"An aquaintance's daughter has just graduated from Purdue with a B.S. in aviation. Yeah they produced more astronauts than anybody but man do they fill these kids full of hyperbole."

I had never heard this so I took a look on Wiki.
I suppose this is the crux of your statement:
Now when I took at look at each of the three men listed, it seemed that possibly being military test pilots might have had more to do with their selection than being part of the Purdue Aviation Department - if in fact any of them actually were part of Purdue Aviation.
Here is a statement from another Wiki article on Grissom:
None of the background information I scanned mentioned any affiliation.
So I guess my question is - did you mean Purdue University has graduated more astronauts than any other university or that Purdue Aviation (since you were mentioned your friend's daughter and the hyperbole that *they* were filling the students head with) produced a majority of the astronauts?

This particular person did not tell me Purdue had graduated more astronauts than anybody. I have read that while researching something else. True or not I do not know. It is obvious they have had many which could give the college chivalry a major boost. Could it be that many of their graduates also became military test pilots? I do not know that either. Guess I'm just not that much into aviation anymore.

I have acquired a rather keen street sense in my current career and noticed how shocked she was when I mentioned the fact she would most likely be on call 24/7 while starting as a right seat pilot for the regionals. She openly told me she never heard that before. Has that aspect changed since I've been in the know? Are those students that isolated while being around those supposedly in the know? In any case this person seemed totally naive about the realities of aviation which may or may not work in her favor. Again she appeared derated in the fact she needed to instruct after having jet sim time along with actual Phenom time in which they switched seats during the flight in order to get everyone their chance.

As I have said I do not know much about the industry anymore and did not even think about it for 18 years. I went to OSH in 09, seen the plane I always wanted to build (Bearhawk 4 place) and bought a rib and spar package. Three months later I threw a blood clot to the kidney and have had a special issuance ever since. I will probably sell those parts because I no longer care to play the medical game. It has not effected my life in any way or earning potential other than aviation. There is so much more of life to me anyway than the hobo life of a pilot.

Good luck to all who choose to fly and be safe. Don't let anyone pressure you into things you know are not right.

. never mind

My time as a CFI was my favorite flying an airplane. I thought wanted to fly bigger and faster, so I went to the regionals. After 7 years, and two airlines I decided it wasn't the life I wanted. I had an opportunity to join one of the larger sim training providers in the industry and decided to make the jump. The pay is decent, the benefits are great, the schedule isn't bad, and the most important aspect to me: I'm home every night with a very, very occasional trip for training at another facility (maybe twice a year). They also promote heavily from within and based on the fact that most of my coworkers have been there for years and enjoy coming to work. I like that.

There are a lot of aspects of the job that I like. No two days are the same, its challenging, I get to see the latest and greatest, I enjoy the people I work with every day and I enjoy the different experiences my clients bring to training. I usually feel like I've learned more from them than they have from me because of where they fly, how they fly the aircraft and their experience. The same holds true for most of my coworkers. I've always enjoyed human factors, safety, and culture in regards to their contributions to this field and I get to dabble in it every day.

It has taken some adjustment to being in a corporate setting but it has been an overall refreshing change of pace from immature FAs, Gate Agents with God complexes and the general stupidity that is the flying public. My wife also has to put up with me every day and sometimes she thinks that is a bad thing. :)

I think part of the problem is the people she (and other students) see as "in the know" only know the world they're in, and that world isn't the airlines. The airlines they know are the one their friends whom aren't in academia tell them about or the world they left years ago to join academia. Quite frankly, that world has changed dramatically.

I also don't think there is a strong alumni presence in aviation programs for a couple reasons. First, the last thing most people want to do on their few days at home, is be away from home doing aviation related stuff and second, the schools don't want the present-day reality painted. They don't want that student (and their parents) to know about the years of sacrifice, poor pay, poor hours, etc that it takes. They just want them to hear about the pot of gold at the front of the 777. I'm sure I would have considered another career field had I known that years at $20,000 was the reality before even being somewhere that could eventually lead to $200,00 a year.

I wish my second point would change for a few reasons. First, in the long run I think it would help the industry immensely. People trip over themselves to get those first jobs and will work them practically for free. I was always insulted as an instructor when a student would pull the whole "you're logging time, that means you should fly for free". I've never heard somebody say something like that to a plumber working on their house "you've never seen a flange like that? you should do the work for free for the experience you'll gain".

Then there's the ridiculous sense of entitlement that the "every player gets a trophy" generation has had bestowed upon them by their parents. Hard work and getting your hands dirty is now below all of us. That's a completely different subject that should have its own forum.

Ding, ding! We have a winner.

That reminds me of my instructing days. There were people who obviously did not have the coordination/mental aspects to be a pilot but I was not allowed to say so. Why? The flight school did not give a turd about that person other than the fact money was being placed into said flight school's pocket.

There are also plenty of people who are capable but due to other factors such as not being at the right place at the right time never end up being career pilots. I know of several. I grew up visiting relatives who's neighbor was a pilot that planted the seed in my older cousin then I. He ended in aviation flying corporate in a King Air. He also went on to be very successful in his own business and never was employed by anyone else again. One other lives on my block and was a chief pilot with several thousand hours of MU-2 time. Neither one even flies for enjoyment and has not done so for 20 - 30 years.

Now to some of my previous points throughout the several years I've posted on occasion. If flying is working for you so be it. If it is not, as it does not for most, I am happy for you. But::::

Everyone has a niche and being at the right place at the right time is the primary factor regardless of education.

My last flight as a pro pilot was on 9-14-90 flying checks. Yes, I was a janitor for 8 months cleaning cubicles earning close to the check hauler wage then proceeded to advance. Not many will go to this extent to prove a point that I will but I will ask how many career pilots on this board can post something comparable to this. Two weeks net after deductions including my pre tax 401k deducted and I was sleeping in my own bed every night. No college education either. Cut the crap and post yours pilots. Hearsay is nothing. Sorry, a bit rough there.

[IMG]http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...philus/Pay.jpg[/IMG]

Oh, I tried posting today's check that was 6 bucks less but photobucket sucks.

Daaaang! Is that two weeks of pay??? Thanks for the reply to my PM.

What do you do for a living?

You are welcome Block.

Aspiring pilots will travel or move all over the country for aviation employment. If it does not work out so well they decline to do the same for employment in other areas. I happened to be fortunate not having to do that and just fell into it.

Most people will walk into an interview nervous as hell, on edge with their brain going ten miles a minute hoping to say what the employer wants to hear. I walked into the interview with no concern for any of that, had a beard, plain button up shirt and jeans thinking let the chips fall where they may. They asked if they hired me how do they know I will not leave to fly again. My response was if they hire me how do I know they will not lay me off.