Thursday, May 24, 2007

Aviation career for an 'old' guy?

posted by jackhodgson

Email from Scott from Tennessee

Subject: Aviation career for an 'old' guy?
Date: May 22, 2007 12:40:50 PM EDT
To: podcast@uncontrolledairspace.com

Gentlemen,

I've come across your podcast in the last month or so thanks to an iTunes search and have become quite a fan. I enjoy the insights that your collective time and breadth of experience bring to the podcast.

To get to the point as quickly as I can, I have been an aviation buff for as long as I can remember. My dad was a controller at Nashville (KBNA) from when I was only months old until I was out of college. He also had a private ticket that he would use occasionally and I got several rides in the right seat of a rented 172 as I grew up. During his FAA days, I got to tag along to airshows where he did ATC work. Talking to pilots every day, he got to know some. This bore fruit as the two of us getting late-night rides on Lears carrying canceled checks, big turboprops hauling other freight, occasionally a ride in a biz-jet and even a jaunt on a helicopter around town once. I say all this to say that a love of all things airborne is deeply ingrained in me. It's a big part of who I am.

One thing I am not, unfortunately, is a pilot. It seems that the time and money never quite came together nor did I take a shot at Air Force ROTC while I was in college in the early 90's. Now that I'm (allegedly) grown up at 36 years of age with a wife, 3 kids, a beagle and a mortgage, I've gotten bitten rather severely by the flying bug. I would love to find a way to make money in some facet of the aviation biz and make a fairly radical career change after nearly 13 years of electrical engineering work. From where I sit, however, I don't think this is possible without an enormous hit to the standard of living that my family has come to enjoy.

Here is where I wish to tap the numerous years of aviation experience that you all pool together and share with the world every week. Can you impart some wisdom on my thoughts of a major career transition? I know that ab initio schools are out there that will groom you for at least a shot at a right seat in a regional airline, but I know that aviation is much more than airline jobs. That "low time, no experience, bottom rung of the ladder, dues paying" hydra rears its head again. Yes, I could do it. Were I not a family man I just might. As things are as I see them today, I think I'm too old to make the jump from engineering to aviation as a lateral move without a major impact on my family. I've nearly resigned myself to the fact that I should just get to work on a private ticket (hopefully right after my wife's master's degree is paid for), build some time, add a rating or two eventually and enjoy life from the GA side of the airport. You all have been in the game longer than me - perhaps there's something I've overlooked. Please either point me in a direction I haven't gone or confirm my suspicions, if you wouldn't mind.

I'm eager to hear from you. Thanks for the opportunity to stop by the virtual hangar, listen, learn and even ask a question or two. Keep up the great work.

Kind regards,
Scott
Lebanon, TN
M54 - Lebanon Municipal
Also, N4JN - if any of you all are into ham radio :-)

# posted by jackhodgson @ 7:47 AM

Comments:

AOPA Flight Training magazine recently touched on the dynamic of a 48 year old First Officer who is on his second career, flying with a Captain who may be in his twenties.

As a future, "re-tread" I'm very interested in this topic. I hop you guys will cover it in a future episode.

# posted by

rodrakic : 10:25 AM

I'm also an engineer who thought about that lateral move, but I decided that it was better to keep my higher-paying job, and just spend my free time and money on getting my private.

I'd like to encourage you that you can have a lot of fun flying yourself and your family around with just your private, and you can have it quickly, without putting your family through undue financial stress. You can also fly somewhere for fun, instead of concentrating on building time, and the stress of getting a job to pay the bills. Now, if you want to quit your engineering job anyway, then go for it.

I've recently got my PPSEL, and I'm working on my instrument rating, and would like to continue on to commercial and to eventuallly get my CFI. I'd really like to someday be able to pass on my love of flying to someone else, and get paid to do it. I'm thinking that this is a good "retirement career" for me....

# posted by

DeltaWhiskey : 11:34 PM

You could also get an electrical engineering job with an aerospace supplier or manufacturer (Goodrich, Honeywell, Boeing, Raytheon, Cessna, etc.) where you get to make your living working in an aerospace field, but not necessarily as a pilot. Typically, there are a lot of pilots within these organizations, and some manufacturers encourage their employees to fly. With the increasing popularity of glass cockpits and more electronics in GA aircraft, and electric controls and brakes on commercial aircraft, I'm sure that you would be able to find a decent job in aerospace with a EE background.

# posted by

DeltaWhiskey : 11:45 PM

Have you considered the Civil Air Patrol? The boys over at The Pilot Cast have done a couple of shows on the CAP, and there's a great article in Flying magazines June edition.

Sounds like a great way to extend your flying, access to further training, and to give your flying a 'mission'.

I read that article in Flying magazine and wanted to sign up then and there, but as I'm in Australia it might make it hard to get to the monthly meetings...

# posted by

tragicflyer : 6:50 AM