The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

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Big Pistons Forever
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The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by Big Pistons Forever »

I would suggest that this is not a topic that is usually covered in flight training. When you are doing your flight training you are the customer and the school is incentivized to keep you happy. This often involves letting things you do slide. Be a bit late for the lesson, not totally prepared, cutting a flight short because you don't feel like flying anymore, i.e. prioritizing your wishes; will generally result in the response "no problem".

The "problem" comes when you get your first job. The airplane is a tool the company uses to make money. Your enjoyment during the flight(s) is totally irrelevant. Any actions on your part that get in the way of flight efficiency and customer satisfaction are going to be a big problem for your employer.

This doesn't mean you have to be the bosses bitch, but it does mean you have to internalize the profound change in circumstance that real world commercial flight operations represents over what you experienced in flight school.

So my 02 cents on how to succeed on that first job after finishing flight training. Most of this applies regardless of whether that job is a ground ramp/dock/dispatcher position leading to flying position or an actual flying job right after training.

1) The CPL and IFR flight test minimum standards are not good enough to impress the CP. Throughout your training your goal should be to significantly exceed those standards. There should be no "2's" on your flight test. Flying precisely and smoothly is a choice. Really learning how to operate an aircraft is a choice. You may only get a few minutes of flight time with the CP or training pilot to show your stuff at the job interview so it had better be good. In any case the company is going to want to do your initial type training in the minimum time. I guarantee good hands and feet and operational knowledge will get noticed.

2) Start treating your training airplane as if it was the one you were assigned to fly by a commercial operator. At the end of every flight the inside should be neat and tidy with the seat belts crossed and the windshield cleaned if it got buggy. The airplane should be parked exactly at it's designated spot if there is one assigned and chocked and properly tied down.

3) Get smart on how to properly snag a defect. Most maintenance people I have talked to are surprised at how little CPL students know about the aircraft or care about learning how to understand how it is supposed to operate so they know when it isn't. They also generally don't how to identify and properly record snags. Want your CP's head to explode ? Mess up a snag, or don't identify in a timely manner a snag which makes an airplane miss a flight.

4) Never ever be late showing up for work. Keeping a customer waiting is the original sin. When you are training treat it like you are going to work. Show up early, rested, clean and neatly dressed.

5) Transport largely evaluates companies by examining their paperwork. Sweat the details and make sure all of the documentation for every flight is perfect. You can start this in flight training. I have seen lots of examples of training airplanes missing documents, flying with the documents from another airplane, flying with an incomplete maintenance release (eg not signed), journey log entry mistakes etc etc. Usually there were dozens or even hundreds of flights before anyone noticed. Trust me your CP will not be happy if you @#$! up the paperwork so get in the habit of sweating the details now.

6) When you get that first job keep your mouth shut and ears and eyes open. Learn what to do from the good guys and what not to do from the bad ones.

7) Finally being a good employee does not mean doing unsafe things. If you get a request to do something that concerns you push back. Be respectful but firm and be clear about what the issues is and ideally offer an alternative. The buck stops at the PIC and that is you. No job is worth risking your life for.
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OtherRedBaron
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Re: The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by OtherRedBaron »

Big Pistons Forever wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 5:12 pm The buck stops at the PIC and that is you. No job is worth risking your life for.
Ass, license, job. In that order. Agreed.
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digits_
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Re: The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by digits_ »

On the other hand, dear flight schools, the excuse of "get used to life as a pilot" does not give you carte blanche in cancelling appointments, have multi hour delays or expect students to cough up extra money because your instructors make mistakes. They are still customers as long as they are paying you!
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marlakai
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Re: The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by marlakai »

What the hell is CP?
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TG
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Re: The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by TG »

marlakai wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 9:42 pm What the hell is CP?
Chief Pilot.
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PilotDAR
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Re: The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by PilotDAR »

I entirely support BPF's great advice. I'll add:

Treat the plane as though it's expensive to repair, and downtime itself is costly. Threat it like you're going to have to pay for the repairs which could be caused by your rough handling. I am frequently annoyed/alarmed by what flying schools do not seem to teach about gentle airplane handling - very rapid power changes, sliding tires, riding brakes, and allowing the nose or tailwheel to slam down moments after touchdown on the mains - be gentle and precise! Whether someone's watching or not - their plane, your pride!

And on that theme, some of the people you're flying, need to be in a plane, but don't want to be - give them a gentle ride!Impress them with your smoothness - easy power changes, coordinated turns, anticipating trim changes with gear and flaps, and smooth transitions from one phase of flight to the next. And fly that way whether someone is watching or not - it's your pride!

Seeking more training or mentoring after you're licensed is a good idea. Learn the way other experience pilots fly, learn to emulate their grace. The fact that you have a fresh license means that you met a minimum standard. I have flown with new pilots, both PPL and CPL who were to be blunt - inadequate, and I would never give them a plane. 'Problem was that they had no sense of this. The fact that you can fly, does not mean that you can fly well enough to be ideally gentle on the plane, and give the people in the back a really smooth ride. Focus on being yet a better pilot - it's your pride!
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Squaretail
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Re: The Difference Between Flight School and Your First Job

Post by Squaretail »

To further add...

Your first job isn't flight school. As said, you're expected to be better than the flight test minimums. Or at least the jobs aren't so plentiful yet that operators are so desperate to take barely passed pilots. If your performance wouldn't pass the CPL test, few operators are going to spend the time to bring you up to speed. You're also expected to hit the ground running. For entry level flying jobs, expect to maybe get a day, at most, to review the AFM and be ready to go flying. Any crutches you use to get through a test aren't going to fly (pun intended) so if you come with cheat sheets or post it notes to remind you to look outside (true story) don't be surprised you get the boot. Also don't try to use whatever checklist you got from a school. Use the one that's in the airplane. If you find yourself explaining "but that's what my instructors/the school taught me" you've lost the plot.

In addition to not knowing how to record defects and what to do about them (here's a hint: find out what the COM and MCM are and read them) new pilots are hideously inept at entering anything in the journey log. Know the difference between flight time, air time and duty time.

Lastly new CPLs, in spite of almost all of them having spent twenty or so hours in a complex airplane (usually their training twin) somehow know nothing about how a constant speed propeller works. Do yourself a favor and figure it out.
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I'm not sure what's more depressing: That everyone has a price, or how low the price always is.
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