RIAP:

Great story. Even when I worked in airport ops @ KPBI, while conducting a ramp inspection as part of the daily airfield insp, smelling the "JetA" (from L-10's to DC-9's) just really did something for me. Can't find the words for it.


tomgoodman:

I think your pretty close if not right on the money. At the risk of sounding corny, I feel that that is one of the most beautiful pieces of literary work written.


atp

 

I wasn't quite so typical. I was a college screw up. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I never figured out what I wanted to do. I was all set to go back to school for business when we had a family gathering. I talked with a relative who was a pilot for a well known regional. (I guess I knew he was a pilot, but it never really came up for conversation). He convinced me a mere 5 days before school was going to start that it would be fun (and easy) to be a pilot. I signed up for a local college flight program. I went there, and after my first flight ( I had only been on an airplane once before that) I knew I wanted to be an airline pilot. Some career things have changed since, but I still love to fly. I didn't play with a flight sim until after I had started learning to fly. I guess I just fluked my way into it.

 

My old man was a mechanic for the AF in the 80's . . . living in Germany when I was a toddler, being around planes, asphalt, etc, kinda helped me stay interested.

Then he was hired by Delta, and Atlanta is a young aviation geek's wet dream. . .or atleast it was many many years ago when the market was golden.

After I graduated HS I was going to do the whole flying thing, but then 9/11 happened and I knew the market wasn't going to be stable enough for me to be happy flying. I started on the road towards ATC for the FAA, and now that doesn't look like it'll be something I'm willing to do for 40-50k a year. So now, here I am, again, debating to either stick it out with the FAA making crap, or flying, and making crap.

I figure I'll fly. . . maybe. lol Hopefully this forum will help me make my mind up if HR5449 doesn't pass in the house on Tuesday.

I have a little less than 10 months left in the AF myself, and I cant wait to get back to the real world. I also guess this is my little "Hi . . . I'm new here" thread. . . so Hi, I'm new here. lol

 

When I was 12 years old, I was lucky enough to ride on the FAA certification flight for the new Boeing 777. United was the launch customer, and employees/relatives were allowed on board for the flight. We took off from SFO, and then did a low altitude fly by of Boeing field. If that wasn't cool enough, I was invited up to the cockpit (it was 1995), and when the flight crew knew how amazed I was, the captain got up and let me sit down. 12 years old, sitting in the captains seat, in flight, on the worlds newest and most advanced airliner!! The rest is history.

I actually really wanted to be a military pilot. I liked movies like Independence Day and Air Force One (I had never seen Top Gun until about 2000!). I thought it would be amazing to fly an F-15 at Mach 2.5. Or being able to be a combat pilot. I started flying 30-40 times a year, and I really got into commercial aviation. I think when someone told me a 747 captain made over 300k, I knew what I wanted to do.

 

He really did it for me too, still does with that crooked grin of his

I grew up next to a GA field, spent hours hanging out there, washed airplanes and took rides with the nice old guys around there, but didn't dare tell my parents, they would have freaked! My first ever ride was in a G model Staggerwing, still the best flight I've ever had. I was definitely not like all my girlfriends, who wanted to hang at the mall...whenever a plane flew over I had a very hard time not looking up...especially if it was something old with a big round engine. The only time I ever dared to mention wanting to be a pilot I was probably about 9 or 10, the old guys laughed at me, told me I was too short (I was a little kid!) and that an airline would never hire a woman, and if they did I would have to be a pee-on in the right seat forever, which meant I wouldn't get to fly. I guess that stuck with me. One of those old guys gave me a job when I was in high school, so I worked my way through college working at his flight school, started as the dispatcher, then managed the place, then as I grew the business for him, took on managing his friends' Sabreliner and Westwind, then added others for charter. Since most of my college was paid for by scholarships I'd earned, I took a cut in salary in exchange for free flight lessons. When I had earned my degree in Computer Engineering, then Masters in Robotics, my celebration was to treat myself to a Citation rating. I was supposed to go to work for Disney as an Imagineer. It was at my final interview that the interviewer was very curious about my background in aviation and I told him about it. He asked why I didn't try to become a professional pilot if I loved flying so much, and when I told him that I thought it was a field not open to women. He told me that he was surprised that I let those old guys convince me of such nonsense, because to get as far as to even be considered for a position as an Imagineer, showed that I certainly had determination, persistence and brains. He told me that Imagineers take dreams and ideas and MAKE them happen, even when they are impossible...so he told me to go MAKE my dream of being a pilot happen, and if after six months I couldn't do it, come back and he would give me the job. He sent me to talk to some of the company pilots, and with some guidance and help from them, I got a break and worked my butt off to where I am now. I called him up six months to the day of that interview and thanked him profusely for not hiring me! The day that I flew in to my old airport, I let tower know who I was early on...the whole lot of them were standing there, mouths hanging wide open, when I walked down the steps of a Falcon 50EX, with 4 bars!! I am working on buying that Staggerwing now!

It really does matter what we say to young kids, even the little comments we think are silly- they don't always realize that we are joking around...don't ever forget that they look up to us. I wasted a lot of time walking with my eyes turned skyward instead of being there.

 

The movie "Airplane!" did it for me. After that movie I knew that sitting on the couch eating Cheetos would never be the same unless I could apply myself to a career that would allow me to continue my slacker lifestyle.

It wasn't easy I had to concentrate... concentrate... I've got to concentrate... concentrate... concentrate... Hello?... hello... hello... Echo... echo... echo... Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon... Manny Mota... Mota... Mota...

 

I am not a pilot yet, but the whole career in aviation is a God calling for me. I know I want to be a pilot, but the getting there still has me a little dazed. I guess I will cross my finger, knock on wood, and send a whole lot of prayer up stairs.

 

AlyE, I feel you completely. I guess that movie had some impact as well, but the best thing is living close to the airport. Close enough that you see everything that pulls out of a climb. Close enought that you go to the airport and jets just drop right down in front of you. Best thing, you guys in the states havent witness as yet. Its so cold in Canada. I mean frikkin cold. Remember aircrafts perform better in cold weather. At Pearson Intl in winter, the aircrafts climb so slow that it almost seems like Capt. pause to open up for a smoke. Thats Canada for ya!

 

Living about 2 miles from the airport was a big factor for me. When I was a little kid the Army would fly chinooks and blackhawks right over the house headed for the airport. We would also go to the airshow every year. That was one of the highlights of the year for me, almost as good as Christmas, lol. Now I'm working at the airport on weekends as a lineman/janitor/handyman and working on getting my PPL. I have the required hours, I just need to get the written out of the way, turn 17, and pass the checkride.....

 

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