The end is so near, I can hear the fat lady clearing her throat.

Here is where I stand:

My current time in type (EMB-145) lies at 996.3 hours. My goal is to hit 1,000 hours. Is there a difference between 996.3 and 1,000? No, not really. But, I’ll feel a nice warm and toasty feeling inside to see 1,000 hours in that column of my logbook. Plus, I’ve given up so much to experience what I have experienced over the last 18 months. Regardless of where I go in aviation, commericial or private, charter or 121, students, wife, or solo, I am a MUCH better pilot now than I was when I began all of this.

I have been exposed to (more than exposed - I have done it through and through):

1. Modern airliner systems. Glass cockpit, flight directors, 3 axis auto pilot, anti-icing technology, system logics and redundancies, complex electrical systems, hydraulic systems, pressurization systems, EICAS (Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System), etc.

2. I now have almost 50 hours of level D full motion flight simulation experience. I have received training and passed 2 orals and 2 checkrides in a structured, high pressure environment where failure carries with it stiff penalties.

3. I have extensive experience flying in the flight levels (above 18,000 feet), at 500 knots. I have extensive experience flying approaches (both instrument and visual) at significantly higher speeds than a typical GA airplane (Cat C).

4. I have experience dodging thunderstorms at night and during the day using RADAR assisted by the timeless MARK-I eyeball. I have experience flying in icing conditions, heavy rain, and snow. I have witnessed St. Elmo’s fire on multiple occasions.

5. I am familiar with deicing and anti-icing procedures, computing holdover times of the part I-IV fluids.

6. I am familiar with what an MEL actually is and how it is used and how it affects the flight depending on the item that is deferred.

7. I am familiar with the fairly modern concept of CRM (crew resource management), what it means, and how it works in the real world.

8. I am familiar with such concepts as derived minimums, take off alternates, and exemption 3585, how part 121 aircraft performance is figured and conveyed, associated penalties for things such as an icing take-off, wet runway, etc.

9. I am familiar with Jeppesen publications, how to use them, and how to update them.

10. I am familiar with how a part 121 airline operates, maintenance issues, dispatch, flight control, station operations, etc up to and including how to bid, duty regs, how the seniority system works, how airline unions work, the politics involved, and the career progression possibilities. I have also experienced commuting in all its glory along with living life in a crashpad.

Among other things…..

In addition to the exposure to these things, I also will have gained over 1,000 hours of flight time flying a modern multi engine jet aircraft. I will have more than doubled my flight experience by the time I close the door softly behind me. The experience has been invaluable and I am walking away (from this company ONLY) with my head held high. Despite the personal sacrifices of time away from home, family hardships, etc, there are scant other ways that I could have achieved a boost of this kind to my resume and general skill set.

Looking ahead:

I have spent some time researching deeper into what classes are available at USF. It looks as though (knock on wood) that I will be able to get into 1 or 2 of the accounting classes that I need. The downside is that I will likely be driving to Sarasota or St. Petersburg campuses to do it. I don’t particularly mind this. Actually, compared to the commuting that I have done over the last 18 months, a 2 hour drive doesn’t seem too damn bad to me. I cannot register for 10 days yet. I am holding my breath that a few of these classes are still open when registration times comes. Some of them have 26 seats available right now (Damn, that sounds eerily familiar :)). And most people are not willing to make that kind of drive, thus increasing my chances of success.

There are multiple online courses available to fulfill the 4 elective classes that I need above and beyond the accounting requirements. I will likely take one or two business classes just to enrich my knowledge on the subject. However, considering I will need as much time available as possible to flight instruct or do whatever else (with the result of making money), an online class would suit me well. Most of the online classes available have NOTHING to do with business. However, some would prove interesting and would require little from me in terms of effort. I am not lazy, but need to channel what free attention I will have into things that actually move the proverbial football down the field.

I have already put in my notice of resignation to the crash pad land lord. I have also requested an early furlough from the company, but have received a letter back from the chief pilot basically denying my request. He didn’t outright say “no”, but stated that due to the multiple requests he has received for the same thing from other pilots, that it could be mid to late Dec by the time an early furlough request could be granted. By then it will be too late for me. As such, Dec 20th will be my last day in the absence of something else that convinces me otherwise. A 2 week notice is customary and as such, my notice will be submitted Dec 6th. My class registration date is Dec 4th. So if the powers that be are good to me, I should have a few of the needed classes in the bag by the time my resignation notice goes in.

