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Ferry Pilots

brownshoe

brownshoe

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I’m just curious.:) I bumped into a couple of these guys when I was in the fleet. Bummed rides back to Cecil Field from where ever, and sent some off with a few of our planes that had been transferred and such. All were O4 or above, nice and laid back. They were great guys in general.

How does/did one get a job like this in the navy? Seems great to me if you like to travel. (Just curious after all these years.)

Steve.
 
I got a few chances to do it from NADEP and back when Alameda was short a PMCF qualed ECMO. Usually wandering trips to get some hours on the jet on the way to Cherry Point or back to Whidbey. The other guys were AEDO's and a lot fun to fly with. Lotsa hours and, as you say, very laid back.
 
VRF-31 and VRF-32. Ferry squadrons disestablished around 1986. I ran into one of my old P-3 flight engineers at the NAS Dallas NEX back around 1985. He was on a shore duty tour with VRF-31 out of Norfolk and cross training on CH-53's. Everyone (aircrew) had to qual on more than one type A/C.
 
brownshoe said:
I’m just curious.:) I bumped into a couple of these guys when I was in the fleet. Bummed rides back to Cecil Field from where ever, and sent some off with a few of our planes that had been transferred and such. All were O4 or above, nice and laid back. They were great guys in general.

How does/did one get a job like this in the navy? Seems great to me if you like to travel. (Just curious after all these years.)

Steve.
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How to get a job like this??? You fail at everything else, but be a good stick and there's no RIF. :D

Think: "Gorgeous George" from our time-frame, Steve-O. I met him once and he was "gorgeous". He was a legend and a great guy --- I think he retired as an O-5 (6?) .... but he was not on the "A" team ... just a good guy and a good stick.


 
A4sForever said:
How to get a job like this??? You fail at everything else, but be a good stick and there's no RIF. :D

Think: "Gorgeous George" from our time-frame, Steve-O. I met him once and he was "gorgeous". He was a legend and a great guy --- I think he retired as an O-5 (6?) .... but he was not on the "A" team ... just a good guy and a good stick.
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A4's could us youngins get enlightened on Gorgeous George? Sounds like an interesting story.

There is a guy with a ponytail that flies Prowlers out of NAS Jax (when they are delivered for Grumman mx) down to St. Augustine(all of about 7 minutes of flight time). It has been several years since I saw this guy. Anyone know his deal?
 
FLYTPAY said:
There is a guy with a ponytail that flies Prowlers out of NAS Jax (when they are delivered for Grumman mx) down to St. Augustine(all of about 7 minutes of flight time). It has been several years since I saw this guy. Anyone know his deal?
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Don't know what it is now but circa 95 had a terminal 0-4 (good guy, good stick just not gonna make it) go down there as one of the guys to fly FCF's and deliveries knowing that they were planning on going contract in a year and he could retire into a flying job, heck maybe Dirk is still there and now has a ponytail!
 
Pugs said:
fly FCF's and deliveries knowing that they were planning on going contract in a year and he could retire into a flying job, heck maybe Dirk is still there and now has a ponytail!
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Do they fly solo in the Prowler for those flights???? Someone apparently saw this guy jump in the Prowler and take it by himself????
 
The Fleet Readiness Centers (post BRAC 2005 name for merged AIMD/Depot facilities) are staffed with pilots/NFO's that pickup/deliver and perform all FCF's required after the heavy industrial PMI events. On occasion, due to IA demands, contract pilots have been utilized--I believe Wyle Labs is the current incumbent for this work and they run ads in AvWeek all the time.
 
FLYTPAY said:
A4's could us youngins get enlightened on Gorgeous George? Sounds like an interesting story.....
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I'm surprised that more guys haven't heard of him ... he was a legend, and deservedly so. In addition to his impressive Naval service, he was also senior adviser to the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora" and the following is taken from a Barrett Tillman article on RADM Paul "Battleaxe/Gator" Gilchrist which mentions "Gorgeous":

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?? Paul Gilchrist

"....While still in the five-sided funny farm, Paul got an even better Good Deal. CAPT "Gorgeous" George Watkins let it be known that prop-experienced aviators were sought for the filming of "Tora, Tora, Tora." Mandatory leave time had to be taken to participate, but that was a no-brainer; the studio was paying top dollar for qualified pilots to fly replica Zekes, Vals and Kates. As a senior VF guy, Paul was designated the Zero squadron commander and strike leader under "CAG" Watkins...."
gorgeousgeorgekc0.jpg


CAPT George C. "Gorgeous George" Watkins, USN -- RIP

*edit* a better article ... CAPT George "Gorgeous" Watkins

(and when I said he wasn't "A" team, the meaning was he didn't make Flag. Anyone who accomplishes what "Gorgeous" did should have ... but such are the vagaries of life.)

Keep the legends alive, guys ... :)
 
There are no dedicated ferry pilots anymore; FRC and DCMA pilots can get to ferry aircraft as a sideline to their primary duties, but unless the contract is written to say otherwise the Fleet has right of first refusal on who performs the ferry flight.

How to get a job like this??? You fail at everything else, but be a good stick and there's no RIF.
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Unfortunately the days of being able to do that are mostly gone. But I bet a lot of folks on this board - if you could offer them the chance to take nothing but flying orders, never make ppts for the Man, and come home to their family every night unless they were on a cross country - would find plenty of "success" in a career like that.

Personally, I think senior officers owe it to JO's to explain to them early on what the Navy defines as success (first tour to FRS to Loop/Boat to DH to Staff to operational command, #1 every where you go, etc). But I also believe that JO's owe it to themselves to figure out what will constitute success in their career. For some people, going to sea as a CO in your 40's will represent reaching the pinnacle of their profession. Other people will look at that and say "no thanks".

[Note: while the old ADO community no longer exists (which probably populated a lot of those ferry squadrons and similar jobs), it can be made on your own - I know a couple of AEDO's that have avoided the cubicle in Pax and lived pretty large going from flying job to flying job. Some have avoided the IA turd as well,]
 
bert said:
... I bet a lot of folks on this board - if you could offer them the chance to take nothing but flying orders, never make ppts for the Man, and come home to their family every night unless they were on a cross country - would find plenty of "success" in a career like that......
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You bet; the Navy was going to do something like that when I got out because over 75% of LT's were bailing: a guaranteed 20+ years (+ meaning needs of the service) and guaranteed O-4, assuming nothing "major" went wrong along the way.

I found what you describe -- that illusive flying "success" --- but it was called the "airlines". :)
 
I found what you describe -- that illusive flying "success" --- but it was called the "airlines".
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Further proof that it is all about timing: we have the ALOHA thread and more than a couple others to show that you got out of that job when the getting was good. You really can still find it in the Navy, but you have to do your homework and there are definitely risks involved these days (IA's, mandatory staff weenie time, etc). Some of the loopholes I squeezed through are already closed, but that doesn't mean there aren't more out there.
 
Pugs said:
Don't know, Jax to St Augustine maybe. Do you even get clean?
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I saw it take off, it cleaned up. So here is the next question. How does a civilian get "typed" in something that has no civilian equivalent. Contract guys were formerly NATOPS qualed but what about the FAA implications of type ratings?
 
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