Post Your Roommate Experiences

[Wm226]

How were your roommates (at ERAU or elsewhere)?

[SkyyAngel]

Ha ha well at Riddle I actually didn't get a roommate. She decided to not come to the school or something and just never showed up...so I had my own room which I must say was pretty durn fun!!!

Then about X-mas time they decided to give me a roomie and she was a total psycho...she had an EYEBALL in a glass jar that she wanted to display on the a/c unit....very weird person. But thank the heavens that she decided she would really live in the on-campus apartments.

Then they gave me another roomie who I had for the rest of the year and she was pretty cool because she always spent the night at her bf's and only came back to change clothes. But even when she was around she was pretty cool.

So yeah that's my experience at Riddle. All in all it was fairly good.

I did make really good friends with the girl right next door to me as well...in the same suite so not technically roommates and all of my guy friends made really good friends with all their roomies and we STILL (3 years later) still hang out and talk all the time. I really think we'll be one of those friends-for-lifers things going on. HS friends just aren't the same.

[Wm226]

LOL! Do you still go to ERAU?

[EatSleepFly]

I had the same roommate the whole time I was there. He was/is really cool. We're still friends, along with a bunch of other guys from the hall that first year. I think, from our hall that year, out of 30-40 people there was something like 25 states and 5 countries represented. Lots of diversity at Riddle, which is cool...

[SkyyAngel]

No actually. I'm planning on attending Western Michigan in the Spring though.

I got "kicked out" of the aviation program at Riddle and figured why stay? So now I'm back home in AUS.

[Lima_Charlie]

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I got "kicked out" of the aviation program at Riddle and figured why stay? So now I'm back home in AUS.

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Do Tell... What happened?

[SkyyAngel]

Okay let's see...where to start.

First they dropped me from the program because I had almost 30 hours and hadn't soloed yet. Since those number of hours is put into a computer and all that other stuff I was making them look bad. So they dropped me and re-enrolled me into the program so I would start over with 0 hours. ( I still obviously have the original ones, they were all loggable, just with the school and their records I would've started over )

Okay so there was that...plus they thought with me "starting over" doing the refresher through all the programs would be good for me.

I really wasn't a bad pilot. I got everything down...T/O, ground ref, radio calls, flight planning, checklists, emergency procedures, patterns, etc. Everything BUT the landings.

The very first landing I ever did totally on my own was frickin' amazing! THE smoothest landing I've ever been in including commercial and my CFI's. It was amazing...and I'm not just tooting my own horn either, my CFI was pretty amazed. So we went around again....the 2nd one wasn't as good but still doable. Then after that one lesson it all went downhill. I dunno what was wrong with me. I think it may have partly been my CFIs fault because he did explain things kinda weird. Of course I'm sure some of it was my fault too, but in retrospect I think I should've asked for a different instructor.

Well okay so I had started over in the program. Everything's going good...of course literally "flying" through all the lessons. Still only problem is landings. I seriously think if we'd had more practice I woulda gotten them down. I was getting better with each one.

So my CFI decides that he's going to set it up so I can fly with this one instructor. He wasn't working as a CFI for Riddle I think he was the Safety Standards Officer or somesuch job description. But apparently he had a "gift" for teaching students how to land. So we set up that flight.

Now a bit of a side note here. I'm 5' 2". And as most of you probably know on the old riddle cessna's they used to have the seats didn't always work and move forward all the way...sometimes I had a little trouble being able to get full rudder deflection and all. So it was suggested to me that I go out and buy one of those seat cushions. So of course, I go out and spend $60 on a piece of foam. The flight set up with this guy was the first time I'd used it.

Okay so back to the story here. So, I'm flying with some guy I barely know and I have this thing pushing me forward in my seat which feels totally weird. We were just supposed to do touch-n-go's the entire time (at least that's what I was told). So we get in the plane I do the pre-flight, radio, checklists and everything else perfect....T/O perfect....everything going good. He decides that he's going to take the controls and takes us out to one of the practice areas...I'm a little weirded out by this to begin with since I just thought we were going to basically be doing patterns all day.

So, we get on out there and he wanted me to do something with the airplane that I wasn't totally comfortable with. And as most of you know...if you're not comfortable with doing it, then you just don't do it. It's like the #1 rule for pilots. I told him I didn't feel comfortable. (In case anyone is wondering, he wanted me to give the plane full left rudder, full right rudder, back and forth back and forth....yes I know I'm a wuss but it just didn't feel right to me)

He gets huffy and asks me to fly back to the airport. I'm thinking okay finally he's going to teach me what he's supposed to...landings. We get to the airport, he takes over on the controls until the final. Then I take over and he lets me land. I did pretty good I must say...sure it was a little rough but I mean, come on...I'm a student...we're allowed a few. Heck...airline pilots have made rougher landings than that one.

