*In case you missed Part 1 of my “Getting Started” story, read Astronauts, Free Flight Lessons, & The Embraer 145 – Part 1 now.

The last stop, or what we thought to be the last at the time, was Embry Riddle Daytona.  Who wouldn’t want to go to college in Daytona Beach?  Turns out, not me.  The school was nice but something was missing.  I think it was the fact that it was a predominately male college at the time of my visit and I just wasn’t sold on the place.  After visiting Riddle we retired for the day back at our hotel where we bumped into a Captain for American Airlines in the lobby.

We got to talking about flight schools and the places we had visited so far.  The Captain told us to cheek out the University of North Dakota (also known as UND).  My Dad and I were like, “Where?”  We thought we had already checked out most of the bigger named aviation colleges, but apparently it was time for a trip to Grand Forks, ND.

As soon as Dad and I got off the plane, I thought to myself, “There is no way I’m coming to school here.  It’s in the middle of nowhere!”  But I put my first impressions aside and went on the admissions tour.  The University was a full operating college with a lot more diversity than just aviation.  You could go to medical school, law school, engineering school, and so much more.  This appealed to me because it meant I would get to meet and mingle with people in other areas of life and career pursuit.

So I applied to UND and was accepted!  I completed all of my undergraduate courses and graduated 6 months early with a Bachelors of Science in Aeronautics and my Certified Flight Instructor certificate.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to do an aviation internship at Continental Express.  It was grand!  I had jumpseat privileges and I traveled my butt off all across the USA and Europe, getting the pleasure of riding in the flight decks of many awesome airliners.  How’s that for an internship perk?

During the internship it became apparent to me that the job market was a little rough for CFI’s so I resorted to enrolling in an aviation Masters Degree program.  This meant back to North Dakota for me!  I spent the whole next year back in Grand Forks taking Masters classes both in the classroom and online.  Then the time came for me to really look for a job.  I got on the UND job boards and applied to some CFI positions around the country.  This landed me a Flight Instructor job in Lynchburg, VA where I spent the next 5 years of my life.

Flight instructing was going great, I was teaching students from a local university and I had my own place to live.  Life seemed grand, but not for long.  As most with most Flight Instructors, I was trying to get a job out in the real world world of aviation – for me, that was the airlines.  After 16 months of flight instruction I was hired with the airlines and began my training as a First Officer to fly the Embraer 145.

Life was getting really exciting now and I had finally reached my dream of flying a jet.  After training I spent 4 months on reserve (just a fancy airline term for being “on call”), which for most airlines, is a relatively short time frame in comparison.  Once I became a line holder with known flight schedules, it became apparent to me that I would have a lot of time during my days off to do something else with my life besides just flying for a living.

That’s when I began dabbling a bit with some various online business ideas, none of which really panned out.  Then one day when I was in the shower (of course), I came up with the idea for ThePilotReport.com, and the rest is history as they say.

Clear Skies & Calm Winds,

Len @ ThePilotReport.com

This is the story of how I got started in aviation and what led me to creating ThePilotReport.com.  Now I’m no novel writer so go easy on my story telling skills – I’m sensitive lol.  So here goes nothing!

When I was younger all I ever wanted to do when I grew up was to become an astronaut.  As a kid, space interested me like no other.  I had all kinds of space toys, space wallpaper, and even watched all the shuttle launches I could.

It wasn’t until some years later that I would decide to become a pilot instead.  When I looked into to what it took to become an astronaut I quickly realized I didn’t care enough about becoming a Doctor of physics, math, etc.  I just wanted to fly.  And my first opportunity at the flight yoke was during a Young Eagles day where I flew a Lancair 320 – not bad for a first small plane ride, right?  After that, I was hooked and I knew I had to become a pilot.

Fast forward to my junior high school years to one day in gym class.  We were playing dodge ball at the time when a young lady entered the gym.  She was there to visit the gym teacher.  I overheard them talking about what the young lady had been up to when I heard her make mention of some free flight lessons she was taking.

Well I heard the words “free flight lessons” and I had to know more!  It turns out the young lady had been accepted into a program at Daniel Webster College called Aviation Horizons.  Aviation Horizons was a subsidized flight training program for “at risk” teens where you could get the ground and flight training required to earn a Recreational Pilot certificate – all you had to do was pay for your check ride and nothing else!  There was only one problem, I wasn’t exactly considered “at risk.”

I did some digging and found the contact information for this Aviation Horizons program.  My mother and I drove over to Daniel Webster College to have a visit with the program administrator.  As it turned it, the gentleman running Aviation Horizons considered all teenagers to be “at risk” based on his definition.  And what part of that isn’t true to some degree?

After getting accepted into Aviation Horizons, I promptly began my flight training on November 22nd, 1996.  At the time I was just 15 years old, and in the state of New Hampshire, I hadn’t even reached legal driving age.  Because of the FAA age requirements it was going to be a long time before I could officially earn any pilot certificate too.

So I just flew my butt of until my 16th birthday when I conducted my first solo.  First obstacle complete!  But, I had a whole year yet until I turned 17 and could do my check ride.  So I kept on flying.  At that point I was working at the Midfield Cafe as a dishwasher by day, after which I would walk across the ramp to my flight lessons in the afternoon.

Because I was accruing so much flight time, I decided it prudent to spring for my Private Pilot certificate instead of the Recreational certificate.  Besides, it came with so many less rules and restrictions.  Everything was going smoothly and I was on schedule to take my Private Pilot check ride on my 17th birthday.  The day of truth came and I’m happy to report my check ride was a success and I was officially a Private Pilot.

Around the same time I was having to make decisions on what to do for college and a career.  Flying seemed so second nature so I decided to go for it.  Since I had started my flying through Daniel Webster College it was natural for me to check out their program, though it ended up being way too expensive for my taste.  Next visit was Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL.  FIT was a nice school even though the facilities seemed older at the time, and up until this point it was my favorite school – but my college visits weren’t over yet!

Come back and visit us on Friday, July 16th for the second part of my “Getting Started” story!

Clear Skies & Calm Winds,

Len @ ThePilotReport.com