The choice of my life

[chepito]

Jgore


I would strongly recomend the military, look into it. You have to look at it with a positive attitude. There may be a possibility that it could get better.
Go to the local airport. Try to meet people that way; you might run into someone that has an airplane and you can offer to wash the airplane for flight hours. I would also try to go to the local flight school and try to do the same thing.
You have to explore all possibilities; you are young.
Most importantly, never give up. Keep trying!
Good luck!

 

[avbug]

Javier,

Formal flight training can be difficult no matter where you are. However, in your neck of the woods, local pilots are hired almost exclusively. You don't see gringo pilots or expats doing most of the flying; it's either local native talent, or talent from the area.

Get to know people with aircraft who can give you the opening you need. It may mean going to work for a crop dusting outfit, loading chemical or flagging fields. It may mean going to work as a mechanic or mechanic's assistant for a charter operator.

Find someone who has an airplane and who will help you out in exchange for your services. You may even be able to do this while attending a traditional college.

The hundred dollar an hour charges you mentioned are very typical of charges here in the United States, too. That's still a lot less expensive than many parts of the world. Given your financial circumstances, I would suggest getting help from the inside. Get to know someone with an airplane. I was in a similiar boat to you once; the only way I was able to learn to fly was a lot of hard work for people with an airplane over several years.

Dime con quien andas, y te diere quien eres. Si quere sera un piloto, tiene que ud. andar con pilotos. Buscarse los opportunidades volar cerca que se vive, sino que no tiene viajar a las distancias grandes para hallar volando. Bueno Suerte!

 

[surplus1]

Dime con quien andas, y te diere quien eres. Si quere sera un piloto, tiene que ud. andar con pilotos. Buscarse los opportunidades volar cerca que se vive, sino que no tiene viajar a las distancias grandes para hallar volando. Bueno Suerte!

Hey avbug,

As is mostly the case your advice is excellent, but your Spanish is atrocious. <BSEG> Noble effort though, I'm sure Javier will get the message.

Regards,

PS: Ever fly anything with the R-4360?

 

[Vik]

jgore,

First, you seem to have a very good grasp of the English language. That is usually a huge problem for foreign students.

Second, you will need a university degree (Bachelor's) to get you a job in the U.S. A lot of people in the U.S., like myself, had to earn to pay for college *and* flight training. If you can get a 4 year degree in your home country for free, DO IT. Take courses year round and just finish it in 2-3 yrs if you can.

Since you have relatives in Clovis, Calif., if they are willing to let you stay with them, you already have your foot in the door.

Now the tricky part. Earning the money to pay for flying. I recommend you look into what type of labor the U.S. is importing. I think the big thing now is nurses and pharmacists. Study to become a nurse and you will get a visa to come work in the U.S. That way you will come to the U.S. with a job in hand and a method to pay for your flight training. You might not even need to live with your uncle and aunt.

This is no secret. People have been doing it for decades and when labor is in short supply, the U.S. imports it. It was software engineers a few years ago but not anymore. There are cycles for this stuff and you just need to find out what is needed.

None of this is going to happen overnight. I recommend you take advantage of a free university education and start right away. While you working on that, you can explore your other options.

You are only 19. Start work on your degree right away. There has to be a subject that you would study second to aviation. Physics? Engineering? Economics? computer science?

Your motivation to fly should help you do the work and get your degree because ultimately you will need it.

 

[avbug]

Surplus,

My Spanish is a bastardized mixup of old high school classes, and living with various ethnic entities and nationalities. Imagine a Puerto Rican trying to do Castellano, if you will. If you think the grammar and spelling is bad, you should hear the accent. Something like Joey Buttafuco meets Ricardo Montalban.

The only thing I've been associated with that had a 4360 was the C-97. It was a great engine, for a museum. Working one with any degree of reliability, however, was a nightmare. Jug changes and engine fires were regular things. A jug change on something like the R-2600 was a cakewalk compared to getting to one on the 4360. No room to work, and unlike a single or twin row radial, it's packed in there solidly. Unless it's a front row cylinder, kiss your evening and night goodby.

