Packing Materials

There are many ways to protect the goods you send via the Big Box Haulers. My advice after casual observation, is to pack things as if they are going to get broke, but that is a whole other post. The focus of this post is the materials that people use to package their items and how they apply to me and my job.

Paper/News Paper

I don’t see much of this type of packing material. Mainly because the packages that have paper as the main packing material don’t bust open inside my aircraft. This is one of my favorite PM’s. As a receiver of such goods packed in paper, it can be mildly messy. Just because of the sheer volume of paper that is usually used to protect the contents. It also has the tendency to fill trash receptacles rather quickly. Boxes using paper as the main PM are usually lighter than most and may have a bulging appearance.

Ghost Poop/Foam Peanuts

If I ever meet the guy that invented this stuff, I’m gonna choke the living crap out of him. I usually see this type of PM falling out of boxes that are heavy. I have no idea why. People seem to pack objects such as pipe couplings, pump motors, bowling balls, and other heavy dense objects, usually with sharp corners and add peanuts as an afterthought, just to occupy space inside the box. By the time these boxes reach me at planeside, they usually have holes or tears in them. Each time they are handled about 3 cups of the PM puffs out of the FOD generating holes. They are most often seen tumbling along in herds, with the wind, racing towards the air carrier ramp. I wonder how much ghost poop would have to be ingested by a 737 or A320 before it wrecks an engine. The other place that they are commonly seen is on the floor of my SUV. I looks as if a ghost crapped all over in the back of the plane. I swear the damn things breed in flight. I either have to sweep or vacuum out the aircraft in order to dispose of them. They are nasty to get in a package as well. Extremely hard to dispose of, they occupy large volumes of trash receptacle volume, stick to you hands and arms, and run from a statically charged broom.

Air Bags

I don’t know what else to call them. Little plastic pouches filled with air.(Click Video Link) How ingenious!! Easy to handle, I never see them, not messy, simply poke with a box cutter or scissors and they go flat, making disposal a breeze. They were my absolute favorite until Thursday…

I had just departed Big Town, on my regular route. I had leveled out at 12,000, finished up the cruise checklist and began to do the weight and balance. Otto was at the helm as I furiously and intensely plugged numbers into the calculator, and diligently wrote them on the manifest. That is when it happened. I heard, over the ANR headset and the drone of the engines, a muffled POP! It was even strong enough to make the seat jolt slightly! I quickly discarded the manifest and calculator, shut Otto off and took the helm myself. A quick check of the engine instruments and a glance outside to the engines revealed nothing out of the ordinary. As far as I could tell there were no noxious fumes or smoke in the cabin. After a few minutes of intense sniffing, looking, and checking I came to the conclusion that I had either hit a B-1RD or some freight had shifted in the back of the aircraft. The rest of the flight was uneventful.

When I landed in The Dive, the driver and I unloaded the last of the boxes off the SUV. The second to last box located directly behind my seat, against the cargo net, I noticed, was open. It was as if it were forcefully opened along the top seam. The box and the packing tape were both torn. Curious, I peered inside to examine the contents of the said box. And what, you ask, did I find? A box filled with my little air bag friends….

Near as I can tell, the climb to 12,000, in an unpressurized aircraft, caused these little buggers to expand. The plastic, unable to contain the air trapped inside, gave way and exploded much like a balloon would if you filled it too far. The resulting ‘explosion’ ripped open the top of the box and sent a little concussion wave to the back of my seat through the cargo net, causing my two minutes of panic.

Lesson learned.

Note to self: Airbags may go off in flight.

I'm Back

Man, almost a whole month since I have posted. I have just been plane busy. (Pun intended) One of the guys at Royal Air quit middle of last month, messing with my schedule. Plus, I have made a couple of lifestyle changes in the last month and I have also acquired a new computer. So I have not been as diligent in my posts as I should have been. Anyway today's content is actually pirated from a mass email sent to me from my sister in law. Although not all of it may be factual, the underlying tones are spot on in my opinion. Enjoy!!

