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Young, but my mind is set!

Old 02-12-2009, 07:09 AM
  #21  
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Anthony -
You're getting some really good advice here - these folks have walked the path and can help you with thinking though the decisions...

You're doing the right thing by asking as many people as possible their advice. But please remember that while most people have good intentions, their advice is an opinion, an opinion based on their experiences. Take all advice you can get, step back and evaluate that advice and implement what fits you.

Just to reiterate what I've seen here already - go forward and get the college degree - in anything BUT aviation. Aviation degrees are not regarded very highly. The real reason you want to get a degree in anything but is the "just in case" factor. Statistically, every pilot is furloughed at least once in their career. Be prepared with a formal education in something that you can fall back on if that furlough lasts any length of time. I've seen folks justify a finance degree from an aviation school as if they get furloughed they'll just get a job at the airline in the finance department. It doesn't work that way. The jobs at the corporate offices are just as competitive, and seriously... if the airline is furloughing do you really think they would be hiring at corporate?
I would look very seriously at ASU. They are a well recognized school and centrally located to several smaller airports.

There is no "fast" way to becoming an airline pilot. This is good - we don't want inexperience in the cockpit.... While I think having the goal of an airline pilot, and ultimately Lufthansa, is great there are many other goals and benchmarks along the way. It's important that you focus on the "next" achievement rather than just the long term. Be top of your class.

It was already illustrated to stay in school, get your ratings, etc. so I won't repeat those - but a couple of points need mentioning.
Identify what your next step is and go for it with gusto. Be the very best at whatever that step is...

Also, someone mentioned "traditional" hiring minimums for regionals being 1000 hours. This is only in the very recent past. 15 years ago those minimums were 2500 and an ATP. My point for bringing this up is that the hours of experience to land a 121 job change, sometimes with big swings. I agree that you should shoot for 1000 hours with 100 multi - but don't hang your hat on those minimums. Instead, focus on the intermediate goals of obtaining your ratings and learning all you can about the industry (outside the classroom.) Become a CFI and aim for Gold Seal. Be the best.

When you're ready to start learning how to fly, choose your school wisely. There are a lot of really good flight schools out there, but you need to do some homework. I wrote an article on choosing a flight school that I'm sure is in the article archives on this site - but you can also find it on my website:www.flytheline.com/articles

Hope this helps!
Lori

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Old 03-01-2009, 03:28 PM
  #22  
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Thanks for the advice, Lori and Rickair777.

Rickair777:
If I chose to go through the military, would it be wiser to go into the German military? Would that make me more favorable by Lufthansa?

Lori:
If I chose to go the civilian route and graduated from ASU, then only after that would I be able to start flight school? Or could I start it while I'm in college?

Thanks again,
Anthony
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:34 AM
  #23  
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Anthony,

Of course you can start flying while in college! Just don't let your grades slip. Interviewers (in the future) love to pick on poor grades.

If your college courses allow you the time to also fly - do it!

Lori
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Old 03-06-2009, 12:44 AM
  #24  
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I'm reposting this from another thread:

Hi Anthony. Welcome to flying...

A few tips, only a couple of which I knew from the beginning:

1) Keep your logbook extremely neat. Be very careful what you log and what you put in the remarks section. Become well versed on what you can log and what you cannot.

2) Keep your grades up...doesn't matter what you're taking...keep your scores high.

3) If you fly in college, that's great. The sooner the better. I suggest you get a degree in something other than just flying. Go ahead and get a degree in aviation if you must, but don't get caught unemployed during a recession with a measly BS in aeronautical science. I'm speaking from ongoing experience. Double major with something non-aviation or do something else entirely for a degree.

4) Know that when instructors harp on the regulations and rules, they aren't being squares. The people who last and prosper in aviation do it on the high road.

5) Don't burn your bridges...any of them. I've learned this the hard way...and I probably haven't finished learning it either. Anywhere you go, aviation is about networking and contacts.

6) Abide by number 5, but never get on your knees to kiss a$$. You can fly 10,000 hours in the most adverse and tough environment on the planet and never get the honor of being called an aviator. But kiss just one a$$, and you're an a$$ kisser for life.

7) Read, read, and read. Knowledge is power and will make you a better pilot. Flight Sim X will get you used to what the dials and gauges look like, but the Jeppesen Private Pilot manual and FAA Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical knowledge will tell you what's actually going on. Flight Sim is a game. I was saying the same stuff you were about Flight Sim 10 years ago. It will make you more comfortable, but it's still a whole different ball game no matter what anyone tells you.

8) Stay in shape. Fitness will effect your flying for better or worse.

9) When you start flying for hire, as an instructor or otherwise, enjoy it. For your own reputation, never allow yourself to treat the job like you're just using it for time...flying is a relatively small community, and having a reputation as a solid, hardworking guy may eventually mean something. Work hard and enjoy whatever flying you are doing...because you can't spend your whole career waiting for flying to become something you want to do.

10) Listen to the older guys...you don't have to believe everything you hear, but there's a lot to be learned. The day you stop learning is likely to be the day of your last flight.

11) Know that when you get into flying for hire, the actual science of flying will no longer preoccupy your worries. If you read the threads on these forums, few of them have to do with actual flying. Most have more to do with union/management happenings, compensation, issues in the workforce, safety, and other nitty gritty topics that have more to do with life as a pilot than flying as a pilot.

12) Never forget that this stuff can kill you. It can kill others. You're just as much in the business of safety as you are in the business of flying. A mediocre pilot can make an aircraft fly in normal conditions, but so can an autopilot. As a professional, your reason for being is to augment safety. That's it.

I'm still just a low-life skydive pilot and flight instructor who just had his shot at the airlines delayed...but I'm learning...and the above are some of the things I have learned in my journey thus far.

Welcome again, and feel free to PM me with questions as well.

To everyone else, please feel free add to my list of points, or critique what I have listed. Flame away.
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Old 05-13-2009, 08:57 PM
  #25  
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Thanks for the reply Sultan. I've been thinking a lot about college now, especially about my options. The Air Force keeps coming closer and closer...and it might even be the path I may choose to take. Regular college keeps fading away as money becomes scarce and scolarships become fewer. I'm considering either the navy or the air force as it looks right now, but i hope it won't be too bad. I still have at least another year and a half to firmen my decision.
Thanks again,
Anthony
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Old 05-27-2009, 07:06 AM
  #26  
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I cant say this enough but always have a back up plan......Sometimes things never go the way you want it.....
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Old 06-08-2009, 09:38 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Anthony W View Post
I was in CAP for a little bit, maybe like a year or so, but I quit because 1, the things they learned i had already learned myself, and 2, because I didn't really fancy the whole military aspect. So basically I wasn't getting anything out of it just a bunch of "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir".
I was in CAP for all of 9 months when I was in high school. Pretty much hated every minute of it...to the point I swore off any military service. Fast forward 14 years later and I'm several years into an Air Force Reserve career, most of it on active duty orders...and with no regrets. I even remembered some of that stuff from CAP and found it very easy to lead a formation in drill when I was at OTS. Being 16 and saluting some 13 year old...completely lame. CAP is nothing like the Air Force...thank God.
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Old 06-09-2009, 04:36 AM
  #28  
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If you like building models and really are that smart you might consider another route.

I'm a pilot and so is my brother, we're both college graduates but my brother is in a class all his own. He's a math geek and a physics nerd. Next year he finishes his Masters Degrees in Mechanical and Aeronautical engineering.

He is going to spend his life designing and flying things I can only dream of.

I admire your drive at such a young age but don't pigeon hole yourself just yet.

No one on this board is the same as we were at 14, you won't be either.
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