Aviation Degree & Night Of The Living Dead

[Colonel]

Like a Zombie that refuses to die and climbs out of it's cemetery grave on a full moon night,
waving it's claws at the sky, the Aviation Degree™ refuses to die.

You want to become a pilot? Get an ATP. All else is bullshit. Screw this "frozen" shit. Spend
1500 hours in an airplane. As much of it by yourself as possible, making all the decisions.

You want a degree? Well, a useful one would be a BSc in something useful - possibly even
from a reputable school, but this is not necessary. You want to get a BA in basket-weaving
from the University of Phoenix (snicker) based on your "life experience", well, that will get
you past the fat lady in HR separating the resumes into two piles - those with and without
paper.

But you know what I think about paper. It's nice, but all too often decoupled from the real
world. Get yourself some knowledge and some skill that will keep you alive and maybe even
employed.

You want to become a pilot? Get an ATP.

It would be nice if you learned some really basic mathematics and physics and chemistry
and biology and economics in an under-graduate degree, but as we can see from all the
morons with undersized frontal lobes and gold bars on their shoulders, it certainly isn't
necessary.

Business knowledge is something that is nearly completely lacking in pilots, and I don't
understand why. See, the supposed pinnacle of aviation is a "commercial air service"
(sound of trumpets) but pilots, especially experienced ones, pride themselves upon
their ignorance of finance, marketing, economics and accounting.

You know. Commerce. What they do for a living.

Like the lift equation, supply and demand and the price elasticity curve might as well
be nuclear physics to most pilots.

And that's why you get a degree. So you comprehend the world around you, unlike
a deer on the 401. You don't get a degree for the fat lady in HR. That horrifies me,
when people waste their time and money getting empty, worthless paper for the
sake of paperwork.

Acquire knowledge and skill through worthwhile (possibly informal) education and
experience. Once you have that, acquiring the qualifications is merely a formality.

At least, that's how we did things in the 20th Century. Quaint.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I only finished grade eight.

For me that worked quite well.

[Colonel]

Free suggestion on how to learn more than any "Aviation Degree" will teach you:

Learn how to fly a single engine land aircraft. Doesn't matter high wing, low wing,
tailwheel, nose dragger, certified or homebuilt.

Let's say you're in Ontario. My sympathies. Fly south to Florida. Go to Key West.
Bonus points for the Bahamas. Fly west. N'awlins. Texas. Rockies. Grand Canyon.
Vegas, if that's your style. North up California to BC. East through the Rockies and
through AB, SK, MB which is boring as fuck. Ask yourself if you want to spend the
rest of your life doing that.



At the end of this little Lap of North America, you will have learned an awful lot
about flying your little airplane to different places with different weather.

More than any Aviation Degree, which will waste years of your life and far more money.

[Colonel]

I only finished grade eight

Education and intelligence are only loosely coupled.

What I learned as 25 years as a flight instructor is that learning does not
necessarily occur during education. Learning often occurs when there is
no formal education occurring whatsoever.

Free advice: fly as many different kinds of airplanes, to as many different
places as you can. That's the real education that you need.

For the convenience of maintenance and operations and to keep costs down,
any puppy mill is going to have a fleet of identical aircraft. While that is good
for them, as a student it is very bad for you. You want to go to a school where
every aircraft is a different type, including rotary wing. This flight school, for
example, has the right idea:

https://www.ntps.edu/descriptions/descriptions.html

Any TC Inspector could jump into any of those, and fly the snot out of them,
which is why they get to tell everyone else how to fly. Ask them to demonstrate
tailslides in tactical jets, for example.

[Scudrunner]

Ah that picture of the jet jock.

Friend of mine was flying the Harvard II in the RCAF after a stint in the Seakings, I ran into him on the KLAS ramp. He said he was thinking of calling it quits and wanted to go Airlines but he had a shot at the Snowbirds if he reupped.

