First, a big THANK YOU!! to all military pilots, past and present! I am one of those guys who has loved flying since I was 6! and it (and women) are really the only facets of life that get me out of bed! Can anybody here relate, because you pilots seem to hate life. Despite everything I have read here, I just signed on the dotted line for my loan and I could not be more excited!!

I know I have what it takes to be the best in your industry because I want it way more then the next guy. To that end... please give me some positive advice and tell me what makes the best pilots!?? Skills, knowledge, coordination? What do hiring managers for the majors look for, what (skills/aptitudes) do they promote??

 

Funny, women have always made me want to stay IN bed. . .

If you have not done it already (and my guess is you haven't) spend many hours searching and reading this forum. There is not one simple answer to your question, but there is mucho knowledge to be had just by reading. Good luck to you, but it takes much more than desire to be the best in this industry. You also need lots of experience in the left (or front) seat of something turbine powered.

My advice to you is to fly as much as possible, and start looking for some prettier gals to hang out with. . . .

 

First, you'd have to define, "Best in the Industry".

What exactly are you talking about? Best career? Best pay? Best schedules? Best airplanes? Best destinations? Best looking Flight Attendants?

Best...what?

If you are talking about piloting skills, again, which best skills?

Instrument or Acro?

Fighter Pilot or heavy driver?

And finally, the guys doing the hiring could not care less about how Best you are...they just want to know that you will show up on time, sober, and fly for less than the other guy.

We are all the Best Pilots, just ask us!

 

This isn't specific to just flying, but always challenge yourself. If you aren't trying to get better, you won't. It is just that simple.

It amazes me the amount of people who just don't put any effort to anything in their lives, and yet have the gall to whine and moan about not being able to get ahead.

I don't believe the type of aircraft you fly makes you "better." There are certainly more challenging aircraft than others, but that applies in both the turbine and piston world. You will need the experience in the piston aircraft before you ever move up, so don't deny that opportunity to master your base set of skills that will transfer later into any aircraft you fly.

Also, be flexible in your "master plan," you might have opportunities right infront of you that could be overlooked just because they didn't fit the exact direction you thought you needed to go. You might surprise yourself and find something you love doing.

 

What's "best"?

Most money, probably strive to get hired at FEDEX or UPS while young. Get a degree while working on flight ratings. Join an Air National Guard fighter unit immediately after college, complete initial training, return to part-time guard status and CFI until you get 1500 hours. Get hired by a regional, and network like crazy, especially in the military. Apply to FEDEX/UPS with 121 turbine PIC, fighter time, and internal recommendations.

If you want prestige and challenging flying, go to college (preferably on an ROTC scholarship or Annapolis), go to Navy flight training, get into F-18's, and eventually opt for test pilot. landing on carriers and performing various complex fighter/attack missions is certainly challenging and prestigious. You can even apply for NASA after all of that, although with the shuttle gone the "piloting" will be limited to maneuvering a capsule around the space station.

If that's all too much work or far beyond your god-given abilities, just have Daddy buy you a $50k car and four years at ERAU, get a regional FO job paying $20K, a big shiny expensive watch, and a pair of ray-ban aviators. On this track, it is absolutely vital that you avoid turbo-prop aircraft at ALL COSTS. I would not even apply to a regional that operates any prop aircraft.

 

Awareness of what is going on, whether it's systems, the environment, the flight parameters, feedback in the controls, the instruments. Red flags are the people reacting to things they don't fully understand, limited understanding of why a control input causes a certain reaction, etc.

 

I've come to assume "the industry" (and I don't care who I fly for or what nor care about money) defines the best as the safest. Least amount of missed approaches, crashes etc. If I'm the PIC all I would care about is bringing the bodies or boxes behind me home safe. The people who do that the most, I would assume are the best??

 

I'm 30. Degree work done at UNC-CH and I have a 10 year career in Retail Mgt. Tired for DoD in my teens, all denied me due to my honesty about having acid reflux disease and thus dependent on a daily pill. I would have loved to fly to protect this country!

 

rickair777 why no turbo-prop? I already have a possible job lined up to be an FO in one. Is this not a good way to build hours for the majors? I heard the FedEx guys get paid, but pay for it with the crazy schedule.

JamesNoBrakes, thanks for the valuable input! I've been reading a lot of what you have to say! I've heard sit. awareness is pretty high on the list.

 

I wish you the best of luck, but you REALLY need to rethink this attitude.
You'll end up miserable no matter how much you think you enjoy flying. I promise.

The only positive advice I can give you is to find ways to stay positive, and never stop being ambitious.