I am very excited about what the next 18 months is going to hold. The last 18 months got me to a point where I could list those 10 items out above. The next 18 months is going to see me holding a CPA certificate and likely on the verge of having our first child. When we have our first kid, I seriously doubt that the airlines will fit into my new lifestyle. I will work as a CPA for a while, bringing down a good income and learning to be more and more autonomous. I’ll pay off the few student loans I will incur, upgrade Joanna’s car, and go buy an old Cessna 172 or Cherokee 180 to play with. The long term goal, professionally, is to open my own business. A CPA business is an easy one to start. Being a service business, the start up costs are minimal. It’ll be marketing and demographics that will get the ball rolling.

Should I long for the airlines down the road, my resume should be competitive (assuming my recency is in tact) and I will have one hell of an “ace in the hole” should the industry nose dive again.

Cheers,

Bryan

I’ve placed my final bid just now and the results are to come in tonight. Once the results come in, I will be able to determine a hard date to resign from the company. By the time I go to bed, I should know a date that will be pegged as my final date.

The only other variable in play is that I have requested an early furlough from the powers that be. I sent a written and signed request for such as is standard procedure, and followed it up with an e-mail to the chief pilot. I am waiting for a response. Should they honor my request for an early furlough, I may amend my last day accordingly.

The advantages to the furlough are:

1. I keep my seniority number. The ONLY way this can benefit me is to accept the callback when it comes, WHEN it comes. The chances of me being done with school and in a position to accept a callback are slim. And honestly, I am done with Trans States. It was a great resume booster. But, I am tired of commuting and with the housing market down and my wife gainfully employed at home, especially during these difficult times, it would be the stupidest thing EVER to try to uproot everything to move. I can do SO SO much better than this if I decide to go back to 121 down the road. Trans States was a knee jerk entry into 121 and nothing more.

2. IF, I go back to another company, it would likely look better to an interview board to see that I was furloughed rather than having resigned. However, my cause is noble. I am not moving to another carrier right now. I believe any interview board would have respect for my decision and not hold it against me. Plus, earning the CPA, in my estimation, would actually look good to an interview board. It proves that I can do more than fly an airplane, and I will be a certified professional in another, well respected field.

3. Unemployment. However, if in school full time, I am not eligible anyway. I must be ready, willing, and able to accept a job should one be offered. I will not be, as it is a conscious decision to go back to school. Furthermore, the value of the pay out is about $8,000 dollars over 26 weeks. $8,000 bucks isn’t going to change much in the scheme of things, even if I could collect - which I can’t for the above stated reason.

4. I will keep travel benefits for 60 days after furlough. However, we aren’t in a position to vacation anywhere right now due to our tight money situation, so this a moot point.

THATS IT!

The advantages to resigning:

1. I get two weeks off between my last day here and my first day of school. I believe it would behoove me mentally to have that time to enjoy all the holidays with family (I missed them ALL last year), unwind, be with my wife, monitor registration continually until I can get into the classes I need. I believe I could start school with a fresh mind after having some time to relax at home.

2. It keeps me at cause over this job. I can set a hard date and go with it without wondering what the company will do to me, make plans accordingly, etc.

3. I will no longer have connection to this company. This is an advantage as I see it. I have been faltering back and forth since day one about whether I want to continue this path of professional aviation. If I sever ties completely, I do not have to worry about a recall letter showing up in my box and having to worry about that. I can have a clean mind and focus on the CPA task completely.

The bottom line: If I ever go back to professional aviation, it will not be with this company. Been there done that. And as such, for all real purposes, a furlough is no different than a resignation.

I have already notified my crash pad owner of my intentions to be out by year end. They require 30 days notice. If I was a betting man, I’d say that I’ll be gone in 30 days.

So this has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with aviation…

Someone posted this on a forum that I frequent and it got me to thinking what is must be like for a baby to figure out how to operate these bodies. After a few years experience, it becomes second nature. As I am typing here, I can only imagine the extensive training pattern being employed to fire all these finger muscles at just the right time and force to get the job done.

