Perspective from a new hire....

av8trxx · March 14th, 2005, 15:49

For all you who are about to make the jump, I got this inspirational message via my other forum and thought it was worth sharing:

"I am an FO at [XXX regional], having completed IOE a little over a month ago. My background was flight instructing, mostly in 172s for primary students. I had the minimum time required to apply for a regional position. Most of my multi-engine time was in a Seminole two years ago and prior to training, I was barely instrument current. I flew in actual conditions with my students on the rare occasion we got a cloudy day (with no ice) in Colorado. Renting a plane for my own purposes on a flight instructor income was difficult, at best.

I definitely fall into the “low timer” category and must admit that I did struggle (am struggling?!) to keep my head above water, transitioning not only from a single engine prop to a 50-passenger jet but also from Class D airspace to New York Center, from my beautiful home town in the mountains with supportive, loving friends and family to a crashpad in Bayonne, NJ where 8 people share one bathroom. I’m still adjusting, as I’m sure I will be for the next year. But I remind myself every day how far I’ve come. Some thoughts on how I’ve managed so far:

-Study, study, study. Before ground school started, we were given a binder full of training material. I had the entire contents of the three-inch behemoth memorized before the first day. I made flashcards, color-coded into different
categories (blue-flows, pink-emergencies, yellow-limitations, orange-profiles, green-systems, etc.) I actually used a lot of advice from this network on how to prepare (thanks!) I spent hours reviewing, chair flying with my poster, reading. Now that I’m out of training, I read my manuals. It’s amazing how much I’ve forgotten in a month—I can now take all my memorization from training and actually apply it to what I’m seeing on the line.

-Get support when you need it. I call my friends and family back home whenever I felt myself getting down. They make me laugh and remind me that there still is a big world out there. Perspective is important.

-Take breaks, pace yourself. Someone told us the first day of training that it was going to be like running a marathon. If you sprint at the beginning, you’re never going to finish. That was probably the best advice I got. I’m still reminding myself the finish line is a long ways away.

-Take care of yourself! Get enough sleep, eat healthy foods and work out regularly. This is hard stuff and it’s important to be on top of your game. My mind works best when my body is happy.

-Be confident. Even if you don’t feel like it, act like it. Writing the first paragraph of this post made me doubt myself, feel like I’m not qualified to be where I am, or even to write about it…but I’ve worked hard to get here and I’m a really good pilot, learning new things every day and loving every minute of it.

A story to conclude: My very first flight on IOE, I was so nervous. I was going to be carrying real live passengers, flying a real JET that I had exactly three landings and maybe one hour of actual flight time in. I felt like I was playing dress-up in my shiny new shoes and funny pilot hat. It felt like everyone in the airport stared at me. I just knew they could tell that I had no idea what I was doing. The incoming flight was late so we were waiting at the gate for the airplane. A little boy, probably 7 or 8 came up to me and asked, “Are you the pilot?” which I confirmed, somewhat hesitantly. “Don’t you ever get scared?” I wanted to laugh, or cry, was this some sort of joke? Did he know that I had never flown this plane before, never had more than three people aboard any flight of mine, that I felt sick even thinking about it, that my hands were a little shaky holding the handle of my pristine flight bag…but I shook my head with a confident smile. “No, it’s just my job. We practice all the hard stuff a lot so there’s nothing to be scared of.”

Maybe he was there to remind me of what I knew all along.

mavsfflife · March 14th, 2005, 15:57

That's a cool perspective, awesome ending!

flyover · March 14th, 2005, 16:07

Good one.

FlyinRyan · March 14th, 2005, 19:34

Good story! Whare does he work? Are they hiring??

Maximillian_Jenius · March 14th, 2005, 19:56

[ QUOTE ]
Good story! Whare does he work? Are they hiring??

[/ QUOTE ]

She...where does she work!!!

-Matthew

ERfly · March 14th, 2005, 20:58

Just from reading the article, my guess would be a regional with a pilot base somewhere in New Jersey. I'll let you guys figure out the rest.

MikeD · March 14th, 2005, 23:57

[ QUOTE ]
[
"I am an FO at [XXX regional], having completed IOE a little over a month ago. My background was flight instructing, mostly in 172s for primary students. I had the minimum time required to apply for a regional position. Most of my multi-engine time was in a Seminole two years ago and prior to training, I was barely instrument current. I flew in actual conditions with my students on the rare occasion we got a cloudy day (with no ice) in Colorado. .

