Mid-life Career Change to Airline Pilot. It's Doable.

SixPapaCharlie said:
I’ve only had one captain who made the cockpit uncomfortable. They ignored me for the first three minutes and opened by making sure I understood how experienced they were and when I replied, “That’s good, I’m brand new and can learn a lot from your experience.”, They shot back, “I don’t get check airman pay for training people.”
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Next time tell him check airmen don’t get check airman pay for training people, either.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
That’s probably the prime reason i couldn’t do what you did. if i came across someone like that, i’d make snarky (but funny, at least to me) comments and end up at HR.
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Yeah, as I've gotten older I have a harder time biting my tongue when someone's being a d!ck. Sometimes it may just be a "well aren't you special" or "bless your heart," but I'm sure that'd be enough to get their underwear in a bunch for get someone like that.
 
mark.staggs said:
Yeah, as I've gotten older I have a harder time biting my tongue when someone's being a d!ck. Sometimes it may just be a "well aren't you special" or "bless your heart," but I'm sure that'd be enough to get their underwear in a bunch for get someone like that.
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The appropriate response is, “How nice. How very nice.”

I wish I’d kept the translation sheet. Some of them were pretty good.
 
mark.staggs said:
Yeah, as I've gotten older I have a harder time biting my tongue when someone's being a d!ck.
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Sometime as I approached age 60, I experienced total failure of my give-a-damn gland. Perhaps there's some sort of medical treatment for it, but now that I'm happily retired, I give even less of a damn.

One of our "fun" units at work used to be the nanodamn, as in "I don't give a nanodamn what finance thinks, this is the only component that will work!"
 
Every airline has their 2%, and I'm convinced the percentage increases as you get closer to headquarters. DFW is known to be the base for the majority of our 'special' pilots, and I'm sure it's the same for you. ;)
 
kayoh190 said:
Every airline has their 2%, and I'm convinced the percentage increases as you get closer to headquarters. DFW is known to be the base for the majority of our 'special' pilots, and I'm sure it's the same for you. ;)
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I got notified that this "special" pilot flowed to the mainline on the 23rd. Perhaps that will be a little humbling.
 
Half Fast said:
You have more self-control than I do.

I probably would have replied, "See? I've learned something new already! Thank you!" then started scribbling furiously on a notepad.
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Being able to make a instantaneous snarky comeback is a curse.

A curse I have had for over 45 years now.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got notified that this "special" pilot flowed to the mainline on the 23rd. Perhaps that will be a little humbling.
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Been following this thread and your experience ... thank you. When you said "mainline" above was that into bigger aircraft?

On another note, does flying commercial AC mess up your flare in the GA airplane?
 
X3 Skier said:
BTW, I appreciate that you're taking the time to stick with this forum and not going "Mainline" with PPRuNe.
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PPRuNe tends to be pilots outside the US. The big trainwreck of an airline-centric message board in the US is APC.
 
@Zeldman , remember this scene? Those are my brother-in-law's hands! He lives in LA. At the mailbox one day, a neighbor who was working on the movie told him he has great hands and asked him if he would be willing to be filmed for this scene. His only payment was to be able to brag about his hands being in a movie.

1758823656425.png
 
X3 Skier said:
Or the other one :biggrin:
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If you’re referring to JC, as long as you stay out of the lavatory, that’s always seemed somewhat less of a trainwreck.

Doug’s original intent behind that one is good and he’s trying (at least the last time I dropped by there) to see how to refine whatever it is he is producing so it meets those whose needs are closest to his original intent.

He does recognize the majority of the content comes from folks that all “grew up” together in much of the same time/space continuum and that may longer be relevant to the career starters today.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got notified that this "special" pilot flowed to the mainline on the 23rd. Perhaps that will be a little humbling.
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Yes, I imagine it will be, especially while on probation

TCABM said:
There was a time it was much more relevant than it is today.
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Jetcareers used to be awesome, but then it got taken over by unrestrained political discussions that leaned one way. I tried to give a counterpoint in a thread, and I was accused of beating my wife. I have not been back since.
 
