Something tells me that the accountabilibuddy concept wasn't so prevalent back in the day.
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Career Pilot
- Thread starter JayPull85
- Start date
.... Although years later I did eventually fly for the airlines, it had always remained only an option and never a goal. And the Marine Capt was right. He also made a lasting impression.
+123 ... and Fuckin' A ...
My old instructor in civilian life got hired by some regional. To put it quickly, he's getting the shaft at every possible way, plus he's expecting a lay-off any day now. If that's happiness for you then have fun.
If your end goal is to fly for the airlines, you're a lot better off just getting your IP tickets punched and eating Ramen noodles while you get the hours you need. That's a lot more direct road than joining, going through OCS, TBS, API, Primary, SELECTION, Advanced, FRS, fleet tour, and about 10 years after you started, MAYBE getting on with an airline.
I have no heartache with those who join looking to acquire a skill, hell, look at, well, every service's recruiting ads...except for the USMC's, which should tell you something about the Marine culture in particular. There's nothing wrong with serving one's time honorably and leaving, as long as you give 100% while you're in. Know that it's a long and winding road, though, that may or may not take you to the destination you planned when you started.
Also, for the love of god, don't get an aviation degree as a pilot. If you're a qualified pilot, that's what flying jobs want, not a degree in running an FBO. If you ever want a job outside aviation, that "trade school" degree isn't going to help that much. You don't want to be in the position where you tell an employer,"I can fly planes."
"What else can you do?"
"Well, I can fly planes."
"No, seriously, what else can you do?"
I have no heartache with those who join looking to acquire a skill, hell, look at, well, every service's recruiting ads...except for the USMC's, which should tell you something about the Marine culture in particular. There's nothing wrong with serving one's time honorably and leaving, as long as you give 100% while you're in. Know that it's a long and winding road, though, that may or may not take you to the destination you planned when you started.
Also, for the love of god, don't get an aviation degree as a pilot. If you're a qualified pilot, that's what flying jobs want, not a degree in running an FBO. If you ever want a job outside aviation, that "trade school" degree isn't going to help that much. You don't want to be in the position where you tell an employer,"I can fly planes."
"What else can you do?"
"Well, I can fly planes."
"No, seriously, what else can you do?"
I personally don't have a problem with someone joining the military for job training, even airline pilot job training...as long as they have the right attitude. If it's do the minimum possible to get by until time to get out, then they need a good ass whooping.
Join to get the training but join planning on putting a 100% into the military, especially if you are joining as an officer. Have the ethics, standards and motivation of a true leader until the day you separate.
Join to get the training but join planning on putting a 100% into the military, especially if you are joining as an officer. Have the ethics, standards and motivation of a true leader until the day you separate.
I have a few friends flying in regionals now experiencing the same. The pay is actually literally below poverty level, I'm pretty sure, they get hardly any hours, and the dreaded f-word is starting to get passed around (that's furlough in the airline business, not the more commonly known f-word of the Naval service).
Also, as someone who just graduated from an aviation program (BS in Aviation Flight Operations), I agree with everything everyone else around here has said - it is REALLY limiting. Did I have a lot of fun? Yeah. Was it cool telling people I fly airplanes for college? Yeah. Did it seem like a great idea to an 18 year old kid sick to death of high school? Fuck yeah. But by the time I hit my junior year I was painfully aware that BS describes this degree in more ways than one and that if flying in the Navy didn't work out, I was pretty screwed by my one-dimensional college education. So suck it up and get a real degree, it'll leave you a lot more options in the end.
That's weird...my aviation management degree is HEAVY on business courses. Is Aviation Flight Ops really flight intensive? I have aviation courses in mine but besides the butt load of business I also have calc 1,2 engineering and physics 1,2 engineering...I spent way more time in the engineering and business colleges then I did at the airport. I guess YMMV on aviation degrees...
Or you can get that silly civilian licensing out of the way in your first couple years of college (like me) and then go back and do NROTC, get an engineering degree, and then be sitting in primary right now....but then again, maybe that is focusing too much time on the goal of leading men and women into combat.....and too little on the airlines
But, in the end, on paper, you still have an "aviation degree". You should have picked a degree that better reflected you time in those business/engineering courses, because, guaranteed, the impression your aviation management degree will have will NOT be anything more because you took those classes.
