G'day!

[alexbrown2005]

Hi! My name's Alexander. I'm 20 years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at The University of Queensland, as well as learning to fly. I have 20 hours logged and I'm up to the "Forced Landings" part of my training - non-continuous training doesn't really help.

 

I have ambitions on gaining my Commercial Pilot's Licence and then jumping in the car and door knocking until I can impress a Chief Pilot enough to let me fly for them. As for where? Well, I have a car so anywhere. Location isn't anything I'm picky about.

 

Cheers :)

 

 

[kaz3g]

Hi! My name's Alexander. I'm 20 years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at The University of Queensland, as well as learning to fly. I have 20 hours logged and I'm up to the "Forced Landings" part of my training - non-continuous training doesn't really help.I have ambitions on gaining my Commercial Pilot's Licence and then jumping in the car and door knocking until I can impress a Chief Pilot enough to let me fly for them. As for where? Well, I have a car so anywhere. Location isn't anything I'm picky about.

 

Cheers :)

Hello Alex

 

I saw your other post and suggest you need to seek out some expert advice before you start off down a track that will cost you quite a lot of money and, in all probability, make you only a little.

 

The young ones I see starting out on their way to a CPL get into GA machines as soon as they can and build their hours there. Nothing wrong with getting started in RAA but the reality is few CPs will give you credit for hours flown in such aircraft.

 

Unless you have wealthy parents or a maiden aunt, you need to get hours up doing something that pays, even if the remuneration is abysmally low. An Instructor rating is there fore a good next step.

 

If you train with a reputable school that will place you afterwards, you are probably off to a good start. Hopefully, they will help you through a MECIR and give you some time opportunities in twins, too.

 

I also see you have linked into another forum where there are many experts and a few people who actually know what they are talking about. Keep asking questions and good luck

 

Kaz

 

 

[rankamateur]

I'm 20 years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at The University of Queensland

Welcome Alexbrown2005, when I saw the 2005 I was a bit concerned that you were an over ambitious ten year old, good luck with it all. Getting paid to do what you love is a fine ambition, getting paid enough to eat in the meantime has a fair bit going for it too. Maybe you should try and get a job as a political advisor to a pollie with deep pockets and private twin engine, maybe a Western Australian, then you could be a pilot/advisor and you would get a lot of hours too

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Hi Alexander,

 

My advice to young people who wanted to fly (and get paid for it) was to concentrate on a career that would involve flying as part of the job or as a deduction through your own business. Combine your other interest with flying. People I know who do this are the flying vet, flying piano tuner, engineers working for a firm who fly around western Qld, electrician flying to remote locations etc. Either the employer makes the aircraft available or you book the expense back to your business. You only need a PPL for this. If you still want to fly commercially, then you are still logging hours in command and also have a career you can fall back on when commercial flying gets thin.

 

 

 

I was fortunate that various employers allowed me to fly as part of my work, once they realised the time saving in getting me to remote locations quickly. I was also fortunate that I owned a plane and my employer and others hired it.

 

 

 

I didn't want to detract from your flying ambitions, but just to suggest there are other ways to get a "flying job".

 

Your idea of going to aviation business and introducing yourself is very sound. Having worked in the aviation industry I was used to lots of unsolicited resumes, most of which listed every nano second of flying experience but nothing of the person. We wanted to see if they had the personality and the drive to succeed and something to fall back on when there was no flying. Your other skills and interests are important as these can add another dimension to your employment. For example, bookkeeping knowledge is helpful as every flying business has to maintain their accounts.

 

Keep at it!

 

 

 

Sue

 

 

[alexbrown2005]

Kaz - thanks for the advice. I have considered an Instructor rating before and the school I'm going to go to for my CPL rolls the MECIR into the CPL training so it's not simply a bare CPL. Curious, why wouldn't CPs accept RAA flying as genuine time? It's still flying! I don't see how that's fair.

 

Rankamateur - (Chuckles) Politics is a VERY dirty game and I don't want to become a politician. I'm studying Political Science out of interest. But thank you for the contribution! It has been done (Cormann and Let come to mind as pollies who hold PPL and CPLs, respectively).

