Another IT guy lost to Aviation

TCABM said:
There’s a lit of BS I can out up with, having done a .mil career, but the sclerotic approach we’re taking to RTO is frustrating. Traditionally, we’ve been pretty flexible on in-office requirements…be here when you need to be here/big buy approach. As of June, in-office attendance has become a condition of employment. Currently 12 days/month, starting Jan 1, 16 days/mo.

The rationale is that socializing with co-workers is more valuable than productivity, so lots of emphasis on social activities and F2F meetings. The decision to go deskless without a reservation system “was made to support the flexibility needed to get to know one another.” 90% of the people I support and 56% of my team are in campuses in another state or pure remote. I don’t particularly enjoy dragging all the crap (video is mandatory in meetings now) around like a homeless dude pushing a shopping cart while avoiding the little red wagons some are using to haul their portable offices around in.

So I play the game knowing our corporate footprint has gotten smaller and headcount has gotten larger and just wait for this place to turn into what the commercial air travel experience must be like. At least our severance package is sweeting up as the next round of layoff planning gets underway.
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I wonder if we work for the same company. and I'd take a package TODAY if they offered it.
 
With this RTO wave, we're going to go from Pilot Shortage to Techie Shortage. :)
 
It's funny, I'm ready to get out of IT, but I have less and less desire to fly commercially as time goes on. Sounds like a good way to cure my passion for aviation. Sticking it out for a few more years will pay for an early retirement to fly at my whim.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you guys doing it, I'm probably just a little closer to the end goal than you are.
 
Salty said:
It's funny, I'm ready to get out of IT, but I have less and less desire to fly commercially as time goes on. Sounds like a good way to cure my passion for aviation. Sticking it out for a few more years will pay for an early retirement to fly at my whim.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you guys doing it, I'm probably just a little closer to the end goal than you are.
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I highly recommend retirement.

I used to think I wanted a job. Turns out what I really wanted was a paycheck. Retirement is the solution.
 
Salty said:
It's funny, I'm ready to get out of IT, but I have less and less desire to fly commercially as time goes on. Sounds like a good way to cure my passion for aviation. Sticking it out for a few more years will pay for an early retirement to fly at my whim.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you guys doing it, I'm probably just a little closer to the end goal than you are.
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This is also top of mind - I don't want to kill my passion. Then again I'm not entirely sure I can. In March on my way back from Bahamas after 11.5 hrs and a turbulent approach on steam gauges to 200' above LNAV (no LPV) minimums as I'm putting the plane back in the hangar, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that I was on the ground and not going back up.

What I really enjoy about this opportunity is that I'm truly dipping my toes in the water before fully committing. I do hope I get a few nightmare trips so that my evaluation is true to form rather than all what it's been so far - which is awesome.
 
eman1200 said:
a lot of companies, like a good portion of society, have completely lost their freakin minds and are making it the most unfun to work for. tack on bs like Agile and it becomes a place you simply hate being at.
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Hoo, boy, another fellow IT'er here, and ain't that the truth.

On top of that, one issue we're having lately is getting quality candidates, even as contractors with relatively nice pay. There's a fair amount of entitlement that didn't seem to exist even 5-10 years ago along with a lack of what I would've called basic software engineering skills that used to be taught. This gets wearisome after a while.

I'll watch from the sidelines since I haven't enough hours nor ratings to jump to being a pro airplane driver, but I watch with envy. :D
 
kaiser said:
Since I’m in IT, I feel obligated to change careers into aviation, since that is all the rage.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to fly for money in my debut in the professional world. I’ve been toying with the idea of “retiring to go fly right seat on jets” for about 4 years now, but only started making it a serious objective the last two years. As I still have a day job, I’ve been making myself available on a contract basis since [on the pilot side] I’m basically worthless by monetary terms and the family still needs to eat.

This all came about through good old fashioned dumb luck and great timing/networking. One of my neighbors works at a local company that owns a 2021 PC12 NGX that flies owners, company personnel, as well as charters out via local 135 outfit. They sometimes have a hard time finding qualified pilots to fly their missions.

There’s only one pilot employed and full time to the plane and on the insurance and he’s trying to retire. So there’s a few of us newbies he takes on certain trips to get us experience in how they want to operate. It’s a pretty nice move as the idea there will be enough of us so that as contract pilots we won’t feel obligated to take every trip.

The PC12 NGX is an absolutely insane bird. The amount of automation is quite intense. We’re talking full FADEC engine + auto throttle, really good FMS & autopilot, synthetic vision, good TCAS, etc. I have several hours in it now, as well as a couple approaches, though only 1 take off and 1 landing - and it may have been a 4 handed landing haha. I’ve hand flown the short and empty legs (though still with auto throttle). It’s surprisingly easy to hand fly. That being said it’s surprisingly difficult to taxi straight. Maybe I need tips from @Dave Theisen or something. From the right seat I feel like I’m S turning down the entire taxiway. I suspect I’m looking too close in - we’ll see.

