Aviation Diplomas

[Colonel]

Also, people are horrible snobs about their degrees. What bullshit.

Case in point. A friend of mine got his undergrad engineering from
Carleton in Ottawa, which is derided by the academic snobs as
"Last Chance U"

He then went to U of T and did his Master's in Engineering.

He then went to Stanford and did his PhD in Engineering.

He retired from Google a few years back, at the rank of "Fellow" which
doesn't sound like much to a pilot, but it means "millionaire" out here.

To become a Google Fellow, a Level 10, is to win an honor that will follow you for life.

Google Fellows are usually the world's leading experts in their fields.

So, my old buddy, that went to Last Chance U (Carleton) has a PhD from Stanford,
is a Google Fellow, and has more $$$ in the bank than any degree snob I know.

[Colonel]

John Boyd > Quotes

“One day you will come to a fork in the road and you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go.

He raised his hand and pointed. “If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments.”

Then Boyd raised his other hand and pointed in another direction. “Or you can go that way and you can do something- something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself.

If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call.

That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?”

People who ride on the laurels of their degrees have chosen to BE somebody.

You can thank John Boyd for the F-15, F-16, F-18 and A-10. As a Colonel, he once fired
a USAF General - phoned up the Secretary of Defence and said the General had to go.

The Generals feared and hated Col John Boyd. But nobody remembers them, do they?

[Slick Goodlin]

And to somebody trying to make a decision between two seemingly equal candidates, that piece of paper would tip the scales.

It’s true, I once missed out on a job because I was a Class 2 instructor and the other guy was a Class 1. Bear in mind this was a a position that had not ever, nor ever would, actually require the qualifications of a Class 1.

Coincidentally, he and I had both been prepping for our Class 1s together about six months prior but when the TC guy was available to do rides I chose to go fly biplanes instead. No regrets.

[Colonel]

Sorry to hear about that. IMHO, years from now, you will think you made
the right decision, even if at the time it doesn't feel like it.

I remember my old boss at a company I used to work at. He was the
President and founder. He came to my cube with a resume, laughing.

The candidate had TWO PhD's. Completely useless.

My uncle used to be President of Great Lakes Forest Products in Thunder
Bay, and after the acquisition, was Executive VP of Canadian Pacific.

He was Sci 58 (like me, Queen's Engineering) and despised anyone with
a graduate degree. When he interviewed them, he would say, "You like to
waste your time. Why would I hire anyone like that?"

He never bothered getting an MBA. Bought textbooks on accounting,
finance, marketing and economics and read them all. Taught himself
what he needed to know. A real farm boy. Kakabeka Falls. Worked
harder than you would believe. Could fix anything. Had a great shop,
used to yell at me when I didn't put his tools back. Oh yeah, I blew up
his motorcycle engine. Didn't know you could do that to a Honda.

Qualifications are nice, I suppose, but it's possible to have too many
of them, which you guys will probably have trouble believing.

Also, I personally think qualifications are nearly useless. They get you
in the door, sure, but can you do the job? Qualifications are in the rear
view mirror.

I know lots of people with PhD's that can't do the job. But they sure
wasted a lot of years at school, presumably banging undergrads.

[vanNostrum]

'' Learn basic carpentry. Learn to plaster. Learn to paint.''

In 2008 my wife inherited an old house
Plaster and lath, knob&tube electrical, cast iron water pipes.
Since construction in 1936, never had an upgrade or major repair and had been vacant for the last 2 years.
The plaster ceiling in the DR had collapsed due to water damage froma broken pipe , the asbestos insulation wrapping the heating ducts
braking up, all three floors needed major repairs,some areas a complete gut job.The house was inhabitable but in a great location
and if fixed,worth a lot of money
I couldn't afford to hire a contractor ,quotes ranged from $ 75 K just to'' bring it up to code''to
$ 200 K for a modern open concept reno , or to hire the individual trades so I decided to do it myself

Electrical was quoted between 11 k and 16 k.
I was able to do a full re wire and get rid of the K&T for less than $2000, materials,some tools and permits included .
Passed all inspections with flying colors
I had never re wired a house before, however, my yrs of experience in ham radio gave me
the knowledge to work with an electrical system

Asbestos removal 9 K quoted
I bought a certified HEPA vac for $ 600, $ 800 for PP equipment,some tools, lots of poly and tape , lock down glue,special double plastic bags for the asbestos disposal ,
rental of a negative air pressure machine $ 300,disposal at the dump $ 250 and air tests $ 200.
For around $2 k I was able to do the job safely and compliant with the regulations
During the removal, some common principles of physics are at play
''Tents'' are build to isolate the working areas and by sucking the air in the tent with the HEPA vac, a low pressure area is created
and the surrounding air [High pr] will flow towards the tent Low prs,[ remember MET classes?] not allowing any contamination to flow outside
The asbestos insulation was wrapped around the old heating ducts in several places where contact existed with wooden frame members
and some sections where disconnected so I decided to remove all the heating ducts right up the third floors so a lot of damage was inflicted on the plaster walls

The original heating system was an old 'gravity'' oil furnace ' working on the principle of worm air rising and colder air descending . [sounds familiar?]
After the removal of all the old heating ducts I had to come up with a new duct system to work with a modern forced air gas furnace
One difficulty was that there were only 2 ducts for the 4 bedrooms in the upper floor and the new system had to be balance to provide the proper flow of air
according to the size of the room and distance to the furnace. Bernoulli came in handy in the design

So it pays to have skills unrelated to your line of work
Never know when you need them

[trey kule]

My original inquiry was the specific value of an aviation diploma if your had one, and were furloughed as a pilot.
It is my understanding that the vast majority of them are aviation specific, and in the current situation, not a lot of value in the aviation world.

But I am not sure if my facts are correct which was why I was asking, specifically about aviation college diplomas.

Anybody have and insight into that? Or what the majors are in the diploma programs. (If they have a major area).

I have seen some of the project assignment results, and they were really at a junior high school level. Always wondered how much value they would be.

[Colonel]

they were really at a junior high school level.

You've got to stop obsessing about Jill Biden's dissertation.

She's a doctor, and you're not.

[David MacRay]

There are lots of jobs that want you to have a degree, they don't really care what subject.

The reason in theory is it proves you can learn.

[Colonel]

Nah. Like Joe Biden said the reason his wife did it, was for status.

You must admit, "Paging Dr MacRay ... paging Dr MacRay ... nurses
requires your service in ER3" has a nice sound.

All you have to do, is make a nice donation to the University of Delaware.

[David MacRay]

No, that does not sound good at all, but I suppose, "Dr MacRay, your airplane is ready." does.

Then again... If I could afford to be making donations to universities beyond $50...