Aviators sound off

[AZJW]

Seeing as a lot of pilots & A&P mechanics are often involved with the obsession with motorcycles,  I thought it might be interesting to see how many of our members from around the globe are involved with aviation. Knowing that @jdub53, @john_aero and @helipilotxtz700 are just a few, I'm interested in a brief synopsis of your career as flight for me is/has been an obsession for me starting by craning my neck to see what was flying overhead at a very early age.  Sound off if you love airport noise!

 

My career started by teaching myself to fly hang gliders in the mid 70's as a teenager, became an instructor and flew for around 10 years.  Fast forward to 1990 when I quit my corporate managerial job, threw our life savings into becoming a Helicopter CFI and taught others to fly for a few years until I had enough hours to be hired as a tour pilot flying the Grand Canyon. That led to contract work to include, Fish & Game animal surveys,  filming commercials,  TV movies and aerial in-car camera support platforms for Indy & Nascar races. 

After a few years of that, I finally got hired to do what I always wanted to do by helping people with my skills and became an Air Ambulance pilot. Flying some really cool stuff from light singles to medium twins, finishing up my career in a twin engine, single pilot IFR ship utilizing NVG.  

 

Retirement has been bitter sweet as I didn't enjoy the 7 nights in a row, with 12 hour shifts, which got harder as one gets older and you have to know when enough is enough. Looking back, it really helps drive home the response to others when they ask if I enjoyed my career.  I respond by saying if you love what you do it isn't work and said " it beats working for a living".

 

Let's hear you story......

[Simmons1]

Short version.

 

Spent the first half on my career working in aviation in manufacturing for GE on test equipment systems for fly by wire flight controls, and then at Simmonds Precision (now Unison/GE)  working on ignitions systems and aircraft engine and airframe wiring harnesses.  Was put out of work after GE bought Unison and closed the facility I worked in.

 

Spent the second half working in Quality Management and Operations for a small independent FAR 145 MRO that maintained all kinds of pneumatic, and fuel components for airline customers and parts brokers all over the world.  Retired early after the owner (my boss) retired and sold the company to a much larger outfit that was Private Equity owned. It didn't take long for work that I loved to become no fun at all.

Edited May 3 by Simmons1

[Bugs]

When I was 6 years old my uncle gave me a ride in his farm Cessna 180 and I’ve been hooked ever since.

 

My plan for a flying career started when I entered High School. I expected to be sent to Vietnam and decided to try to use the obligation to my advantage. I took H.S. ROTC classes with the thought of continuing in college while getting an Aeronautical Engineering degree. Then I'd graduate with a commission and spend 6 years in the Air Force letting them teach me to fly.

 

Then in my Senior year, my eyes went bad. Not real bad - just not the 20/20 required at the time for military aviation. Time for Plan B.

 

Around this time, I read an interview with a seasoned airline pilot. During a Q&A session, a student expressed his love of the romance of flying and asked what he should do to get into aviation.

The pilot responded, "I would suggest you get a medical degree. Being an airline pilot can be a great career, but the joys of flying that you expressed are relatively rare. This is work. If you want to enjoy flying  - not just being an airline pilot, then become a doctor, make lots of money and buy yourself an airplane.”

 

That struck a nerve with me.

 

I worked my way through state college on the decade plan and got a degree in Electrical Engineering. I moved 600 miles from home, started a career, got married and had a couple kids. 10 years on, things became reasonably stable, so I decided I was finally time to scratch my flying itch.

 

I joined a local flying club and got my private license and took full advantage of my new privilege.

 

8 years later, a new young-un came along and we no longer fit into the 4-place club aircraft. I bought a 6-place Cessna T210 and got an instrument rating.

 

A few years later, with the kid’s college approaching, I took a hiatus from flying. I sold the 210, tightened our financial belt and put 3 kids through school.

 

During this time, my interest in cars and motorcycles grew. With my limited time, Corvettes, Mustangs and bikes took precedence over aviation.

 

Now, I’ve retired and have more time available. After being self-grounded for 20 years, I can fit flying back into my schedule. Only problem now is my medical. I am blessed with mostly good health for a person approaching 70 and I stay in shape with running and weight-training.

 

However, I have developed Type 2 Diabetes. It is well controlled without insulin, so it’s a surmountable FAA challenge, but I have to jump through their hoops. So far it has been 13 months since my initial FAA Medical Exam with an AME. With help from my personal doctor and the AOPA, I am nearly in a position to make my application for an FAA Special Issuance Medical.

 

I’m still a member of my flying club (since 1989) and my old instructor is still there. Now he really is an “old” instructor.

 

I am expecting and looking forward to getting back in the air.

 

 

 

[AZJW]

@Simmons1 I hear ya brother. Great jobs have a way of changing when the boss leaves. Working for uninformed bean counters with no clue as to how the business they run actually works, fun and production usually goes right out the window.

 

@Bugs Nice history with flying, sorry the "D" word is screwing things up. I'm sure you've already looked into it, but if not, would a Basic Med work for you?   I realize it would limit you to flying a 6 place under 250kt, but there's quite a few F/W that fit that criteria,  wallet be damned.    Nice looking 210 BTW!

[Bugs]

3 hours ago, AZJW said:

would a Basic Med work for you? 

Basic Med will work fine for me when I qualify. Thx for suggesting that.  One of the Basic Med stipulations is that you must have held a valid FAA Medical after July 14, 2006. I don't meet that condition, so last year, I dove headfirst into the FAA bureaucracy.

[jdub53]

My story...

 

Even though there was nothing wrong with it, after dissecting and then successfully reassembling the carb on my Honda CT-70 when I was 12 years old, I knew I loved mechanical things and understanding how things worked. While in high school, my friend and riding buddy got a job at the local airport as a ramp rat, and after talking with one of the A&Ps there who had been a Navy F-4 Phantom plane captain on a carrier during Vietnam, I decided aviation maintenance was the right path for me.

 

Around that same time, I rode to the airport's annual fly-in breakfast and was intrigued as I watched a National Guard Huey land and shut down. While the pilots went in to eat, I talked to the crew chief who happened to be a former active-duty Marine who'd crewed Hueys in Vietnam (this was 1976 or so). When I told him of my interest in military aircraft maintenance, he told me "Get into helicopters because you fly on them. Fixed-wing mechs, especially on fighters, have to stay on the ground and watch their aircraft fly away without them". My path was now set, and I enlisted in the Marine Corps' delayed entry program in the Aviation Maintenance/Ordnance field.

 

My diverse career path after that (not trying to make it read like a resume, but obviously I just couldn't hold a steady job     )  

 

- Flight line mechanic/crew chief on Sikorsky CH-53D and VH-3D (Marine One) helicopters

 

Upon return to civilian life, in order:

- Got my FAA Airframe & Powerplant mechanic ratings, and worked at a Bell Helicopter service center

- Got my FAA Inspection Authorization, and became the Chief Inspector at an FBO that maintained recip-powered fixed wings

- Moved off the hangar floor for a Gov't contractor job in quality assurance and logistics

- Worked in customer service in one of Pratt & Whitney Canada's regional turbine shops

- For a different Gov't contractor, managed all of the overhaul/hot inspection/repair engine work for a large U.S. Gov't aircraft fleet

- For a large, independent turbine engine overhaul/repair facility, worked as a customer service rep for U.S. Gov't contracted turbine engines

- Became a regional sales manager handling overhaul/inspection/repair for that same facility

- Became a U.S. Gov't employee, responsible for management of that agency's large national aviation maintenance contract

- For that same agency, managed a team of aviation maintenance auditors/inspectors overseeing the national contractor

- Investigated numerous agency aircraft accidents/incidents following NTSB accident investigation training (fascinating work)

- Retired in 2021, more time to ride!