Future in Aviation for my Son?

Engineering is the art of making what you want from stuff you can get.

Having said that, I didn't dislike math, I HATED math. I STILL hate math
the way it is taught. It is just one of those gates that you have to walk
through to get the degree. I *teach* math, and as God is my witness, I try
and make it something that is real and understandable.

Having said that, my degree in physics (or as we called it, the department
of theoretical engineering) opened up a whole vista of opportunities, one of
which could have been flying if I had wanted it. I chose (as your walls are
mute testimony) to go into the space program. I could have gone into
computer programming. I could have gone into semiconductor design. I could
have gone a dozen different directions.

If you go to an "aviation" school and take "aviation", you have one career
choice in one particular field. If you go into computer science, or
engineering, or physics, or chemistry, you have a whole rainbow of choices
and as others have noted, you don't have to have an "aviation" degree to fly
for a living. .

Advice, worth every penny you paid for it...find a community college (get
the kid out of the nest for a while) that has dorms or at least housing near
the school. Try engineering (or physics, or...) for a year. If you STILL
don't like it, you've at least inexpensively eliminated one path and
possibly have found your true love. Or you can come home, say that you want
to go to one of the universities with an aviation program and go for it.

Get a college job wrenching on the weekends (no, I didn't say WENCHING).
Four years later you'll come out with a degree PLUS your A&P PLUS as many
hours as you can afford flying. Maybe a CFI in a couple of hundred hours
and pick up a little spare change doing flight reviews and the like.

Stay away from the "aviation schools" like Embry and such. Sure, they are
pilot mills, but little else.

Worth every penny, eh?

Jim

--
"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."
--Henry Ford


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
As many of you know, my son is taking flight lessons. He's past solo,
and into his cross-country flights.

He's a senior in high school, and is wondering what to do with the
rest of his life. His initial aim has been going into engineering,
but has decided that math is not something he truly enjoys. (Although
he's good at it -- far, far more advanced than I am.)

He's now toying with the idea of a career in aviation. Possibilities
include:

- Commercial pilot
- Helicopter pilot
- Something on the business side of aviation.

"RST Engineering" wrote in
:

Engineering is the art of making what you want from stuff you can get.

Having said that, I didn't dislike math, I HATED math. I STILL hate
math the way it is taught. It is just one of those gates that you
have to walk through to get the degree. I *teach* math, and as God is
my witness, I try and make it something that is real and
understandable.




So you can explain why, if I take the time it takes for something in my
hand to hit th e floor and divide that time ad infinitum, the thing still
hits the floor?


Bertie

Richard Riley wrote in
:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:45:12 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

"RST Engineering" wrote in
:

Engineering is the art of making what you want from stuff you can
get.

Having said that, I didn't dislike math, I HATED math. I STILL hate
math the way it is taught. It is just one of those gates that you
have to walk through to get the degree. I *teach* math, and as God
is my witness, I try and make it something that is real and
understandable.




So you can explain why, if I take the time it takes for something in
my hand to hit th e floor and divide that time ad infinitum, the thing
still hits the floor?

The difference between physics and engineering.

In Physics it takes forever to fall. In engineering it gets close
enough for engineering purposes.


Fair enough, but I already knew that!

Bertie

Richard Riley wrote in
:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:18:37 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

Richard Riley wrote in
m:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:45:12 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip

wrote:

"RST Engineering" wrote in
:

Engineering is the art of making what you want from stuff you can
get.

Having said that, I didn't dislike math, I HATED math. I STILL
hate
math the way it is taught. It is just one of those gates that you
have to walk through to get the degree. I *teach* math, and as
God
is my witness, I try and make it something that is real and
understandable.




So you can explain why, if I take the time it takes for something in
my hand to hit th e floor and divide that time ad infinitum, the
thing
still hits the floor?

The difference between physics and engineering.

In Physics it takes forever to fall. In engineering it gets close
enough for engineering purposes.


Fair enough, but I already knew that!

Any idea where I can get some massless ropes and frictionless pullies?



