Career Changer now beginning to doubt his decision!
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Career Changer now beginning to doubt his decision!
Hi all. I'm now a late 30 something career changer. Quit my successful (well paid) career in pursuit of the dream career I had always wanted.
I bit the bullet and enrolled on a full time integrated course. Managed to complete my CPL ME IR last year. Got a job offer after only 2 months of completion and then had to wait 6 months before I actually started.
Ground school went well.
Sims didn't go quite so well. Mainly consistently in one area.
Have been delayed by two blocks of considerable time and just lots of hanging around waiting for some additional training. Still waiting to do my LST - Ive become totally disillusioned with the whole thing and the dream just seems to be fading away.
Any suggestions / comments / experiences that people are willing to share with me to try and get the flying mojo back - or should I just throw in the towel |(which I never thought I'd hear myself say/suggest) and accept the debt and go back to what I was doing before or something totally different.
I bit the bullet and enrolled on a full time integrated course. Managed to complete my CPL ME IR last year. Got a job offer after only 2 months of completion and then had to wait 6 months before I actually started.
Ground school went well.
Sims didn't go quite so well. Mainly consistently in one area.
Have been delayed by two blocks of considerable time and just lots of hanging around waiting for some additional training. Still waiting to do my LST - Ive become totally disillusioned with the whole thing and the dream just seems to be fading away.
Any suggestions / comments / experiences that people are willing to share with me to try and get the flying mojo back - or should I just throw in the towel |(which I never thought I'd hear myself say/suggest) and accept the debt and go back to what I was doing before or something totally different.
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You were offered a job after just two months are you're genuinely considering throwing in the towel? People struggle for years and years to get to where you are now. Maybe this isn't the career for you?
If this really is your dream job it would seem a waste of time and money and a great shame to just pack it all in now, no?
If this really is your dream job it would seem a waste of time and money and a great shame to just pack it all in now, no?
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Don't worry, most of us have felt like that at some stage... Several stages in my case!
Keep on, focus on improving the area you have been weak on in the sim, push through and in a few months you'll be wondering what you were fussing about.
It is just a little bump that you will get over, and life will be a little sweeter because of it. After all if things come too easily, we tend not to appreciate them as much. This bump will help you appreciate it all the more when you pop out the other side and start flying the line.
Chin up 😉
Keep on, focus on improving the area you have been weak on in the sim, push through and in a few months you'll be wondering what you were fussing about.
It is just a little bump that you will get over, and life will be a little sweeter because of it. After all if things come too easily, we tend not to appreciate them as much. This bump will help you appreciate it all the more when you pop out the other side and start flying the line.
Chin up 😉
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Hi Stormtrooper, first of all hearty congratulations on getting that elusive 1st job so quickly.
Secondly good on you for being so honest and open, as someone has already pointed out there are plenty of people who have been qualified for a long time (myself included) who have not been able to get that break and many will doubtless be wailing and gnashing their teeth that someone who got the break ahead of them is now struggling when they obviously would have done much better. I do not count myself among the latter group.
Personally I do not judge a person on how they conduct themselves when life is going well and everything is rosy, I believe that we get a much better idea of a person’s personality when we see how they react when things go wrong. Do they pick themselves up, analyse what went wrong, do something about it and crack on or do they chuck their toys out of the pram and walk off.
You have struggled with some elements of the sim work, have you considered privately renting out some sim time and practicing the element that is causing you such grief? You do not need to hire an expensive full motion sim, maybe a fixed base sim that it a good representation of the type that you fly. For instance Virtual Aerospace can flog you 5 hours in a B737 fixed base sim for £645 and they can tailor the content of the 5 hours to suit you. You cannot buy 5 hours with an instructor in an MEP sim for £645, so that might be an option, if you fly airbus then you might have to search around for a fair priced fixed base sim and the environment would probably be way more relaxed than in your employer’s sim with a TRI or TRE in there with you.
Whatever you choose to do, I genuinely wish you all the best and hope that in a few months you are fully spammed up and enjoying line flying.
Secondly good on you for being so honest and open, as someone has already pointed out there are plenty of people who have been qualified for a long time (myself included) who have not been able to get that break and many will doubtless be wailing and gnashing their teeth that someone who got the break ahead of them is now struggling when they obviously would have done much better. I do not count myself among the latter group.
Personally I do not judge a person on how they conduct themselves when life is going well and everything is rosy, I believe that we get a much better idea of a person’s personality when we see how they react when things go wrong. Do they pick themselves up, analyse what went wrong, do something about it and crack on or do they chuck their toys out of the pram and walk off.
