Aircraft ferry pilots require faith, and hope of boredom
May 14, 2023 23:38:32 GMT 12
JW and joey05 like this
Post by Dave Homewood on May 14, 2023 23:38:32 GMT 12
This s an interesting article from The Press, dated 22nd of October 1987:
Aircraft ferry pilots require faith, and hope of boredom
By DAVE WILSON
Dave Briggs says there are two types of aircraft ferry pilots — those who have ditched in the ocean and those who are going to ditch. He and his colleague, Bruce Payne, between them have more than 150 transoceanic ferry crossings in their log books, but the softly spoken Americans prefer not to keep count. Both can name friends who have died in the same business.
The two men have spent the last six days ferrying a pair of Cessna 185 light planes from California to Christchurch for Mount Cook Airlines.
It is fatiguing, sometimes boring, sometimes dangerous work being a long-distance ferry pilot. "The best ferry trip is the one that keeps you bored all the way across," says Dave Briggs. He and Bruce Payee can recall other flights which ended in the ocean. Mr Payne ditched a Cessna Cardinal which sank in 30 seconds.
As initiated ferry pilots they know that a typical job can see them spending 15 hours at a stretch, hunched in a tiny cockpit with a huge stainless steel ferry fuel tank as their only companion. It is lucrative work, but it is also a job in which you trust in God and pray for the fuel and oil supply lines not to block.
Both men can call on a lifetime's flying experience. Dave Briggs retired from the United States Navy last year after a 21-year flying career which included 507 landings on aircraft carriers. As a carrier pilot he flew A3 Skywarriors and saw combat over Vietnam.
“I've also been doing ferrying work on the side for years” says the man who is at home flying over water.
Bruce Payne’s flying career is equally diverse. A retired United States Air Force fighter pilot and instructor, his 25,000 flying hours include a long stint as a highway traffic reporter in Los Angeles. The word "retirement” does not feature in either man’s vocabulary. Bruce Payne also files with a skywriting group in America and is rather proud that he has also flown as a World War II Japanese fighter pilot. Only in the movies, though.
"I was a Zero pilot in the television series, 'The Winds Of War.' You might have seen me attacking Pearl Harbour and the Philippines.”
Bruce Payne says ferry pilots are a different breed of aviator.
"You have to put a lot of faith in your equipment”
On their 7,000-mile flight to New Zealand the pair kept in visual contact but both say ferry pilots prefer to fly alone. "Ninety per cent of my trips would be alone,” Mr Briggs says. "I prefer it that way. If you are flying semi-formation there is always the danger of someone else falling asleep and crashing into you.”
On transoceanic flights they carry liferafts, and survival suits but are careful in their choice of food and drink.
“Never eat Mexican food before a flight, not if you want a comfortable flight,” is the advice.
As for drinking and toilet requirements on a 25-hour flight, Bruce Payne says, "You carry one Jug empty and' one full and eventually you get it all in the other one and hope you don’t mistake them halfway through the flight”
At the end of a long ferry leg there is one thought in a pilot’s mind. "Beer” says Dave Briggs. Whiat about sleep? "Beer first, then sleep” he grins. The two have tasted most ales in the world and regard the New Zealand drop as the best.
Ferry flying, they say, is a job where the pilot calls it quits after each mission, but to invariably lured back.
"I quit four times a year and then get an offer I can’t refuse,” is Dave Briggs' explanation why he has ferried more than 50 aircraft to New Zealand.
Bruce Payne says his wife believes he has retired every time he returns home.
The pair flew into Christchurch on Tuesday after a 14hr 50 min leg from Pago Pago. Yesterday they took their little Cessnas on the final leg of the delivery, from Christchurch to Queenstown. Mount Cook Airlines will reconfigure the aircraft as skiplanes for tourist flying at Mount Cook.
Messrs Payne and Briggs then face a sedate journey home in a commercial jet and the prospect of another assault on the ocean in a few months.