It is amazing to manually try to fire this guy’s leg muscles to cause the body to run. I haven’t gotten beyond 2 meters yet!!

How far can you go?

CLICK HERE

I get a kick out this phrase. It just sort of donned on me the other day how often this phrase is thrown around with no real meaning. I guess it is the same as “Hello”. Its just a greeting.

As a pilot, I sit up front while the flight attendant right behind me is greeting the passengers boarding the airplane. Almost every person is socially wired to say this phrase. “How are you?”, “Good”. Repeat 40 - 50 times per flight.

I am convinced that you could ask this phrase of someone who is barely surviving, buried in debt, on the verge of suicide, and the answer to the question would still be “Good”. Its a social training pattern issued in both directions with no thought.

What are we actually accomplishing with this phrase? The fact is, no one really cares how you are doing in the environment that the greeting is typically issued. If the recipient were to stop and say, “Well, I am doing quite badly right now”, the offerer of the greeting would likely be caught off guard and wouldn’t know how to handle it. Its sort of a rhythm we’ve come to expect. “How are you?”, “Good”, “How are you?”, Good”. If one is actually bad, does it benefit the offerer of the greeting to know this? Do they really care? Are they going to do something about it? Offer some friendly advice or help? If you are good (as is the expected reply), then the reply will typically be nothing. It ends with the reply, “Good”.

Doing 5 or 6 legs of flying all over the country, it is funny how often I overhear this common, but empty greeting. 50 passenger per flight, times 5 flights, I will hear this greeting 200 times conservatively.

Why not just say, “Hello”? That is really all you are doing anyways. You are acknowledging their existence - an important thing to do. But you don’t really care how they are doing, nor would you do anything if they were doing badly, in most situations where the greeting is issued.

I am on a “How are you?”, boycott. I will no longer answer the question unless, in my perception, the greeter actually cares how I am doing. Otherwise, I will answer with a “Hello”. No one will know the difference.

I have just completed the “to work” portion of my typical commute to St. Louis. As I sit in the crashpad this evening, I am thinking about how this is the last scheduled trip I will fly for this company. It is likely not the last trip I will fly, but it is the last trip that is hardcoded on my schedule. In other words, I am back on reserve next month. The flying that I will I do (and there will be some) will be last minute assignments, scraps created by sick calls, etc.

Am I sad? Not really. I have already made the decision to close this chapter of my life and as I sit here at this crashpad tonight, I am READY to close the damn chapter and move on. Nothing could have happened, even at Lucifer Airways, to take the flying bug out of me. And so it goes with this place, I will walk away looking upward, as I did when I interviewed here. Part of me will miss the frequent flying and all the good things about it. But, this industry isn’t for me. The lifestyle isn’t for me. I am done. And as such, I am waiting in anticipation for the oppertunity to come to walk away and get back to working on a noble game.

This trip is a 6 day trip, (yes, I won’t be home until next Saturday evening and it is Sunday evening right now), 4 days, followed by a short 2 day trip. I will fly 26.6 hours, putting my time in type on the EMB-145 at 995 hours. My goal is 1,000 hours time in type. Certainly I can fly 5 hours during the 3 or 4 weeks of reserve before the fat lady clears her throat.

The bid packet comes out tomorrow. This will tell me exactly where my seniority will lie for December. The results of the bid will be published Nov 21st. I currently have two communications pending replies from high ups in the company asking about moving my furlough date closer in. I am scheduled to be furloughed Mar 5th. If it can be moved to Dec or Jan, then I could wait for the furlough and walk away with my seniority number still on the list. However, the decision is that I will not be here past the time school begins. If they either refuse to move the furlough date or will only move it so far, such that it doesn’t fit into my plans, I will walk away having resigned and not look back. Regardless of the outcome, my chances of returning to this company are nearly nill. So, with that fact in mind, there is no difference between a furlough and a resignation in actual fact. It is more an attempt at due diligence than anything else. I want to walk away with ALL “T’s” crossed and ALL “I’s” dotted. Following through with this question is on the list of items to clear.

With that, I am off to bed shortly. I can sleep in in the morning, then its off to shoot around the country chiseling away at the 31.4 hours that I have yet to fly before hitting 1,000 jet time in type.