You have struggled with some elements of the sim work, have you considered privately renting out some sim time and practicing the element that is causing you such grief? You do not need to hire an expensive full motion sim, maybe a fixed base sim that it a good representation of the type that you fly. For instance Virtual Aerospace can flog you 5 hours in a B737 fixed base sim for £645 and they can tailor the content of the 5 hours to suit you. You cannot buy 5 hours with an instructor in an MEP sim for £645, so that might be an option, if you fly airbus then you might have to search around for a fair priced fixed base sim and the environment would probably be way more relaxed than in your employer’s sim with a TRI or TRE in there with you.
Whatever you choose to do, I genuinely wish you all the best and hope that in a few months you are fully spammed up and enjoying line flying.
good on you for being so honest and open
"Sims didn't go quite so well. Mainly consistently in one area.
Have been delayed by two blocks of considerable time and just lots of hanging around waiting for some additional training"
You may not feel able to answer or comment on this but normally if a stude runs into problems the best bet for all involved is to try and get the problem/retraining sorted out ASAP, rather than have them hanging around. Sounds a bit odd and perhaps unfair on you but maybe it is a problem with training capacity.
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What kind of job have you got, what aircraft type?
If you've managed to get a decent flying job (given your experience level) I think you should stick with it. What area of the sim work is causing you trouble?
If you've managed to get a decent flying job (given your experience level) I think you should stick with it. What area of the sim work is causing you trouble?
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Amauri
The OP has a job, and very quickly after completing training although had to wait 6 months before starting groundschool. It seems that he has entered the dreaded spiral of despair following issues in the sim, extra training and further delays. As has been said, this is not uncommon and if he managed to get through the CPL/IR MCC training without delays or setbacks I would say he has done very well so far.
stormtrooper1
It might be helpful to know what the specific problem area is? Consistently poor landings have been identified as a particularly weak area in recent years and you may be surprised to hear that this is not only in initial type training. For example, after a number of poor landings on the line following recent conversion leading to a couple of unsuccessful sessions in the sim, the F/O was assigned a senior TRE (great instructor) for an assessment. First approach became unstable below mins and an attempt at a landing was horrible. TRE climbed into the LH seat and noticed that the tall F/O's seating position was too high resulting in an awkward right arm position. Two issues - eye datum point was wrong and consequentially, control input was uncomfortable due to elevated elbow. Apparently, the F/O had never been shown how to select the correct seating position nor how to check EDP properly. Basic training conducted in the U.S. as part of an integrated course then initial type training on the 'bus at another airline. Once corrected, the session went very well and the TRE sent him on his way relieved and no longer frustrated. Seen similar with shorter candidates as well - but of course, this is only an example; the OP could be having issues elsewhere.
Good luck though - you've done well so far and it would be a pity to throw in the towel after all that effort, and so close to your objective.
For anyone who enrols in the career of a professional pilot they owe it to themselves to at least get the CPL and give themselves a shot at getting hired by an airline.
stormtrooper1
It might be helpful to know what the specific problem area is? Consistently poor landings have been identified as a particularly weak area in recent years and you may be surprised to hear that this is not only in initial type training. For example, after a number of poor landings on the line following recent conversion leading to a couple of unsuccessful sessions in the sim, the F/O was assigned a senior TRE (great instructor) for an assessment. First approach became unstable below mins and an attempt at a landing was horrible. TRE climbed into the LH seat and noticed that the tall F/O's seating position was too high resulting in an awkward right arm position. Two issues - eye datum point was wrong and consequentially, control input was uncomfortable due to elevated elbow. Apparently, the F/O had never been shown how to select the correct seating position nor how to check EDP properly. Basic training conducted in the U.S. as part of an integrated course then initial type training on the 'bus at another airline. Once corrected, the session went very well and the TRE sent him on his way relieved and no longer frustrated. Seen similar with shorter candidates as well - but of course, this is only an example; the OP could be having issues elsewhere.
Good luck though - you've done well so far and it would be a pity to throw in the towel after all that effort, and so close to your objective.
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Often a change of instructor will help immensely as a different perspective picks up small errors such as listed above that the previous instructor might have missed.
Don't feel you are 'obligated' to an instructor they would rather you spoke up and got the training/help you needed.
Good luck.
Don't feel you are 'obligated' to an instructor they would rather you spoke up and got the training/help you needed.
Good luck.
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stormtrooper1
It all depends why you are thinking of chucking in the towel?
If it's because you are becoming disillusioned with the career ahead of you, then I suspect many here would tend to agree, and wave you on your way. Particularly so if you have a good job to return to, that you enjoy!
OTOH, if you are just finding it tough acquiring one or two of the necessary skills, then that's a completely different kettle of fish. Whilst some of the skills don't always come naturally to your average human bean, just look around at some of the folks making a good living out of this job. Rocket science it ain't!!
