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Late Bloomer

Late Bloomer

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Late Bloomer
During my flight training in Ocala, I met a gentleman who certainly knows what he wants to do, and it definitely shows.

He has a PPL, with Instrument, Multi-Engine, and Commercial ratings, and is now trying to become a CFI.

"So what!" you say? I think it's incredible--considering he's only 17!

I wish I had my head on straight at that age!
 
Late Bloomer said:
During my flight training in Ocala, I met a gentleman who certainly knows what he wants to do, and it definitely shows.

He has a PPL, with Instrument, Multi-Engine, and Commercial ratings, and is now trying to become a CFI.

"So what!" you say? I think it's incredible--considering he's only 17!

I wish I had my head on straight at that age!
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And parents to pay for it all.
 
EdFred said:
And parents to pay for it all.
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:yeahthat:

Sometimes I'm jealous of that (I'm 19 and am Private with no bells or whistles), but it's felt so good to pay for it myself. A sense of accomplishment that I made it possible for myself. I think I'd rather be where I am now than have all the bells and whistles but have parents parents pay for it all. I can't exactly blame them--I'm not planning to fly for a career, and it's a chunk of change to throw at kiddo's hobby :).
 
Yeah as long as the money flow is there, you can get whatever certs and ratings that you want. That is cool and good for him, and I remember being a lowly 18 yr old PPL (or a 20 yr old commercial pilot) and how exciting that was, but I don't know if it is particularly telling about the individual other than the fact that they had an attention span of some useful length and a way to fund their interest steadily.
 
35 AoA said:
Yeah as long as the money flow is there, you can get whatever certs and ratings that you want. That is cool and good for him, and I remember being a lowly 18 yr old PPL (or a 20 yr old commercial pilot) and how exciting that was, but I don't know if it is particularly telling about the individual other than the fact that they had an attention span of some useful length and a way to fund their interest steadily.
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I did all that jazz and anyone who has met me IRL can attest that I am nothing special.
 
Say it any way you want, but having the opportunity and making good use of it is the exception and not the rule.

You done good.

DavidWhite said:
I did all that jazz and anyone who has met me IRL can attest that I am nothing special.
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jhausch said:
Say it any way you want, but having the opportunity and making good use of it is the exception and not the rule.

You done good.
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That is probably fair. Recognizing an opportunity and taking advantage of it is a sign of maturity that a lot of 17 yr olds don't have.
 
DavidWhite said:
I did all that jazz and anyone who has met me IRL can attest that I am nothing special.
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I'll agree that you're nothing special. And I won't agree that you're not special. :D

How'z that fer'ya?
 
There have been a number of accidents with 'prodigy' commercial pilots and CFIs where judgement was the key ingredient lacking for a safe conclusion of the flight.
I have flown with CFIs and IIs between the ages of 22 and 84, most of my flight training was with folks in AARP age. You dont get to be old in aviation without judgement, and while they may not have been up to date on the newest subparagraph change in the AIM, they sure knew when not to fly.
So I wish the young man good luck and I am sure he fulfills all the formal requirements for his ratings. Unless I knew a lot more about him, I would probably not hire him for anything that includes flying without adult supervision (e.g. ferrying our plane to maintenance or flying my wife to some destination if I am tied up with work).
 
weilke said:
There have been a number of accidents with 'prodigy' commercial pilots and CFIs where judgement was the key ingredient lacking for a safe conclusion of the flight.
I have flown with CFIs and IIs between the ages of 22 and 84, most of my flight training was with folks in AARP age. You dont get to be old in aviation without judgement, and while they may not have been up to date on the newest subparagraph change in the AIM, they sure knew when not to fly.
So I wish the young man good luck and I am sure he fulfills all the formal requirements for his ratings. Unless I knew a lot more about him, I would probably not hire him for anything that includes flying without adult supervision (e.g. ferrying our plane to maintenance or flying my wife to some destination if I am tied up with work).
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So even though they are JUST as qualified as anyone else, you wouldn't hire them because of their age? Got it.
 
