ryleypav
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Posts posted by ryleypav
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So got an update from my recruiter this morning. In MI by the way. He said MEPS is closed until May, but saw me on the schedule still so he was going to call and figure out whats going on exactly.
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6 hours ago, Desk Jobs Suck said:
Anyone getting through to MEPS?
Going tomorrow morning. They are only open on Tuesdays. Tuesdays are safe from the 'Rona.
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1 hour ago, torqued said:
The Governors of Kentucky and Michigan immediately spring to mind.
As a Michigan resident, I will say, our Governor may over overstepped her bounds. Sure. Not going to argue that point. However, there are many people who just dont bother to read the legislation and spread misinformation to the masses. All of a sudden people are shouting out how its now all of a sudden illegal to buy seeds and have a garden. Turns out, if you actually read things, you can most definitely buy seeds and lawn/garden equipment from a store so long as it isn't over 50,000 sq-ft (i.e. Menards or Lowes where people stand around in the garden section for days on end). So any local hardware store is fine. The use of motorboats seems to be the big point of contention here. While I agree its a touch to far, I get it too. I went flying the other day and there were probably 200+ boats out on the Bay fishing. At that point in time, so long as everyone in the boat was from the same house, you were fine. I know for a fact that many were not following this. On the same note, that is 200+ people going to the gas station and 200+ people going else where to get supplies. I believe that same train of thought is applied to industries like Lawn care, and golf courses here in MI. The activities themselves can be done in isolation, but not the preparation.
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18 hours ago, nunya said:
My ROTC offering even specified “Electrical Engineering.” Nah.
You mean witchcraft.
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7 hours ago, FLEA said:
I second this. I desperately wished I would have done a STEM degree as I want out of the AF but don't want to go airlines.
Additionally, if the choice is STEM with scholarship or not STEM without scholarship, deeply consider taking the scholarship. Student loans will haunt you a long time and financially I've always felt I'm 5 years behind everyone else because I spent years dumping everything I had I to debt while they started investments. Money may not be important now but it will be later, especially nearing the end of your commitment when you want some safety net to explore getting out.
This is one thing I definitely like to stress. You gotta have something to fall back on if aviation doesn't work out. I know that *knock on wood* with my STEM degree, I shouldn't ever have a difficult time getting a job. Student loans suck, so agreed. Get that scholarship money and get as much of it as you can. My biggest regret is not working harder to get more of it.
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52 minutes ago, SocialD said:
I can't imagine the average pilot will fly enough per year to justify owning their own plane. Couple reasons I own. For one, I love flying tailwheel aircraft and there isn't one for rent within 100 miles of me. There is one place that has tons of tailwheel aircraft, but it's a 2.5 hour drive and their insurance restrictions are ridiculous (still a cool place). With my own aircraft, I can fly it anytime and anywhere I want. I like knowing what's going on with the plane...I've seen videos of guys doing some pretty stupid shit in rental planes. Finally, I enjoy the "community" out at the airport, our airfield has Cubs, N3Ns, L-5s, a chipmunk, a Meridian and everything in-between. We have a good group that loves to share rides and have beers at the end of the day.
It's a bit extreme and you really have to have a passion for aviation, but I hope to move to a fly-in type community when I get out of the Guard. I've hung out at a few and it's awesome grabbing a coffee in the am and strolling down the road (taxiway) and wondering into hangars. Guys are always willing to show you their planes, plus there are tons of A&Ps around to learn from...which is always great for airplane ownership. Not every community is created equal, so you have to choose wisely.
This. Tailwheel clubs are hard to find. Not an owner yet, but hopefully one day. That and being able to have the luxury to say, "Weather's good, I'm going flying" is enough for me. Dealing with a club takes that away. Which is where I'm at. Thankfully my club is ridiculously cheap and no overnight min, but the freedom of owning cant be beat.
Fly-in communities look awesome. They are few and far between here in MI from what I can tell. I'm hoping to get a piece of land and stick a half-mile strip on it when I'm able someday. Hopefully pair it with a nice Stearman or N3N. Gotta have dreams right! I have a buddy who has a Stearman with a grass strip at home and nothing beats turning into the driveway to see a Stearman or the Supercub sitting in the front yard.
