Page 6 - March24T

Summer at the Iron Works
Photos and Story by
Peter Ruskay
N777PV on the ramp
Aviation is a cyclical business. Hiring droughts can suddenly become booms, and timing is a big fac- tor in career advancement for those who wish to become professional pilots. Due to age demographics and the enormous retirement of older pilots, aspiring aviators are enjoying what could be the greatest hiring wave ever. Today, the hiring is so frenzied that the journey from stu- dent pilot to airline cockpit has never been shorter. Those who chanced into this cycle have won the career lottery.
In 1991, as a newly minted graduate of the Florida In- stitute of Technology, I wasn’t as fortunate. The Gulf War began and ended that year, and airline hiring was almost nonexistent. The rest of the industry follows as airline hir- ing goes, and this logjam created a stagnant market. The result was that I had to beg, borrow and steal opportunities to gain experience and flight time.
4 • TWIN & TURBINE / March 2024
From 1991 to 1995, I simultaneously worked as a flight instructor, a passenger, and a cargo pilot for two Part 135 companies and as a Chief Pilot and Check Airman flying Navajos, Aerostars, Cheyennes, and King Airs. When there was no scheduled flying, I worked line service for Interna- tional Aviation at KHPN, fueling and towing business jets. None of these jobs were full-time or salaried. Armed with my period-correct pager, I juggled my schedule as the work came, and hustling was the only life I knew.
Every summer at KHPN, a magnificent bird would appear and base out of our FBO for the season. It was a vintage Grumman G-73T Mallard manufactured in 1949. Radial to PT6 conversion complete, she always drew attention when sitting on the ramp. The owner was a colorful and gregarious man who lived seasonally in New York and Florida. He was an avid fisherman who owned homes near his fishing boats