weilke said:
There have been a number of accidents with 'prodigy' commercial pilots and CFIs where judgement was the key ingredient lacking for a safe conclusion of the flight.
I have flown with CFIs and IIs between the ages of 22 and 84, most of my flight training was with folks in AARP age. You dont get to be old in aviation without judgement, and while they may not have been up to date on the newest subparagraph change in the AIM, they sure knew when not to fly.
So I wish the young man good luck and I am sure he fulfills all the formal requirements for his ratings. Unless I knew a lot more about him, I would probably not hire him for anything that includes flying without adult supervision (e.g. ferrying our plane to maintenance or flying my wife to some destination if I am tied up with work).
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You could actually use the same analogy about Doctors. :rolleyes:
 
DavidWhite said:
So even though they are JUST as qualified as anyone else, you wouldn't hire them because of their age? Got it.
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Not for something that requires independent judgement.
 
weilke said:
Not for something that requires independent judgement.
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Sorry - not buying it. I've made lots of PIC life/death decisions and had an emergency solo at nighttime in a relatively unfamiliar airplane and handled it just fine. Occasionally teenagers will do teenager stuff, but that is to be expected. I've got almost 700 hours at the ripe old age of 18 - 400 of those are XC hours in all sorts of weather. I've made go and no-go decisions and spent plenty of nights away from home because I felt like I was too tired to continue.

Dave White CP-ASMEL IA HP/Complex/TW and Towplane endorsed.
 
I can only think of a couple instances where perhaps my judgment was lacking but I feel that has nothing to do with my age and everything to do with my impulsive personality.
 
When I was 18 I knew everything too.
 
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DavidWhite said:
Also, nice reply. Instead of actually addressing the topic you just insult me - well played.
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An insult ? I made a factual statement.

I was a pilot when I was 18, I flew with other pilots who were 18-20 at the time. Some of the stuff we did then, I will not do today. Most of the people I flew with are alive today and fly for airlines and corporate operators. Others are dead.
 
weilke said:
An insult ? I made a factual statement.

I was a pilot when I was 18, I flew with other pilots who were 18-20 at the time. Some of the stuff we did then, I will not do today. Most of the people I flew with are alive today and fly for airlines and corporate operators. Others are dead.
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So people only do stupid stuff and die when they are younger? FWIW I've never had a close friend die in a plane crash (and pray I never do) but I have had several acquaintances and they were all 30+.

Also FWIW I've done stuff I'll never do again. I think every pilot has.
 
My friend's son is 18 and going for his CFI; has multi, instrument, commercial. Ironically, he didn't get a drivers license until he was 18, too. :lol:
 
DavidWhite said:
So people only do stupid stuff and die when they are younger?
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Not exclusively, but risk taking behaviour in males is most prevalent beween 15 and 25. The reason we dont see it much in aviation is because there are few pilots in that age range.
 
rbridges said:
My friend's son is 18 and going for his CFI; has multi, instrument, commercial. Ironically, he didn't get a drivers license until last year. :lol:
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My parents told me they were sick of driving me to the airport and made me get it eventually.
 
I'm here because I thought this thread was about spontaneous human combustion.

I'm going back to my thread now. :wink2:
 
weilke said:
There have been a number of accidents with 'prodigy' commercial pilots and CFIs where judgement was the key ingredient lacking for a safe conclusion of the flight.
I have flown with CFIs and IIs between the ages of 22 and 84, most of my flight training was with folks in AARP age. You dont get to be old in aviation without judgement, and while they may not have been up to date on the newest subparagraph change in the AIM, they sure knew when not to fly.
So I wish the young man good luck and I am sure he fulfills all the formal requirements for his ratings. Unless I knew a lot more about him, I would probably not hire him for anything that includes flying without adult supervision (e.g. ferrying our plane to maintenance or flying my wife to some destination if I am tied up with work).
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I'm sorry but I've seen a few instructors of AARP age who had extremely questionable judgment.

Thankfully, racism and sexism are now taboo but discriminating and insulting people based on age is still A-OK. I've seen it time and time again especially on aviation forums.
 