As far as my venture into the pro world, I’m still at least a year or so away from 135 PIC mins so will likely carry the day job to then. I have started my CFI and will aim to achieve that early next year.

Here’s some drool pics for everyone.

View attachment 121814View attachment 121815View attachment 121816View attachment 121817View attachment 121818View attachment 121819View attachment 121820
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I have about 2500 hours in the PC-12. It is an awesome, capable airplane.
mandm said:
That’s awesome! I’d be keen to join part time, I don’t need pay or benefits, just pick up any food drinks hotel and I’m more than happy.
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Please don’t do that…..
 
eman1200 said:
a lot of companies, like a good portion of society, have completely lost their freakin minds and are making it the most unfun to work for. tack on bs like Agile and it becomes a place you simply hate being at.
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Yup. My team was agile before agile was a thing. We practiced most of the principals. But applying the agile religion to a corporate environment is a recipe for accomplishing nothing while simultaneously sucking any chance of enjoyment or feeling of accomplishment out of software development.

I would quit before the first "ceremony" if I were ever put on a scrum team. My proudest accomplishment in being part of our corporate "agile transition" is being directly responsible for the firing of an agile coach. My biggest failure is not getting more fired.
 
Officially quit IT after 25 years in April. Flying for a fractional now, you won’t regret it. I have no airline desires.
 
kaiser said:
This is also top of mind - I don't want to kill my passion. Then again I'm not entirely sure I can.
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In my experience, those with the passion seldom lose it. Most professional flying is a lot different than GA, enough such that after a busy stretch at work where I want nothing more than to be home for awhile, I still can't wait to hop out to the airport on a nice day and putz around in a club 172. I fly with lots of guys that are still very active in GA. I also know plenty that aren't and wouldn't be caught dead in a 'little' airplane, but none of those guys found any enjoyment in GA to start with.

What I will say is that if you discover that flying professionally isn't for you, it's unlikely to get better with a bigger airplane. The paychecks might get larger, but the job's the job. Most everyone I work with still enjoys it, but whenever I fly with a miserable SOB, it's never been a recent thing. They were miserable back in their King Air or T-6B days too. So do yourself a favor and punch out early if it's not a good fit. That said, based on the beers we've consumed together, I have no reason to think you won't enjoy the ride! :)
 
mandm said:
I don’t need pay or benefits, just pick up any food drinks hotel and I’m more than happy.
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When I was a resume reader I would get resumes from folks trying to get their first flying job. The ones that said they would fly for free, I figured if they didn't value their skill then their skill probably equals their pay request.

Resume deposited in round file...

Still, my favorite was the one where the pilot stated "I have 500 hours but I fly like a 1000 hour pilot." :lol:
 
Zeldman said:
When I was a resume reader I would get resumes from folks trying to get their first flying job. The ones that said they would fly for free, I figured if they didn't value their skill then their skill probably equals their pay request.

Resume deposited in round file...

Still, my favorite was the one where the pilot stated "I have 500 hours but I fly like a 1000 hour pilot." :lol:
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At least it wasn't "I have 500 hours but I fly like a 50 hour pilot"
 
Half Fast said:
I highly recommend retirement.

I used to think I wanted a job. Turns out what I really wanted was a paycheck. Retirement is the solution.
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Yeah, retirement is the best gig I’ve ever worked. Still, I am a little jealous of you younger guys who actually have a chance to pull off the career change.
 
As a fellow IT guy, good luck and great that you got out! (or will soon). Not having a work phone and dreading every email notification on your time off is worth a lot.
 
mark.staggs said:
On top of that, one issue we're having lately is getting quality candidates, even as contractors with relatively nice pay. There's a fair amount of entitlement that didn't seem to exist even 5-10 years ago along with a lack of what I would've called basic software engineering skills that used to be taught. This gets wearisome after a while.
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Yes, and "quality" goes beyond job skills. Work ethic, dependability, concientiousness, etc., matter as well.

@2-Bit Speed was able to land a good IT gig at a USN base partly because his squeaky-clean background made it relatively simple to get a security clearance. Now it's up to @SkyChaser to keep him on the straight & narrow, a job I was happy to pass on.... :biggrin:
 
On the other hand, I was a software developer for 45 years until retiring last month. I love writing code and building systems. Currently writing a little program for church. I have to admit that I didn't get called in off hours (when I did I left that company pretty quickly). Yes, I was a scrum master as well as being a tech lead/senior engineer, but I pared down the scrum stuff down to what was actually needed to get the job done. Of course, I had good product owners who knew their role (or at least listened to what I told them their role was :D). Also, I wasn't in IT support having to deal with clueless users 24x7 and unrealistic deadlines.

