We all know the line in aviation, “Its not what you know, but who you know”. There can’t be any other proverb more true in this field. You might be able to fly the pants off of Bob Hoover (boy, that is a rough picture), but if you don’t know anyone and haven’t networked at all, its all for naught. This is where I feel that I stand. Except, I can’t fly the pants off of Bob. I wouldn’t want to if I could.
But, I digress.
I’ve been giving considerable thought to how to expand this particular side of my total involvement with aviation. Even though flying is an art, and there is always something I don’t know, or something else to get better at, or some new take on something, I feel like I have more or less tackled the basics of flying an airplane at this point. As my career/life progresses, I will fine tune this aspect and will learn more and get better at it. However, one area, almost entirely untapped as regards my involvement with aviation is the social networking aspect.
I believe this blog is a big help. I have huge plans for this blog. The main thing holding me back, honestly, is my lack of web programming skills. My brother is a web guru and as such can guide me here and there, but I hate to take his time away from making HIS money and as such just limit my questions to one or two every now and again. However, the design of the website and the content on it are two different things entirely.
I have decided in part to create a new section on this website that covers the more esoteric sections of the FAR/AIM. By esoteric, I don’t mean the sections that aren’t ever used. But, rather some of the lesser known areas that still do affect most flights. For example, last night I was sitting at a local minor league baseball game here in Lakeland, FL. It was the middle of the 6th and overhead comes a Cessna 172 with a lighted billboard attached to the bottom of it advertising various things. “Cool”, I thought. Then I got to thinking, “Hey, that guy doesn’t look like he is very high above this stadium”. I seem to recall reading that you had to be 1000 above populated areas and 500 feet above non-populated areas. I was so curious about it, that when I got home I pulled out the trusty FAR/AIM and looked it up. I was right, more or less, but what it says exactly is that in congested areas or over an open air assembly of persons, the airplane must be 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a 2,000 foot radius of the airplane. So, in this case, that airplane flying over the stadium needed to be at probably 1,200 – 1,300 feet of altitude to be “exactly” legal, because the light towers around the stadium and parking lot are probably 200 feet at least. But, you can see where the fuzzy areas can be. At first glance, I would have assumed 1,001 feet would have been appropriate. However, had a Fed been in that stadium, especially with a huge lighted billboard hanging underneath the airplane, there could be a problem.
So, my desire is to not merely type out of the FAR/AIM, but rather to include practical circumstances that call for certain rules to be adhered to. Interesting reading? Probably not. However, in my quest to reach towards perfection (I’ll never arrive, no one will. But, it is a quest) in aviation, my motivation is to better myself if nothing else.
I sort of lost the original intent of this post: Social Networking. So back to it….
My desire to market myself, not just to land a job, but to be truly involved in aviation, to have my name know amongst the local aviation community, etc, is a fairly new endeavor here. I am not sure exactly what steps are required to begin upon this path. Flight instruction is a great way to do it. I hope to continue my involvement with instructing, but find it very difficult to commit to a regular schedule (i.e. as would be required working for a flight school) when my airline obligations change monthly. Aviation education, even on a voluntary basis, is a way to go. But where do I go?
I think the first step is to grow this website, perhaps the reason I stated my FAR/AIM idea. If I can get more plugged into groups like Twitter, etc, perhaps I can spread the word on who I am.
I want to give something back to the field. I learned to fly, I flew other people’s airplanes, and at present, I fly someone else’s airplane, flying people to cities at certain times arranged by other people. That is fine to get a paycheck. But, my hope is to depart this world at the end of my life having given something back to the field of aviation (not my only life goal, of course). Whether that be merely a plethora of successful pilots that I’ve taught, or a new take on something, perhaps an invention, etc, doesn’t matter. However, the key to it all is KNOWING PEOPLE. Having a contact list the length of, I don’t know, something long, is the goal. Then, actually contacting these people to stay in touch. Having something to offer to them is required too. Otherwise, you turn into a nagging leech just calling people and seeing what’s up.
So that is the goal. I need to MARKET myself more. I need to not lose any of my current contacts, stay in touch with people, offer them any assistance I can offer, and then meet the people that they know and the people that THEY know, etc.
I will scratch my noggin a bit more on this and try to devise a series of actions. For now, admitting that I have a problem has been checked off the list. The empty lines that follow are my next area to confront.
Promoting this website is probably step 2. Let me see what I can do about that…..