The Complete k00kist, of course.

Bertie

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:34:52 -0700, "RST Engineering"
wrote:

. . .

Having said that, my degree in physics (or as we called it, the department
of theoretical engineering) opened up a whole vista of opportunities, one of
which could have been flying if I had wanted it. I chose (as your walls are
mute testimony) to go into the space program. I could have gone into
computer programming. I could have gone into semiconductor design. I could
have gone a dozen different directions.

If you go to an "aviation" school and take "aviation", you have one career
choice in one particular field. . . . .

What he said.

Don

Don Tuite wrote:
On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:34:52 -0700, "RST Engineering"
wrote:

. . .

Having said that, my degree in physics (or as we called it, the
department of theoretical engineering) opened up a whole vista of
opportunities, one of which could have been flying if I had wanted it.
I chose (as your walls are mute testimony) to go into the space
program. I could have gone into computer programming. I could have
gone into semiconductor design. I could have gone a dozen different
directions.

If you go to an "aviation" school and take "aviation", you have one
career choice in one particular field. . . . .

What he said.

I'll third that. Don't let a dislike of math deter an interest in any of
the science or engineering fields.

RST Engineering wrote:

If you go to an "aviation" school and take "aviation", you have one career
choice in one particular field. If you go into computer science, or
engineering, or physics, or chemistry, you have a whole rainbow of choices
and as others have noted, you don't have to have an "aviation" degree to fly
for a living. .


Gotta agree with this one. Aviation is a tough field to make a living if
stability is important to you. While the future looks bright for pilots
today, it may not be that way 5 years (or even 2 years) from now. The field
tends to go through never ending boom/bust cycles.

I know a lot of folks that work in various aspects of of the field. From
airline pilots to engineers that design engines and avionics. The pilots
are most exposed to the fluctuations in the industry, but it does eventually
filter down even to the management and engineering professions as well. Of
all those groups, the engineers tend to have the most flexibility when times
get tough in the industry.

Having a degree that does not tie you to an industry that is as unstable as
commercial aviation is a plus.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

RST Engineering wrote:
Engineering is the art of making what you want from stuff you can get.

Having said that, I didn't dislike math, I HATED math. I STILL hate math
the way it is taught. It is just one of those gates that you have to walk
through to get the degree. I *teach* math, and as God is my witness, I try
and make it something that is real and understandable.

I know a few engineering professors who admit they don't like math and
aren't very good at math (didn't get great grades in math either). They
also say it's great that they have computers to DO the math. They
understand it from the courses, but they no longer have to do the work.

My daughter wasn't overly fond of LEARNING math or science, but she
likes DOING math and science, so she's a scientist.

Margy

Having said that, my degree in physics (or as we called it, the department
of theoretical engineering) opened up a whole vista of opportunities, one of
which could have been flying if I had wanted it. I chose (as your walls are
mute testimony) to go into the space program. I could have gone into
computer programming. I could have gone into semiconductor design. I could
have gone a dozen different directions.

If you go to an "aviation" school and take "aviation", you have one career
choice in one particular field. If you go into computer science, or
engineering, or physics, or chemistry, you have a whole rainbow of choices
and as others have noted, you don't have to have an "aviation" degree to fly
for a living. .

Advice, worth every penny you paid for it...find a community college (get
the kid out of the nest for a while) that has dorms or at least housing near
the school. Try engineering (or physics, or...) for a year. If you STILL
don't like it, you've at least inexpensively eliminated one path and
possibly have found your true love. Or you can come home, say that you want
to go to one of the universities with an aviation program and go for it.

Get a college job wrenching on the weekends (no, I didn't say WENCHING).
Four years later you'll come out with a degree PLUS your A&P PLUS as many
hours as you can afford flying. Maybe a CFI in a couple of hundred hours
and pick up a little spare change doing flight reviews and the like.

Stay away from the "aviation schools" like Embry and such. Sure, they are
pilot mills, but little else.

Worth every penny, eh?

Jim