Mahneuvers said:
@Zeldman , remember this scene? Those are my brother-in-law's hands! He lives in LA. At the mailbox one day, a neighbor who was working on the movie told him he has great hands and asked him if he would be willing to be filmed for this scene. His only payment was to be able to brag about his hands being in a movie.

View attachment 145483
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I'm a good old boy
You know my mama loves me
But she don't understand
They keep a-showing my hands and not my face on TV, haha
 
danhagan said:
Been following this thread and your experience ... thank you. When you said "mainline" above was that into bigger aircraft?

On another note, does flying commercial AC mess up your flare in the GA airplane?
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Yeah it seems most flow up and start in the 737.
Most recent flight in the Comanche, I felt a little off but I think it had more to do with just not having flown it much in the last three months vs it being different than the 175.

Surprisingly, It was easier to learn to land the jet than the Comanche. My plane took a long time before I was landing consistently.
Could be because at work we have a voice that does the countdown which makes it pretty easy to know exactly when to idle and flare.
 
Mahneuvers said:
@Zeldman , remember this scene? Those are my brother-in-law's hands! He lives in LA. At the mailbox one day, a neighbor who was working on the movie told him he has great hands and asked him if he would be willing to be filmed for this scene. His only payment was to be able to brag about his hands being in a movie.

View attachment 145483
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SixPapaCharlie said:
Could be because at work we have a voice that does the countdown which makes it pretty easy to know exactly when to idle and flare.
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You mean The Voices don’t talk to you in the Comanche? That’s sad. I’d be very lonely if The Voices stopped talking to me.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I’m learning there are many ways to do things in the plane and each captain is different. Most are glad to have someone in the right seat who is there to learn. I present myself as brand new, with a notepad in hand. If a captain writes something down, I’ll ask to see it after the flight and, if time allows, have them walk me through what I don’t understand. I tell them I’ll verbalize everything before I do it so they know I won’t start pushing buttons on the guidance panel without warning.

Most captains have been professional and relaxed.

One sat me down and said, “I have four rules. If we don’t break any of them we’re going to have fun today.” He was firm but not mean. After we landed, he gathered me and the FAs to ask if there was anything he could have done better. There was no question he was in charge. While his style was tougher, I liked it because his confidence rubbed off on me, though I could see others not feeling the same way.

I’ve only had one captain who made the cockpit uncomfortable. They ignored me for the first three minutes and opened by making sure I understood how experienced they were and when I replied, “That’s good, I’m brand new and can learn a lot from your experience.”, They shot back, “I don’t get check airman pay for training people.” When leaving the jet bridge, a pilot pulled me aside and asked, “Have you two flown together?” When I said yes, he just nodded and said, “Then you already know.” The takeaway was clear, if you have a certain je ne sais quoi, people will know about it.

There are many ways do do this stuff so I try to remain humble, take notes, observe closely, ask questions, and communicate before I act. I have 70 hours in the 175 and I am mostly comfortable start to finish on a "normal" flight. When the EICAS interrupts, I pay close attention to the captain's decision making process. I like the job. The firehose now feels like a water hose. The learning has become for more manageable.
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I can’t imagine a more open attitude to learning.
I’m sure some of that is just “who you are”, but I’d guess some is due your prior life experience, too. Really appreciate and enjoy this write up.

For those here who remember the old “red board” at AOPA, Kareem Fahmi made a similar career change, at a similar age, and wrote about it fairly extensively. I got to fly as a passenger on his United Express flight (he was Captain) before he started with “legacy” United. He was a fab CFI, btw. Top notch.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got notified that this "special" pilot flowed to the mainline on the 23rd. Perhaps that will be a little humbling.
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We had one of those infamous "no fly list" guys flow. The mothership decided they didn't want him. He tried to reverse flow and our management decided they didn't want him back either.
 
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