When everything is running right, though, the 4360 is a smooth engine; no power pulses and very little vibration. Did you operate the corncob?

 

[surplus1]

avbug,

Your analysis of the PR dialect made me grin from ear-to-ear. Right on target.

Yes, I did operate it some on the -377 (same airplane really). You're right about all you said including the museum part. Of course one might say the JT-8 belongs in the same place.

I have a lot of nostalgia for round engines. That one fascinates me because it was the biggest and I was always amazed by how that many moving parts could actually stay assembled for more than a few hours. Never had to change a jug myself but have watched many a real engineer do it. It generates interesting phraseology. My favorite is the R-2800. I seldom hear one anymore but can always recognize that sound when I do.

 

[flyerc90]

While it may take a little longer....I joined the USAF right out of high school. I did not fly, rather I turned wreches on -135s and E4's (747). Being a mechanic allowed me to get a very decent paycheck....which all went towards my licenses at the aero club, and even better...after your private, the GI Bill pays 60% of the rest of your flight training...and college is 75% paid for. In four years I got out with an AAS, and my CFI....which lined me up perfect to get hired at the university that I was to later finish my BS at.

 

[avbug]

Surplus,

I'd agree on the R2800, though my experience with that engine is mostly really only maintenance. It's probably the most highly refined radial built...the only other true advancement, and probably the zenith for radials, was the 3350.

I love radial engines. I had a choice this year between doing the turbine thnig and running radials, and radials probably would have been my choice. My assignment right now, temporary as it may be, is in a single engine airplane, though, and there's something to be said about having a turbine out there when you're looking at the business end of a box canyon. It's reliable, smooth, quiet, leaves you feeling fresh and oil free, and it's politically correct, but has no character.

Then again, I haven't spent a single night in a rainstorm changing a jug this year, either. There's something to be said for that. Like most things in retrospect, the good old days were good, but at the time, they weren't always so hot.

If I had the bucks, I'd go buy a T-6.

 

[jgore]

flyerc90

Very interesting your point.
But, can foreing students do the same you did ?.
I was told that if you join the USAF for flying, they wont let you go that easy to the airlines. Say, you have to be with them many years before you can leave.
Anyways, i'm still hearing (reading) every single word you guys tell me.
Thanks to all, i really appreciate it.

jgore

 

[surplus1]

avbug,

I don't know if you can sell me an anything made by those Wright people. Douglas ruined a perfect airplane when they put that thing on a -6 and called it a -7. In the 1049 I could never seem to keep the PRT from overheating and giving up. Guess you can see 3350s aren't my favorite thing in life.

Have never done what you're doing now. It seems interesting and very challenging. Not to mention worthwhile. I agree completely that you can't beat the reliability of the turbine. I doubt I'd want to do what you do with any single engine, but certainly less pucker factor with a kerosene burner.

Never did the maintenance thing. Just lots of watching and admiring those who did. I learned quite a bit and also got losts of support on the line from those who knew I watched. Times are different now.

Sometimes I miss the "good old days", but overall the newer days were better. No regrets either way. It's been a blast and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Take care.

PS. If you get the bucks, skip the Texan and get something with a Merlin up front (as in -51). It ain't round but it's close to music.

 

[skiddriver]

jgore,

I'm afraid you may have been led astray on the issue of joining the US military.

First you need to be a commisioned officer to fly for the US Air Force/Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard. You have to be at least a Warrant Officer to fly for the US Army.

As a foreign national (here in the US), you will probably only be able to join the US military as an enlisted man. Commisioned Officer candidates have to be: (1) US citizens, or (2) have applied for or been granted permanent residency in the US, or (3) have served as an enlisted man and have met some pretty stringent security requirements. I believe the requirements to join the Army as a Warrant Officer are the same.

Your ability to join the US military as an enlisted man and what you can do if you can join, will largely center around your ability to be granted a security clearance. As a foreign national new to the country, it will take a while to get any kind of clearance.

Under certain special programs, some foreign nationals have been directly enlisted into the US military from overseas, but I don't think any of them would apply to you. I think you have to be able to legally reside in the US before you enlist. A tourist or student visa won't be sufficient.

Good luck, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.