Im Getting Dummer By The Day

[CTD]

Chas, have a safe trip my friend. Be careful with the old girl - you know what it's like when something's only been run once in 8 years....

[Charles W.]

Thanks CTD:

 

If there is one thing I have learned in aviation it is the importance of being a coward and admitting that I am afraid of some the unknown such as the condition of old engines.

 

Fortunately I work with two of the most knowlegable and cautious engineer pilots I have ever known, our inspections are carried out with the same attention to detail as the origional manufacturer and we hopefully always err on the side of safety.

 

If for some reason we have a failure of a component in flight we always fly hundreds of miles ahead of our airplane and we deal with emergencies based on what will get us home...

 

One thing we have difficulty with is customers who want us to fill it up and fly as far as it will go. Unless it is a over ocean with no other route availiable we never, never take off with more weight than the airplane will fly on one engine with so our flights are generally of eight hours duration or less. It costs the customer more in the short term, but we have not lost an airplane yet because it wouldnt fly due to being over weight.

 

If the customer insists on heavy fuel loads to save a overnight stop that is simple, find another crew.

 

I truly believe that I am a better mechanic and trouble shooter than I am a pilot, so hopefully that will keep me alive for another kick at the Cat so to speak.

 

Safety is the bottom line, personal pride that leads to needless risk exposure is the most serious problem to a pilots chances to live to be my age.

 

Rev. Chas E.

[Biggles]

Oh Rev, if you're getting dumber by the day, then we are all mentally challenged too. Have yourself a safe trip, bring back stories and pictures, most importantly bring your blessed butt safely home.

 

Biggs,

o

[twinstar_ca]

i gotta' tell you, chuck.. the amateur writer in me would love to pen a book on your fixed and fling wing flying career... i just don't think i could take that long a leave of absence from my real job to do it justice!!!

 

have a very safe flight!!! :up:

[Charles W.]

Hey Gang :

 

Normally I would not get into specifics about the flying we do, but there has been so much vitriol on this forum lately that I said to myself....self... fu.k it, lets see if we can get everyone back to flying and maintaining again.

 

So I decided to use our little warbird restoration, ferry business as a jump start back to some sembalance of aviation related posts.

 

You see I have reached a place in time where I no longer really give a sweet fu.k about who has a bigger **** in this industry...........

 

Right now I am in the process of finishing the paper work for the dutch CAA to approve me to train on a Dutch registered airplane with my Canadian qualifications and wonder of wonders they are trying to fit me into JAA and JAR rules............nothing ever changes with any bureacuracy does it?

 

But like South Africa, Australia, the USA etc. they will eventually find someone that will stamp it and that will be that.

 

Anyhow we have quite an interesting summer ahead and I will share my boring life with you all if some of you promice to quit acting like petulant children.

 

Rev Chas W.

[Charles W.]

I'm back home and still to jet lagged to explain how it went.

 

Someone posted a lot of pictures of us running the Cat last week on Pprune.

 

So if you want to find out what happened go to the " Aviation History and Nostalgia " thread and click on " Chuck is back in a Cat".

 

There you will find the pictures and at the end I posted what went wrong.

 

Rev. Chas W.

[sharkbait]

Welcome home:

Checked out the PPrune stuff.

Good to see a man who stands up for his principles to the principals! ( Hope the spelling is right)

Long time since I saw an Avalon Orange Canso. ( Timmins , early 80's I think ) It was one that still had the bubbles.

Got a circuit in a Super Canso @ Lupin mine when they where dumping chemicals in the tailings pond - Flying Fireman I recall.

Anyhoo glad you are back safe and sound. Well done! :up:

Cheers

Sharkbait

 

PS Does the name Bert Archer ring a bell?

[Charles W.]

Yes Sharkbait, standing up for principals can be very problimatic.

 

However the bottom line is losing money does not come close to losing lives, at least not in my world.

 

It will now be up to Lloyds of London to rethink the risk assesment factors when the principal goes back and request another insurance quote. The stupid part is we had a written agreement that we would deliver his machine based on an estimate of costs and we were bang on the cost at the time he started to put pressure on us to cut corners.

 

The first real problem came up when he called a meeting and informed us that he had decided to have his engineer sign out the airplane as an annual inspection being completed. I informed him that I would not fly it in that case as the airplane would never come even close to meeting the requirements of an annual, so he turned to the Edwards and asked them if they would continue without me in the crew..........of course they said no.