[/ QUOTE ]

See? That's what happens when you don't go the flight academy route.........

pscraig · March 15th, 2005, 01:06

[quoteMy very first flight on IOE, I was so nervous. I was going to be carrying real live passengers, flying a real JET that I had exactly three landings and maybe one hour of actual flight time in. I felt like I was playing dress-up in my shiny new shoes and funny pilot hat. It felt like everyone in the airport stared at me. .

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds familiar!

ils24rapproach · March 15th, 2005, 08:36

I agree, but this dude is way too dramatic. No one's gonna put you on an airplane with 50 paying customers on it if they think you're gonna drive it into the ground. Being nervous is good, as long as you can still think. I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest. From my perspective, training wasn't too special. Probably has something to do with the fact that I came from a large program. All I know is that during the sims, all my roommate and I did was come back and watch tv eat. From what I saw, you'll make it through just fine unless you've got no confidence in yourself or just don't care. I think only 1 of 32 didn't make it in our class...

I guess I concur... I was nervous too. I thought it was funny though, aside from that. I wanted to make an announcement to all the people at the gate, cause I knew they'd be a whole lot more nervous than I ever would be - if only they knew.

Doug Taylor · March 15th, 2005, 11:13

My thoughts my first day was "Dang, I came just to fly airplanes, but I've got to do all of this other junk too? Geez!" and "How the heck am I supposed to eat when we're doing 10 and 15 minute turns today?"

DE727UPS · March 15th, 2005, 11:45

"You can tell from the way he's so modest."

Some people are just like that....thank you very much.

Funny story. There is this 13 year old I play bball with at the Y. He's very good for his age and will soon probably be able to take me. What bothers me about him is he's so full of himself it makes me sick. One day I said "yeah, your good at everything except being humble". I got a blank stare. He didn't know what the word meant.......

"All I know is that during the sims, all my roommate and I did was come back and watch tv eat."

Wow, I've never heard of that before. I've always had to work my butt off....and then some. Maybe my problem is I try to exceed minimum standards by putting in extra effort. Probably something to do with the fact that I came from a small program.

Dazzler · March 15th, 2005, 12:22

Everyone is different though.

I've been working my butt off preparing lesson plans for my CFI training. A friend of mine (who was my CFII for the instrument training) asked me why I was bothering because I'd never use them in the real world anyway, and that he didn't bother making any lesson plans when he was doing his initial CFI.

He just took it easy and coasted along.

He is now flying Saabs for Mesaba Airlines. Go figure.

mtsu_av8er · March 15th, 2005, 12:26

[ QUOTE ]
I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, those old people an their starting over. . .

What does thirties and starting over have to do with confidence?

Mariano · March 15th, 2005, 12:35

[ QUOTE ]
"You can tell from the way he's so modest."

Some people are just like that....thank you very much.

Funny story. There is this 13 year old I play bball with at the Y. He's very good for his age and will soon probably be able to take me. What bothers me about him is he's so full of himself it makes me sick. One day I said "yeah, your good at everything except being humble". I got a blank stare. He didn't know what the word meant.......

"All I know is that during the sims, all my roommate and I did was come back and watch tv eat."

Wow, I've never heard of that before. I've always had to work my butt off....and then some. Maybe my problem is I try to exceed minimum standards by putting in extra effort. Probably something to do with the fact that I came from a small program.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, those old people an their starting over. . .

What does thirties and starting over have to do with confidence?

[/ QUOTE ]

aloft · March 15th, 2005, 13:20

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, those old people an their starting over. . .

What does thirties and starting over have to do with confidence?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's the "old pilots and bold pilots" thing. New pilots in their early twenties still think they're bulletproof and probably don't have as solid a grasp of the responsibility in their hands; new pilots in their thirties know better and have a different sense of respect for that responsibility and their ability to carry it.

[<-- dons nomex]

Mariano · March 15th, 2005, 14:23

Quote:

[/ QUOTE ]

It's the "old pilots and bold pilots" thing. New pilots in their early twenties still think they're bulletproof and probably don't have as solid a grasp of the responsibility in their hands; new pilots in their thirties know better and have a different sense of respect for that responsibility and their ability to carry it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very well said.