When you see a Pilot... he's not getting paid!

• When you see a pilot going through the same security you go through, he's not being paid.
• When you see a pilot walking in the terminal, he's not being paid.
• When you see a pilot walking around the aircraft doing a preflight inspection, he's not being paid.
• When you board the aircraft and look in the cockpit and see the pilots setting up the aircraft, they're not getting paid.
• When you land safely at your destination and walk off the aircraft and see the pilots shutting down the aircraft, they're not being paid
• When you see a pilot waiting for a ride to a hotel for the night, he's not being paid.
• The only time the pilot of your aircraft is getting paid is when you DON"T see him... when he's locked behind the cockpit door as you push back from the gate. Every thing else he does until this point is for free. For no wages. Nothing!
• The average airline pilot is at work for 12- 14 hours per day, yet gets paid for less than 6 - 7 hours.
• The average airline pilot is away from home, at work, for 70+ hours a week, yet gets paid for only 15 to 18 hours per weeks work.
• Most pilots schedules have them working 15 to 21 days a month... that means they are not at home half to three-fourths of every month. Yet the public usually only reads about those few exceptions that have 20 days off (though in their last few years before retirement).
• Holidays, weekends, birthdays, anniversaries, summer vacations.... not at home.
• A majority of pilots have 4 year college degrees, or more. Then they begin training as pilots.
• A large majority of Pilots have spent 8 years or more flying in the military, risking their lives and protecting your freedom for wages most of you wouldn't accept in the civilian world.
• Civilian trained pilots have spent $50,000 or more to acquire the training that qualifies them for a Regional Airline job, which pays a wage less than the poverty level in most western countries.
• Most pilots do not attain the required experience level to be hired by a major airline until they are well passed the age of 30. The average age of a new hire airline pilot is 32.
• Until the year 2009, airline pilots were required to retire at the age of 60. This gave most of them less than 28 years to maximize their income and fund their pensions, hoping that greedy airline execs won't steal it. Today, they still have to worry about the greedy execs.
• Airline pilots are subject to random drug and alcohol testing, any time they are at work. Fail it and they lose their job.
• Airline pilots are required to undergo rigorous re-training and certification every 6 months, at which time they could fail and lose their jobs, licenses and livelihood.
• Airline pilots are required to submit to random government "Line checks" during which their license could be revoked and livelihood destroyed.
• Airline pilots are exposed to radiation levels far exceeding the normal safe radiation limits mandated by the FDA.
• Airline pilots are required to submit to a government medical examination every 6 months. Year after year. Fail that, and their career is over.
• How many of you go to work where people try to kill you? How many of you have had your office turned into a missile? How many of you work behind a bullet proof door?
• How many of you are responsible for the lives of 200- 300 people, with any small mistake in your performance resulting in the death of your customers (and yourselves), and serious financial setback or destruction of your company?
• How many of your jobs require you to fight your way through thunderstorms, rain, snow, ice and turbulence, day and night, year after year? No mistakes allowed? The excuse " I had a bad day at work" never accepted?
• Many pilots volunteer (on their own time and own dime) to be trained as Federal Flight Deck Officers, and carry weapons to defend their aircraft, crew and passengers. They maintain their proficiency and qualifications twice a year on their own time and money.
• How many of you go to work where you are searched, patted down and your personal items scrutinized by strangers for weapons and bombs, even though you can kill everyone in your place of work with just your bare hands?
• Airline pilot pay scales and hours worked are usually posted by absurdly overcompensated Airline Exec's who wage a PR campaign against their Pilot Unions and trying to justify their own greedy bonus's and draconian wage and pension cuts. Cheap airline passengers just love this since they don't care if their airplane is flown by the lowest denominator, as long as they can fly for next to nothing. Of course if they don't get to their destination, their next of kin can sue....