I haven't posted much on here. In fact, I think my last post was when I did my first solo quite a while back, but as of Saturday, I finally became a pilot.
I always had dreams of becoming a pilot, but my naiveite led me to believe that it was not possible to pursue as a career. Like so many others, I was told you cannot fly for an airline unless you fly military first and you cannot be a military pilot without an engineering or physics degree. Not being the strongest math student out there, I took those words to heart without doing my own due diligence. I ultimately enlisted in the Air Force in 2008 and after working with pilots, I realized many of them had history, business, accounting, etc degrees. I realized that not only was it possible to be a professional pilot without flying for the military, but also realized that you don't have to be a natural born genius to fly for the military either, you just have to have the work ethic, the right attitude, and the fortitude to make them tell you NO! By the time I finished my degree, I wasn't at the right point in my life to make the career change, so I set out to pursue this passion on my own as a hobby. I started this process back in 2016 and after 4 lessons, my instructor became ill never to fly again. It took a few years to find an instructor locally that could accommodate my crazy life schedule and in 2020 I found one. Multiple delays happened over the last year and a half from my instructor getting recalled back to the airlines, airplane maintenance, the aircraft getting sold and having to transition to a new one in short order before my checkride; weather and just life in general, but March 26, 2022 is a day that will always stand out for me.
My point here for anyone who is just starting the process is to pursue your passion no matter what anyone tells you. The military flying community lives by the mantra of "Make them tell you no" when you are chasing a pilot slot and I think it is important to have that mindset in any aspect of flying. Whether it be a high school guidance counsellor telling you you're not smart enough to be a pilot, or another person telling you not to even try because you wear glasses, keep pushing and make them tell you no!
Special thanks to the POA community. Many of you kept me motivated along the way without even knowing it.
Now its time to put the foggles on for the next few months while I chase the next rating!
I always had dreams of becoming a pilot, but my naiveite led me to believe that it was not possible to pursue as a career. Like so many others, I was told you cannot fly for an airline unless you fly military first and you cannot be a military pilot without an engineering or physics degree. Not being the strongest math student out there, I took those words to heart without doing my own due diligence. I ultimately enlisted in the Air Force in 2008 and after working with pilots, I realized many of them had history, business, accounting, etc degrees. I realized that not only was it possible to be a professional pilot without flying for the military, but also realized that you don't have to be a natural born genius to fly for the military either, you just have to have the work ethic, the right attitude, and the fortitude to make them tell you NO! By the time I finished my degree, I wasn't at the right point in my life to make the career change, so I set out to pursue this passion on my own as a hobby. I started this process back in 2016 and after 4 lessons, my instructor became ill never to fly again. It took a few years to find an instructor locally that could accommodate my crazy life schedule and in 2020 I found one. Multiple delays happened over the last year and a half from my instructor getting recalled back to the airlines, airplane maintenance, the aircraft getting sold and having to transition to a new one in short order before my checkride; weather and just life in general, but March 26, 2022 is a day that will always stand out for me.
My point here for anyone who is just starting the process is to pursue your passion no matter what anyone tells you. The military flying community lives by the mantra of "Make them tell you no" when you are chasing a pilot slot and I think it is important to have that mindset in any aspect of flying. Whether it be a high school guidance counsellor telling you you're not smart enough to be a pilot, or another person telling you not to even try because you wear glasses, keep pushing and make them tell you no!
Special thanks to the POA community. Many of you kept me motivated along the way without even knowing it.
Now its time to put the foggles on for the next few months while I chase the next rating!