March 14th, 2005, 15:49	#1
av8trxx Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: KSAN Posts: 392	Perspective from a new hire.... For all you who are about to make the jump, I got this inspirational message via my other forum and thought it was worth sharing: "I am an FO at [XXX regional], having completed IOE a little over a month ago. My background was flight instructing, mostly in 172s for primary students. I had the minimum time required to apply for a regional position. Most of my multi-engine time was in a Seminole two years ago and prior to training, I was barely instrument current. I flew in actual conditions with my students on the rare occasion we got a cloudy day (with no ice) in Colorado. Renting a plane for my own purposes on a flight instructor income was difficult, at best. I definitely fall into the “low timer” category and must admit that I did struggle (am struggling?!) to keep my head above water, transitioning not only from a single engine prop to a 50-passenger jet but also from Class D airspace to New York Center, from my beautiful home town in the mountains with supportive, loving friends and family to a crashpad in Bayonne, NJ where 8 people share one bathroom. I’m still adjusting, as I’m sure I will be for the next year. But I remind myself every day how far I’ve come. Some thoughts on how I’ve managed so far: -Study, study, study. Before ground school started, we were given a binder full of training material. I had the entire contents of the three-inch behemoth memorized before the first day. I made flashcards, color-coded into different categories (blue-flows, pink-emergencies, yellow-limitations, orange-profiles, green-systems, etc.) I actually used a lot of advice from this network on how to prepare (thanks!) I spent hours reviewing, chair flying with my poster, reading. Now that I’m out of training, I read my manuals. It’s amazing how much I’ve forgotten in a month—I can now take all my memorization from training and actually apply it to what I’m seeing on the line. -Get support when you need it. I call my friends and family back home whenever I felt myself getting down. They make me laugh and remind me that there still is a big world out there. Perspective is important. -Take breaks, pace yourself. Someone told us the first day of training that it was going to be like running a marathon. If you sprint at the beginning, you’re never going to finish. That was probably the best advice I got. I’m still reminding myself the finish line is a long ways away. -Take care of yourself! Get enough sleep, eat healthy foods and work out regularly. This is hard stuff and it’s important to be on top of your game. My mind works best when my body is happy. -Be confident. Even if you don’t feel like it, act like it. Writing the first paragraph of this post made me doubt myself, feel like I’m not qualified to be where I am, or even to write about it…but I’ve worked hard to get here and I’m a really good pilot, learning new things every day and loving every minute of it. A story to conclude: My very first flight on IOE, I was so nervous. I was going to be carrying real live passengers, flying a real JET that I had exactly three landings and maybe one hour of actual flight time in. I felt like I was playing dress-up in my shiny new shoes and funny pilot hat. It felt like everyone in the airport stared at me. I just knew they could tell that I had no idea what I was doing. The incoming flight was late so we were waiting at the gate for the airplane. A little boy, probably 7 or 8 came up to me and asked, “Are you the pilot?” which I confirmed, somewhat hesitantly. “Don’t you ever get scared?” I wanted to laugh, or cry, was this some sort of joke? Did he know that I had never flown this plane before, never had more than three people aboard any flight of mine, that I felt sick even thinking about it, that my hands were a little shaky holding the handle of my pristine flight bag…but I shook my head with a confident smile. “No, it’s just my job. We practice all the hard stuff a lot so there’s nothing to be scared of.” Maybe he was there to remind me of what I knew all along.

March 14th, 2005, 15:57	#2
mavsfflife Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Waco, TX Posts: 283	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... That's a cool perspective, awesome ending!

March 14th, 2005, 16:07	#3
flyover Old Skool Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Georgia Posts: 3,389	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... Good one.

March 14th, 2005, 19:34	#4
FlyinRyan Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: SoCal Posts: 52	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... Good story! Whare does he work? Are they hiring??

March 14th, 2005, 19:56	#5
Maximillian_Jenius Old Skool Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: KPHX, KFFZ, KIWA Posts: 19,032	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... [ QUOTE ] Good story! Whare does he work? Are they hiring?? [/ QUOTE ] She...where does she work!!! -Matthew

March 14th, 2005, 20:58	#6
ERfly Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newport Beach, CA Posts: 555	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... Just from reading the article, my guess would be a regional with a pilot base somewhere in New Jersey. I'll let you guys figure out the rest.

March 14th, 2005, 23:57	#7
MikeD Administrator Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pinal Airpark Posts: 6,897	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... [ QUOTE ] [ "I am an FO at [XXX regional], having completed IOE a little over a month ago. My background was flight instructing, mostly in 172s for primary students. I had the minimum time required to apply for a regional position. Most of my multi-engine time was in a Seminole two years ago and prior to training, I was barely instrument current. I flew in actual conditions with my students on the rare occasion we got a cloudy day (with no ice) in Colorado. . [/ QUOTE ] See? That's what happens when you don't go the flight academy route.........