Something I ran into that sort of sums up my situation:

“You can have anything you want in life. You just can’t have everything”

Think about it….

After a slew of outflows to change my condition here, I am sort of in wait mode. Since making the decision to take an indefinite hiatus from the airline industry (and that is the best description for it as I am not giving up on it forever) to pursue my CPA, I have been on the phone, on the internet, pushing through red tape, etc to get and keep things on track for a pre-Christmas resignation.

To make a VERY long story short, here is where I stand:

1. I have secured a private pilot student and am actively working with him to get his license. We have agreed that payment will be the right for me to fly his airplane for the cost of fuel. This is the best option I have right now to stay in the air post airlines. And I must stay in the air - its just too important to me.

2. I have spoken to a flight school at Winter Haven airport, ate lunch with the staff, and have been accepted as a part time instructor at their school. The problem is that they have many more instructors than they have students right now. So, the chances of getting some flying out of this option are pretty slim right now. I am waiting to see my name pop up on their instructor list and feel that I will have to keep nagging them to see the administration part completed. I think since they do not need anyone, it isn’t too important to get me signed up. However, I would like to be on the list because it will make me feel like there is a line for potential students to find me. I will continue to push the point, with tact, until the goal is reached.

3. I am accepted back to USF as an FSR (former student returning). The downside to this is that my registration date is after all the current continuing students have registered. The result of this is that ALL the accounting classes I need are completely full and closed. This has caused me great stress. I spent a long time in research, talking to many different departments within the university and have determined that this is the best I can do. The good news is that I need 4 classes that are just filler classes, that have nothing to do with accounting. So, my goal right now is to register for 4 classes (doesn’t matter much what they are), then PUSH LIKE HELL and exhaust every option to get into at least one of the closed accounting classes. Even if this involves driving to one of the other, less crowded, campuses. I will do what I have to do. Assuming I can secure this, I will have 5 classes towards the CPA - a respectable load by anyone’s estimation. I cannot register until Dec 4th at 1:00pm, so for now, I am waiting. The next semester, I will have preferential registration status again. Furthermore, there is a medical hold on my account right now for some immunization paperwork. I have sent the paperwork in and am waiting for the hold to be released.

4. The December bid packet comes out in 6 days. Armed with this knowledge, and the final bid awards which will be issued Dec 21st, I will be able to determine the best day to resign and will tender my notice shortly afterward. I am in the process of bringing my St. Louis stuff home, a little at a time, every time I make the commute, such that when I leave for the last time, I will have nothing left up there (clothes, etc).

5. I am still waiting for my student loan to get approved. They are telling me that my part is done and that they are talking with my school to work out the details. I cannot seem to get an answer from a real person what is going on. The total cost of the CPA will be 8,000 bucks or so, so not a huge deal. But, I am trying for the loan for cash flow reasons.

6. The thought of not working at all doesn’t sit well with me. On paper, it will work. But it will be tough to see our savings slowly being breached. The cause is noble and with the income potential I will have when the deed is done, I will more than make up for the cost. However, my plan is to potentially secure “something” part time that I can do to trickle in some money while doing this endeavor. But, if I am slammed with classes and cannot make that happen, then it is alright. Life will continue. I will figure out a way to make it all go right and Joanna will do her part.

Thats about it.

I have received the news that I will be furloughed March 5th, and displaced to IAD (Washington Dulles) on Jan 5th, from my current base of St Louis.

So, you can see that I would have to change domiciles, just to get furloughed 2 months later, all the while dealing with the life of a reserve pilot.

I have seen this coming for many months and had basically decided that should it come to this, considering the lack of prospects for this company, I would resign.

I had already made the decision to resign by year’s end before both of these facts finally became hard dated. Its funny how a real decision will cause the world to align with you in agreement. Its magic.

I am walking away a proud man and a much better person and pilot. Its been a hell of a ride and I’d do it all over again. For now, its time to pursue better, more rewarding things.

T-minus 5 weeks and counting…… 47 more hours before I reach 1,000 hours time in type.

Click Here

This is meant to be funny anf sort of is. But, I swear its all true. Funny industry.

I am warning you now. This is going to be a long one. I’ve got lots to say, so lets get started….