As pilots who have flown to most compass points in the world, Mr Payne, who lives in California and Mr Briggs, a Hawaiian resident, say there to one area they prefer to avoid at the moment
"I’ve not been to Libya recently and I don’t think I’ll go to Iran either,” Mr Briggs says.
Aircraft ferry pilots require faith, and hope of boredom
By DAVE WILSON
Dave Briggs says there are two types of aircraft ferry pilots — those who have ditched in the ocean and those who are going to ditch. He and his colleague, Bruce Payne, between them have more than 150 transoceanic ferry crossings in their log books, but the softly spoken Americans prefer not to keep count. Both can name friends who have died in the same business.
The two men have spent the last six days ferrying a pair of Cessna 185 light planes from California to Christchurch for Mount Cook Airlines.
It is fatiguing, sometimes boring, sometimes dangerous work being a long-distance ferry pilot. "The best ferry trip is the one that keeps you bored all the way across," says Dave Briggs. He and Bruce Payee can recall other flights which ended in the ocean. Mr Payne ditched a Cessna Cardinal which sank in 30 seconds.
As initiated ferry pilots they know that a typical job can see them spending 15 hours at a stretch, hunched in a tiny cockpit with a huge stainless steel ferry fuel tank as their only companion. It is lucrative work, but it is also a job in which you trust in God and pray for the fuel and oil supply lines not to block.
Both men can call on a lifetime's flying experience. Dave Briggs retired from the United States Navy last year after a 21-year flying career which included 507 landings on aircraft carriers. As a carrier pilot he flew A3 Skywarriors and saw combat over Vietnam.
“I've also been doing ferrying work on the side for years” says the man who is at home flying over water.
Bruce Payne’s flying career is equally diverse. A retired United States Air Force fighter pilot and instructor, his 25,000 flying hours include a long stint as a highway traffic reporter in Los Angeles. The word "retirement” does not feature in either man’s vocabulary. Bruce Payne also files with a skywriting group in America and is rather proud that he has also flown as a World War II Japanese fighter pilot. Only in the movies, though.
"I was a Zero pilot in the television series, 'The Winds Of War.' You might have seen me attacking Pearl Harbour and the Philippines.”
Bruce Payne says ferry pilots are a different breed of aviator.
"You have to put a lot of faith in your equipment”
On their 7,000-mile flight to New Zealand the pair kept in visual contact but both say ferry pilots prefer to fly alone. "Ninety per cent of my trips would be alone,” Mr Briggs says. "I prefer it that way. If you are flying semi-formation there is always the danger of someone else falling asleep and crashing into you.”
On transoceanic flights they carry liferafts, and survival suits but are careful in their choice of food and drink.
“Never eat Mexican food before a flight, not if you want a comfortable flight,” is the advice.
As for drinking and toilet requirements on a 25-hour flight, Bruce Payne says, "You carry one Jug empty and' one full and eventually you get it all in the other one and hope you don’t mistake them halfway through the flight”
At the end of a long ferry leg there is one thought in a pilot’s mind. "Beer” says Dave Briggs. Whiat about sleep? "Beer first, then sleep” he grins. The two have tasted most ales in the world and regard the New Zealand drop as the best.
Ferry flying, they say, is a job where the pilot calls it quits after each mission, but to invariably lured back.
"I quit four times a year and then get an offer I can’t refuse,” is Dave Briggs' explanation why he has ferried more than 50 aircraft to New Zealand.
Bruce Payne says his wife believes he has retired every time he returns home.
The pair flew into Christchurch on Tuesday after a 14hr 50 min leg from Pago Pago. Yesterday they took their little Cessnas on the final leg of the delivery, from Christchurch to Queenstown. Mount Cook Airlines will reconfigure the aircraft as skiplanes for tourist flying at Mount Cook.
Messrs Payne and Briggs then face a sedate journey home in a commercial jet and the prospect of another assault on the ocean in a few months.
As pilots who have flown to most compass points in the world, Mr Payne, who lives in California and Mr Briggs, a Hawaiian resident, say there to one area they prefer to avoid at the moment
"I’ve not been to Libya recently and I don’t think I’ll go to Iran either,” Mr Briggs says.