I thought we were going to power up and T/O again. But no...we start heading back to the flight line. I'm more than a bit concerned...and this guy just looks pissed, like I've totally wasted his time or something.

We get back to the flight line and starts getting on my case saying stuff like, "Well you're more cautious since you're a woman" and "perhaps you should look into a different career choice...something more suitable for your sensibilities"....I was in tears. Very crushed.

Then after going out to my car and getting back to the dorm room I got pissed. I mean, who is this guy to tell me I can't fly...ever? So I'm determined to try even harder and talk to all my friends about what they do on approach and landings...get a lot of help from them. Read up more on it. Sat through and did the flows with a poster of a Cessna cockpit...everything I could think of. Have a meeting with my instructor later that week. He tells me to show up in the Flight Manager's office and they were going to change me to a different instructor and I needed to set up flying times and whatnot.

So I show up...and find out that I'm NOT getting another instructor. I'm getting KICKED OUT yet again! So yeah I was lied to.

I was crushed....again. And then they started getting my hopes up by saying perhaps I could go over to SkySchool and at least get my PPL there and then come back and re-enroll in the program and everything and go on with Inst. and Multi, etc. But then remembered that since I'd been kicked out once already before that I couldn't come back into the program...ever. I could leave for 4 years and come back and they still couldn't let me back in.

So yeah...that was even worse.

But yeah that's my tale. This stupid chauvinistic bastard says I can't fly because of my "woman sensibilities" and I'm "too cautious". Pfft!! I can't wait to go and get all the possible ratings I can at WMU and then flying back to Riddle and shoving my license down his throat.

Can you sense the animosity here?

I have nothing at all againt Riddle itself. Some of my favorite rofessors I met at Riddle and my best friends are there as well. It's a good school. Just certain circumstances there will bring you down if you don't work hard enough the first time. I learned that the hard way.

[MikeD]

So why do your woman sensitivities make you too cautious?

[Running away for cover....and my life]

[EatSleepFly]

That sounds typical of the DAB flight department. They were quite back-asswards with things when I was there. Thats why I left to do my flying at FSI.

I wouldn't sweat it though. One of the best two instructors I've ever had was a woman...did my Commercial SE, CFI, and CFII with her- she was awesome.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll do fine at WMU!

[kellwolf]

Hmmm, maybe it's a GOOD thing some of my loans fell through. I was kinga disappointed that I might have to get my ratings some other way, but now I'm sorta glad. 'Course there is that silly rule that you have to get at least ONE rating from them...

[SkyyAngel]

Well this was PRC...but it doesn't surprise me that DAB would operate the same way.

And thanks for the confidence...I'm ready for them suckers this time!!

[smokey1]

I can remeber my roomate my freshman year in college, not Riddle. One story that comes to mind........ I can remeber my roomate going out one night with some of his friends and I decided to stay in and get some sleep. Well around 3:30 I awoke because I was hearing a strange noise like water running. I awoke to find him pissing on all his dirty laundry in the corner of our room.1.
Smokey............................................ .................................

[Joe]

Hey, at least it wasn't your laundry...

[Mavmb]

What an #########! I can't believe that guy told you to pick a different career because you're a woman; that takes a lot of arrogance! Actually, I've found that a lot of the stagecheck pilots at schools are stagecheck pilots, because A) they have a lot of hours, but are social rejects and can't get a job anywhere else, and B) are such #######s that they yell at their students all the time and therefore can't ever keep any of their students. Those are often the reasons these guys are "stagecheck" pilots.

My roomate last year was a waste of space/alcholic. He would brag that his dad started him drinking at the age of 10, actually even tried to use it as a pick up line a couple of times, it was quite amusing to see the look on the girls face after a line like that. He would drink by himself and get pissed at nothing and start going crazy (i.e. breaking furniture in the commons area picking random fights with guys on the floor.) It all culminated with him getting arrested for one of these eppisodes. I felt bad for the kid cause it happened on a Friday and the Judge wasnt going to be in untill the following Teusday, which meant that he would be in jail for 5 days unless someone payed bail...sooo I decided to bail him out after letting him sit in the slammer for a couple of nights. He eventually payed me back but I never got an actual thank you from the kid.
AHHH the memories


I geuss I should mention that this didn't happen at ER and he was not an aviation major...THANK GOD

[Doug Taylor]

Roommates? Hell, I roomed with "Homer Simpson" one year.

[Wm226]

Wow very interesting stories.

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Roommates? Hell, I roomed with "Homer Simpson" one year.

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Tell us more about it Doug .

[Doug Taylor]

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Tell us more about it Doug .

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Ask MikeD about that!

5 o'clock shadow by 10am!

[Wm226]

Tell us about it MikeD!