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Probably a few reasons. One, engineers are generally thought of as "smart" people (as a practicing engineer, I can tell you this is most definitely not true) and in general, people think you need to be extremely intelligent to fly an airplane. Not that you dont need to be smart, but simply flying isn't rocket science....unless your an astronaut, then it literally is. Engineers are also problem solvers by trade, which bodes well to flying aircraft in general and in an military environment I would guess as well. Not to toot my own horn, but acquiring and engineering degree not easy. I would say it is difficult for 90% of people that get them. There is a lot of complex information to learn while getting that degree and I think that bodes well to the mindset you need to have going into pilot training. Bottom line, the degree you have doesn't mean you can fly a plane better than the guy next to you, but I think it does influence your train of thought, problem solving methodology, and critical thinking skills. All that said, you still need a good GPA. That is what is important. Cool, you got a degree in particle physics? Well that doesnt mean diddly if you graduated with a 2.5. A 4.0 in basket weaving is better than a low GPA in engineering. To add, I know a A-10 pilot and a F-15C pilot, both have degrees in Crop/Soil science or something like that. So it really doesn't matter.
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Just ordered his book. Hopefully its just as good a read as that article.
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6 hours ago, GoldenNuget said:
Thanks a ton for the great information! I do know that other engineering fields have a little less flexibility (i.e. Civil and maybe ChemE) than ComSci, EE, CompE, etc. I'm going to do my due diligence regarding the right mix of job + location + airframe to make sure it works well. Once again, thank you for taking the time to respond.
Edit: I meant to ask, which airframe do you fly and it seems like you are in a perfect mix right now between your civil career and your flying career. How are you managing to currency for TR at the moment?
Looks like I forgot some context. My bad. Not currently a mil flyer. Mostly just speaking out of my ass at the moment/going off of the limited exposure and knowledge of things I have so far. I was picked up by a tanker unit, but still in process for getting the whole shebang going.
But its really going to come down to your civ employer and how much well they work with people in the military. You'll want to use your USERRA rights to the fullest, but you dont want to burn bridges at the same time not being there ever, or not getting projects done on time.
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I am currently an mechanical engineer (so YMMV) and on my side of things in the mechanical world, if I were needed to leave on trips all of the time, it would be a giant PIA not only for me, but for my team. A lot can happen in engineering in one week. Not always, but it can. And with all the milestones and timing to keep, bouncing the job back and forth from you to the person who covers for you can be difficult. Not impossible, but definitely difficult. For example, right now my team is in the development phase for some new electric power steering program and the thing evolves daily if not by the hour. If I straight up missed a week of work and didn't keep up on emails, I'd be in the dark when I came back. However, if you are in the position where you need to keep up on currencies several times a month/are traditional, I could see it being possible if you lived close to base/work. But, as you said you're computer engineering and I know plenty of people who could straight up work from wherever they sit down so long as they have the hardware necessary to do the job. On the other side of things, I dont know much about ops tempo's and currencies yet so my bit may be irrelevant as well.
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3 hours ago, admdelta said:
Personally I’ve always interpreted this just as “don’t mail us a hard copy.” I’ve been to meet and greets with squadrons where their job postings have said they accept emailed versions only, but they were asking if anybody had a hard copy they wanted to turn in.
It probably all depends on the squadron of course but if he brings it and asks and they say no, I don’t think they’d hold that against him.
Agreed. I doubt they'd hold it against him either. But, the only way to truly get an answer is to as the POC for the board.
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18 hours ago, Burger said:
Got a question bros,
So if the squadron lists in the application criteria to email the app only, would it be frowned upon to deliver a hard copy when you rush? Or would hand delivering it and emailing be the best option?
In my opinion, it says to email only.Part of this process is being able to follow explicit directions and pay attention to details. So to me, that answers the question right there. You could always just ask them to be sure. Just my $0.02.
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Agree with pretty much everything that has been said. Having the PPL should help already. If you haven't, get some feed back from the interviews you already had. Hopefully they will tell you exactly what their thought process was. The unit that hired me gave me feed back and I took it to heart and kept applying. Just keep pushing. I applied to the same unit 4 times over the course of around 3 years and interviewed with them 3 times before they finally hired me. Getting my PPL and being persistent showing I really wanted to be there is what I think finally got me the gig. Rush units and hangout on UTAs if they will let you. Even if its not a "meet and greet" weekend. Some units will let you do that.
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12 hours ago, EvilEagle said:
Never happened before but this Hilton popup at the bottom of the screen goes right over the bottom of the reply/message container. Unable to click to enter reply. Tried it on Chrome, Edge and IE. Hilton - you are killing me!
Run the adblocker extension in chrome. Shouldn't be an issue with that.
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18 hours ago, PapaSwan said:
@ryleypav yes I am within 10 hours of finishing my PPL
Get that bad boy done asap. Not all unit's require it. But a lot of them "require" if you catch my drift. Or at least they see it as a good indicator that you are passionate about aviation.