The last many days have been some of the best days I can remember. Not for any reason external to me. In fact, many elements of my life right now are in a state of decay. Certainly the chief element right now concerns my position as an airline pilot. I’ve posted multiple entries here on PA describing the details of this industry and I am not planning on spending undue time rehashing these things. So, lets summarize all of these posts by stating a simple line: unless professional aviation can someday provide this worthy professional a respectable quality of life, respectable pay, and respectable and reliable professional advancement, I will not be coming back. The last many days have been great because I am smiling again at the opportunity to excel on my own determination.

I have noticed a steady decline in my happiness level over the last year and it does stretch that far back. What I have endured, with paralleling hardship endured by my favorite person in the world, my wife, is not something that many couples could have endured as well as we have. Even the strongest I-beam can be bent with the proper force and our relationship is no different. The last 18 months have seen me home about 40% of the time on average, much of that time while my wife was working. As people longing to survive, we have adapted, and I am afraid that the results of this adaption have resulted in an increased independence on both parts and a resulting loss of an appreciation for what the other provides. I cannot speak on behalf of my wife, but I can say with relative certainty for every unit of hardship that I have endured during the loneliness of the cumulative multitude of months away from home and family, she has experienced a hardship of greater weight. This woman to whom I am married is a source of life for all of us at home. Our little dogs, our cats, our stray cat that sleeps on the door step (a.k.a Special Kitty), and the occasional Australian Shepherd foster dog all rely on her for their survival and she dutifully fulfills those needs. As they look to her for survival, I do in suit. I can prepare my own meals and can use the bathroom on my own, however, the reliance is still there in a different form - a mental form. And as the old adage says, one must continually create a relationship for it to endure. Nothing endures without continual creation. It is not impossible, but is difficult to continually create a relationship from 1,000 miles distance. Sure, I come home on occasion (and lately, considering the commuting as well, occasionally has been all it has been), but it is a struggle to fit a week of love into a day or two and to rinse and repeat that same ratio for month after month after endless month.

Examining the lifestyle, it could be conceived that if it paid appropriate dividends, then it could be endured. And so it goes that there are many professions that require one to travel frequently, work many many hours, etc. I am not afraid to work for something for working for. However, it is my opinion, and a very educated opinion I might add, that working a fruitful career as an airline pilot is becoming more and more a gamble - and I choose that word wisely because in gambling you become addicted to throwing away your assets (money, time, family, spouse, etc) in the hope that it will eventually pay off. In a seemingly endless sea of stripes all yelling, “mine, mine, mine” at the relatively few piloting jobs available, coupled with the fact that my airline and many others at the regional level are filled with “lifers” who have tried and tried and failed and failed to get out because they didn’t convey that elusive magical element that the “destination” companies were looking for during the interview. Even if one could blaze the path, it could be argued with great effectiveness that the goal still isn’t worth pursuing. In fact, like in my gambling analogy, it could well be that for a young guy like myself, still on the south side of having children and with my entire career ahead of me, that when this profession does finally pay off, I may just have put more precious assets into the slot than what the payout would be, resulting in a net loss. I am speaking of lost nights with my wife, lost forever in the past, unrecoverable, lost holidays with my family and missed birthday parties, all unrecoverable. And, sadly, when my kids are moving out of the house to college, what will I have missed in pursuit of this apparition?

It has been the decision of all decisions to muster up the courage to walk away from this dream. This is the strangest career I can imagine. From the outside, it has sex appeal, I do admit. I tell people I am an airline pilot and inevitably get a look that says, “cool”. Its a neat thing to say that one does it. To be responsible for hundreds of lives a day, to fly a multi million dollar technical marvel of the 21st century is addicting. To command thousands of pounds of thrust and grease in a 45,000 lb chuck of awesome is tough to let go of. To take off into the cloudy murk at 6:00am, only to climb out of it into the clear blue sky and see the sun rising to the east above the overcast is tough to let go of. In the evening, to look out the cockpit window and see the Milky Way stretched across the sky, satellites in orbit, and the occasional shooting star is hard to let go of. Shooting an instrument approach in the pouring rain, covered with ice, and breaking out 200 feet above the runway before completing a successful landing is tough to let go of. Flying over the spine of Florida at 37,000 feet and being witness to the entirety of the state in one sweep of the eye, west to east coast, the big lake and all is tough to let go of. So in these regards, I honestly do get why the line outside the door is so long. And like all of those folks, it was (and could be argued “is”) my dream to do and experience these things. For some reason, I was planted with the aviation bug. I cannot put words onto why I am addicted to it like I am. Only those who are infected can truly appreciate the feeling.