 

So he finally agreed to have the DAR inspect the airplane for a ferry premit as first agreed upon, then the pressure started on me for him having to pay a thousand pounds to the DAR when he had his own mechanic availiable to sign it out, and for about three days it was very difficult to continue trying to ready the airplane for a test flight due to every time a mechanical problem arose he bitched about the money being wasted........................................Hey you guys know all about this kind of s.it so that was how things went from bad to worse.

 

Our problem was and is the large sum of money that is due to us and now the airplane is about ready to ferry and we just have to wait and see what happens.

 

The owner and his mechanic confronted me at breakfast on thursday morning and gave me an ultimatum, either I fly the ferry flight with the two of them and my partners were not to even sit in a pilots seat or he would find another pilot.

 

So I smiled and wished him a pleasant flight and went to my room and packed my bags and it was over.

 

Even though I was way behind the power curve financially before I left due to my disaster with those coc.suckers at 800 Burrard St I will never ever back down to pressure when safety and integrity is being compromized. So hopefully I can soon sell one or both of my Cessna 150's and that will ease the financial pressures.

 

By the way my wife is 100% behind my decision to risk looseing another couple thousand rather than ruin a career by bending to pressure. ( the airfare over and back )

 

The bottom line here is that aviation is not a career for those who cannot make difficult decisions and err on the side of safety, no matter what the short term cost.

 

I wouldn't choose any other kind of work anyhow because the plusses override the minuses. ( sp? )

 

So hopefully for those of you in this group that are just starting out I hope you think about the way I do things and pattern your decisions regarding safety based on my example.............

 

The short term pain is nothing compared to the possible consequences of compromizing your principals and ignoring safety issues for money or false pride.

 

Now I shall step down from my soap box and let you all ponder my desisions regarding stress and pressure issues and safety.

 

Rev. Chas W.

[Blackmac]

Rev. Welcome back and I think the heading should be, "getting smarter by the day".

 

The only decision to be made by a person with any integrity.

 

Did the remainder of the crew stay or leave?

 

Any options on recovering expenses?

 

As you are well aware contracts re elimination can be had very cheap in the area's he will be flying.

 

Cheers Don

[Charles W.]

Hi Don :

 

The Edwards Brothers and I spent most of thursday talking it over and weighing the options. Our decisions were to go back to the hangar and finish safetying some controlls and also to flush the right engine carb because it was full of water from the taxi test.... we agreed that regardless of money we would not chance leaving those safety related items unfinished so we went back and started work to get that done, ( about a day and a half labour for two people. ) however I had to go to Heathrow to get my return flight or it would just cost more money.

 

I phoned them yesterday and they are both at home waiting, having finished off the loose ends of our work on the airplane.

 

We have worked together so long in so many different countries that you couldn't force one of us to abandon one of the crew even if you shoved semtex up our *****.

 

The owner claims that Boeing ( he claims it is the helicopter division ) is sponsoring the Isreali purchase of that machine for the Isralei airforce, there were two israeli guys there when I first showed up. He also claims he is billing Boeing...we will see.

 

So I hope we will be paid as we are owed over twenty thousand pounds sterling at this point, that of course includes parts and other hired labour etc.

 

Your bang on on how easy people just dissapear in some countries, and the thought of course has crossed my mind, but alas it also cost's money.............

 

I also fantaize about having a couple of those scum from 800 Burrard St. as crew members with us in say Angola..............Angola is one of the more difficult places on earth for survival,, especially for idiots. Lets put it this way, if one of them went missing I could not in all fairness risk my regular crew members looking for them...its just good risk assesment and decision making skills based on common sense.

 

What happened to me in England is peanuts and all part of the game, what TC did to me is crimminal missuse of power for no reason except to protect one of their own..........sooner or later those immoral pricks in Tower C are going to find out they are screwing the wrong victim.........sooner or later they will find out I'm one of the toughest sons of ****** they will ever come up against and they will have to have me killed to stop me from getting my money back......I have no trouble making a public statement that for the Director Gemeral Civil Aviation to stand behind his last letter and state he approves and condones what was done puts him just a slight notch above a child molester in my opinion when it comes to morals.

 

Better still I have in writing invited the prick ( the Director General. ) to file a writ and take me in front of a Federal Court for lible.............I bet he hasen't got the balls to do that.

 

Jeeses Don here I go again losing focus on the subject and getting all riled up against TC.....I'm just flawed I guess. :up: :up:

 

Then again that was why I am forced to keep doing these jobs because I lost everything I had saved trying to fight TC. It is a vicious circle that just keeps turning and turning.

 

 

Rev. Chas W.