Sry for this post. I couldn't really word it right.(Yah I suck at English and Writing I'M FROM KENTUCKY WHAT DO YOU EXCPECT) So now you have a bad impression on me.
I would like to stay a military pilot for a long time. I think I will enjoy flying so much that it would be something I want to do my whole life so that is why I was asking about afterwards.
I would like to stay a military pilot for a long time. I think I will enjoy flying so much that it would be something I want to do my whole life so that is why I was asking about afterwards.
Don't be sorry. Just know that being an officer and pilot in the US military is a serious business. America gives you the power to kill people. It's easy to screw that up if your heart isn't in it.
Not poking an open wound, but as the son of an airline pilot here is two cents. My father is a airbus capt with 24 years and is still on reserve(call). In those years he has only had paycuts, and bounced between hubs trying for better schedules, resulting in annoying commuting flights. He still loves the job, but hates the airlines. He got on with a major in 84 and hit left set fast, so he pay was nice and supported our family. However prior to signing on with the major, he had thousands of hours already from his prior 16 year of flying other jobs, even then getting hired was far from a sure thing.(remember a regional is a dif. story). All in all, its not all its just falls of the career, and I will still consider it if opportunity presents itself later on in my life.
Just as all these guys living the dream have said, to be a military pilot it will take a pretty special motivation. The idea of a 13 year time building airline stepping stone is not going to get you through ocs. If you chose this route just make sure the proper motivation is there. You have plenty of time to decide and college will give you the time and experiences that might change or reinforce how you feel. But if airlines is really your ultimate goal then it will be much faster and easier to just get your multi commercial regional mins, hop on left seat catching every so precious firs 1000 hrs turbine time and then go left seat, hire a major, or that classy cooperate job by the time you would maybe getting your wings. So, just use the search function, gather some more knowledge about about both careers and make a educated decision.
Just as all these guys living the dream have said, to be a military pilot it will take a pretty special motivation. The idea of a 13 year time building airline stepping stone is not going to get you through ocs. If you chose this route just make sure the proper motivation is there. You have plenty of time to decide and college will give you the time and experiences that might change or reinforce how you feel. But if airlines is really your ultimate goal then it will be much faster and easier to just get your multi commercial regional mins, hop on left seat catching every so precious firs 1000 hrs turbine time and then go left seat, hire a major, or that classy cooperate job by the time you would maybe getting your wings. So, just use the search function, gather some more knowledge about about both careers and make a educated decision.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
You should want to be an airline pilot about as bad as a professional quarterback wants to be a sports commentator..........a pretty cool gig to have once you're done/too old to do your dream job anymore.
That's how I always looked at it. I always wanted to go to the airlines, eventually. But I always knew that I'd stay in military aviation as long as they'd let me and I was still enjoying it. Almost 2 decades later, I'm still in and still enjoying it.
At the end of my commitment, my peers were getting out in droves for the big money of the airlines. I wasn't ready to give it up yet, and I'm still here.
There's a hell of a lot more to life than money.
That's how I always looked at it. I always wanted to go to the airlines, eventually. But I always knew that I'd stay in military aviation as long as they'd let me and I was still enjoying it. Almost 2 decades later, I'm still in and still enjoying it.
At the end of my commitment, my peers were getting out in droves for the big money of the airlines. I wasn't ready to give it up yet, and I'm still here.
There's a hell of a lot more to life than money.
At my school we had an Aviation Management degree and an Aviation Ops degree. Management doesn't involve any flying and is more of a business degree. Ops side of the house, we still have business classes but for the most part, it revolves around flight training. So yeah, I took Calc 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, a lot of liberal arts stuff, etc., but in the end, as Otto said, it's an AVIATION degree - which isn't gonna mean much to most prospective employers.
So true. I commissioned with a guy who's going subs and all he ever talks about is how he could making so much more money with his engineering degree in the civilian world. As for me, I'm absolutely FINE with how much I'm getting paid. Hell, I can hardly believe I'm going to get PAID to fly for the United States Navy. I think it's pretty rare in the world to find people who do their job not just to pay the mortgage, but because they love what they do. So my advice would be: whatever you decide to do, choose it because you want to do it and don't take that for granted.