Why people go to ERAU or UND?

[CaravanMan]

no ofeense to the good erau people, but at every NIFA meet we would try to go shoot the $hit with them guys and they would look down their nose at us. like they are god gift to aviation or something. too bad we produced this years top pilot at nationals

You read my mind.

However, when I was still in school and going to the meets, those Riddle guys from AZ hit the line nearly everytime in that 150 of theirs. I always wondered if they wore their E6Bs in the shower with them... They always had them with them, lol.

 

[Bjammin]

Trade school? Somewhat, but I quess so is any Med or business school. I got my B.S. in aeronautics. If I wanted to be a Doctor I would have persued an M.D., a lawer maybe Harvard Law. I wanted to learn the most I could about my future profession that's why I chose ERAU.
I do agree that for some reason ERAU guys tend to be stuck up and egotistical. We could all speculate why, but many fine schools have the same problem. I myself will always be a student of aviation. The first person that thinks they know it all is the first person not to have a clue. I think aviation is filled with outstanding professionals from all backgrounds, degree or not, military or not, airlines or not. As you said to each his own. Bottom line, be competant and safe, the rest will take care of itself.

I graduated ERAU in 1990 out of the management program.

I took flight lessons in So. Cal. during the summer.

I chose ERAU Prescott because:

1) It was close to home (LA).
2) Far enough away from home.
3) The student/teacher ratio was about 15:1
4) At the time (late '80s) it wasn't anymore expensive than any other private college.

Is it more expensive to fly there? Yes. That's why I took lessons at home.

All said, I think I received a pretty good undergraduate education. The people in the Humanities Dept made a conscious effort to balance the highly technical and focused nature of the core curriculum in order to produce a well rounded product.

If you're just looking for flights lessons, well yeah, that's dumb. But if you're looking for an education then you'll find one...if you want it.

And that's the problem. A lot of people approach ERAU as some sort of glorified trade school.

Different strokes for different folks.
Good luck.

 

[Donsa320]

After reading all these replys and comments I must add my thoughts.
First my background.
I have been in this business since 1951. I've had an instrument rating since 1953. My structured flying was in the USAF. That was 278 hours in Aviation Cadets, the Korean War was on. After 8 years in the USAF I separated and got an airline job...in DC-3's. I was lucky, no one was hiring. Three mergers later I retired at age 60. That is a long story cut short. <grin>

My observation is that good pilots come from all the routes...and so do bad ones.
Trying to determine which is which from job applications, resume's, cover letters and letters of recommendation is hit or miss.
The interview process is flawed too, but does help.
Training records probably are the most reliable. We seldom consider anybody with a record of failures. One failure, maybe, is not fatal, but a string of them is an obvious problem. Repeating a checkride for, say, your instrument rating when you were a wee pup would not be as bad as failing an upgrade at a previous employer.
I do know that some of out fleet managers read Flightinfo. Lucky that it is anonymous, some of the stuff here would really be like licking the third rail, deadly.
I am frequently shocked by the crude language and innuendo frequently displayed here. Some is bravado, I'm sure, but the underlying tone is all to frequently not very flattering toward the profession. I realize that the profession is under stress right now. People handle stress differently. If you do not like it, please find some other profession before you hurt somebody.

Our DO recently remarked that the new classes will be handled differently in that the first year IS probationary and if we do not like what we see there will be discharges before the 1st year is over. He is tired of keeping problem people and havng those problems for 30 years.

Thanks for listening <grin>

~DC

 

[Icelandair]

The nice thing about UND is that the male/female ratio is also about 50:50 since you have the nursing and teaching college on campus to balance things out.

 

[McNugent]

The nice thing about UND is that the male/female ratio is also about 50:50 since you have the nursing and teaching college on campus to balance things out.

Amen to that. I was surprised when I showed up freshman year to find the women weren't that bad lookin either. Must be the Norwegian thing. And you know what there is to do when its -40 out? Use your imagination...

GO SIOUX!

 

[gkrangers]

Yeah...theres a big hospital right next door to Riddle...a nursing program sounds like a good idea...