United Air Lines Pilot Training Promo Film - 1969 

Don Dugas When you worked on the 747-400, what was your favorite destination?

I had a 7 day trip out of O'hare airport in Chicago that went to Japan (Narita) and to Singapore. The layover in Singapore was amazing. Breakfast at Raffle's Hotel was a dream come true.

Don Dugas say hi to Regina for me Don. My Dad began with UAL after WW2 in Management. My brother Brian McGarry just retired a few years back as a 777 capt. hope to meet you one day. Jim

I AM VERY PROUD OF U CAPTAIN.HAVE U EVER FLOWN BOEING 707 ?I HEARS IT IS THE HARDEST PLANE 2 FLY,IS THAT TRUE ?

I never flew the 707 and United didn't have any of that type. UAL only flew the Boeing 720. I flew the DC-6, The Vickers Viscount, the 737, 727,DC-8 (all models), The DC-10, 747SP,100,200 and finally the 747-400.

You were doing good up to where you mentioned scab Lacy!

*cough Airbus cough*

Today’s display systems are so much nicer honestly. Not endless rows of steam gauges.

I had always loved the 727, if I had became a pilot that be one bird I'd love to have flown.

I’m more of a backdoor man myself! 😉

Me too.

my Grandfather was a instructror also I remember going out to ride in the sims with him until the pilot strike in 85 then it became much harder for him to get me in after that I go on 23 years with ual next week

janky pop-a-matic oh yes, the back stairway that I used a few times until D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane and used the back stairway to parachute out. Then the back stairways were sealedup

Hi, did you know my father UAL Captain James M. Hykes? He also went here for his DC-10 training. His career was 1960-1994

Don't forget those DC-6's

Yes!

Skywest training center is elsewhere in Denver.

Same food too !

Jeff Parkin Over the years I had the distinct pleasure of dining there many times. It ranked with some of the finest Marine Corps field messes I've ever been forced to enjoy. I'm happy to report I survived. The rest of the film was quite well done for a corporate propaganda piece and accurately reflected the pressure I felt each time I returned to The Flight Training Center (DENTK). It was perhaps the one part of my career from 1964 to 1991 that I don't particularly miss but it always accomplished what it set out to do and it did it well.

Jeff Parkin A 2 year renovation was completed in the fall of 2018. Quite a few changes to be seen. UAL 1978-2020.

Not true, if weren't 'white' back then, regardless of how qualified you were, you weren't getting hired...it was a different era. Heck, Hollywood didn't cast Bruce Lee in the Kung-Fu series, cause he looked to 'Asian'... And I don't see to many planes falling out the sky today, so I'm sure whomever they hire can do the job. No pilot has a death wish. (Well, other than Kamikazes from WW2)

And your point is?

@@gerardosalazar161 I had a neighbor who was a pilot with Delta Air Lines. He served in the United States Navy active duty. He holds a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. He retired on his 60th birthday and also received his pension from the Navy Reserve.

@@jankypop-a-matic58 Thanks for serving.

As ex-UAL, 1964-2000, was there more times than I can count. The film is a little canned, but overall, pretty accurate. Brings back many memories, mostly all good. I remember director Jim Cross. Good guy. All of aviation, not just UAL was experiencing a high rate of accidents back then. Since the 60's, technology has introduced ground proximity warning systems, better radar, GPS, and digital video displays that make situational awareness improve exponentially. Also the ground based navigation and landing systems have made flight safer, not to mention the engineering of the aircraft themselves and the human engineering and understanding that began in earnest in the mid to late 70's. The low hanging fruit for safe flight has been picked, and commercial flying is much safer today than it was in the 60's. But despite advances in technology, and the improved safety record, issues still remain. To pick out United alone as having a poor flight training department is disingenuous. It was the best in it's day, and advanced with the rest of aviation to what it is today, still one of the best.

Allen Hayes I read accounts from a guy who did flight training for Flying Tigers at LAX in the 60s. His views didn't show United flight training in a positive light during those years. According to him United was the pits.

Springbok295 you were misinformed, I was trained at UAL in 69 and Tigers in 72, both were great.

Allen Hayes Hello Captain Haynes. I had the good fortune to hear you speak on two occasions. I very much enjoyed your stories and they made me more professional in a Gulfstream V. Also, thank you for all you do for Little League Baseball. Be well. Art

I think United training was good, but, on the other hand, the 727 crash in SLC showed that their transition training wasn't thorough enough. The 727 just didn't have the glide of a DC-8, and the pilot didn't figure that out until too late.

Stratus 262J We are still plenty busy in the front of my A-320 with much more complex airspace and procedures. I started in the DC-9 and B-727 and I can assure you that we're at least as busy now as we were then although the challenges are somewhat different. What are you flying to base your judgment on?

Nope. You are obviously not a pilot:)

Yes, classier times. My father's era as a UAL pilot

What do you mean..??

@@walternerd3147 Younger people look at films like this through the lens of today...they have no idea how different times were back then. I'm a person of color and could care the less about diversity based on skin tone. I, instead, prefer intellectual diversity. I live in a black community now, and there's like zero diversity of mind, thought and culture, everyone listens to rap, act the same, behave the same...everyone is black, but beyond that there's like zero diversity among thought and behavior.