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Do some searching on here and on the google machine. You should be able to find enough resources to use for practicing for the TBAS, since you plan on retaking it. Additionally, get that PPL finished up. I'm assuming you are close with 39hrs?
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20 hours ago, FDNYOldGuy said:
You're fine and, if you interview well, you likely won't get more than a passing rib of math not being your strong suit. My quant was about half of yours (the rest of my scores were comparable to yours) and, besides for a ball-breaking in the interview with me admitting I'm a bit math...challenged..., not one person has mentioned a thing about my bad Quant score.
Knock the TBAS out of the park, put together a solid packet, and interview well, no one is likely gonna care about the scores.
Agreed. Once I got to the interviews, they never really asked why any scores were lower than the rest. Like everyone says over and over. Its a whole person concept. One score on the AFOQT isn't going to be the make or break if everything else is solid.
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15 hours ago, Lisenbyjacob said:
So would it be inappropriate to attach a LOR with my resume or advisable to just stick to what they're asking?
I would follow their instructions as listed. If they wanted a LOR at that point, they would ask for one. Attention to detail is key.
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8 minutes ago, sartoreabram said:
Does anyone have any insight on the MacDill board coming up in June? I know the applications are due March 1st and I have looked at the info on BogiDope for a timeline. Just wondering if anyone knows how competitive/how many candidates usually are asked to rush or are interviewed. I only ask because most job postings have a very direct/cut and dry list of what to send in whereas the posting for MacDill is very laid back and just says shoot a resume to the email listed. Any info or tips would be great, thanks
Most likely, once you send the resume they will send you the package requirements.
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42 minutes ago, tarheelaviator said:
To those that get discouraged by numbers like this dont be. Of those 180 once you start accounting for how many lack competitive AFOQT/PCSM scores, didn't visit, have close to zero flight hours, were just socially awkward, etc that whittles the numbers down. The Pacific Northwest is also a cool place to live which attracts more applicants and this board was very clear they had 4 openings (very unusual). The bar for simply emailing an application isn't that high. One of the pilots I met in Portland had to apply for 3 separate UPT boards before he got in. Focus on what you can control and keep your heads up kings.
Shoot, I applied 4 times at the same unit and interviewed 3 times before I got in (still pending MEPS/FC1). Just gotta keep pushing for what you want.
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20 hours ago, xwingexplorer said:
Did you address your age in your cover letter / resume / application at all? Something like "I know i'm older but I bring xyz to the table..."? I figured I wouldn't, that if they like me enough to interview me I could address it at the interview, but curious how other older applicants handled this. Thanks!
They can do the simple math about your age. Give them reasons to hire you. Not reasons for the opposite. You dont need to say " I am this age but, I am this old but I can do this." Just highlight your strengths regardless of age.
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To add, even showing you are actively working towards your PPL goes a long way. Feedback I received once was that I wasn't making as much progress towards the PPL as I had planned. I was in the same boat as you in school. Its hard when you are balancing work and school and then flying on top of that. But the biggest thing is to keep pushing forward. The unit told me to get my PPL so I did and I definitely think that was a large decision factor in me getting hired. I showed the passion and drive to get done what needed to.
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Take my advice with a grain of salt. But I think you've got a pretty decent overall package for an application. Scores are good, but definitely need the TBAS score to really get an overall picture. Start visiting units you want to apply to if they will let you/as you have the funds. You're background seems pretty diverse and leadership based which will go a long way. I think you have a great shot at getting picked up somewhere provided people get along with you at the units. Like everyone will say, its the whole person concept. Don't let any rejections keep you down. I applied 4 times and interviewed 3 times with one unit because I wanted to fly specifically with them. Just had to bug them long enough. Also, I realize its expensive, but get that PPL done. While not an actual requirement in every application, its helps tremendously and is sometimes an informal requirement. Be a good dude and dont make yourself out to be someone you're not and things will go well for you.
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Definitely 1 page on the cover letter. 3 paragraphs. Just look up the standard format and you'll be all set. Use it as a very top level introduction. Use the interview to explain the rest in detail.
Cost of owning a plane
in General Discussion
Posted
I know its a bit off from any 4 seater, but if your looking for something cheap to just putz around in until you can get back to Herk school, C120/140s are extremely cheap to buy/operate. Theres one for sale I saw yesterday that was 22k, metalized wings, 400SMOH and around 3k on the air-frame maybe? Maybe less. No fancy avionics. But I believe it had radios and was ADSB compliant. 85hp engine so it sips fuel. Cant get much cheaper.