Visit to Downstown: Reflections on SEAT operations

I want to pause for a moment in the series that I have been writing based on my visit to Downstown Aero Crop Services the end of April to offer some reflections.

I am thrilled to have gotten a peak into SEAT operations in NJ. The folk at Downstown have been very generous with their time, including but not limited to flying me down for my visit in late April.

I really enjoyed seeing their operations and meeting some of the Ag Cats and one of the Air Tractors. Regular readers of this blog know how much I love airplanes. You'll be reading more about their operations next week, so I won't give any more away. But there is more.

The day I visited we had lunch in Downstown's dispatch center, The SEAT operations manager, a second manager from Downstown, Chief Pilot, Aircraft Dispatcher, and Aircraft Loader. We had a nice time. I had just met them, but I felt like them I had known them longer. Not only did we chat about SEAT operations, conversations I drew on in some of the articles that I have already written, but we talked about baseball and other things.

More importantly, I was struck by what I'll call a "brotherhood" or camaraderie. Clearly these guys, who happen to work together are friends. And somehow these words seem inadequate. I learned later over e-mails with my friends at Downstown that the Downstown pilots and many of the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Incident Commanders, NJFFS Fire Tower Observers, and other NJFFS personnel know each other by their voice. But it is more than that, many are on a "first name basis", and are friends, socializing and otherwise spending time together with each others families. I am certain that this friendship extends beyond the Downstown pilots to the SEAT Operations Manager, and the rest of the ground crew at Downstown.

I've been reflecting on the friendship between the guys at Downstown and the NJFFS firefighters and support staff. I only have a small peak at their world and their friendships. A peak into their world is only a peak into their world. A peak into their world is not the same as being there. But this peak into Downstown's SEAT operations has given me something I haven't had before. Something that I can share with you.