Golf Hotel Whiskey

An airline pilot needs help: About his big gut…

Someone calling himself jsfBoat, who we presume to be an airline pilot, has recently posted an interesting “problem” he is having with his gut (as in his belly or abdominal fat…) on the Airline Pilot Forum:

My gut is getting progressively bigger, and no matter what health changes I try to make its only change is for the bigger. It’s not huge, but I am starting to get a lot of comments about it. I’m 5’11” and 165 lbs, no means fat by the standards, but I do want to get rid of it.

jsfBoat then noted his typical routine which may not be all that different from the routine of many other airline pilots:

I have 4-5 day trips, early shows with late finishes, and even though I pack snacks and some meals for these trips, I usually end up eating after 10pm when I’m finally done and most times skip meals and eat bigger meals. A lot of 14-15 hour duty days, so not much opportunity for exercise during the trip….. “I’ve been sweating for the last 12 hours, want to take a shower and put on dry clothes before I have to wake up in 7 hours”

Naturally, the post has attracted a fairly sizable number of responses (more than thirty and counting) with some giving better suggestions than others.

There was plenty of advice (both good and conflicting) over what jsfBoat should eat and drink plus a couple of jokers suggested that he take up smoking. However, the best point regarding what to eat or drink probably came from JamesNoBrakes who made the observation that one should eat relative to what one burns “but people are so used to cramming their mouths with food that they have a hard time comprehending that you do not need 5 pancakes, 4 slices of bacon, 3 pieces of toast and hash-browns to sit in a chair for 4-5 hours.”

There was also good advice for how an airline pilot can go about getting some basic exercise, such as:

Parking the farthest at a parking lot.
Taking the stairs at hotels and airports.
Traveling with a jump rope and have several HIT fitness and crossfit routines to do when there is no access to a gym.

Finally, a couple of commenters recommended the MyFitnessPal app to track everything you eat and burn working out. Most foods, including restaurant and packaged foods, are in the app’s database and all you have to do is scan the bar code of just about all packaged foods to get their calorie count.

Taking the above into consideration, we would like to ask any airline pilot readers: What do you do to stay reasonably fit and healthy when you are not in the cockpit?

A 747 pilot verses a C-5 pilot…

A Boeing 747 pulls up behind a C-5 Galaxy. The 747 calls the C-5 and asks: “What are you guys grossing today.”

In a somewhat cocky tone the C-5 crew says: “50 to a 100 thousand pounds more than you. What are you guys grossing today?”

After a slight pause the 747 comes back and says: “Oh about 50 to a 100 thousand dollars more than you…”

Video: RAF Typhoon makes a super low approach at the RAF Waddington International Airshow

Hat tip to David Cenciotti’s Aviationist blog for posting this amazing video of a Royal Air Force Typhoon flying a bit lower than usual during the final approach at the RAF Waddington International Airshow last weekend:

In other words, you don’t always have to go to Princess Juliana Airport in St. Maarten or the Greek island of Skiathos to be literally blown away by a super low aircraft approach!

Aircraft buying mistakes and questions to ask

If you are thinking of buying an aircraft, a comprehensive article written by Guy R. Maher for General Aviation News is a must read because he came up with the following top 10 mistakes of first time aircraft buyers:

Not defining “why” you want to own.
Picking the wrong airplane.
Not being realistic about the cost of ownership.
Trusting the wrong advice.
Skimping on the vetting process.
Maxing out the budget on purchase price.
Mishandle obtaining insurance.
Not joining a type club for your plane.
Not obtaining training from a type-specific instructor.
Not seeking qualified advice.

Guy goes into considerable detail about each one of the above mistakes, but at least two commenters pointed out that he forgot to mention what could be the number one mistake you can make when buying an aircraft:

Not asking your spouse’s permission first.

Or rather:

Not marrying someone who (really loves you and) is willing to fly with you.

The first commenter wrote that his neighbor was given a choice between keeping his homebuilt aircraft or his wife (he chose the latter) while the second commenter had to remarry someone who loves to fly.

