For any fellow aviation nerds...

I'm 99% sure this is the team plane. Toward the bottom the activity log shows 3:14 yesterday was when they took off. Yesterday at 3:14 James Harrison posted a pic on his facebook that said "wheels up"

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL9466/history/20141005/2100Z/KJAX/KPIT

 

That's cool. It's one of my biggest dreams to learn to fly a plane.

 

I'm a huge aviation nerd. I obtained my PPL in 2003. A couple of years ago I bought a high-end gaming computer for flight sim. I bought some payware add-ons which emulate real-life airliners, unlike the default planes on FSX which were more "video game-esque." I used video tutorials online and taught myself how to program the FMC and all. I found deltava.org, they really helped me learn more

 

Was Haley on that plane?

 

BELL N BLOUNT ?

 

They were as high as the rest of the team I think.

 

That's really cool. It costs like $9,000 to get certified around here. Do you know if the Steelers pilot is like an ex-military guy or something?

 

They just charter planes from airlines...this one was American

 

I think my PPL was about $6,000...11-12 years ago

 

Oh I thought they actually had a plane of their own. They really should fly Southwest and save money on bags. The we might have more cap space. LOL.

 

Also a huge aviation junkie. I always wanted to be a pilot but it was simply too expensive to get into and there was (and still is) a serious lack of jobs here in Canada. My best option would have been to try to become a pilot in the military and get on commercially after that, but there were a few things that kept me out of the military even though I would have loved to serve.

So now I settle for flight sims and launching my 4 wheeler high off jumps and pretending I'm flying, at least until I hit the ground with a massive amount of force

 

How much does it cost up there? $8,500 is pretty much the cheapest I've found down here. I work with a guy that actually owns his own flight school. We go to Disneyworld a few times a year and it's a huge dream of mine to fly us there one day.

 

You should join us on deltava.org...it's a blast!

 

Do you have to be a certified pilot to do that?

 

It wasn't so much the cost of the actual license, it was the ongoing cost of getting the required number of hours. Not to mention there's a lack of jobs up here. You guys have so many regional airlines that we don't have. Although on the other hand, all our commercial pilot jobs pay very well, whereas many pilots down there are working for peanuts (which is why I don't like flying on those regional jets, the pilots are underpaid and sometimes sleep deprived from having to work more than one job).

 

Nah not at all. Some people are but most are just people like me obsessed with aviation. You can have basically no flying experience and join. There are levels that you are ranked at, and you can only fly those particular aircraft until you do checkrides and progress to the next stage. I started at stage 2 I believe, and had to do different checkrides and just kinda do self-taught lessons. There are also a lot of lessons on FSX that can help you learn things. I am at Stage 5 now, 777 captain. I usually fly the PMDG-777 (payware add-on)

I had always planned on getting a bachelor's degree then going to flight school. I had just started my 3rd year of undergrad when 9/11 happened, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find a job with all the layoffs that had happened. Probably the single biggest regret of my life...

 

Actually a few months ago two UPS pilots were killed because of sleep deprivation but of course UPS said it was "pilot error". But the guys had sent texts to people telling them they hadn't been sleeping well. I think a lot of commercial pilots down here are ex military and to learn to fly in the military is pretty rare. The air force told my buddy that there was a 98% chance he would never see inside a plane if he joined. So he didn't.