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. Kids. Tower Dogs story is fascinating, and you should listen. Non English as a primary language, so I'm guessing Puerto Rican. Went from the DC-3s in the Caribbean to DC-8s for Evergreen on an Air India Cargo contract as an F/O. To say I was busy in the simulator would be an understatement, no jet time, no sim time, just sink or swim punk, you get no extra sim or training around here. Squeezed by and 220 hrs later on the DC-8-73, they offered me the B-747 F/O slot being the most junior F/O in the company: UPS started hiring Evergreen guys and every F/O senior to me refused to sign the B-747 training contract as they were hoping for UPS, hence the Chief Pilot called me and asked if I would consider coming over to the 747 fleet? I was not going in that direction and happily signed the contract and got the training. 6 months later Evergreen sent me the contract back and I was no longer on the hook to pay back $$ in case I quit. (Never paid a time, just promised to stay on for a couple of years, would have stayed anyways) Never boring in the flying business.. Guess my point is that hard work pays off, so does luck, and a talent for flying. (Aptitude they call it these days) Never knew I had talent or not, I was just hanging on with my fingernails. Advise to young guys starting out: Work hard, then harder and don't get married and start cranking out babies, that will restrict restrict you moving around chasing jobs and will put a huge pressure on finances as newbie flying jobs don't pay much unless you get on with major lifetime, high paying gig like Fed-Ex, Delta or similar. Entry level jobs are hard work and low pay: Before my Twin Otter and DC-3 gigs in the islands I hauled single engine bush planes in Alaska summer and winter living in an Eskimo town on the tundra using a honey bucket for a toilet. Can't go there with wife and kids, divorce will happen after 2 weeks:( |
TowerDog says 'Chief pilot called me up asking if I'd come to the B-747"
Would that be Ron Straus. Pilot for Elvis Presley in the Convair 880 'Lisa Marie'. I was flight engineer for just three month when a new contract was signed. Instant upgrade to co-pilot. Again I had no simulator time having come from cargo Lear Jets in Detroit. Fortunately a simulator instructor let me get some practice so I could settle down on the thing. I saw him a few years later when I was checking out as Captain with my final carrier, and thanked him for helping me. What also help was a simulator partner that was worse than me. Again hanging on by the fingernails and passed by the skin of my teeth. I had just finished IOE when a major airline called. I must have been good that day, for they hired me. Now I had to get thru training. Fortunately (again, it's a common theme) the simulator instructor was a former Evergreen pilot, and he did my simulator ride, check ride and bounces. I don't think I would have passed without him. The simulator partner that was worse than me was also hired a few months later but didn't make it thru training. Two years later I was Captain at age 30. I saw the Evergreen pilot last week for the first time in 5 years. He's just six months from retirement. I thanked him for his help all those years ago. My success has not been because of my abilities, for I'm certainly nothing special. But it's all about how you conduct yourself. How personable and approachable and pleasant you are. You can probably tell that I'm the kind of person who goes around talking to people. I always say it's 'would you want to spend a two week trip with this person'. |
No, not Ron Straus, but the name rings a bell.
I got the call August or September 1988 about the B-747, the CP was an ex Coast Guard guy, Bob something..? Evergreen was a good gig, they pulled me out of the DC-3s and gave me a shot at heavy jets, no college degree, no nothing except a clean resume with some stick and rudder time and a burning desire to fly big stuff. Evergreen after 3 years led me to the Middle East on more 747-200s in the right seat, then Tower Air in 1994 with a quick upgrade to Captain, 747-100/200 after 18 months on the property. Did that until they went tits up, then AA called for some reason. Flew B-757/767 there until furloughed after 9/11. Spent a year doing boats as a Yacht Captain in South Florida, then Tradewinds Airlines offers a job in the left seat of yet another 747-200 with a quick promotion to Check Airman. Did that gig for 3 years, then AA called me back. About that time Bush signed into law age 65, then a few years later AA filed for BK. Then we merged with US Air, then got a pay rise, then I got bored and took early retirement. Got me a boat and started a little charter business running little old ladies up and down the canals and rivers in Fort Lauderdale while drinking beer on days off, and buying, fixing up, renting out and selling condos and day trading stocks With spare cash. Never boring in the flying business. You young guys listening? Be flexible, work hard and be prepared for the worst. No college or high school required. |
TowerDog.
Ron Straus had left Evergreen as Chief Pilot by mid 1988. You are the third American Airlines pilot I know who doesn't have a degree. The first was a pilot with Royal Airlines in Louisiana which operated stretched Gulfstream One's in the 1980s. He went to work after leaving school and flew every day for 15 years before getting hired. He truly had flown more aircraft types than I've had hot dinners. The second was an ex-British Airways L-1011 Tristar pilot that had an American wife. And you are the third. I wonder what the percentage is of no degreed pilots at AA. One always thinks of them as square jawed KC-135 pilots, as they all seem to have the same look. Maybe they are more diverse than the image portrayed.. Another interesting story. I'm full of them, or is it, I'm full of it. I was at the boarding area of an AA flight from Heathrow going back to the US. I sat down next to a very tired looking AA pilot and said, I fly for ------. He said, I know you do ------. I was once your flight engineer. I left ------ and went to AA, worst mistake I ever made. I looked at his ID card and remembered his most unusual name. Two others that I knew also left us for American Airlines. One I kept in touch with regretted leaving. And the point of this is. It's not always the big name, prestigious company that's the best fit. It's the company that's best for you that's the best. I tried to get hired by my first choice of companies. I even gave their Chief Pilot his ATP. But like trying to date a supermodel, even though you know you'd be perfect for each other, it just doesn't work out. I always got on well with people from my second choice better. Fortunately they felt the same and they chose me, and it's been absolutely fabulous. They must have know we were MFEO. :) |
Aye, indeed I had no formal college degree, but I bought one on the internet for $800.
