What constitutes a 'four bars' anyway?

[Colonel]

You get 8 bars for flying the SR-71
1000 hrs above FL800. 

The 9th and 10th bars are awarded
for each occasion that you outran
missles that were shot at you over
Libya.

Think [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distingui ... d_Kingdom)]DFC[/url] and bar (and second bar).

[quote]During World War I, approximately 1,100 DFCs were awarded, with 70 first bars and 3 second bars.

During World War II, 20,354 DFCs were awarded, the most of any award, with approximately 1,550 first bars and 45 second bars.[/quote]

[Gravel Digger]

I thought I was going to make it out unscathed, then he nailed me with this:

[quote author=Colonel link=topic=233.msg725#msg725 date=1433969763]


Then, someone with a shiny new SUV
will tell me that they don't have $15k
to buy half of a Pitts S1.

[/quote]

So at the end of the week when the big gravel eating birdie goes to bed,
I gotta go out and fly even more? There's a certain lady called the sea that needs my attention.

I'm a 4 bars with hurt feelings now, what could be worse than the beast that is I!? :D

[Eric Janson]

Ever wonder why it's 4 Bars?

Each bar represents the cost of wanting to be part of this business.

- Blood
- Sweat
- Tears
- Money

I'm sure a lot of us us that wear them have earned them the hard way. I certainly have.

[Colonel]

I used to play dressup when I was a kid, too.



As I got older, I realized that airplanes and
CPU's didn't pay much attention to what I
was wearing.

What's really funny is civilians at airshows
wearing ill-fitting flight suits, all covered
with random patches.

[Rookie Pilot]

Decided to wander over to this nest of vipers and make my first comment on a 4 bar analogy in my business (since I'm still a an aviation rookie) I'm a college dropout that however has been in my industry for a bit, and learned a thing or 2.  In that industry I'm thankful I work mostly with Americans and in their culture, and not the cozy country club this country largely is -- at least professionally.

The 4 bar equivalent that I disdain and occasionally mock, is the CFA, and especially MBA.  Fancier school, the better. This group , like the 4 bars from the right flight school, is hailed as instant experts in my field at the tender age of 25, while in reality after blowing 100k to earn a fancy degree, come out not even knowing the correct terminology, the right questions to ask, like nothing. Lost. And they never learn! Too arrogant to actually do so. 

And this is the group many of you trust your money to.  I find this amusing. 

I'd recommend instead finding someone without any degrees, but an expert poker, blackjack, risk, bridge, or chess player, and give him / her your money. Most of you wont remotely get this at all.  MBA's will be offended.

Since thats the point here, that's cool. Certainly I don't care. But the parallels are interesting, that's all.

[Colonel]

[quote]this nest of vipers[/quote]

Ooooh - I think you just hurt our feelings  :))


[quote] MBA ... Fancier school ... hailed as instant experts in my field at the tender age of 25[/quote]

You aren't exactly the only person to opine that
a young MBA is a young idiot.

There's nothing wrong with ongoing learning,
and after say 10 years of work experience some
business theory training won't hurt you, but
back when I was at cisco, I would try to save
people from wasting their money, getting an
MBA.

Look, I would tell them, buy one good textbook
on each of the following subjects:

- economics
- marketing
- finance
- accounting

and if there's a particular subject that spins
your crank (eg macro-economics) just keep
on reading.

Get the knowledge.  The letters after your
name are almost useless.

Does that sound familiar?  In aviation, I preach
that people should develop skill and knowledge,
and that the paper will follow.

NOT THE OTHER WAY 'ROUND.

PS I am NOT anti-B-school.  My sister did her
Bcomm at U of T, then an MHA.  My father
did his MBA at U of T, part-time, when he
was 40.  I just don't worship the letters -
they don't mean a hell of a lot in my family.

One of my uncles (my mother's younger
brother) is a hoot.  He was President
of Great Lakes Forest Products in Thunder
Bay, and then when onto become an EVP
at CN after the acquisition.  Many decades
ago, when I was a kid, I asked him why he
never got an MBA, and he said he just got
some textbooks and read them (hint hint).

He was ruthless, interviewing engineers
that had MBA's.  He would tell them that
they obviously liked to waste their time,
and why should he hire someone that likes
to waste their time?

Another one of my uncles worked for Peter
Lougheed as a cabinet minister.  He never
bothered with an MBA, either.  But you could
bet he had read a book or two.

Basically, there are two kinds of people in
the world.

1) the people that have to go on a course
and sit and watch powerpoint to learn

2) people who can read a book (or online)
and teach themselves.

Try really hard to be in group #2, because
you're going to spend the rest of your life
doing it.

Many pilots and ame's annoy me, because
they can only learn something when they
go on a course somewhere, and be fed
powerpoint pablum.  Look, I say, there
are the manufacturer's operating and
maintenance manuals.

[url=http://www.esscoaircraft.com/c-2401-civ ... craft.aspx][size=36pt][b]TRY READING THEM[/b][/size][/url]

N.B.  What is fascinating is that there is
a strong correlation between a pilot or
ame being a "powerpoint pablum" baby,
and their disdain for instruction and the
people involved.

They don't realize what a joke they are -
the irony entirely escapes them, that
the only way they can learn, is by being
spoonfed by the people they hold in
contempt.

Too funny.  I guess there's a lesson in
there for the human condition - people
hate the people, that help them.

[cgzro]

Yup, had some rather bad experiences with MBA's at Nortel and we all know where that ended up.

One of the funniest things you'll ever see regarding MBA's is the very first episode of Donal'd Trump's the apprentice, when three soccer moms beat all the MBA's running a lemonade stand in New York .. priceless.

[Rookie Pilot]

Look, I'm sure an MBA is useful to some, but I'd never likely do it now. Likely mess up my mind.  I leave them for the analyst lemming, sheeple crowd. Look I'm smart -- in my one year of college I scored 98% on my final mark for economics, thats without studying (and tutoring the prettier girls in class) ;D before I ran out of money and had to start working (where I learned even more ) -- but after 17 years in this game I'd humbly suggest throwing that stuff out and buying a copy of beat the dealer. (Stick and rudder?)

I do very, very well not because I know every nuance of financial modelling, even though I get the concepts, but I can predict human behaviour. Fascinating, actually.

[Colonel]

Few things can depress you more than a guy
with a PhD in Mech Eng that can't fix his car
when it won't start.

[size=36pt][b]GET THE KNOWLEDGE[/b][/size]

Bill Gates is a college dropout.  Think about that.

[size=36pt][b]DEVELOP THE SKILL[/b][/size]


PS  Economics is intuitively obvious to a bright
guy with aptitude.  Other people can collect as
many letters as you want, and they will still
believe that water runs uphill.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Can someone who never went past grade eight be a successful professional pilot?