University of Oklahoma
11-20-2011, 03:11 PM
#31
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,837
[QUOTE]
Don't you wish you had listened to that advice BEFORE going even as far as you did then??? All of that information was available to you in the forum even in that year that you were lurking.
I have no doubt that if you are going to be taking upper level classes in any of the disciplines that you mention above you will have your hands full no doubt! With Chesapeake and Devon corporations in town, maybe they have some sort of bridge program or internship available through the university.
I found that I excelled in the P141 training environment much more than I did in my short time with the P61 training. Maybe I would have had a different experience with a different instructor, as mine was brand new to instructing; but I came to realize that the P141 training program at OSU was very similar to the military training environment I participated in at a later time. One of the previous posters mentioned that s/he just showed up for a flight, said 'Hi' and off they went. That wasn't my experience. I had full brief, flight, debrief with every training flight and 'stage check'.
I hope to get there again soon. I'll take the opportunity to stop there for a gas stop with lunch any time.
Good luck with your chosen path and be sure to check back on - especially if you keep your finger in aviation with recreational flying. One thing though - I'd ask that you respect the decision of others that you probably met in those first years at OU who are continuing their pursuit of an aviation career. Share the information you've learned and let them do with it what they will. Some would call what you are pursuing crazy too. By the way - one of my friends here in OKC works in the energy exploration business and is ALWAYS gone, and for extended periods of time. Don't fall into the fallacy that only people in the aviation business travel in their jobs.
USMCFLYR
Originally Posted by NTT5418
Thanks USMCFLYR!
It's not so much that it was hard work, or that it was stressful, because, as you said, I would get used to it as time progressed. The thing that hit me the most was looking deeper and deeper at expense vs. reward in regards to aviation. Out-of-state tuition here at OU is 25k per year. Tack on flight fee's, books, and possible overflight, and you have yourself one expensive education. I also took a deeper look into the lifestyle of a pilot, and spoke to family friend who just so happens to be a pilot who works for Continental/United here in Houston. I just decided that working for low pay and missing crucial events in your life when you get married and have kids really wasn't for me.
It's not so much that it was hard work, or that it was stressful, because, as you said, I would get used to it as time progressed. The thing that hit me the most was looking deeper and deeper at expense vs. reward in regards to aviation. Out-of-state tuition here at OU is 25k per year. Tack on flight fee's, books, and possible overflight, and you have yourself one expensive education. I also took a deeper look into the lifestyle of a pilot, and spoke to family friend who just so happens to be a pilot who works for Continental/United here in Houston. I just decided that working for low pay and missing crucial events in your life when you get married and have kids really wasn't for me.
I am still double majoring, but in Energy Management and Finance now. I was raised by parents in the energy business (that's how I ended up in Houston), and took a liking to geology, meteorology, and business. As you said, the first semester was hard probably because of the onslaught of the beginning of college. It was not so much the workload, as it was the amount of time that flight training took. I didn't have a car my first semester, so I had to use Norman's lovely mass transit system to get to and from Westminster Field every day and often weekends. I was gone from my dorm room almost all the time, and often just went there to sleep. College has gotten much more manageable since then, even with the double-major.
You are right about the structure of 141 training. I kind of forgot about that, it's been a year since I finished training. I did enjoy how everything was set up, and I appreciated the "stage checks" as they were just like mini-checkrides throughout training. (although I despised one of our assistant-cheif flight instructors, which for some reason always got assigned to me for those! 
)
)
Hooks is a really nice airport I agree. I rented cessnas during the summer at Hitech Aviation. When I was young, my dad and I used to drive onto taxiway November by the hangers and watch the planes come and go.
Nice to talk to you again!
Thomas
Nice to talk to you again!
Thomas
Good luck with your chosen path and be sure to check back on - especially if you keep your finger in aviation with recreational flying. One thing though - I'd ask that you respect the decision of others that you probably met in those first years at OU who are continuing their pursuit of an aviation career. Share the information you've learned and let them do with it what they will. Some would call what you are pursuing crazy too. By the way - one of my friends here in OKC works in the energy exploration business and is ALWAYS gone, and for extended periods of time. Don't fall into the fallacy that only people in the aviation business travel in their jobs.
USMCFLYR
Last edited by USMCFLYR; 11-20-2011 at 03:47 PM.
11-20-2011, 03:30 PM
#32
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Dec 2009
Posts: 64
Originally Posted by USMCFLYR
Don't you wish you had listened to that advice BEFORE going even as far as you did then??? All of that information was available to you in the forum even in that year that you were lurking.
I have no doubt that if you are going to be taking upper level classes in any of the disciplines that you mention above you will have your hands full no doubt! With Chesapeake and Devon corporations in town, maybe they have some sort of bridge program or internship available through the university.
I found that I excelled in the P41 training environment much more than I did in my short time with the P61 training. Maybe I would have had a different experience with a different instructor, as mine was brand new to instructing; but I came to realize that the P141 training program at OSU was very similar to the military training environment I participated in at a later time. One of the previous posters mentioned that s/he just showed up for a flight, said 'Hi' and off they went. That wasn't my experience. I had full brief, flight, debrief with every training flight and 'stage check'.
Good luck with your chosen path and be sure to check back on - especially if you keep your finger in aviation with recreational flying. One thing though - I'd ask that you respect the decision of others that you probably met in those first years at OU who are continuing their pursuit of an aviation career. Share the information you've learned and let them do with it what they will. Some would call what you are pursuing crazy too. By the way - one of my friends here in OKC works in the energy exploration business and is ALWAYS gone, and for extended periods of time. Don't fall into the fallacy that only people in the aviation business travel in their jobs.
USMCFLYR
USMCFLYR
It's funny what you said about energy companies and always being gone. When we lived in Denver when I was little, my father was gone quite a bit. Since moving to Houston though, I don't think he's been on a business trip in a couple years. I guess it's all about the circumstances of the line of work you're in.
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