IT and Aviation?

[chapers]

Hi,

I'm an extreme wanabee pilot but like most wanabee's, I have financial difficulties.

I'm starting an IT course (CompTia A+) soon and was wondering if getting into IT has any relevance to working within the commercial/aviation industry?

I aspire to be pilot and fly long-haul and would like to know if getting into IT would help me at all?

Also, what sort of jobs could I work in closely related to flying with IT qualifications?

Would appreciate any feedback from IT peeps or anyone with some handy info.

Regards,

Rob

[geordiejet]

I have a BSc In Information Technology, from Newcastle University. I would say in terms of relevent knowledge I learned very litt; we did however learn about problem solving, and triple-triple redundancy in the tripple seven and about fault tolerance.

However in terms of relevent skills I learned an awful lot; you work in group projects, you use you leadership skills, learn how to deal with problems/problem solving, plan for alternitives, workload management, commercial awareness and also showing you have the abolity to learn.

IMHO, I chose IT as it would give me a back up should something happen and I couldnt workm or find a job, then I have seomthing to fall back on. I wasnt too keen on an 'aviation' subject, as I was thinking at the time if I dont make it, perhaps aviation realted IT would be a nice career.

You learn most of the technical aspects required for using the onbard computing systems, but having a strong IT background makes it that little bit easier to learn.

And besides, IT projects can be fun; someone in my class made a reservaton system and the other made some ATC thing, which all looked very interesting!!

Hope this is of help, good luck in whatever you do.

Happy Holidays to all :-)

[wingbar]

I would say yes, its an evolving and expanding market, and an excellent backup. Though, the real qualification to sink your teeth into is the MCSE, all VERY useful stuff, and you can go virtually anywhere with it and command a respectable salary.

I'm presently an IT analyst, at a large bank...good money to spend on keeping current...and keeps the mind active until the real gig shows up.... !

Much better to do this job, now that I have my fatpl, as before I wouldn't have liked it as much, as you can feel a bit trapped.

Good luck with your endeavors.

:cool:

[Superpilot]

Remember "Information Technology" is a very diverse thing - it encompasses so much. You're doing the CompTIA so I assume you're looking to become a Desktop Support Engineer / Analyst initially and within a few years a Server Engineer / Analyst.

Because of the way the industry moves, people in I.T have to constantly evolve themselves. You will be constantly learning new technical skills (due to the introduction of new technologies and software) - this is unlike most other jobs. The fact that you're constantly learning keeps your brain in good shape IMO.

[smith]

Seem to be an awful lot of IT guys make the change to ATPL. Good job to fall back on if a*** falls out the market. Any decent job will give you skills in networking, team building, problem solving etc.

[NW3]

Did the M&S graduate scheme in IT for Marks and Spencer in 2002. The job and people were great, but the flying bug took over, and left in 2004. First B757 flight in a couple of weeks time :)

You can forget everything about IT when you're learning the stick and rudder stuff, but I found the knowledge did come in really useful with understanding a bit about how the more complex systems on the aircraft work, as well as the planning, scheduling, intranet etc. systems all fit together in the airline.

NW3

(www.henrybevan.co.uk/flying if you're interested)