| Airline experience: |
no |
| Corporate or fractional experience: |
yes |
| Cargo experience: |
no |
| Military, government, or law enforcement experience: |
no |
| Mentor profile: |
I was working as a Plumber/ HVAC mechanic near a small (grass runway)airport, one day at lunch I went down to inquire about learning to fly. The owner offered to teach me in exchange for mowing the runway and washing airplanes. I was immediately hooked, and knew it was just a matter of time till I changed careers. At about the same time I joined the Army National Guard as a helicopter mechanic, with the aspirations of going to flight school and flying helicopters. I spent 3 years as a mechanic then got the chance to go to flight school as a Warrant Officer. I flew the UH-1 and AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter for about 4 years while I continued working in the HVAC field, During this time I added Commercial ASEL and AMEL ratings and my CFI, CFII and CFIMEL tickets. I then quit the HVAC job for a job as a CFI. I did this for about a year then got the chance to fly a King Air 200 (C-12) for the Army Guard, they hired me full time after I finished school. I flew the C-12 for 5 years on Active Duty with the Guard becoming qualified as the Unit Instructor Pilot and Instrument Flight Examiner. I then left the Full time position to accept a corporate job as a Captain on a CE-550 and a BH-222UT. I enjoyed the mix of flying the jet, helicopter and the turbo prop. I was then offered a job at my current employer as a Captain on the CE-650. I still fly the C-12 as a traditional Guardsman as the Unit Standardization Instructor Pilot and Instrument Flight Examiner.
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| Favorite thing about flying: |
| The autonomy (other crew member included) of making decisions. The variety of locations that I fly to. The challenges of changing weather and itineraries. Hand flying an ILS to 200 & 1/2. FL430 on a clear day/night. Meeting people. |
| Disadvatages of being a pilot: |
The biggest disadvantage is that the current job market is saturated and the available pilot pool is deep with experienced pilots. On the Military side deployments.
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| What you would have done different: |
| I would have stayed in college and finished my degree. With the degree I would have gone into the Air National Guard and flown something bigger and faster than the C-12. |
| Advice to aspiring pilots: |
| Get a 4 year degree, preferably not in aviation. Get to know someone locally who can mentor them in their chosen path, ie: Corporate, Airline, Military. Get counsel from many. |
| Problems encounterd along the way: |
TRAINING Don't get caught in the trap of buying a new car, your money will go to it rather than the career. Also be careful about relationships while you are young and pursuing a career in aviation, they both demand a lot of attention and you may have to choose the one over the other. I was lucky in that my wife supported me when I choose to change careers. I was very lucky, very lucky, did I mention that I was lucky. It made a dramatic impact on our finances, but in the long run it has more than paid off.
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