what? You got 9000 hours. I have what? I think I'm I think I'm breaking that.
Manny:I think I've already broken the 25 100 hours. I'm out of 3000 yet. So 25 100 hours. All fixed wing.
Mike:It's a good plug for your listeners and and and mine. Right? It's Log 10 Pro is probably the and that's what everybody uses, right, if you wanna go to the airlines.
Manny:Yeah. And it ties in. Because, I think,
Mike:people always ask me, oh, what do you use? And what ties in? It ties in with our system. Right? And so Yeah.
Mike:That's what I recommend to people.
Manny:Yeah. It ties in really well. Like I was I was like a ride or die 4 flight customer when I was GA, but the airlines is, Lock 10 Pro. It's where it's at. So and I think some I mean, I know SkyWest offers a discount for Lockton Pro, and I'm sure other airlines offer.
Manny:So, Lockton Pro. So if you're a SkyWest employee or any airline employee, just check it out and see if the airline has a discount because it is a yearly, subscription. I think it's like a $100 a year or something like that. So it's well worth it, and you can print out multiple different types of, format logbooks. So if you need to print it out for your interviews, it's right there.
Manny:It's super easy. So, yeah, highly recommend that.
Mike:That's what they're looking at. Right? They used to look at log log 10 pro printouts. You when you go to an interview. Right?
Mike:You don't wanna be the guy that's sticking.
Manny:Yep.
Mike:ForeFlight works as well. That's what I have. But, I'm switching because I see everybody do it, and it seems to be so much.
Manny:And the only reason I switched is because it has integration with, with, SkyWest Online. That's the only reason why. Otherwise, I would have continued using Scott, you know, because I don't wanna yeah. So it's everything is just based on the black hours that you do within, you know, within your within the company system, and it just goes right into Lockton Pro. So it's really good.
Manny:Yeah. And I see. So now we talked about enough about planes. Let's talk about your background. Let's go back to your, years of your or whatever they wanna call it.
Manny:I don't know what I'm trying to say, but so you started as a helicopter pilot, so you were a rotor wing before SkyWest Airlines. So when did that when did that all start?
Mike:So technically, I started as a as a fixed wing pilot. Oh. Yeah. And then I I
Manny:Killing back the layers.
Mike:Yeah. Yeah. Many many layers. So, it started with the Aviate Harrier when I was, I think, 9 years old. Saw that on the airship.
Mike:Wow. Like, that's what I have to do with this. This is the coolest thing I've ever seen, right? So it's kind of like so it's weird. So make sure it's a jet that can hover.
Mike:So that kinda explains Yeah. Once you hear the rest of the story, it kinda explains that a little bit. A little kid at an air show and then started building model planes and reading about the Harrier. That's when they back in the day when they still had aviation magazines and there was no online Mhmm. Trying to research everything.
Mike:Well, it turns out fairly quickly, I grew up in Austria, that the Austrian military doesn't have any area that was a that was a British aircraft. And so that dream kinda went up the window fairly quickly. Then, of course, I was gonna fly for the military and but I had glasses and they didn't they didn't wanna they didn't back then, even though they corrected the for flying fighter jets that they said no.
Manny:Yeah.
Mike:That was they they went the next stream and then started flying, motor gliders because that was the only thing I could afford, at at the time. I wanted to fly. I was 15 years old. I started washing airplanes and pushing airplanes and fueling airplanes as a flying service, and and it was all for the occasional, flight hour here and there. And there was something with Austrian Airlines.
Mike:I can't remember. They were for some reason, they weren't taking me either. Maybe it was. I can't remember why that was. And then It's because you
Manny:were born in you were born in South Africa. Right?
Mike:Yeah. No. I don't think it was a national thing. It yeah. It was more
Manny:He's not a real
Mike:hostage. He's not a real
Manny:outside of this country.
Mike:Well, back in the day, I think, and I wasn't sure now, that part, I'm not a 100% sure why why that was. But, and then people were telling me and here's a good that was a really good lesson. People told me, wow, you have glasses. You probably can't be a pilot. And I was working, as a mechanic helper on the on this field.
