On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:38:13 -0800 (PST), "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:

On Jan 10, 8:37*am, "Shelly" wrote:
When I asked an airline caption how many type ratings he held, he told me,
"Actually, *I have 6 and a half,

figure that one out."

If you know his name you can look it up at registry.faa.gov. Perhaps
he had a 757 type rating when the 767 came out? Perhaps he has a type
rating limited to VFR or SIC?
I've also found that many captains really dislike answering questions
from GA pilots and have built it BS answers (epecially if this was
United, most of their pilots are jerks). I asked a pilot in Denver (on
a 100F day) if the density altitude was intersting that day. He said
"I don't worry about that stuff I have go to either way; just as long
as the wheels don't hit anything". Clealry he was just patting me on
the head and telling me to go away.


-Robert

I dont think you were getting the shift at all.
In commercial service the guy is flying to a timetable with an
aircraft with lots of reserve power.
as he says he doesnt worry about that stuff because he has to fly it
anyway.

I used to worry about weather.
I've found that my aircraft tankers along enough fuel to be able to do
a 300 mile leg into a 15 knot headwind and still have an hour spare at
the other end. honestly as long as the air isnt opaque I'm going to
fly the leg anyway.

in our military's flying the cruise speed is over 250knots. I know
that they do not factor wind speed in their calcs because it is
insignificant.

most of high end aviation is spared the concerns of the private guy
because of the substantially higher performance of their aircraft.

Stealth Pilot