We have also covered aircraft buying in the past when we noted the five questions you should ask before buying an aircraft:

Do you have a budget and know how to use it? In other words, do you have the cash or the cash flow to maintain an aircraft?
Do you have emergency money? As in money for both scheduled inspections and unanticipated repairs that may arise and cost thousands of dollars?
How is your credit? Financing an aircraft purchase, especially one that might be needed for a business, is always an option if you have good credit and cash flow.
Do you have an existing relationship with a financial institution? If you plan to finance a purchase, its always better to seek financing from an institution that knows you and your business.
How old is the aircraft? A good rule of thumb is that an aircraft age at the end of any finance or lease term should be no greater than 20 years as a newer aircraft is usually easier to sell than an older one.

And again, we probably should have added:

Will my spouse approve of me buying an aircraft?

Celebrating St Athan RAF base’s 75th anniversary

Both the BBC and Wales Online have reported how the St. Athan RAF base in Wales’ Vale of Glamorgan, which was thought to be obsolete within two years of opening, is celebrating its 75th birthday. The celebration took place yesterday with a parade and a flypast, but there is once again some uncertainty as to the base’s future.

The St. Athan RAF base was conceived in 1938 as a maintenance base with the site being chosen because it was thought that south Wales was beyond the range of Luftwaffe bombers. However and on June 20, 1940, a German attack on the base launched from captured French airfields quickly brought any notion of a safe haven to an end. Moreover, the RAF was loosing so many aircraft that repairing what survived in combat seemed like an impossible task. This forced the base to reinvent itself as a source of experts in the reclamation of badly-needed spares from irreparably damaged aircraft.

In the 1950s, the base was given the task of maintaining Vulcan Bombers carrying Britain’s nuclear warheads, but its future became doubtful after nuclear warheads shifted from bombers to submarines. St. Athan RAF base was ultimately saved by the receipt of a maintenance contract for the RAF’s fleet of VC10 air tankers and later on by the newly-launched Tornado fighter jets.

Later on, many buildings were demolished as part of a doomed £14 billion scheme to create a tri-service Defence Technical College. Nevertheless, the base’s tradition of repairing aircraft is alive and well because according to Wing Cmdr Paul Regan:

"The recruits who come to St Athan today arrive with 10 weeks basic training and leave eighteen months later with such a range of engineering skills that we often have a job to hold onto them within the forces. We may not do the glamorous work here, but our graduates are the young men and women with the ability to repair equipment under fire, or manufacture a bespoke part for an aircraft in the middle of Afghanistan when it could take weeks to fly one in from the UK."

However, the base ceased being called RAF St Athan in 2006, and it now seems likely that there will be no RAF presence at the base by 2016. With that said, there is growing number of commercial businesses attracted by the Welsh Government’s business park on part of the base as St Athan continues to reinvent itself to stay relevant.

The Flying W Airport Resort: Not your granddad’s airport

General Aviation News has brought our attention to the Flying W Airport Resort – a general aviation airport like no other because it contains Western theme buildings, a 28-room on-airport motel and an airplane-shaped swimming pool for the whole family to enjoy.

So why does this airport have a swimming pool and other resort like amenities? Simply stated, the Flying W Airport Resort is an important center of recreation and social life in this fast suburbanizing farming region to the east of Philadelphia (actually, the airport resort is located in New Jersey). Locals pay a seasonal pool membership ($300 for single membership to $600 for a family of four) to enjoy the pool, outdoor pavilion, Tiki bar, Snack Shack and summertime outdoor concerts plus the airport resort is rented as a venue for special events.

The airport resort naturally has a flying school with eight aircraft that come with attractive rental prices plus there are regular aviation related social events. Members of the airport resort’s flying club pay an “aviator social club member fee” of just $40.50 per month to help defray fixed costs (renter’s insurance is also required).

However and according to the author (who first visited in 1966), the airport resort’s nice “white tablecloth” restaurant won’t be operating this year except for special events and neither will the adjacent bar (which for years had been marketed for after-softball team gatherings). The Runway Café in the flight school/ops lobby has also closed due to its proprietor’s passing.

Nevertheless, the poolside Snack Shack is open to pilots and clearly the airport resort or recreation center concept serving a surrounding region is a good model for keeping an otherwise quiet and no doubt struggling general aviation airport open for the whole family to enjoy.

Golf Hotel Whiskey: for pilots and aviation enthusiasts