I love flying, but if it became a job, I think I'd begin to resent it. I want flexible hours, not being on call at a moment's notice. I love being with my wife and visiting the kids and looking forward to the first grandchild.

But for you folks heading to piloting jobs, I think you'll be great. You've got the analytical skills to be skillful and safe pilots.
 
Half Fast said:
Yes, and "quality" goes beyond job skills. Work ethic, dependability, concientiousness, etc., matter as well.

:biggrin:
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As a "quality" MLE contractor, I hope this situation remains acute and chronic for the rest of my career.

My bill rates have been astronomical and increasing 2x each year without protestation. When I show my diva side, my clients worry i might leave, and feather my nest even more.

For an engy willing to simply show up, smile at the BS, and be mostly pleasant to work with -- it has been a real cornucopia.
 
For me, I want to experience flying larger aircraft that I’m probably not going to buy myself. Getting a full time job I don’t think it’s a problem, flying the airplane, doing the training, being paid peanuts to start, all not a problem. The only issues I’m not looking forward to are being on call, waking up before 9am, unable to take lots of time off, and those jobs who require a minimum service period should you want to leave.

I enjoy flying, I fly to a number of places, but I do not like flying in bad weather or being forced to fly when I’m not up to it.

I also like my freedom to go on long trips, and I still want to fly my airplane to many other places.
 
Old IT guy here. I admire anyone with the guts to switch careers mid-life. In my case, I couldn't have flown professionally when I was younger because even my corrected vision wasn't good enough. Laser surgery fixed that, but there's no way I could get to a decent paying job by the time I'd be looking to retire. But that's OK, my particular gig isn't too bad.

I haven't seen anyone quit flying for IT, but I have seen people come in from other trades. We have a guy who was a machinist, another that worked as a printer. Trades that pay well, but the job market dried up so they made a switch. Everyone I've seen come out of hands-on trades and into IT has been excellent. They have a built in understanding of what is expected to do quality work.

I kind of see a large part of IT as a bubble waiting to pop. Too much stupid, like agile. To pile on what's been said above, agile is a way to do something fast that probably doesn't need to be done at all, because you can't even define what it is. Probably good for video games and entertainment, possibly good when you're dumping out another version of a word processor that you're renting to customers and only changing to make if different for the sake of being different. For core business or analytical software? To me just silly. The per seat cost for IT for a typical business should be less than that of HVAC or carpeting.
 
TCABM said:
It’s no 195.

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My man!

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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Fixing something in IT usually breaks something else. So I try not to touch anything…
 
@Grum.Man did you make the jump? Not IT I know, but always curious if other MechE's punch out or stay the course.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Case and point, I did a triathlon last weekend. No fewer than three people high fived me shouting, to the effect, hooray for the old guys!! :(
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Three? is that all that stuck around for the bitter end?

:)
 
Albany Tom said:
I admire anyone with the guts to switch careers mid-life.
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Well, no courage involved; I don't get a choice, the military forces me to. Trust me, if I could stay until 55 doing what I do and walk away with a 75% pension (instead of the 35% one I'm slated for), I rather do that.
 
Half Fast said:
Probably three paramedics.
:biggrin:
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In did Ironman 70.3 in Augusta in 96 degrees. I passed out ~500 yards from the finish line. I awoke to paramedics asking me questions which I struggled to answer. I was shocked they let me finish!!
 
Mtns2Skies said:
@Grum.Man did you make the jump? Not IT I know, but always curious if other MechE's punch out or stay the course.
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No, I still kick it around time to time but chicken out. If my job wasn’t so cushy I’d be gone. I get to work from home and hardly ever have a half plate much less a full plate of work. Then I hear what people are making 3 years into their regional career and start to question my reluctance again. I have all the qualifications in the bag just in case.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Well, no courage involved; I don't get a choice, the military forces me to. Trust me, if I could stay until 55 doing what I do and walk away with a 75% pension (instead of the 35% one I'm slated for), I rather do that.
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Heck, I only got 40% at age 59. But then I likely had better profit-sharing and stock awards than the AF. :)
 
Half Fast said:
Heck, I only got 40% at age 59. But then I likely had better profit-sharing and stock awards than the AF. :)
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Guaranteed you do. I stuck around for the medical (family health over $$), and the schedules (traveling job wasn't gonna work with two full time workers and a gradeschooler. Though I do get to rage in an afterburning jet for my paycut. Basically, teenager brain level financial planning. #YOLO!
 
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