Future in Aviation for my Son?

Jay Honeck wrote:
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.

I need some first-hand experiences, please. Hours worked, what to
expect at the entry level, how much college does your job require,
types of skills required, etc. What kinds of careers are out there
right now? What sort of college degree should a 17 year old pursue in
order to come out the other end with a successful job in aviation?

We're filling out applications for colleges, and his choice of
colleges will be steered by his decisions. Your input is very much
appreciated!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


I have a close friend who owns a C-150. One of his son's got interested
in avaition and went to Southeastern Oklahoma State University in
Durant, OK. He got all his flight certificates and degree. He did some
flight instruction at the University then a flight instructor at a
school at Addison Airport in Dallas. Went on to fly freight for a while,
then up to captain on a Lear 25, I believe. Now he is second officer on
Gulfstream 200. He sent a photo of his "office". He is not even 30 years
old!

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

Robert M. Gary wrote:

On Oct 10, 6:24 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:

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.)


Become an Engineer and then buy his own plane.

I am an engineer and I had to wait a loooonnnnngg time to buy a plane.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

On Oct 10, 10:08 pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
On Oct 10, 7:07 pm, "Tom Conner" wrote:





"Robert M. Gary" wrote in oglegroups.com...

On Oct 10, 6:24 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:
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.)

Become an Engineer and then buy his own plane.

Ha, ha. Very funny. Become an engineer and watch your job be out-sourced by
some doofus with an MBA who doesn't know which end is up, but can run a
spreadsheet.

Uh, I'm an engineer with mulitple patents AND an MBA. No shortage of
jobs here in the U.S.. I get calls frequently. Lots of companies are
having a very, very hard time filling recs in the U.S. There just
aren't enough engineers. We have people getting hired right out of
school and getting relocation packages to move across the country. Its
pretty slim pickings for employeers out there.

-Robert'- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Robert, you sound like the guy from Microsoft:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/071010/oc...2262.html?.v=1

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.

Tom Conner wrote:

Ha, ha. Very funny. Become an engineer and watch your job be out-sourced by
some doofus with an MBA who doesn't know which end is up, but can run a
spreadsheet.



OK, so become an MBA, and buy the plane with the bonus from outsourcing
the engineering dept. based on a spreadsheet. G

On Oct 11, 8:35 am, Ross wrote:

Become an Engineer and then buy his own plane.

I am an engineer and I had to wait a loooonnnnngg time to buy a plane.

Forth year out of school and that was only because we had just bought
a big house.

On Oct 11, 8:07 am, Richard Riley wrote:
On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:09:57 -0000, "Robert M. Gary"

wrote:
Become an engineer

Get an MBA

Become a VP of engineering.

Not everyone is that smart. I guess we need to keep jobs around for
those with less intellect.

If you have the smarts to become an engineer, you have the smarts for
an MBA.

Oh, I'm certainly not saying you have to be smart to get an MBA. I'm
saying you have to be a little bit smart as an engineer to realize
that you *NEED* an MBA.

-Robert

On Oct 11, 6:26 am, Andrew Gideon wrote:
On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:09:57 +0000, Robert M. Gary wrote:

Though he never mentioned his motivation for the MBA to me, he did
mention that the MBA degree was *far* easier than the engineering
degree. We discussed it a lot, actually, while I was taking a mix of
business and engineering classes at my undergrad (and I was whining about
issues such as how the finance classes *avoided* calculus, even when it
was a natural fit for the problem under discussion).

Sounds like your father was smart enough to know he needed the MBA. An
MBA my itself is not that impressive; it needs to be married to
another degree. The engineering undergrad with MBA is a *VERY *
powerful combo and produces lots of job offers.

-Robert

Robert M. Gary wrote:
On Oct 11, 8:35 am, Ross wrote:


Become an Engineer and then buy his own plane.

I am an engineer and I had to wait a loooonnnnngg time to buy a plane.


Forth year out of school and that was only because we had just bought
a big house.


Started flying in 1970, bought plane in 1996. In between paid for homes,
raised 2 kids, owned a 21' boat (sold boat in 1996), college for both,
had vacations, etc. You did great to get one in four years out of college.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI