My good friend Bob swung by the area in his brand new Challenger 300 jet. Well, not exactly HIS jet, as he was flying it for the fractional jet charter company he works for. I have a number of friends who fly for the big two operators, Flex Jet and Net Jets, and they all seem to be pretty happy there.
Bob and I go back 15 years when we flew Twin Otters together out of Long Island. We hauled gamblers down to Atlantic City and brought them back home, usually $10,000 lighter in the wallet. We could almost tell how much they lost when computing the weight and balance. It was especially hard for us to watch all those throwing money away when Bob and I made $1000 and $1600 a month respectively. Ahh, well. They were still good times. Especially when I was able to fly with Bob, who was the best co-pilot to fly with. The kind of guy who brings donuts to the company meetings, is really enthusiastic and who flies exceptionally well.
So it was fun to catch up with him while he showed me the really slick features in the new Challenger 300. He pointed out the extra large LCD screens, the lack of any overhead switches and the plush interior. His co-pilot was busy doing Jepps revisions in the cabin. The airplane holds around 15 books and the pilots are expected to keep them up to date during their sit time. It looked like a daunting task.
With all of this paper on board, I found it funny that Canadair didn't include a clip on the yoke to hold your approach plate. Some guys have taken to buying a clip that has sticky tape on one side from Staples to hold the charts. Proof that the designers aren't pilots in every case.
I'll leave you with some pictures of this really sexy machine. But do note the revisions and yoke clip:
4 comments:
Hi Kent,
Thanks for the kind words. It was great to see you! Thanks for your friendship all these years. I will never forget when I lived overseas in Dubai, you were my ONLY friend who kept in touch with me. Those video's of Seinfeld, Drew Carey, and many other shows you sent me made me feel I was home!
Bob is a class act! I hope he is doing well. Coo jet by the way.
NICE plane! Interesting read.
Great post Kent, and a really great looking jet! When I get my ratings I am considering going corporate rather than with the airlines - my flight instructor is a corporate jet pilot (flying Citations mostly) out of Belfast Intl and he loves it - he flew for the airlines a while back and much prefers the corporate side of things; almost as well-paid too.
Cheers
Dave
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