Learning to fly

[d4d]

SEMI_287,

Welcome to The Big Show !! Southwest is a great company to fly for and you are indeed fortunate to be among them. Over the years, I have had a few friends who flew there and loved it.

SWA was in my top three as I considered an airline job. The only sticking point for me was the requirement, at least at the time, to have a 737 type rating. Since the training cost was running about $10,000 back then, and other carriers did not require it, I withheld my SWA application until I found out if I was hired by Northwest Orient or not.

I hope you have a long and amazing career with SWA. I see them daily soaring through the azure Texas skies.

Fly Safe!
D4D

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: SEMI_287
....
I learned how to crop dust during this time, perk of that new CPL license I suppose.



Call me crazy, but I would like to hear a little more about crop dusting. Watching them work the fields around here, it looks like pretty interesting flying.

 

[maximus]

Did my private, instrument and commercial while in College. Graduated 2007. Got the CFI&CFII the same year. Did my multi and MEI in Beech TravelAir. What a relic that airplane was ..currently have ~2200 hours with an ATP written that expires in a few months I refuse to pay for the new prerequisite course/sim time to take it again. Screw congress and the FAA!

I'll probably be looking for 135 job soon. I have almost zero interest in commuting or relocating for a regional. Blah...

 

[Mr Nice]

What can your 'uncorrected' vision be without glasses for a commercial pilot ?

With glasses the person has 20/20 vision.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
What can your 'uncorrected' vision be without glasses for a commercial pilot ?

With glasses the person has 20/20 vision.



I think that as long as you are correctable, you're OK for getting a 1st class medical, which is required for a commercial pilot. Now, there are some technical limits, and you have to be able to see color as well...

From the FAA:

§67.103 Eye.
Eye standards for a first-class airman medical certificate are:

(a) Distant visual acuity of 20/20 or better in each eye separately, with or without corrective lenses. If corrective lenses (spectacles or contact lenses) are necessary for 20/20 vision, the person may be eligible only on the condition that corrective lenses are worn while exercising the privileges of an airman certificate.

(b) Near vision of 20/40 or better, Snellen equivalent, at 16 inches in each eye separately, with or without corrective lenses. If age 50 or older, near vision of 20/40 or better, Snellen equivalent, at both 16 inches and 32 inches in each eye separately, with or without corrective lenses.

(c) Ability to perceive those colors necessary for the safe performance of airman duties.

(d) Normal fields of vision.

(e) No acute or chronic pathological condition of either eye or adnexa that interferes with the proper function of an eye, that may reasonably be expected to progress to that degree, or that may reasonably be expected to be aggravated by flying.

(f) Bifoveal fixation and vergence-phoria relationship sufficient to prevent a break in fusion under conditions that may reasonably be expected to occur in performing airman duties. Tests for the factors named in this paragraph are not required except for persons found to have more than 1 prism diopter of hyperphoria, 6 prism diopters of esophoria, or 6 prism diopters of exophoria. If any of these values are exceeded, the Federal Air Surgeon may require the person to be examined by a qualified eye specialist to determine if there is bifoveal fixation and an adequate vergence-phoria relationship. However, if otherwise eligible, the person is issued a medical certificate pending the results of the examination.

 

[SEMI_287]

Originally Posted By: d4d
SEMI_287,

Welcome to The Big Show !! Southwest is a great company to fly for and you are indeed fortunate to be among them. Over the years, I have had a few friends who flew there and loved it.

SWA was in my top three as I considered an airline job. The only sticking point for me was the requirement, at least at the time, to have a 737 type rating. Since the training cost was running about $10,000 back then, and other carriers did not require it, I withheld my SWA application until I found out if I was hired by Northwest Orient or not.

I hope you have a long and amazing career with SWA. I see them daily soaring through the azure Texas skies.

Fly Safe!
D4D


Thanks!! It was worth every penny, even though I was thinking about quitting a bunch of times.


Originally Posted By: Win
Originally Posted By: SEMI_287
....
I learned how to crop dust during this time, perk of that new CPL license I suppose.



Call me crazy, but I would like to hear a little more about crop dusting. Watching them work the fields around here, it looks like pretty interesting flying.


