Work hard.

[Colonel]

I love your Cessna Citation XLS+

[TwinOtterFan]

I don’t know what school in the area this is, but I was a bit surprised to see it on the AvCanada.

Our School is at 195 hr for a 172m and 70 hr for VFR instruction. Were out in Alberta.

Last I checked Calgary flying club was still around $175/hour for a 172.

I don't remember the exact numbers I read while I was their but it was much cheaper than my current rate. They gave me a tour of the place, instructors seemed nice, its a much smaller operation than where I am at now. Which is something I like. Planes seem well maintained, airport isn't crazy busy. PA isn't to far.

And as mentioned the driving distance is a huge improvement, plus with my wife's promotion and move she doesn't want me to work right away. She told me to finish my PPL after we've moved before getting another job as I am in her opinion "crusty" because I did not finish it in Ontario. She's not wrong I am a bit frustrated to be switching schools so close to the end, but not something I was in control of.

[Colonel]

I am a bit frustrated to be switching schools

This probably won't help but ....

You will be a better pilot for it. You will fly with different instructors on different airplanes in different places.

If you had the time and the money, you would be an incredible Private Pilot if you flew 10 hours on ten
different airplanes with 10 different instructors before your flight test. Each of them would teach you
something different. This is incredibly valuable experience.

The best pilot, is often simply the one that knows the most. The most experienced. He's seen this
particular situation before, and knows how to deal with it.

Peter here, had the craziest Pitts instruction I have ever heard of. His job routinely took him to cities
all over North America, so he would check ahead and find out who in the next new city, had a two
seat Pitts. And he would get instruction from him.

He maybe flew with 10 different instructors on 10 different Pitts on 10 different runways at 10
different airports, before he soloed his Pitts. Overkill? Perhaps, but he doesn't seem to have
any trouble keeping it straight on the runway.

In academia, it is considered extremely poor form to get your undergrad, masters and doctorate
at the same school with the same Prof. I know a guy, went to Last Chance U (Carleton) outside
of Ottawa for his undergrad engineering. Everyone laughed. Then he did his masters at U of T.
The laughing died down. Then he did his PhD at Stanford. I didn't hear anybody laughing then.
He retired as a Fellow from Google years ago. That means he has more money than Jesus,
and he's been saving for 2,000 years.

And, he went to Last Chance U. And everyone laughed. I remember.

[David MacRay]

I think my wife might prefer me “crusty “.

Yeah switching schools is probably a pain but hopefully it will build character or some other bologna catch phrase. Just hang in, you’ll get it done.

When the Wx cooperates there’s lots of quiet airspace around here. Makes for casual flying.

I always laughed when guys were going to get a CPL yet were stressed about extra hours during PPL training. You are still going to need more to get that 200. Don’t worry about it.

[TwinOtterFan]

Good point Colonel, and I agree, I think I'm more frustrated that it's going to delay getting my PPL, and I do feel a little bad that my current instructor will not be getting a recommend for me.

But I'm not opposed to trying different planes or instructors. I agree that it will only broaden my horizon.

[Squaretail]

Give me an example of something you feel was spectacular

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, so let's just say he had his ICAS card
at age 18 (solo and form) and before he was 30, earning more than any pilot
in Canada.

Both of those were a lot of hard work.

Those sound like great achievements, I don't doubt they took a lot of effort on his part. Though for what its worth, saying you make more money than any pilot in Canada isn't really saying much. Its not a high bar. FWIW, my wife also earns a six figure wage and makes more than any pilot in Canada. Do you think she and your son are equally hard workers based solely upon that data point?

