HIRED: My First Airline Job!

Recap of Past Few Months

It's been a while since I've shared about my flight hour progress toward becoming eligible to work for an airline... but I'm happy to say that over the past couple months it's happened:

• Reached the minimum hour requirement to be an airline pilot
• Interviewed with SkyWest
• Accepted an offer to become a First Officer
• Completed an official Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP)
• Passed the written ATP knowledge exam
• Leave tomorrow for 6-8 weeks of ground school in Salt Lake City. Whew!

Reflections on Flight Instructing

There's so much to be grateful for as I reflect on my experience as a flight instructor at Westwind School of Aeronautics.  It's been a wonderful way for me to transition into aviation, as a former school teacher.  The relationships I've built with my co-workers and students have been so rewarding and fun.  Here is a short video about two of my students from South Korea, Seoung Hee and Donghyeok.  They are married and it was a blast to train them both.  Watch this 60 second video about them becoming Private Pilots, from first solo to check ride:

First Full Motion Simulator Experience

I currently have just under 1300 flight hours logged (needed 1250 for the airlines).  The past month has been full of travel to and from Salt Lake City for CTP training in which I was able to log 10 hours in a full motion E175 simulator.  My brother in law Dave (who reviews videogames and technology for Forbes), referred to it as "the most expensive video game ever." Ha! You could even feel bumps on the taxiway. 

Me in the E175 Full Motion Sim

Me and my Sim Partner

What's Next?

So the next phase is ground school.  I just completed my last day of work at Westwind and tomorrow I depart for SLC for training with SkyWest.  SkyWest is a regional airline contracted by major airlines such as Delta, United, American and Alaska.  Here's what's next:

• Complete ground school & sim training over the next 6-8 weeks
• Pass a check ride in the aircraft I was hired to fly (CRJ)
• Complete my Initial Operating Experience (IOE)
• Be placed on reserve: filling in for First Officers who can't make their scheduled flight
• Fly the Line...aka be a real pilot!

So when I do begin to fly, my aircraft could look something like this:

Type of Aircraft I will fly: CRJ 200

I am looking forward to being a student again and in a time and place to focus my energies on learning.  In all of my initial flight training, I was always multi-tasking... working as a Phy Ed teacher and Residence Life Coordinator at a University.  So I'm looking forward to being able to focus solely on jet training.

One of the hardest parts about this all will be saying goodbye to my family for 6-8 weeks.  Sara and Isaac will be staying in Phoenix while I complete the ground school.  We are hopeful to see each other on Christmas weekend, but it will depend on whether or not I can fly standby and make it back to training on Monday.  Please pray it works out! Our 6th wedding anniversary also falls in that time frame--so it will be our first one a part.  We are grateful for the local friends who are reaching out to Sara during my time away, and friends and family from Minnesota who plan to visit.

We snuck in one last date this week and enjoyed some ice cream together.  So grateful for my family.

Thanks for following, and I hope to update more as I process what I learn in training over the next 6-8 weeks.  For now I must say goodbye as I need to re-learn how to dress and pack for winter weather in Salt Lake. 

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Multi Engine Family Flight

Time for an update! In order to reach the minimum hour requirement for multi-engine flight time, I have been renting a Seminole over the past several weeks with my friend and fellow instructor, John.  Today he let my family join us!  We took Isaac and Sara on a scenic flight to Sedona and then on towards the Grand Canyon.  Big Thanks to John for letting them tag along.



To quote Sara as we flew over the Grand Canyon: "This is probably one of the coolest experiences in my life!" It reminded me not to take for granted the opportunity to see God's creation from a different perspective almost every day.  And to top it off, at the end of the flight I met my minimum multi-engine flight time requirement... so that is a relief as it means we are finally done paying for flight hours!  I am still plugging away to meet my overall minimum hour requirements.  Hope you enjoy some of these photos and make sure to watch the video!  It's only 3 minutes.

Sara, Isaac, and Me at Deer Valley

Flying over Lake Pleasant

Friend, John, Flying Under the Hood

Isaac and a Rock in Sedona

Family

The Seminole has 2 engines, the toy has 2 engines, and I think Isaac has 2 engines too!

Me & I

Admiring the Red Rocks

Navigating

Flying from the Backseat

Colorado River

South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Camping & The Grand Canyon

Arizona Bucket List:

Cards (vs Vikes) Game

Go swimming outdoors in February

Mountain Biking

Hike Camelback

Road trip to Mexico

Road trip to San Diego

Road trip to LA

Staycation

Snowboarding in Flagstaff

See the Grand Canyon

Ok so seeing the Grand Canyon was more than just a thing to check off the list... but it was a thing to check off the list!  We spent one night camping in Sedona and the next at the Grand Canyon.  Sara and I are not expert campers by any means, but we do have a handful of experiences under our belt, and too much camping gear that we really should go more often than we do!

It was a fun getaway and chance to slow down and as my niece reminded us before leaving: "do you know there is no internet there?"  My good friend Jordan will be leaving Phoenix soon to head to his airline training, so I'm glad he got to come along.  I've enjoyed working alongside him at Westwind and get out mountain biking with him.  I've been grateful for a friend to navigate the beginnings of a career in aviation with. 

The camping itself went well.  Sara had to tell herself that she was the "boss of the bugs" otherwise she generally has minor panic attacks when seeing a spider (kidding...not kidding).  Isaac handled sleeping in a tent as well as any toddler probably could--with a few wake ups, scream cries, and final announcement our last morning at 5:00am: "All done camping!"  Although Isaac was disappointed in the Grand Canyon because he thought it was a zoo (literally) and kept asking where the toucans were, I think he still had a great time!