Based on Life Experience of course. When I interviewed with AA I was honest and said it was not accredited. Not a problem, check that box, are you married, do you mind commuting, let's look at your license and medical? That was HR. Next was the interview with a bunch of Captains and Check Airmen. Some tech questions, some situations questions, logbook under the microscope before I got called into the room, 12-15 letters of recommendation, FAA records, a joke or two, good vibes. Medical next with psycho testing on computers and a doc reading the printout: Turned out he was really into sailing and diving and so was I: We swapped stories on those subjects until closing time as I was the last guy that day. When I got up to leave I asked how my testing came out? He glanced at the print out and said fine.. Overall a very psotive experience, no sh!t because they hired me. I think they looked more at ratings and time as well as personality than some college degree although I was the ultimate non-sced cargo/bush pilot kind of guy but they were looking to fill seats with bodies who could run an airplane safely from A to B rather than a Gucci guy with a PHd in liberal arts. I enjoyed AA, lots of super good guys but with the usual 5% aresholes. Most guys were also sharp as a tack when it came to flying stuff and book knowledge. A few were weak and once or twice I saved the day as an FO, but same with all airlines. Overall a great place to work, but with a bunch of heavy PIC time behind me I got bored with the long time to upgrade and lost interest after 11 years in the right seat. |
Originally Posted by A320baby
(Post 9581562)
Good morning wannabes,
As the aviation industry is starting to boom I thought it appropriate to write a short blog on how I got into aviation, so people like myself, with not so privileged backgrounds can get into aviation with hard work and dedication! Like most from a very early age I had a massive obsession with aircraft, I was totally mesmerised about aviation, at every opportunity I was either looking up at the sky looking or reading about planes, I knew where my future career lay! I was lucky enough to start and obtain my PPL at the age of 17. During my school days, I was never the brightest kid in my class in fact far from it, I struggled my maths, I remember quite clearly my career advisor telling me to think about another career path because being a pilot was so far out of my reach! (How wrong could one be!!) that being said I left school at the age of 16 with not one GCSE above the C grade. *disclaimer: The school did not fail me, I failed myself and I learnt the hard way. So with my aviation dream in tatters off I went and got a job scaffolding (which I still dabble in today) very soon I realised that this is not the career I want to spend the rest of my life doing, so I had to make a plan. I calculated that if I save my salary for 4 years, with family help I can fund a modular aviation course, this is exactly what I did! In the mean time I was attending night school retaking my flunked GCSE in math and English to which I passed with very high grades! At the age of 20 I finally had enough money saved to fund my training and survive not working for two years, I embarked on ATPL in house course (14 written exams) at London metropolitan university. I studied here full time for about 6-8 months, even tho hard work and lots of studying I made some fantastic friends and had so much fun! Out of the 14 exams, I passed 12 first time and had to retake POF and perf which I passed second time round. Not bad for a lad that left school with no GCSE's Once the ATPLs was completed I went straight to stapleford flight centre for my hour building and commercial IR. I cannot fault stapleford, it's by far one of the best flight training organisations out there and I would recommend to anyone!! Hour building: duration about 4 weeks flying a 152 up and down the country, I spent most of this time brushing up on my nav exercises which I knew I would need once the commencement of my CPL. Please please please make sure you have fun when doing the hour building as it's pretty much stress free. Commercial pilots licence: duration 18 days, this was by far my favourite course. My instructor was fantastic majority of flying was done in the piper arrow, passed first time. The nav exercises during my hour building really paid dividends. Instrument rating: duration 5 weeks. This was the course everyone feared, in fact I throughly enjoyed the IR, I seemed to gel with the instrument flying. Majority was flown in the DA42 and the DA42 sim. Passed first time. MCC and JOC was done at OAA duration 5 days. Was a good introduction to working as a crew in an airline environment. If you want me to elaborate any part of my blog please feel free to send me a PM! In total I paid around £55,000 for a frozen ATPL modular at stapleford. A few weeks after I completed my training, I was sending hundreds if not thousands of CV's to every single operator you could think of. Finally Ryanair contacted me and Invited me for an interview, I paid the 300 quid for the pleasure and after a week I was told I didn't make the grade. I was shocked and gutted by determined not to let it deter me! Over the next year, I continued to make contacts in the industry, had a part time job at ipilot (fixed base 737 simulator company) and back scaffolding full time. Finally an opportunity arose for Wizz air, I managed to pass the interview and spent 4 years flying the 320 based in Gdnask Poland. Wizz is the perfect company to start your career, flying lots, hard winters and difficult destinations, it's the ideal place to learn your trade. I must say, that prior the the Wizz interview I had interviews with 4 smaller operators lined up and that was from making contacts and networking. Next I left Wizz to come home to the UK and work for another fantastic exciting company called Air tanker flying the Airbus 330. This was a new and exciting place to work flying to worldwide destinations including the Falklands via Ascension Island. I spent about 15 months in air tanker before an amazing opportunity arose to fly for another long haul operator based at LHR to which I fly for to this day, I won't mention the name but put it this way, my favourite colour is red. On my days off I do consultancy work for CTC teaching Airbus ground school to cadets, another job I obtained through networking. All in all I've been flying commercially now for 6 years and I very happy with what I have achieved at the age of 28. Please free free to message me any questions and for those who want to follow me on Instagram: gym_aviator Good luck hey i pm'ed you and i saw you tiredto pm me back but it says my inbox is full but theres nothing in there can i contacted you elsewhere ? |
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