But you made a pretty big boast in saying he works harder than anyone you know, so either you don't know a lot of people, or have a special way of qualifying his level of work. I mean I know all of my progenitors, and holy fuck those people did work. They did lots of hard, brutal work. I doubt you or I would have lasted a day in some of their shoes. But they were hardly successful, their reward was surviving, and making sure that the rest of us who came after had an easier time of it. Now since then the nature of work has changed enough that we have to redefine a bit what it is to "work"

For example, part of my day started cleaning airplanes. I had a bit of open time in my schedule and it was a task that needed to be done. I could have put it off, or detailed someone else to do it. I mean, I'm chief pilot after all, I could have told myself I'm too important and such things are beneath my station. Now by doing that, does that make me a hard worker? There was no reward for that, I could have easily drank coffee instead, or watched cartoons at home and came in later. It didn't progress to making me "more successful" by any measurable amount. I did it because it mattered to me, and that was all I needed. For the second half of my work day I conducted some interviews and audited some maintenance packages. The former its hard to define it as "work". Its certainly something I got paid for, and maybe the "work" aspect comes from I took on responsibility more than anything else, which is another form of work - maybe we can think of it as potential work, any time you take a responsibility for something, its backed up by the potential for actual work down the road. It also used my time, on someone else's scheduling, so definitely fell into the category of work. Auditing was not hard work, merely tedious. Again responsibility was taken. With the latter two, I can't think of how I could have did them "harder" unless I arbitrarily made them more difficult. Nor would making them "harder" have somehow contributed to my overall success. Tonight I type this while I keep an eye on supper, then will likely do dishes - the home work things that are necessary for survival. I suppose I could have been lazier and ordered out, and/or leave the dishes, and occasionally do, but today my home made roasted garlic marinara sauce is tasting pretty good. Later I'm planning to practice my guitar for a few hours, like I have every night I'm home for the past two months. Not sure if I call that work. Play hard? Its results will probably never qualify as a spectacular success, so some may define it as nothing worthwhile.

What you think is bullshit, I guess,
from your collectivist cultural viewpoint.

What's bullshit, is I have been constantly expected to adhere to what someone else's view of hard work and success is, usually from the aim of devaluing my work. Usually there's a self-made conceit element to it, which usually is their justification for trying to step on you, not compensate you for work rendered or in general fuck you over under the guise that "its just business".

Its my experience that a majority of people work hard, or reasonably so. Many may not be successful, at least successful by your standard or even mine. I know few (and yes they are out there) really lazy and generally useless non contributing zeros. I'm even related to a few. But not being successful is more a function of poor choices and as opposed to working hard at anything.

So if you were to tell me your son has made some really smart choices in life, that has led to his success in certain aspects, I really couldn't argue with that. One of those choices may have been to put a lot of effort towards specific goals. Again, I can't argue.

[CpnCrunch]

I love your Cessna Citation XLS+

Yours too.

[Colonel]

I say again (because it got lost):

1) work like a dog
2) keep your mouth shut
3) win at the politics

(3) seems to have been ignored, but winning at the politics is kind of
important. You'd better focus your efforts pretty precisely and make
some good decisions to do that.

For example, let's say we have someone that sweeps floors harder
and longer than anyone else on the planet. Well he's got (1) in the
bag. And let's say he isn't a pain in the @ss to his co-workers and
his management, whining and complaining all the time and causing
trouble. Ok, he's got (2).

But does he have (3) ? Is our floor sweeper winning at the politics?
I would have to say "no" if he doesn't get promoted, and continues
to sweep floors year after year.

Winning at the politics is not easy. It is not trivial, and it is necessary.

Politics is everywhere. You married? Plenty of politics there. It's
going to cost you terribly if you don't win at that political game.

[Squaretail]

I would argue that you can't win 3) if you adhere to 2) which might make doing 1) irrelevant.

[Colonel]

I am saddened by the defeatist attitude that it just doesn't matter. That is a sick society.

I have never known anyone to achieve anything worthwhile, that didn't take an awful lot of
hard work over a lot of years.

I know Hollywood pitches the entitled narrative that everyone is a one-in-a-billion unicorn
that everything will come to without any effort ("naturals", "phenomenons") but that simply
isn't true in the real world. As the dude said in the convocation video, "You are not special".

The harder I work, the luckier I get. I know, I know, I'm not a Good Canadian™ ... boy, have
I ever got that message.