It's a blast but dangerous too. Nothing like flying 30 feet above the ground. Complacency kills, got to watch power lines and birds. Heck of a lot of fun, though.

Astro hit it on the head. Basically your vision must be correctable to 20/20 (for a first class) and you NEED to be able to see colors.

 

[Koz1]

Flying would be amazing.
Sims are fun but nothing like the real thing I would imagine.
Cheers.

 

[Mr Nice]

If I could go back 25 years I would pursue being a pilot.

I wish I made that decision back then....

 

[maximus]

Originally Posted By: Koz1
Flying would be amazing.
Sims are fun but nothing like the real thing I would imagine.
Cheers.


Get in a level D and you'll forget your in a Sim.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: Koz1
Flying would be amazing.
Sims are fun but nothing like the real thing I would imagine.
Cheers.


Once you are an experienced pilot, Sim training really does put you through the wringer, with an array of common failures, emergency procedures and simulated catastrophic emergencies. So, sure, you know it's not real in the back of your mind, but you try to perform at peak level, because you must. A good sim instructor and sim will be a truly stressful experience. And, yes, it will seem real.

 

[sleddriver]

Seems I'm a bit late to this interesting thread! Great stories here. One uncle was an A&P who enjoyed taking me up for a trip around the patch every now and then. While in school, I worked for him one Summer doing annuals and other work. My first car was an old beater Camero that needed quite a bit of work, so I bought the parts and he allowed me to use his shop. To this day, I still use a plane log to keep track of maintainence. His writing down everything made an impression. So did the way he took care of tools.

I'd of loved to flown more. College and life then were just too chaotic and crazy. With both parents dead, I had other responsibilities to deal with while others my age were out chasing tail. Very different paradigm. Some dreams just turn to smoke and disperse.

Unfortunately where I live, there is very little 'general' aviation at least that I know of. At my age, I've thought of getting a glider license. Being a sailor, it would be a sail-plane. I have nothing against powered aircraft or boats, just spent a lot more time on sailboats.

Airplanes, rockets, jet engines, rocket motors, spaceflight are all incredibly fascinating interests. I was a kid, growing up during the space race, when the world stopped to watch a rocket lift off.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I soloed at age 62, club Cherokee 140. Got out, jumped in the bosses c172 and soloed it. That was 1999. I was ground manager for a 3 plane operation, traffic watch, and banner towing. A really nice 172 and a pair of Super Cubs. I have ~150 hours in 5 types, another 200 or so hours in the right seat as observer. I have an hour in a a320 simulator, the real thing! I did an instrument landing with 200' vis. Boss was impressed, until I forgot to lower the nose and dragged the tail. TG it was a sim.

09-11-01 ended it all. We were grounded for 6 months. Company went out of business, I was out of a job, no money for flying. My medical expired, and there was little change It would be renewed. I miss it. I get an hour of duel from time to time, but what's the point. I'm 78 now and have health issues. If I had the money I might give LSA a try, Ultralight just doesn't appeal to me. I'm glad I did what I did, wish I had started sooner.

If you are interested, look up 8A6 . I live right around the corner from runway 180....

Wayne

 

[Mr_Joe]

I started in the Navy right after college in 1985. I flew the EA-6B "Prowler" off the USS AMERICA, then an A-4 instructor.

I got a CFI-I along the way. I just finished my 5th jet type rating, doing the airline thing.

I also own a Piper Warrior. Just a month ago our oldest Son says he may want to shift gears towards piloting, after a year of 'pre-med'.

I had an enjoyable flight in my Warrior today.

 

[Astro14]

"Roger Ball"!

 

[wings&wheels]

Learning to fly was one of the most enjoyable things I've done. I count my solo long cross country (Mass to NH to Maine and back in the Fall) as one of my best memories...despite, or maybe because of, a delay due to a dead battery at one stop that made it into a 2 day event. Student on solo landing at the Portland Jetport at night....good time.

I started to pursue it as a living but got a lot of grief from my family (was 1st person in extended family to go to college...heck most d/n finish high school..), Dad wanted his son to have an office job... Looking back and having friends who did it, I wish I pursued flying further.