On the other hand, I am a fairly smart guy. Despite all of these things, they ABSOLUTELY pale in comparison to feeling the love of the one who truly loves me, the feelings that I can only imagine that I will feel when I hold my first born (and second too) in my arms and look into the eyes of my post labor wife with the humility that must have been felt by thousands of fathers after witnessing one of the most amazing miracles in this world. Watching my child succeed at something and knowing I will be there to witness it first hand, to see him/her blow out the candles on their birthday cake - ON THEIR BIRTHDAY… These are things that I cannot and WILL NOT not give up. When I am on my deathbed reflecting back on a life lived, I will not be lying there in a dying body wishing I could have the multi thousands of nights back to spend in my own bed next to my wife that I otherwise spent in endless hotels around the country.

Faced with this direct conflict of interest between this profession and the other more worthy things in life, I just cannot turn a blind eye to what I feel is the right thing to do. And it has taken me a good while to convince myself that it is the right thing to do.

However, I mentioned I was a smart guy. This is debatable, I guess. I’ve been thinking and I do see some very real possibilities in my future where I can potentially blend these two interests into something worth pursuing. Visions of sitting in the captain seat of an airliner buried in 1040s while the F/O flies the leg come to mind. However, I just don’t see this as a viable option, and it still finds me enduring all the same pressures that I just pointed out. My thoughts are more along the lines of opening my own accounting business in the not too distant future and focusing a segment of my business on aviation matters. I can see myself being one of the premier tax adviser/preparers among working airline pilots in the area. I believe that pilots would trust a CPA (will be one soon), who is also an active flight instructor, airplane owner, and who has worked and has an appreciation for matters regarding the aviation industry. Furthermore, I could get into advising up and coming companies who are looking into creating a flight department. Perhaps they could be looking to acquire a King Air or similar; I could go in and sift through their records, and advise on how to go about it, how to structure the purchase or lease in the most cost effective way. I realize most companies have internal accountants for this, but perhaps a specialization in the area would be appreciated. Perhaps I could even get partially involved in the actual sale of the airplane, perhaps in an agent’s role - just thinking out loud here. And of course, just for the raw revenue, I wouldn’t restrict myself to this side of the business - I am open to everyone’s business.

Being my own person, knowing how to do my job, doing it well, building client relationships, and being in direct control of my success or failure - unlike anything that is possible in the airline industry - would be a worthy goal in my estimation.

I am well aware of the sizable ravine that exists between my present location and where I’d like to be at the peak of my career. WORK is what lies between here and there. The key to success is to take it one step at a time. Its akin to climbing the side of a mountain. Should you look up, you might get dizzy and fall off. And standing on the bottom looking up, there is no way to know exactly where all the footholds are. But, one must take the first step, and upon succeeding at that, look around for another foothold and take that step. In time, one reaches the top.

The first step for me is to wrap up my involvement with this airline. I have decided that the best time to resign will be Dec 20th, give or take a couple of days. My schedule for November, as grueling as it is, will allow me to pass the 1,000 hours in type that I am looking to achieve before I exit. Once that goal is reached, any further involvement with the airline (i.e. in the first half of December) is strictly to receive a paycheck one last time.