If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be this:
I converted to swept wing jet transport from another form of flying. I had been a professional pilot for 15 years before my 'career change'. I felt I was pretty damn good at this flying business. Turned out I was wrong! For 6-9 months of line flying, I felt as though I had been strapped to the front of a runaway train! I found it a real struggle to keep it on the rails!! I found it hugely depressing. I thought I should have been better! Many, many times I thought I should go back to that old job, that I knew so well!
The one thing that enabled me to break through, what I saw as a 'barrier' was to stop beating myself up for my perceived 'inadequacies'! I was my own biggest critic. Nobody expected more of me. Nobody had less sympathy, or understanding. Once I started to smile and accept that I may just need time and exposure to my new environment, things became so much easier!
So try to smile, and enjoy the learning. Anyone in this business for more than a decade will tell you. You never, ever reach the end. Cherish the learning, because it never, ever stops!
Enjoy.
PS: I'm not a million miles from York. Let me know if you fancy a beer!
Cheers
It all depends why you are thinking of chucking in the towel?
If it's because you are becoming disillusioned with the career ahead of you, then I suspect many here would tend to agree, and wave you on your way. Particularly so if you have a good job to return to, that you enjoy!
OTOH, if you are just finding it tough acquiring one or two of the necessary skills, then that's a completely different kettle of fish. Whilst some of the skills don't always come naturally to your average human bean, just look around at some of the folks making a good living out of this job. Rocket science it ain't!!
If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be this:
I converted to swept wing jet transport from another form of flying. I had been a professional pilot for 15 years before my 'career change'. I felt I was pretty damn good at this flying business. Turned out I was wrong! For 6-9 months of line flying, I felt as though I had been strapped to the front of a runaway train! I found it a real struggle to keep it on the rails!! I found it hugely depressing. I thought I should have been better! Many, many times I thought I should go back to that old job, that I knew so well!
The one thing that enabled me to break through, what I saw as a 'barrier' was to stop beating myself up for my perceived 'inadequacies'! I was my own biggest critic. Nobody expected more of me. Nobody had less sympathy, or understanding. Once I started to smile and accept that I may just need time and exposure to my new environment, things became so much easier!
So try to smile, and enjoy the learning. Anyone in this business for more than a decade will tell you. You never, ever reach the end. Cherish the learning, because it never, ever stops!
Enjoy.
PS: I'm not a million miles from York. Let me know if you fancy a beer!
Cheers
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If it's because you are becoming disillusioned with the career ahead of you, then I suspect many here would tend to agree, and wave you on your way. Particularly so if you have a good job to return to, that you enjoy!
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UPDATE
OK.
Thanks for all the replies.
Since the post I've now completed the type rating in the Sim. - Mood improved dramatically!
However, struggled like mad to land the thing for real today when doing base training. I felt i was 10 seconds behind the aeroplane the entire flight!
Got absolutely slated by the training captain in the report after.
I need suggestions on how I can improve my scan rates and being more accurate with the flight director. Is there any good software that you can buy to improve your reaction times and general performance enhancement? (No I'm not asking for Team Sky performance enhancements either).
I want this to work out so badly but I get so frustrated when things aren't going how i want to and this compounds the issue. I need to fix these issues before Im handed a P45 and Im down the road!
Thanks for all the replies.
Since the post I've now completed the type rating in the Sim. - Mood improved dramatically!
However, struggled like mad to land the thing for real today when doing base training. I felt i was 10 seconds behind the aeroplane the entire flight!
Got absolutely slated by the training captain in the report after.
I need suggestions on how I can improve my scan rates and being more accurate with the flight director. Is there any good software that you can buy to improve your reaction times and general performance enhancement? (No I'm not asking for Team Sky performance enhancements either).
I want this to work out so badly but I get so frustrated when things aren't going how i want to and this compounds the issue. I need to fix these issues before Im handed a P45 and Im down the road!
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Congratulations! I'm glad your mood has improved somewhat too.
You're far ahead of me in terms of where you are in your training so I don't have any advice on that apart from maybe speak to your training captain? Isn't that what he's there for?
You're far ahead of me in terms of where you are in your training so I don't have any advice on that apart from maybe speak to your training captain? Isn't that what he's there for?
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I need suggestions on how I can improve my scan rates and being more accurate with the flight director. Is there any good software that you can buy to improve your reaction times and general performance enhancement?
PMDG Simulations
For Airbus you might want to have a look at the following link:
A320-X | Flight Sim Labs, Ltd.
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There are some complete and utter knobs who are training. Ignore them. The really good ones can give you an absolute pasting yet you walk out feeling as if you are worth something and at the same time know exactly what you can do to improve. So may I suggest "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir" and get in with it. But don't forget to join a union, you never know when you might need their help.