March 15th, 2005, 01:06	#8
pscraig Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,021	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... [quoteMy very first flight on IOE, I was so nervous. I was going to be carrying real live passengers, flying a real JET that I had exactly three landings and maybe one hour of actual flight time in. I felt like I was playing dress-up in my shiny new shoes and funny pilot hat. It felt like everyone in the airport stared at me. . [/ QUOTE ] Sounds familiar!

March 15th, 2005, 08:36	#9
ils24rapproach Newbie Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... I agree, but this dude is way too dramatic. No one's gonna put you on an airplane with 50 paying customers on it if they think you're gonna drive it into the ground. Being nervous is good, as long as you can still think. I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest. From my perspective, training wasn't too special. Probably has something to do with the fact that I came from a large program. All I know is that during the sims, all my roommate and I did was come back and watch tv eat. From what I saw, you'll make it through just fine unless you've got no confidence in yourself or just don't care. I think only 1 of 32 didn't make it in our class... I guess I concur... I was nervous too. I thought it was funny though, aside from that. I wanted to make an announcement to all the people at the gate, cause I knew they'd be a whole lot more nervous than I ever would be - if only they knew.

March 15th, 2005, 11:13	#10
Doug Taylor Agent Smith Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: KSDL Posts: 41,223 Blog Entries: 1	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... My thoughts my first day was "Dang, I came just to fly airplanes, but I've got to do all of this other junk too? Geez!" and "How the heck am I supposed to eat when we're doing 10 and 15 minute turns today?"

March 15th, 2005, 11:45	#11
DE727UPS Old Skool Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 6,547	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... "You can tell from the way he's so modest." Some people are just like that....thank you very much. Funny story. There is this 13 year old I play bball with at the Y. He's very good for his age and will soon probably be able to take me. What bothers me about him is he's so full of himself it makes me sick. One day I said "yeah, your good at everything except being humble". I got a blank stare. He didn't know what the word meant....... "All I know is that during the sims, all my roommate and I did was come back and watch tv eat." Wow, I've never heard of that before. I've always had to work my butt off....and then some. Maybe my problem is I try to exceed minimum standards by putting in extra effort. Probably something to do with the fact that I came from a small program.

March 15th, 2005, 12:22	#12
Dazzler Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 938	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... Everyone is different though. I've been working my butt off preparing lesson plans for my CFI training. A friend of mine (who was my CFII for the instrument training) asked me why I was bothering because I'd never use them in the real world anyway, and that he didn't bother making any lesson plans when he was doing his initial CFI. He just took it easy and coasted along. He is now flying Saabs for Mesaba Airlines. Go figure.

March 15th, 2005, 12:26	#13
mtsu_av8er Old Skool Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Utopia Posts: 12,567	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... [ QUOTE ] I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest. [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, those old people an their starting over. . . What does thirties and starting over have to do with confidence?

March 15th, 2005, 12:35	#14
Mariano Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: KPDX Posts: 1,194	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... [ QUOTE ] "You can tell from the way he's so modest." Some people are just like that....thank you very much. Funny story. There is this 13 year old I play bball with at the Y. He's very good for his age and will soon probably be able to take me. What bothers me about him is he's so full of himself it makes me sick. One day I said "yeah, your good at everything except being humble". I got a blank stare. He didn't know what the word meant....... "All I know is that during the sims, all my roommate and I did was come back and watch tv eat." Wow, I've never heard of that before. I've always had to work my butt off....and then some. Maybe my problem is I try to exceed minimum standards by putting in extra effort. Probably something to do with the fact that I came from a small program. [/ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest. [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, those old people an their starting over. . . What does thirties and starting over have to do with confidence? [/ QUOTE ]

March 15th, 2005, 13:20	#15
aloft Old Skool Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Inside your OODA loop Posts: 7,018	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I bet this guy was about... maybe late 30's, starting over, kinda low confidence and all. You can tell from the way he's so modest. [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, those old people an their starting over. . . What does thirties and starting over have to do with confidence? [/ QUOTE ] It's the "old pilots and bold pilots" thing. New pilots in their early twenties still think they're bulletproof and probably don't have as solid a grasp of the responsibility in their hands; new pilots in their thirties know better and have a different sense of respect for that responsibility and their ability to carry it. [<-- dons nomex]

March 15th, 2005, 14:23	#16
Mariano Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: KPDX Posts: 1,194	Re: Perspective from a new hire.... Quote: [/ QUOTE ] It's the "old pilots and bold pilots" thing. New pilots in their early twenties still think they're bulletproof and probably don't have as solid a grasp of the responsibility in their hands; new pilots in their thirties know better and have a different sense of respect for that responsibility and their ability to carry it. [/ QUOTE ] Very well said.

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