The second step is to get started on the CPA requirements. My plan is to take 5 classes in the spring, FULL TIME!! The cost to this is that I will be unemployed for a little while. At first glance, some may say, “WHAT!!??”. However, it is as much a blessing as it is a slight risk. View it in this light: If I were employed at an accounting firm, say I had been since day one, there is no way that I would be allowed to hang my hat for 5 months to go to school full time. I would have had to go in the evenings, significantly slowing my progress, while balancing the issues at work with my studies, etc. Perhaps I could have arranged a leave of absence, but I am pretty sure it would have been akin to pulling teeth to ask for that. Furthermore, if this airline job would have taken off (no pun intended), again, there is no way I could have taken this amount of time off to pursue a material portion of these requirements. However, with the industry collapsing around me, and the timing of it all, and reaping the benefits from our sound financial management so far, I believe the planets have aligned here and are telling me that now is THE time to do this, if there ever will be a time. With savings and my wife’s diligent work, and zero credit card debt going in, we can coast long enough to achieve one semester in the bag. Mid May will see me complete the first semester, cutting the 9 classes I have to take as of this moment, down to 4 remaining classes. I do not think that we will be able to coast any longer than one semester and as such, I am anticipating the need to get employed again come summer. But that employment will be in line with the primary objective that I have the necessary time available to finish the remaining 4 classes by year end. Early 2010 will see me in intense prep for the CPA exam and it is my goal to finish it by summer 2010. I will be 28 years old and my wife will be 27, the perfect age to begin a family. I anticipate that around the time the first child begins school, the second about 2 or 3, I will begin building my business up to speed.

Assuming something along these lines - which I have COMPLETE control over, unlike a gamble on the airline industry - I see myself running my own profitable business by the time I am 32-34 years old. Thats still a young a guy with a hell of a future ahead.

But, the task at hand right now is clear. The end result will be amazing. The filler is WORK and STUDY!

Having my CPA, running a fruitful business as my own pursuit, flight instructing on the side, being an airplane owner, and having a family life seems to be a life worth much more than living under the constant pressure of hoping for a break in the airline industry.

A quick report in my log book as of right now shows 933 hours of time in type on the EMB-145 regional jet. This is certainly better than the “goose egg” that I had when I began. Additionally, I am showing 966.8 hours of multi engine time, much better than the 30 some odd that I had when I began.

In light of the last post, it becomes necessary to devise a good parking spot for my piloting resume while I splinter off to work on other things. I think the next good parking spot is 1,000 hours of multi/jet time. A quick subtraction yields the fact that I need to fly another 67 hours before walking away. It appears as though my build up line for Nov has me flying just over 70 hours for the month. Thus, at the end of Nov, I will have surpassed the 1,000 hour jet time mark, which feels like a good place to park for a while. My total time upon reaching that goal will be 1,756 TT. Even though by professional piloting standards, this is a pretty novice resume, I am satisfied with it. In general aviation, this number of hours is more than enough to walk around with proudly, demand low insurance rates, and appear experienced to most potential flight students. And if I decide to go back to professional flying, its significantly better than the lowly resume I had that first earned me this position.

The only obstacle is to keep my recency of experience going. If I can log anywhere from 50-80 hours a year, I can keep myself “recent” in the eyes of future employers. Between renting, instructing, and soon owning my own airplane, I feel that I will be able to keep in the air sufficiently enough to keep sharp.

No bridges are being burned. But rather I am going to build another one while this one is undergoing maintenance.

My days as a “waterski” are nearing an end. I have NOT decided whether or not to pursue aviation as a longterm career (likely not, but still undecided), but have decided not to pursue it right now.

With this industry going down like it is and especially my company, this just isn’t a good time to be trying to navigate through the growing rat race of pilots. From my vantage point I see not even a silver lining in the clouds. No airline pilot will argue that one faces many sacrifices in adopting this lifestyle. However, the theory is that it will pay enough in dividends to make it worth it. Where I am today as compared to where I thought I would be today when I started this gig are 180 degrees opposed. This industry requires a large degree of being the “effect” of others decisions, namely the people running the business (and the feds).

Everything from job security, quality of life, professional advancement, and even the way in which we fly the airplanes (SOP, etc) are determined by factors beyond our control. In this seniority system compounded with the growing mass of pilots out there on furlough, there is no possible way to out perform the compeition, to prove oneself to be of more value than the other guy. Success or demise is based entirely on a seniority list - how many other people are in the line. Professional advancement is the same way. I used to think that once I got to 1,500 hrs turbine PIC, I’d have a fighting chance for a Southwest job or similar. With the 40,000+ hopeful resumes they have on file, combined with the real world statistics I am seeing (only 3 people from Trans States have made it to SWA within the last many years and they are almost legends among the envious pilot group), make that a shot in the dark. The average age for a SWA new hire is 37 years old. Even assuming I make it at all, I am not prepared to fly regional jets under these forces (nor this company) for the next 11 years. A side by side forecast reveals me much further along in life after 11 years time should I be given the chance to unleash some of “my own” horsepower rather than just endure this industry, waiting and hoping for my number to be called.

