Random Thoughts 17: Here we go again.
- Thread starter NWICY
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Since there was the discussion of work earlier in the week. Congratulations to @KidSilverhair on five years of retirement from the FAA. Rumor has it he saw that I was back in the area and about to get current so he cut and run as quick as he could.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
I don’t need that kind of stress in my life any more, Mr. Pilot Man.
I don’t need that kind of stress in my life any more, Mr. Pilot Man.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
Robert Stack really doesn't know what to look at in that gif, does he?
He’s just making sure they put every light they‘ve got on that runway.
“Sorry I turned left on delta can I take Echo 2 Echo instead?” Or “ugh tower 8TT at the end of 13…I need to shut down and get out quick.” Both have been by me, the second one I forgot to close a gas cap and had fuel streaming down.I don’t need that kind of stress in my life any more, Mr. Pilot Man.
I absolutely cannot wait to introduce LittleWx to one of the greatest theatrical masterpieces ever made.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
Man, I can’t tell you how many times we had to deal with this in the control tower …
but do you still have your Crown Royal bag?Man, I can’t tell you how many times we had to deal with this in the control tower …
@KidSilverhair did you ever get to call out a speed check for a SR-71? Don't know much about aviation overall but that is a great story.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
Lol, no, not in Cedar Rapids. I have heard that story, though.
We didn’t get a whole lot of military traffic, an occasional visit from some fighters or transport aircraft doing practice approaches. Getting visits from Air Force 1 was always an event (usually a big hassle, since it shuts down everything around the airport for a while).
While I did get to walk around inside Air Force 2 one time (way back when Dan Quayle was VP, before they used the B757 as AF2), I never got a visit inside Air Force One. I’ll never forget the one time a President was visiting Cedar Rapids, and the flight crew invited us to come over and have a look, and the only person our supervisor allowed to go over was … the supervisor.
(This was the same supervisor who bid on a new position in Texas, was selected, packed up his stuff and moved … without telling his wife of a few months, who was out of town when he left. When she got back and saw he and his things were gone, she called the tower to ask if we knew what had happened to him. But that’s yet another story …)
Lol, no, not in Cedar Rapids. I have heard that story, though.
We didn’t get a whole lot of military traffic, an occasional visit from some fighters or transport aircraft doing practice approaches. Getting visits from Air Force 1 was always an event (usually a big hassle, since it shuts down everything around the airport for a while).
While I did get to walk around inside Air Force 2 one time (way back when Dan Quayle was VP, before they used the B757 as AF2), I never got a visit inside Air Force One. I’ll never forget the one time a President was visiting Cedar Rapids, and the flight crew invited us to come over and have a look, and the only person our supervisor allowed to go over was … the supervisor.
(This was the same supervisor who bid on a new position in Texas, was selected, packed up his stuff and moved … without telling his wife of a few months, who was out of town when he left. When she got back and saw he and his things were gone, she called the tower to ask if we knew what had happened to him. But that’s yet another story …)
I think that 2nd story might be good, we're all friends here you can share it.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
He was, different. I got along with him okay, but I didn’t always agree with his methods of supervision or how he dealt with people. He had been married and divorced by the time he came to CR, and had a young son who I believe was living in Texas with his mom. He would have almost daily phone conversations with his son (in the operational areas, not in private) that would always begin, “Hey, little buddy!”I think that 2nd story might be good, we're all friends here you can share it.
He thought of himself as quite the playa, although I have no direct knowledge of his skills or experiences with women. Anyway, after a year or so at CR he met someone here (I believe she was a teacher), and they got married. It wasn’t very long after that when we discovered he had bid on a supervisor job in Texas, to be closer to his son. We didn’t think anything of that, people move for personal reasons like that all the time, but we did assume that meant his wife would be going with him. Some of us even were at his house as he was giving away some items he didn’t need (I got a bunch of landscape pavers), and I know some of the controllers helped him pack up to move.
What we didn’t know is that he hadn’t told his wife about any of his plans. All the packing and moving preparations were done when she was out of town visiting family. She returned home to find him moved out and gone … I don’t know if he left a note or not, but I do know she called the tower to ask if we knew what had happened - that was the first we discovered that he’d done all this behind her back.
Crazy, although knowing the guy, it wasn’t all that unbelievable.
My dad was an executive at Sikorsky Aircraft. There is a separate hanger where the President's fleet of helicopters were stored. My dad took me in their once. Once inside the hanger there was a chain link fence with barbed wire along the top and numerous armed guards.Lol, no, not in Cedar Rapids. I have heard that story, though.
We didn’t get a whole lot of military traffic, an occasional visit from some fighters or transport aircraft doing practice approaches. Getting visits from Air Force 1 was always an event (usually a big hassle, since it shuts down everything around the airport for a while).
While I did get to walk around inside Air Force 2 one time (way back when Dan Quayle was VP, before they used the B757 as AF2), I never got a visit inside Air Force One. I’ll never forget the one time a President was visiting Cedar Rapids, and the flight crew invited us to come over and have a look, and the only person our supervisor allowed to go over was … the supervisor.
(This was the same supervisor who bid on a new position in Texas, was selected, packed up his stuff and moved … without telling his wife of a few months, who was out of town when he left. When she got back and saw he and his things were gone, she called the tower to ask if we knew what had happened to him. But that’s yet another story …)
Pretty much no one is allowed inside of the fence.
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Young kid that works with us is leaving after 3 months for a job at a bank, for a $1 more. I get it, more career opportunities. And if he's not willing to at least try to walk on trusses, walls, and roofs, then this isn't probably the best line of work for him.
Now the boss will probably have to work with us so we have a crew of 4, 3 guys is really inefficient.
Now the boss will probably have to work with us so we have a crew of 4, 3 guys is really inefficient.
Once I got used to it walking on beams wasn't a big deal. But it's not for everyone.
I didn't mind beams or even 2x4s but the time Velo sent me to pull up the flags in Hilton and it was just 2x4s with a view of the floor 80 foot below, I froze. I got another worker that was in the ceiling with me to shimmy out and get them.
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