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My opinion is that, in general, the older you get, the fewer "stupid" decisions you make. "Stupid" would be defined as something that may or may not be impulsive but is definitely something that, when looking back, you say "In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have done that."

There are exceptions to that rule on both sides of the age spectrum: there are old people who make stupid decisions and young people who don't.

Keeping an open mind to recognizing your own stupidity is key...we all do stupid sh*t.
 
There are plenty of older pilots who lack good judgement. Just read the NTSB reports. It is not necessarily a function of age.
 
I know many excellent young pilots and instructors, as well as a few I'd not want to fly in the back seat with. I also know/have known a few pilots my age and much older that I would not fly with if you gave me your powerball jackpot winnings.

I won't judge someone or label them based on something like age. I'm going to get to know them, as a pilot and a person, before I form an opinion one way or the other. If I see things that concern me, I'll say something - regardless of age. Safety first, attitude and pride second.

Plenty of misguided attitude and pride to go around, for sure. At all ages.
 
You'll find that most of the people who discount the value of many year's experience are those that don't have it. If it doesn't matter, why do the doctors and other professionals advertise the number of years and number of surgeries they have performed?

greghughes said:
I know many excellent young pilots and instructors, as well as a few I'd not want to fly in the back seat with. I also know/have known a few pilots my age and much older that I would not fly with if you gave me your powerball jackpot winnings.

I won't judge someone or label them based on something like age. I'm going to get to know them, as a pilot and a person, before I form an opinion one way or the other. If I see things that concern me, I'll say something - regardless of age. Safety first, attitude and pride second.

Plenty of misguided attitude and pride to go around, for sure. At all ages.
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The ones that crack me up are the people that give the advice of "No one should ever get instruction from a CFI unless he's been instructing for 30 years."

Think that through for a second.
 
wabower said:
You'll find that most of the people who discount the value of many year's experience are those that don't have it. If it doesn't matter, why do the doctors and other professionals advertise the number of years and number of surgeries they have performed?
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Lots of people try and cover up their lack of ability by stating how long they've been doing something. Just because you excelled in mediocrity for 30 years doesn't mean you're the best.
 
EdFred said:
The ones that crack me up are the people that give the advice of "No one should ever get instruction from a CFI unless he's been instructing for 30 years."

Think that through for a second.
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I agree. Whether somebody is a good instructor doesn't come with age or even flight time for that matter. It's all about personality, teaching skills and dedication to the job (i.e. not caring since you're just there for flight time. BTW, it's fine to use instruction as a means to an end (its really the only way these days) just don't suck at it). Think about this for a second, let's say there's a guy who has been instructing for 40 years and has 3,000 hours and somebody who has been flying for 3 or so years and has 500ish hours. Who do you think has more recency of experience? I'd argue that the 500 hour guy has the potential to be the better instructor since he/she has been through the training/checkrides recently and has flown quite a bit over the past few years; however, it ultimately comes down to that person and their dedication to being a good instructor. But then again, what do I know? Afterall, I'm just one of those dangerous <30 year old CFI's...Also, I find that younger students have a tough time relating to that old, crusty guy that everybody says you have to go to for your training. Think about that huge generational gap.
 
EdFred said:
And parents to pay for it all.
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I was first introduced to flying in '71 by a 19 yr old college buddy that had his ppl, mel, commercial, and IFR ratings. Everyone figured his parents paid for his training.

Actually, he lost half a finger in a workplace accident when he was 16 and the insurance company was giving him (I think) about $400/month. He used all of it to get his ratings and he took me up whenever I could get off work. I don't think they let 16 yr olds work in factories any more. He never regretted the trade-off.
 
JOhnH said:
I was first introduced to flying in '71 by a 19 yr old college buddy that had his ppl, mel, commercial, and IFR ratings. Everyone figured his parents paid for his training.

Actually, he lost half a finger in a workplace accident when he was 16 and the insurance company was giving him (I think) about $400/month. He used all of it to get his ratings and he took me up whenever I could get off work. I don't think they let 16 yr olds work in factories any more. He never regretted the trade-off.
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I paid for all my training using a life insurance policy I inherited from my father.
 
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