 

Sue - I am thinking of getting my DipEd after my BA and becoming a "flying teacher" of sorts. I am currently working in a factory in Brisbane to help pay for the lessons so that may help later down the track, as well as the university education in general. But I do have - and have had for the past 13 years - my heart set on flying as a career path. With this in mind, seeing as you've worked in the industry, do you have any other advice as to how to gain that coveted first job?

 

 

[kaz3g]

Kaz - thanks for the advice. I have considered an Instructor rating before and the school I'm going to go to for my CPL rolls the MECIR into the CPL training so it's not simply a bare CPL. Curious, why wouldn't CPs accept RAA flying as genuine time? It's still flying! I don't see how that's fair.

Not much that's fair in aviation, Alex. That's why I'm a lawyer :-)

 

Lots of command time in a C172 won't count for a whole lot, either. They want experience in heavier, faster and more complex machines before they'll be happy letting you play with their toys. Makes sense, really.

 

But hey, there are members here with long commercial histories and I hope they will offer some thoughts. I'm just an elderly PPL who has managed to survive for quite a while.

 

Good luck

 

Kaz

 

 

[alexbrown2005]

Kaz - life isn't fair, let alone aviation! I mean, my instructors have told me stories about 18-year-olds, with no education beyond Year 12, getting their first job up the Fraser Coast in Queensland. I guess, my logic is that if an 18-year-old can get a first job, why can't a 22-year-old, with (soon to be) a degree as well as a CPL, get a job? If they can, why can't I? I have every opportunity to do so, and I don't intend on letting a few no's stop me. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm prepared to travel to the four corners of the earth if I have to, in order to get into the cockpit and be paid for it.

 

Ah, a lawyer! I dabbled in Law before I discovered the existence of Recreational Aviation Australia: that's how I'm affording to learn to fly. I mean, I liked the law, but it wasn't my dream. I know some people saying it's worthless trying to live your dream, but that's exactly what I intend to do. I don't care how long it takes, I'll eventually get a "you're hired" from a Chief Pilot. If I have to move heaven and earth, so be it.

 

The school I'm going to go to says they train us in C206s, so all going well I should have 51 command hours in the C206 by the time I hold my CPL, which is what most of the charter operators in the Outback use anyway, so shouldn't that give me some advantage, in theory?

 

I do appreciate your input, Kaz, so I thank you. The older definitely are the wiser :)

 

 

[kaz3g]

Mate, the best advice I can give you is to never pass up an opportunity to learn something new or be frightened of a change. Store up new experiences because they are like money in the bank.

 

My first real job after washing cars and baby-sitting, was as a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry. I progressed through sales and marketing, agricultural contracting and small business to a pastoral station in NW WA (where I first learned to fly). And then I nearly went broke so I managed a thoroughbred stud with my ex and then a mixed business before joining the public service. I did a second degree (biological science) while working in National Parks and then headed off to Fisheries & Wildlife where I got into law enforcement and prosecutions (and got a commercial off-shore ticket from the Marine Board). I moved off to Heritage to dive shipwrecks and studied law which I finished just 10 years ago.

 

My old mum was still alive and with me when I was admitted to Practice at a very memorable ceremony in the Supreme Court. Afterwards, we all went outside for photos and I asked her if she was proud of me because this was the culmination of some 28 years of part-time study I had done in my lifetime.

 

She said: "Yes, darling....but there's still time to do medicine".

 

Perhaps I'll leave that until I'm 80 which is when I plan on retiring (unless I buy that 60' cruiser I've been dreaming about).

 

Kaz

 

 

[alexbrown2005]

Kaz, that's great advice. I have to admit, I am slightly frightened at the prospect of not finding a job as a pilot, considering all the stories I've been reading on PPRuNe. But I don't care how many no's I get, each "no" is one step closer to a "yes". And I'm sure Chief Pilots will find something valuable in that dedication.

 

I'll still hold some form of education so if things REALLY go downhill, I can always go back and get a Master of Teaching and teach. It's what my father did because he didn't get into Law. He now practices as a solicitor at a small firm on the Gold Coast. And, if I end up having to do a Master's, the "flying teacher" thing could always work!