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Boeing 727 Pilot
As a Boeing 727 pilot working for a small charter airline, I have had the opportunity to fly all over North America and the Caribbean hauling cargo and passengers. The 727 is an old, noisy, gas guzzling jet from a bygone era, but it sure is a blast to fly from a pilot's perspective. It handles well, goes fast and can haul a large load over short to medium ranges. We can typically can haul 50-55,000 pounds on a 3 hour flight which is around 1400 nautical miles - the distance from Havana, Cuba to Toronto, Ontario.
When working for a small charter airline, you had better be a person who doesn't need to have a regular schedule. The hours can be long, up to 14 hours a day and the flying can and does occur at all hours of the day and night. Not to mention the schedule can change at a moment's notice - a change of clothes and toothbrush in the bottom of your flight bag is just as important as having your headset with you! The good news is you generally only have to work 15 or so days a month depending on the company you work for. The flying with this sort of job is varied and interesting. One day you may fly across Canada hauling freight for an overnight courier company and the next day you might be hauling over 160 passengers to an exotic sun destination in the Caribbean. The variety of the flying makes it much more interesting than doing the same scheduled flight or series of flights over and over again.
The entry level pilot position on the 727 is the "second officer" who is the pilot who operates most of the aircraft systems such as fuel, pressurization, electrical, hydraulic and environmental systems. The second officer also reads all checklists and completes all the paperwork generated by each flight. The Second Officer does not do any actual flying of the aircraft. The aircraft is flown by two pilots, a Captain and First officer. Typically one pilot flies the airplane and the other pilot communicates with air traffic control, keeps track of the fuel burn, sets up navigation radios and cross checks what the flying pilot is doing. We usually alternate between pilot flying and pilot not flying duties on each leg of the day as to ensure each pilot maintains proficiency at all flying and non flying skills.
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