I need....[fill in the blank]

murphey

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murphey
I've come to the conclusion that anyone who buys a computer and uses any search engine, needs to learn the basics of search concepts. Of course I've always been of the opinion that the unwashed masses should never have been allowed access or even knowledge of the Internet. There are times I curse TimBL for his brilliance.

To keep this aviation related ... before you start begging for answers, try a bit of common sense.

1) You want to know about flying in your area?
- There are state and local flying associations & clubs - do a search for them. Try search words such as "aviation [your state] flying club pilot association" or any combination. Be surprised what you can find. Another option is the [your state] Dept of Transportation, Div of Aeronautics (or whateve it's called)

2) You want to know other owners of your type aircraft or one you're interested in?
- Search the FAA Aircraft database. For every aircraft in your county:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/statecounty_inquiry.aspx

For a specific make & model of aircraft:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/acftref_inquiry.aspx

Download the results into a spreadsheet (there's a button for that), slice & dice to your hearts content.

3) Need to find a [CFI, CFII, ATP, whatever] - This one is NOT for the faint of heart or beginners. Best way is the local flying clubs. But, if you really want to spend some time playing with MS Access and really, really, REALLY are good at it....

- Another FAA database. This one's not easy. You really need to understand relational database with multiple records per person. But if you're adventurous, download the zipped plain text file at:

https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/releasable_airmen_download/

The instructions suggest MS Access (which makes it really difficult for us Mac/*nix people unless you're running MS Access in a VM) but you really need to understand it well. Because each person has multiple lines of text, it's not a simple import (even tho the instructions claim it's easy). There's only a couple search values you care about - "Cert Type" is P (for pilot) or F (for flight instructor) and then "Cert Level" is A, C, P, T, S (ATP, Comm, Private, sporT, Student)

One of these days I'll write up the instructions for MySQL or even MongoDB but not right now.
 
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I need... the overlords to make @murphey's post mandatory reading before posting.

In the meanwhile...

Anyone know a good Mexican joint on the south side of Jacksonville, FL... or have some search techniques to find same?
 
you expect 'the general public' to be able to use mysql or import data into a db?

but yeah, like ravioli said, sometimes I ask what I know I can search on to get actual user feedback. OR cause I'm lazy. or drunk.
 
you expect 'the general public' to be able to use mysql or import data into a db?

but yeah, like ravioli said, sometimes I ask what I know I can search on to get actual user feedback. OR cause I'm lazy. or drunk.
[updated my original post with a warning]

That's why I said the Airmen database is not for the faint of heart. Which is a shame, because it's one of the best ways to find a CFI in a specific location.
 
if people chose to use a search feature this entire forum could freeze right now. I think we've argued about everything
 
Some good tips in the OP.

I will say though, just because someone posts a question that has been asked before does not mean they haven't searched beforehand. I almost always do a google search of my questions before I ask on PoA. Many times there are similar questions or maybe even the same question has been asked. Sometimes they are many years old, sometimes relatively recent. If I feel like my question has been adequately answered already I won't ask, if not I will.
 
if people chose to use a search feature this entire forum could freeze right now. I think we've argued about everything

Wrong again buck-o. We gotz us tonz of new shnizzles to argue about without busting the ROCs.

Case in point, we can argue about the existence of things to argue about.
 
3) Need to find a [CFI, CFII, ATP, whatever] - This one is NOT for the faint of heart or beginners. Best way is the local flying clubs. But, if you really want to spend some time playing with MS Access and really, really, REALLY are good at it....

- Another FAA database. This one's not easy. You really need to understand relational database with multiple records per person. But if you're adventurous, download the zipped plain text file at:

https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/releasable_airmen_download/
For CFIs, you can search for type-specific CFIs on the type club sites or through the pilot associations you mentioned earlier. For more general searches, both NAFI and SAFE has searchable databases - but then you'll only reach those CFIs who are members. That's not necessarily a bad thing since even if you'd search the database for CFIs you'd get many hits who aren't even teaching.
 
