Warbird Information Exchange

Falcon,

Like Bill said, if you have a solid work ethic, network constantly, and catch some good luck and timing, you'll get there. A buddy of mine who's a superb CFII/MEI made lots of contacts through flight instructing and through some of his happy student clients, ended up checking out in a Pilatus PC-9, L-39 Albatross, and soon will be getting type-rated in the Canadair T-33 and Cessna T-37C. He's an airline captain now but kept his hand in flight instruction and now gets to fly warbirds on a regular basis--almost always on someone else's dime--and it will only increase as he continues to play the mentor role to current and former students moving up the performance ladder. Some good advice for you in this thread--good luck!

Well, now that they've had this accident things might change for them insurance-wise, but being as they are an SSA chapter club, as is my club, I bet we have the exact same policy. The open pilot clause of the policy is pretty high, but you can have pilots named on the policy with much less time. It costs about 20 bucks each time you add to the policy, but I've added guys to our policy with around 250 hours total time and 10-15 hours taildragger time. Of course these are guys that we know who fly gliders with us so we know how they fly and what their judgement is like. If you're interested keep going back andmaybe even fly a glider. (Glider training is applicable to flying warbirds and taildraggers because it forces you to use your feet and develop good judgement. Besides, its fun.) You'd be an asset to them with your CFI and general good attitude. Once they get to know you, you could find yourself building all sorts of free flying time.

Skybolt thanks much ill look into them.

If you're out at VanSant, Say hi to Quentin Marty who has the PT-13 there... tell him Ryan from Geneseo says hi. He's always one to offer the front hole of the Stearman to a friend if its empty.

One thing that I can say might help is seeking your A&P... sure it's a lot of work, but build the practical experience of working on warbirds and all of a sudden you become twice as marketable. Living so close to VanSant, you could build "ground" time working on planes easily with the amount of planes that are being worked on around there... With an A&P in hand, you might be able to "backdoor" into flying crew slots with warbird bomber and transport groups and the offer of flying up front is a lot easier. Ask some of the folks on the Wings of Freedom Tour... they'll tell you that the sweat you put out pays off in the long run.

I agree with Chuck on the banner tow and glider tow route too... it's iron-butt work with little pay, but that precious tailwheel time...

I will be frank and say that the chances of getting a "paying job" flying warbirds is pretty much a dream though. It may be a benefit of being a corporate pilot or mechanic for a guy who owns a Citation AND a Mustang... if he ever trusts you to fly it, but again, that's slim. Most museums can barely keep a curator on a salary, much less pilots... that's why you PAY to flying sponsor planes in the CAF and the like.

Your best shot in any case is... do well, network, get a good paying job, move upward, and make the money it takes to own your own warbird. Most of the warbird pilots that fly other peoples planes are folks that own one themselves... Dan McCue owned an NA-50, Yak-11, and an L-39 before flying other peoples planes... and now he flies an F4U-5NL as much as if he owned it.

Good luck! Always be looking for opportunities... you never know what hangar might land you some luck!

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Ryan Keough
Stow, MA

Holy smokes!!

And I thought the 275 hours I got during a 4-month deployment to Afghanistan was a lot!

That's a 5.5 per day, every day. Serious time building!

5.5 hrs/day is OK, but 70 MPH at full throttle is no fun at all.

Sully

Interesting observation from a West Virginian. Just kidding Mudge
Isn't it great that in this online community we can share jokes and opinions and not be crucified for it... oh wait, sorry wrong forum.

Actually I live in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country and if want to hear some interesting dialect visit Lebanon/Lancaster County, where every sentence ends with a "Doncha Know?"

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Jeff