Mike:And one of the mechanics, he had been all over the place. He flew in Africa, flew in the military, and as a helicopter mechanic and we're working on this airplane. And and he said, well, who told you that you can't fly because you got glasses? And I said, well, I don't know these people and these people and family. And and he said, anybody that's a pilot tell you that?
Mike:I said,
Manny:oh, no. Yeah.
Mike:And he went, so this was such an eye opening. He said, well, two things. First of all, don't listen to people that are not even doing because everybody has an opinion on everything. Don't listen to people who are not even in the business. The second thing is don't limit yourself to, airlines and and the military.
Mike:There's a whole another world out there. There's helicopters, there's, you know, private flying, private jets, and bush flying, utility flying, cargo. And that was that blew my mind at the time and I'm to this day, I'm grateful we had that conversation which he doesn't remember but but I do and Yeah. Keep thanking him for it. And not long after that, we we were on a vacation.
Mike:It was maybe 16, 17 and, we're in a vacation in the States and there was a helicopter where someone in the middle of nowhere the motel this helicopter lands in the grass behind the motel to spend the night in the motel, and it took off the next morning. And that was such an impression on me thinking, and this this is this is the way to go. Just I gotta do the helicopter thing. Talked my dad into, springing for a scenic grad at the with a helicopter for the Grand Canyon, and then after that, I was I was hooked on that. Then I got to the States.
Mike:There's a long story in between as in the military, you know, I had to make the money. I had to find a way through the military, to make some money to come, to the states, and went to flight school here. And then I this was just before 911. All my friends that went the fixed wing route, they're already working for the airlines and had you know, flying the pro and and and that kind of stuff. And there was no helicopter jobs for anybody.
Mike:So I'm thinking I'm starting to think, maybe this wasn't the best of all ideas. And what happened at the time, you know, because the airlines have you know, how they go through cycles. Right? The airlines were hiring like crazy and and what happened in the helicopter business, the Vietnam pilots or the former Vietnam pilots were hogging all the jobs because they had the experience. They all came out with 2,000 hours of Huey time and I didn't have any of that.
Mike:And then 911 happened. So actually before 911, walk this back for a second. So I got back into flying wing. I started, learning fixed wing in in in the states because it was just cheaper to do fixed wing first, the private, and then add on the helicopter because helicopter cost more money. So I got my fixed wing Mhmm.
Mike:Private. And then I got my helicopter ratings all the way to commercial. And at commercial level, I switched back to the fixed one set to get my instrument and Yeah. And then 911 happened. And, all my friends got laid off that that had, had, airline jobs.
Mike:And the same time, the Vietnam guys started to retire. So start
Manny:backing up my flight lessons with, working
Mike:as a start backing up my flight lessons with, working as a mechanic again, that had me fall into fire because the company I was working for, they were just starting with fire contracts. I didn't even know there was a thing to fight private firefighting because in in Europe, the military does the firefighting. And here it's private contract. It's the contract with the forest service, and I was wanting to be either fireman or pilot growing up. So when I came up and they said, what do you we want you to go on the contract because you're an AMP.
Mike:So that when something happens to you in the field. You can you can fix it. And I said, wait wait a minute. Are you telling me I can be a fireman and a pilot the same time? And they said, well, basically, that's that's what that is.
Mike:Yeah. Yeah. Basically. Yeah. Yeah.
Mike:I said, sign me up.
Manny:And you're like, badass. Yeah.
Mike:Yeah. Badass. And then, yep. Boom. There goes 20 years of, flying helicopters all over the world and, for all kinds of agencies in different countries and for service, BLM, you name it, and any any government agency that put a couple couple, letters.
Manny:Hey, fellow aviation enthusiast. Before I let you go, I'd like to ask you for a huge favor. If you could please go to the platform where you're listening this podcast in and leave a review, some feedback, and some comments. I really do appreciate that. I wanna make the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast your podcast.
Manny:I also want to give a huge thanks to my friends and coworkers that have shared the podcast with their friends and family. That means the world to me. I really appreciate your support and your subscriptions. If you wanna reach out to me, you can email me at mannythecfi@gmail.com, or you can message me directly on Instagram at climbvx. That's climbasinvictorx-ray.
Manny:You can reach me there with your suggestions or any feedback. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate the support. And until next episode, I wish you tailwinds and sunshine. See you.
Manny:The statements made on the show are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.