#pilot stuff

YAY I get to info dump thank you anon! 🙌🥳 It’s really hard to explain, ill try to link some videos of small planes doing this and just imagine a B-17 😅

TLDR: Life Advice from Gale Cleven. If you’re going to be batshit insane, know your stuff enough to have a bullshit reason that’s plausibly-flavored enough to keep yourself out of trouble 👍🫡 (another takeaway is that Gale was as strong as ten men, that is a near impossible physical exertion to wrestle a plane that big into doing those things). Also Bucky would never do any of this because he gets his thrills from places other than flying. But this is all Gale’s got. Explanation below:

Im alone up north and the weathers not great so I have to keep cancelling flights but the flights are to bring passengers to see a dying relative that might not make it through the night

I cant tell if Im not pushing myself hard enough or if Im making the right call to stay on the ground. I feel bad but I dont want to rush out there and possibly not make it to our destination

I offered earlier times of day the past few days but they wanted the afternoon but the weather was getting worse in the afternoon so we couldn't go

Im now going to try to go at sunrise tomorrow because Im expecting/hoping the weather will be ok. then I can get a couple trips in if it works out. not thrilled about getting up early and going out into the snow before the sun comes up but I want to get these people to where they need to go

I have noone to really consult on this so I just make the call and trust that I got it right. I do tend to play it safe at least so it shouldn't be too bad.

and I'm losing my mind because I have a massive hotel bill that I cant pay off because the company owes me money for it and I haven't heard back about anything yet.

I have been leaving for so long, I have forgotten how to stay.

The sky calls, and I go—always, without hesitation,

without promises, without goodbyes that mean anything at all.

I have loved before—

or at least, I have tried.

But love does not fit in a suitcase,

does not survive time zones and distances measured in flight hours.

I have kissed someone with the taste of goodbye already on my lips,

held hands that trembled, knowing I would not hold them long.

Somewhere below, someone once waited for me.

They left the light on, kept the sheets warm,

believed I would choose them over the open sky.

I wanted to—I did.

But the engines hummed, the radio called my name,

and before I could stop myself, I was gone.

I tell myself I will return,

that one day I will step off a plane

and walk toward something that does not vanish when I reach for it.

But the sky whispers like a lover I can never forget,

and I am nothing if not faithful

I don't mind, anon, but the preflight checklist, and every checklist that follows (there are many) depends on the plane. However, typically, it will start with the walk-around. You check wings, gear (both the tires and the structure that retracts them up), canopy/windshield, intakes clear of debris, flaps and slats free and unobstructed, fuselage undamaged, exhaust clear of debris, no FOD (foreign objects) laying around on the ground near the plane, and general issues like maybe panels being loose or left open, etc.

Then its interior preflight checks, where its heavily dependant on the type of plane. If youre talking about startup checklists, you'll usually check ground power connection, engine temps (yes, before you start up), and for any FOD in the cockpit. If you have an ejection seat, you check all points of contact in the harness, including oxygen hose and g-suit connecter. Then you absolutely ensure that the seat is safed before you climb onto it, in case you catch the handle and pull it by accident. If the seat is armed when that happens, you could blow yourself sky high.

Start up usually begins with the turning on the battery, then the engines, then comms, check your hydraulics, check flight control surfaces (the Wiggle), and check oxygen/cockpit environment controls. Disconnect ground power and make sure there is no dip in power/control in the plane.

Now you check all mission-relevant systems. For civilians that might be weather radar systems, any pods attached (like if its an ocean surveyor plane or smthg). For military, its usually encrypted systems, weapons, specialized pods, etc.

If you're interested in a kind of dry but detailed start up for a legacy Hornet (a C model, I believe), here is a video of a guy walking thru preflight and start up in a reasonably accurate simulator of one.

The key thing to remember is that while every pilot carries a printed out detailed checklist on their knee board for this stuff, professionals with hundreds to thousands of hours can usually rattle it all off from memory. We call it "laundry lists" and honestly there are some that I think are burned into my bones.