Since aviation is trying to attract more students, telling them to go search a database to find a CFI doesn't seem like the most welcoming method. The student-to-be will probably give up and buy a boat after trying to contact a few CFIs who aren't active or whatever.
 
Since aviation is trying to attract more students, telling them to go search a database to find a CFI doesn't seem like the most welcoming method. The student-to-be will probably give up and buy a boat after trying to contact a few CFIs who aren't active or whatever.
It's being proactive, if the schools aren't responsive. Might find an independent CFI that's perfect. Otherwise, go buy the boat.
 
What's wrong with asking questions right here on POA?
Often the most efficient way to an answer.
And save for a few old soreheads, most people here on POA are delighted to help a fellow aviator.
I say title your question threads usefully then the soreheads won't have to click to find out what the thread is about (and thus reduce their state of annoyance). Oh wait. What is this thread entitled?
 
Since aviation is trying to attract more students, telling them to go search a database to find a CFI doesn't seem like the most welcoming method. The student-to-be will probably give up and buy a boat after trying to contact a few CFIs who aren't active or whatever.
If part of your point is, coming to social media and asking a community of pilots their recommendations for instructors in your area is better than searching a database of unknowns, I agree.
 
As someone who's been on the receiving end of a phone call that resulted from (2), it's creepy as hell.

Someone high up in a company I used to work for wanted to rent a mooney. So got a list of mooneys in the local area. And then, since the company is in a technical field with a higher than normal number of people with pilot certificates (as opposed to professional pilots), he apparently used the names on the first list to search the employee database and found... me.

I get a phone call. He identifies himself with his name and company title, and I'm all "Oh, ****... what happened... people at this level NEVER call down to mine". Turns out, he just wanted to rent my mooney. Which was awkward, 'cause now I have to tell a high ranking member of the company "No.".

My recommendation, if you want to meet airplane owners, would be to do it the hard way... rent / buy one, gives you an excuse to be at the field. Get known, and then ask around. Cold calling me is not going to be well received.
 
What's wrong with asking questions right here on POA?
Often the most efficient way to an answer.
And save for a few old soreheads, most people here on POA are delighted to help a fellow aviator.
I say title your question threads usefully then the soreheads won't have to click to find out what the thread is about (and thus reduce their state of annoyance). Oh wait. What is this thread entitled?

Yup. I got a new hangar in a different state from a lead given as an answer to a question right here on PoA. Pilots helping pilots.
 
As someone who's been on the receiving end of a phone call that resulted from (2), it's creepy as hell.

Haha. That's like the time I got this chatty response from THE corporate attorney from something very official we had to report to her if it occurred. (No, not the time Eman touched me there... pay attention! That was consensual and not at work!) At one of the very big companies I've worked at that everyone's heard of.

Anyway, I penned a very vanilla reply and said hi back and what not, and then she replies with the whole story about her husband is a corporate jet pilot and loves it, and how I could teach him on social media and email and yadda... hahaha.

So I ended up pen pals with both the corporate attorney and her husband for a couple of years before I left. He gave me some flight sim rudder pedals and a yoke, and at some point when I realized I wasn't using them, we had a "pay it forward" kinda thread here and I shipped them to someone else who would use them.

So many pilots and their families are nice folks. It's cool.

But yeah, at first when the corporate attorney asks if you're a pilot in an unsolicited email you're thinking, "Oh crap, what did I do and how the hell did the corporate attorney find out about it?!" :) :) :)
 
I agree about not using the FAA database to find a CFI. I think a pretty large percentage are not active even though they keep renewing. Many, including me, have heard the advice, DO NOT LET IT EXPIRE. I completed the FIRC last week after debating about it...
 
Search engines and people who use them have their limits. Advice from a human here is more helpful and quicker most the time. If it offends you that people ask questions, just move on and don't answer them. Someone else will pick up the slack.
 
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