I said to him "this type of flying is boring shit man, the most excitement is when there is a free buffet at the hotel". I went on to say if you got a shot at the Snowbirds that is every kids dream and your this close! you can do this crap the rest of your life. Reup and the worst you've done is play with one of those for 4 more years. I like to think I am a pretty convincing fellow and that he listened to me. I'm sure hes smart enough to figure it out so he reupped and flew 3 season with the Snowbirds and then went to AC, just in time to get laid off.
Welcome to the airlines

[Colonel]

flew 3 season with the Snowbirds

If that's all someone ever does in their life, that's plenty!

Personally, I think Billy Joel should have retired in 1980.

Welcome to the airlines

Reminds me. Anyone talking to Rockie, tell him he was right
that I've been stupid about my career choices. Just like he
was right about Orange Man Bad, Hilary Good.

[Colonel]

More DP action. Chuck wasn't joking about sweaty balls.

[Liquid_Charlie]

I think the aviation degrees are a bit of a scam. Just a way for a flying school to recruit naive candidates and separate them from their money. The degree is practically useless outside of aviation, I've even seen schools offering a PHD in aviation, what the fuck is that. I can remember the day when Seneca College grads were black listed and not wanted at most carriers.It's pretty obvious to most people (except the young starry eyed youth) that getting a useful degree (not just a BA) and wanting to chase metal makes a lot more sense if one has the tools to bail when the reality light snaps on. I think having a successful career outside of aviation that allows you to play and enjoy flying is the ultimate yellow brick road.

I went the other way, no degree and a life of driving aircraft. I must say it worked out for me but being a tramp with no fixed address isn't for everyone. I always had my anchor point in Sioux Lookout but most of my later life(the money years) in aviation I always maintained 2 residences. The caption in my life was and is "I am a confirmed bachelor who took an 8 year sabbatical". I just cringe when I see 20 year old pilots who are cunt struck thinking that a new wifey will handle the early years. It affects their thinking as well since the little head is in control. Aviation, especially in the early years is for whores and sluts and family should be deferred until at least mid to late thirties for any chance of stability. I flew with a guy who had to call his wife at every stop, well going up Baffin in the 80's this was a real pain in the ass. He didn't last, wife says come home and he quits. To be fair to the genders, while this is from a man's perspective it goes for women in aviation as well. The ladies who did the best were the ones who would call a spade a fucking shovel or tell you to fuck off if they were upset.


The irony of this current situation, while being very extreme, it does educate the young guns to the realities of flying for a career. I once had an old engineer tell me that the only real thing close to job security, as a pilot, was working in the north. He told me that there wasn't even rationing during the war for the north. The covid thing has demonstrated this as well. The northern carriers that carry freight are flying their asses off. My buddy here who owns his own little airline with a found and a beaver says it's the busiest he has ever been during winter and spring.

As for me I'm enjoying the spring and the lake is open and all boats will soon be in the water. I just hope the weather turns hot soon. Yup a little walleye, yup and not pickerel, it seems canada has been wrong all these years and a pickerel is actually part of the pike family and canadians have been wrong all these years -- haha -- score one for the dudes.

[Colonel]

Great photo!

schools offering a PhD in aviation

Oh my God. I laughed so hard I started to pee, then had trouble breathing.

If you get a PhD in aviation, does everyone else in the company have to call you "Doctor"?!

But after I changed my underwear and got my breath back, this got me thinking. A PhD
is awarded to an individual with many years of post-graduate study with broad knowledge
of their field of study AND an original contribution to it.

And that's exactly what a CAR 602.01 (careless/reckless) charge is. An expression of real
innovation in aviation - you have figured out something to do, that TC didn't think of in
the last 100 years, that no one else has ever done.

Clearly, TC should be handing out PhD's in aviation along with the contravention letters on
CAR 602.01.

[Liquid_Charlie]

I always wanted to be call admiral so I could have 5 bars