PureMuscle
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Posts
- 58
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I was just wondering how many of you all knew you were going to make it
Yea, really. Wouldn't the better question be to those Ex Eagle and Comair guys that you run into almost anywhere that are selling insurance or real estate? I bet at 30% of non-towed airports, you could throw a beer bottle in the air and have a 50% chance of hitting an ex-Simmons airline pilot in the head.satpak77 said:please define that statement
U-I pilot said:I took one discovery flight in 1997 and knew I wanted to fly. Started lessons the next summer, aviation college, all my ratings, and graduating in a month then gonna build time and experience.....Never second guessed, never looked back.
In fact, I still can think of nothing else I would rather do as a job. Maybe that opinion will change when I see issues that are inevitable with any job but in the end its still flying....what a joy.
No better office view.
FN FAL said:Yea, really. Wouldn't the better question be to those Ex Eagle and Comair guys that you run into almost anywhere that are selling insurance or real estate? I bet at 30% of non-towed airports, you could throw a beer bottle in the air and have a 50% chance of hitting an ex-Simmons airline pilot in the head.
I think the one statistic they won't ever publish is how many guys graduate from expensive schools, that never fly a airplane for hire ever. like my buddy's two kids that just graduated from UND last year.
coolyokeluke said:I didn't imagine it was going to cost this much, take this long, and I'd make this little, at this point in my life. Still, I don't regret doing it.
Lrjtcaptain said:if 9/11 hadn't happend, id be in the left seat of some regional right now. Grad 12/01.....but as the way the markets turned, im a CPC in a tower now just hopping to get picked up in the busier facilities. Paper work is out, just the waiting game
Thanks Big Duke, that was the kind of response I'm looking for. Out of curiousity, would you trade your position for anything else?
I went to an airshow a few weeks ago, and finally sat in a T-38, and I just thought to myself, "I need to fly more, this is incredible". I have been thinking of going into the military for some time but need to finish my bachelors degree.
PureMuscle said:How do you like it compared to flying? It seems like a lot stress, but at the same time don't you get decent pay depending upon where you work, and retirement?
Big Duke Six said:I would not trade this for anything else. But getting here was not so pretty.
The whole thing is a gamble. The odds of making it are slim. I'm not blowing my horn here or anything of that sort, but here are some numbers (as best I recollect) to put things into perspective. I'm not special, and everyone else who sits in an airline seat faced similar odds along the way. Bear with me here.
I got my Comm/Inst in college while enlisted in the military (Air Guard). It took me three years of applying to Guard units for a pilot slot before my home state took me. I was competing with a couple dozen guys every year for ONE slot to go to UPT. That is typical for every state.
Next step was Flight Screening. Back then, us Guard guys had to go even though we all had PPL's or better. Out of about 24 in that class, I think three guys went home early. Not bad, but it was just 11 flights in T-41's with civilian instructors. And we were all pilots already.
At UPT, we started with 22 in my class. By the time we graduated a year later, only half of us were still there (some were washed back, but most were gone completely). It was one of the hardest years of my life, but also the most rewarding. We definitely had fun there, but you were never more than three flights from being back home on the ranch. That is how fast it happened if something went wrong. But, flying a Tweet or T-38 solo has rewards. Even then though, you had to take advantage of that time to practice. Especially in the -38, every minute had to count. But I digress.
So after the military came the airline. I applied for about 3 years at F9 before I finally got an interview. During that 3-year span, I flew freight (single-pilot in Metroliners) for usually six days a week. It was hard on my wife and kids to put it lightly. They were asleep when I left to go to work and were all asleep again by the time I got home.
Anyway, back to F9. By way of numbers, I interviewed with 5 other guys, and they hired 3 of us that day. I was told by HR later that in our larger group of interviewees, they had started with about 1500 resumes. They tossed out half of those and gave the rest closer scrutiny. Out of that 750, they interviewed 150 and hired 20.
All I can say is there must be someone looking out for me somewhere. I also left no stone unturned getting ready for each next step. Yes it is great now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But the road to get here is anything but predictable.
Your mileage WILL vary. In my case, realizing I had no other talents, I had to be stubborn.![]()