The tail has the World Food Program logo but the rest is (?)

my mom, anesthesiologist, worked for them for years. i got dragged along on a trip or two. sure seemed like a lot of nuns in charge of things to me. and i don't think you quite understand what "missionary work" means.


either way. i met mostly medical people working for them. it struck me as a sort of humanitarian french foreign legion. if you wanted to get way from your troubles and disappear for a few years it was a very good way to go.

No, you don't understand what the term means. The presence of nuns does not constitute missionary work, in and of itself. I know perfectly well who works for them and what they do. No worries though, enjoy your misinformed position.

Looks a lot like a older SAT C-130 paint job.

I'm coming in late to this party and haven't read all the posts but my suggestion is to start by figuring out what you did right and wrong to get where you are now. Otherwise you are destined to spend a lot of time and money and end up in the same position.

The only problem is...

The FAA (in their infininte wisdom) has not 'gotten onboard' the certification bandwagon yet. IS-BAO is, in fact, the gold standard, but their requirements for 'auditors' require accreditation from a graduate-level coursework. I remember a friend taking the 10 month coursework at USC a couple of years ago, and he only last October finally got his accreditation. This program will not be the 'cut and paste' type thing that RVSM and RNP was.

Believe one of "the group" is already certified and ready to float. He is taking the lead but not going to do it alone.

I think its time for an update :)

Personally, I'd bartend on a beach in Thailand in a thatched hut.

I saw a sign today on the corner, "Whole house sale. Everything must go."

That sign had me thinking wistful thoughts...

When I was a kid had an Uncle that "retired" early due to cancer that successful treatment left him with nothing. He sold everything he had left except for his car and a suitcase of clothes. The car was an older diesel Mercedes sedan, I seem to remember 220. He traveled around and did odd jobs all over seeing the country close up. Talked about going to new little towns and hanging out in the breakfast coffee shop cafes getting to know the people there and finding work.

Every once in a while he got the opportunity to be a part of some venture he liked and invested what little he had, but kept moving. Later in life he got Alzheimer's. His brother spent years finding places and things he had invested a small amount in. More often than no he found the small amount was now worth a fortune. Basically his brother found enough money to easily pay for his care.

I remember going to visit him at the home he was in. Outside his window his brother had a pad poured and they parked his Mercedes there and kept it washed and cleaned up. His brother said looking out and seeing the car made him happy.


My oldest brother retired with not much and found someone that let him live on a hunting lease. He basically lived out of a tent, camping for 3 years. He did have a gym membership where it could go shower and clean up. He loved it. The only reason he moved to a cheap apartment is someone came in while he was gone to town and tore up everything in his camp. Now he lives in a cheap apartment with barely enough SS, doesn't work, but does go to the library often and reads a LOT of books.


A friend that has a small plane pilot's license moved to Hawaii and flew Island tours for 4 years before moving back state side and doing something else. Now he works for Apple and is the top tier in phone support for iPhones.


I'm 56 and not married, no kids, but do have a mortgage. My cars are paid for. Thought about what I would do if I lost my job that I've worked for the same company for the past 36 years. Have a 401K, but it's not really enough to last long after taxes even though I would not have to pay a penalty. Also have an on-going health problem caused by something as simple as stepping on a nail 4 years ago. Don't know what I would do.

I'm thinking Bush Pilot in Alaska....you can be a lifeline to hundreds of people, or just shuttle hunters into the wild. You could pick and choose your clientelle.

SWFL Oct-April
The best weather in the entire country. 340,000 wealthy American, Canadian, and Germans descend on paradise coast.

Most working people are in the service industry (bars, boats, and beaches). Check out Naples airport for work as well.

I have two family members in aviation one just lost a cushy corporate job up north. The business owner is under criminal investigation.

I'll suggest Seminole Bingo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjmbIGlrr9s

I would get a decent enough Mac to run a word processor and Photoshop, a camera and a tripod, and travel the country photographing and writing articles about interesting vehicles of all kinds. I have a couple of stringers who do that, and I envy their vagabond lives, meeting cool people, getting up close to cool stuff, and making $300 for 12 good photos and 1800 words.

Sing/Fing was one of the reason this place was so interesting when I joined a few years after the Earth cooled. He is still active:

My next door neighbors did just this...sold their place(furnished) and the husband is splitting to travel...the wife and 18 yo son got a small condo nearby. Handed the keys over this morning. 2 college age daughters...1 is going to Au for 6 months on a work visa, the other staying at Berkley. Husband says they are staying married...very strange way to go out. The neighbors are shaking their collective head.

No reaction from Fingpilot yet from his 6 year old thread. So I gather his situation must have improved since then. I have seen his other posts recently. Perceptive on your part Motion....

$10k is not much nowadays. I have been really hungry 3 times in my life. I don't like it. The thought of hunger should be a motivator.....

I LAUGHED MY A$$ OFF when I saw this thread today!

Had completely forgotten that I had started it. I saw the title, and thought, 'Some other poor SOB had to do what I did', and then realized it was ME!

OK, Update all these years later...

I ended up driving to Redstone Arsenal in Northern Alabama when a friend (who knew nothing of my 'situation') called and needed help on a 'project). I was in Flagstaff, behind a snow plow at dawn waiting for the sun to come up so they could open I-40 after a big snow.

My friend and I had worked on a couple of 'projects' in the way-back days, on something that is common now, the concept of UAV's. He had gotten seriously ill at a really bad time in his current project and needed a stand-in while he had surgery. I still had all the clearances and was able to get up to speed on his project quickly. I arrived in Huntsville 3 days later and went right to work. His health had gotten bad enough that the surgery wasn't going to work.

6 years later I was still there. When I 'retired' from there, I was running the small and medium UAV programs for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Over a hundred employees, spread out all over the world flying missions as diverse as ground surface to air missile targets, 50-cal targets for Humvees, autonomous autopilot birds for Navy gun and missile live fire drills. Sigint and Elint observation drones, counter-drone research, low-observable tactics and materials.

Had a blast. Bought a big Diesel-pusher RV with a trailer that has the car and all my toys in it, and now follow the sun, north in the summer, south in the winter. Will take posts as a camp host at National Parks. Last summer at Lake Moomaw in the Appalachians, last winter at a beachfront park in Biloxi.

Am having fun! I loved all the ideas, but surprisingly had BTDT on a lot of them.

I might still have a trick or two up my sleeve!

HOOOOOOT!!!!! What a story, Mike! Life is funny like that... you never know what's around the next corner! So happy to hear that your adventure took such an interesting turn :) http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat6.gif

Ya know, this is one of the best threads here. Thanks for the inspiration Mike! AND best of luck and good fortune to ya, now and in the future!!