I am ready to slide over into the driver seat for a while. The only way that I can be in control of my own success or failure is to cut the cord on this endeavor, even if just for a while, and go build myself up in otherways. Perhaps working in a profession where I can personally outshine the compeition and make a name for myself and be known as THE guy that can get it done, rather than employee #20415, will see me happier in the long run.

I have created a lengthy podcast on this topic of which I might post soon.

I am beginning school again in Jan 2009 to pursue my CPA. It will be a huge win to conquer that. As to what I do afterwards, I’ll lick my finger, stick it up into the breeze and see where the winds blow me when the time comes.

It seems lately that long overnights are getting more and more common around here. The quality of the trips that this company is building has certainly dropped lately. Part of the problem, however, is that with the recent Miami flying we are doing, the legs are so long that after a turn, its been 5-6 hours. We’re only legal 8, so they park us for a day and we resume the following day. A side effect of this route structure, I am afraid.

At present, I am 2 hours into a 23 hour overnight in Pittsburgh, PA. However, it could be worse. I am propped up in a king bed on the 6th floor of a Hyatt Place hotel gazing out a huge window which overlooks a sea of red, yellow, and orange leaved trees spread up and down the rolling hills. Pittsburgh, from what I have seen, is one of the prettier cities I’ve been to (and I’ve been to MANY over the last 2 years) and I’ve got a 40+ inch HD flatscreen TV in my room.

On a side note:

I just submitted a job application with Mesaba Airlines. I am not sure if I even care to go there. However, they apparently just sealed a deal to do some flying for Delta out of Atlanta. If I can be Atlanta based and get some good seniority and work for a growing company, it may be a good deal. All I want out of this aviation business is quality of life and a respectable income. With all of this back and forth I’ve been doing trying to decide between accounting or aviation, I’ve gotten no where. My gut says stick with aviation - I work for one of the worst regionals in the business AND I commute. I am officially in the worse possible situation that the airlines can dish out at the moment - short of being fired. It can only get better from here. Perhaps in time it will.

In an effort to continue to broaden my knowledge of aviation, and to be the best flight instructor I can be, I have ordered this book from Amazon.com. Supposedly, it explains aerodynamics in much greater detail than the cursory explanation given in the private/commercial prep books.

Admittedly, there is large gap in my understanding about why wings are swept on jets (I understand some basics), and why winglets increase the effective wingspan, why vortex generators are so damn cool, etc.

Thus, I will read it and will post a review when I am done. Considering the techincal material involved, don’t hold your breath.

I’m working on developing an arrangement with a fellow EAA club member to rent his Cessna 150 on occasion. I just have a voracious thirst for general aviation. Airline flying just doesn’t do it for me in the same way. Too scripted and structured.

Today, I met up with him at the airport, and took a shot flying the 150. Its been well over a year since I last flew a 150. I believe that within the last 18 months, I’ve logged 4 or 5 hours in small piston airplanes. Needless to say, its quite a change from flying the EMB-145 around.

By and large, I did well. I began in the right seat, as that is what I am most comfortable with. The owner of the airplane is most comfortable in the left seat, so I figured this was the best arrangement for the first flight. Besides the very sensitive controls compared to what I have gotten used to, it didn’t feel very strange at all. My first landing left a bit to be desired, but the next one was well in the green.

We landed at ZPH to refuel and switched seats. From the left seat, it was surprisingly familiar. In fact, I performed just as well in the left seat as I did in the right seat. Two decent landings later and we were back at Lakeland airport.

It was a short flight, but great to do to work towards getting my small airplane feel back. We are talking about pricing and other details right now. But hopefully, within a short period here, I will have an airplane that I can fly when I have the itch to head out.

Also, I am so used to saying “Waterski” on the radio (our call sign for Trans States), I said it twice while talking to tower. Oh well.

Should I go back to accounting (which is likely going to be the case really soon), I will be looking to buy my own airplane. It brings a huge smile to my face to think about it!!!