Flying

[marc-o-lishuz]

this thread is for pilots, flight school students, and people interested in flying.

pilots - tell us how you got your wings, and provide any advice to prospective people.

my story:
finished university with a 3.63gpa, currently working for Kodak (finance dept)
will be quitting work to attend British Columbia Institute of Technology's commercial pilot licensing program (64-week full-time course).
i plan to be a pilot for an airline (ultimate goal... how i get tehre is another story lol)

[damon300s]

I am a pilot PPSEL (private pilot single engine land). Have been for about 5 years now. It just a hobby for me love to fly. Here is a funny quote for you guys....
"Flying has a perfect record...We have never left a man up there"

[marc-o-lishuz]

i heard that there's a type of "Relief" pilot that doesn't fly below 10,000ft. wierd. so i guess you just keep an eye out when everyone else is sleeping lol.

[Driving91LX]

I have a BS in Airway Science from the University of Central Texas. Got my 4 year degree while earning licenses all the way through instrument flight instructor. Bad market for pilots when I graduated in '91 so I did other things, eventually returning to school to earn a degree in information systems.
Now I'm a consultant programmer and haven't flown in 15 yrs.
Advice?
You MUST have at least a 4 yr degree and hundreds of hrs of flight time before they will even talk to you. Get flight time wherever you can.
I found that renting a plane on a weekend and just flying around, or flying to another airport for lunch is MUCH more fun than taking off, popping into the clouds, talking to ATC and staring at your instruments for 3 hrs, descending, and landing.
Good luck!

[marc-o-lishuz]

i've flown only once (well... that's kinofa stretch!)

one of my buddy's buddy is studying to be pilot, so one weekend, we took a Cessna around the Bay Area (i used to live in San Fran). we paid $50 each to help with the rental fees and he gave me the controls for 15 minutes! funnest time of my life!!! it was kinda tricky tho coz we had to cross SFO and OAK airspace! lol. fun times. i can't wait to go again!

thanks for the tips.

[damon300s]

with money and time I want to get into the airshow bizz. Have been doing aerobatics for about a year and a half now. With an aerobatic instructor who does about 15 shows a year in a stearman. He done it for about 20 years now(airshows). Over 40 years of flying in general.
instructions have been taken in a Super Decathlon....

kinda a "G" junkie I guess..... nothing like pulling 4 G's at the bottom of a loop...

[calircr]

i wanted to be a pilot...the closest i ever came to actually flying a plane was when i worked at united airlines. they actually sent me out to denver to use their state of the art flight simulator. i was working in the 777 engineering group so that was a special perk for us. i took a 777 under the golden gate bridge and buzzed the transamerica building. out of all the people that went to the sim...i was the only one able to land the 777 while experiencing wind sheer. too bad i got laid off...damn terrorists!

[damon300s]

Originally Posted by calircr

i wanted to be a pilot...the closest i ever came to actually flying a plane was when i worked at united airlines. they actually sent me out to denver to use their state of the art flight simulator. i was working in the 777 engineering group so that was a special perk for us. i took a 777 under the golden gate bridge and buzzed the transamerica building. out of all the people that went to the sim...i was the only one able to land the 777 while experiencing wind sheer. too bad i got laid off...damn terrorists!

911 hurt all things related to flying...set things back big time!!!

[marc-o-lishuz]

^ cool! too bad you were laid off. any chance you're gonna pursue it?

[calircr]

nah, probably not. i work in the aerospace industry now, working on the new boeing 787 dreamliner.

[marc-o-lishuz]

that's amazing.

everyone on this thread seriously has my utmost respect and admiration!

[ethlar]

I was working on getting my pilots licence, took groundschool and started flying, but then ran out of money and at this point would have to completely start over. So now im going to hopefully end up designing planes and or space craft.

[calircr]

it's a tough industry right now for aerospace...if you can get into a company that's got military contracts that would be the way to go...pretty much guaranteed a job for life....right now one of my friends works for NASA out in Sunnyvale, CA...and I have a friend that just quit his job here with me to go work for NASA in Pasadena at the Jet Propulsion Lab to work on the next Mars Rover.

[SIcBoy]

i can make a mean airplane

[Cybergypsy]

My son just got out of the air force where he worked on AC 130's now I am sending him, to school to learn to fly at emery-Riddle....

[GALAXY~SI]

Man it must be seriolusy cool to fly a plain you guys are the coolest lol

[CaliGuy]

I am planning to start my flight training locally...after work style....as money permits (thanks si lol)...I have a 4 year degree and will be doing this slowly...i assume at least 5 years to get commercial status...I plan to start in March...

[Gonzo]

I almost had my liscense, but one of my dad's co-worker's crashed his plane (he was ok though) and that kinda ended the whole thing in my mom's book.

I've played tons of flight simulators and recently got into using Flight Simulator 9 with VATSIM.

www.vatsim.net

[marc-o-lishuz]

Originally Posted by CaliGuy

I am planning to start my flight training locally...after work style....as money permits (thanks si lol)...I have a 4 year degree and will be doing this slowly...i assume at least 5 years to get commercial status...I plan to start in March...

BCIT (the school i plan to attend) does have part/full-time courses. i'm leaning towards full-time just so i can get it over and done with but that means i will be completely dependent upon my savings. i'll have some tough financial decisions ahead. lol... yeah, thanks Si! hhahaha. i will NOT sell my car tho.

[damon300s]

Originally Posted by Cybergypsy

My son just got out of the air force where he worked on AC 130's now I am sending him, to school to learn to fly at emery-Riddle....

Great school, My friend went there. He is a CFII,A&P.
He work on planes at his own hanger, Teaches students, and flies for a small charter. Weird part is most of his flight are for hospitals....live organs trasporting..... grosssssss. But it pays the bills.
Anyways great choice in schools...