The FAA asked me where my counties of preference are.
Palm Beach County, Florida
Why Palm Beach? I'm already here. No need to make a hard move. The towered airport under FAA control (i.e. not outsourced, like Boca Raton Airport) is Palm Beach International.
Martin County, Florida
I'm just south of there...the only towered facility there that is under FAA control is Stuart Airport/Witham Field.
Ventura County, California
Back in my home state, but away from LAX's Class B Airspace. The likely picks are Camarillo and Santa Barbara.
Los Angeles County, California
Some of the busiest airspace in the world, between LAX and Van Nuys Airport. Other airports that may become my second home are Santa Monica (where I started my flying), Torrance (where I was introduced to General Aviation), Hawthorne, and Long Beach.
I never thought I would be considered, as I still don't fit all the minimum requirements (a college degree in any field and a full-time job that I have held for at least two years).
I got furloughed from US Airways last year. Nearing a year away from the airlines. I worked part-time there. I slipped out of Embry-Riddle as I didn't take a class in two years (part-time with student loans from my previous school, Everglades University, held me back, and still are somewhat). I started working for a printing company/retailer about 45 days after getting the boot from the airline. I started full-time. However, I still haven't returned to school.
If I do get the job, however, I hope I can get third shift. Although it's the hardest shift, it will allow me to fulfill my responsibilities during the day without affecting my schedule. But, we have yet to see.
Regardless of the outcome with becoming an air traffic controller, I have formally dismissed the goal of becoming an airline pilot. I have become too old to compete (I know guys younger than me...albeit richer than I am...who are already flying jets, if they survived not getting furloughed).
I will keep you posted on the outcome.
Alejandro Maclean passed away this past Tuesday. He died in an accident while practicing aerobatics. His support and contagious love for flying will truly be missed. I wrote a posthumous poem to Alejandro and posted it on my poetry blog, as well as linked it to Alejandro's Facebook profile and fan page. You can read it here at GolfNovemberPoetry ("Para Don Alejandro", written in Spanish, his native language).
Te veo pronto, Don Alejandro.
Showing posts with label dream. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dream. Show all posts
28 November 2008
Staying in Florida for the foreseeable future...
Initially, I wanted to move to Florida. Being close to family that I was never around, excellent opportunities for flight training, I mean, how bad could it get?
I was never fond of the weather, but it was a great place to visit.
My family moved to Florida the day after my graduation from high school, making me the only one in my generation of the Newball family to have had all his schooling in the Los Angeles Unified School District (which in spite of its shortfalls, is considerably superior to what Florida could ever offer). Regardless, I saw moving to Florida as a new horizon to cross. It was a transitional period anyway. High school to the unknown world (at the time), childhood to manhood, and from land-based person to pilot.
Once here, however, things didn't go as planned.
Part of our welcoming committee were two strong hurricanes that damaged the house my family had just bought. Companies that did repairs on the house did a cut-and-run job. They did a job halfway (quality-wise), charged an arm and a leg, and when trying to settle a charge, they were nowhere to be found. The company "folded", and the business owners disappeared from the face of the planet. 'Stick it to the customer' mentality, what I like to call the 'Florida' mentality.
I was listening a few years ago to a talk show host from the West Palm Beach area, who is originally from Northern California, and was shocked at how people manage to live in this state, with its low pay, and lower quality of life than what the West Coast offers. He later added that he enjoys living here.
I failed to see his logic.
I come from a city that never sleeps. I can literally, jump in the car, and find something to do, or get a midnight bite, or whatever comes to mind. In Florida, everything dies just after sunset. Nothing to do. My co-workers tell me about locations in downtown West Palm Beach, and I drive by them, with hardly any life. Is this what people call "fun"?
The transition has been so hard, one of my sisters became lactose intolerant (brought on by post-traumatic stress from the hurricanes), and I have become considerably more aggressive and, dare I say, paranoid (the former requires me to hold myself back at work). Something I never felt in California. And, my entire family agrees that it was the worst mistake we ever made.
Yes, it is something I now regret deeply and painfully.
We tried selling the house, but with the housing bubble bursting right as we were planning to move back, we were tied down to Florida. Stuck in the armpit of the universe.
But you take the bad with the good. I started attending Embry-Riddle, and I am working for an airline. I am doing what I can to wrap myself in that while I stay here. But once I get a better paying job, I am moving back to California. All my friends that have left LA regret that decision. And I agree with them. Los Angeles is home.
I'm a proud 'Angeleno'. I will do what I can to get back. Come hell of high water, I'm going back one way or another. My heart is still there, and I can't live without it.
Now to listen to some music that tugs at my heartstrings with California on my mind...
Jacob Wheeler - Magic (original, and instrumental)
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - Route 101
Randy Newman - I Love LA
George Strait - Marina Del Rey
Hall and Oates - Man on a Mission
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Satisfy My Soul
Hall and Oates - Life's Too Short
I was never fond of the weather, but it was a great place to visit.
My family moved to Florida the day after my graduation from high school, making me the only one in my generation of the Newball family to have had all his schooling in the Los Angeles Unified School District (which in spite of its shortfalls, is considerably superior to what Florida could ever offer). Regardless, I saw moving to Florida as a new horizon to cross. It was a transitional period anyway. High school to the unknown world (at the time), childhood to manhood, and from land-based person to pilot.
Once here, however, things didn't go as planned.
Part of our welcoming committee were two strong hurricanes that damaged the house my family had just bought. Companies that did repairs on the house did a cut-and-run job. They did a job halfway (quality-wise), charged an arm and a leg, and when trying to settle a charge, they were nowhere to be found. The company "folded", and the business owners disappeared from the face of the planet. 'Stick it to the customer' mentality, what I like to call the 'Florida' mentality.
I was listening a few years ago to a talk show host from the West Palm Beach area, who is originally from Northern California, and was shocked at how people manage to live in this state, with its low pay, and lower quality of life than what the West Coast offers. He later added that he enjoys living here.
I failed to see his logic.
I come from a city that never sleeps. I can literally, jump in the car, and find something to do, or get a midnight bite, or whatever comes to mind. In Florida, everything dies just after sunset. Nothing to do. My co-workers tell me about locations in downtown West Palm Beach, and I drive by them, with hardly any life. Is this what people call "fun"?
The transition has been so hard, one of my sisters became lactose intolerant (brought on by post-traumatic stress from the hurricanes), and I have become considerably more aggressive and, dare I say, paranoid (the former requires me to hold myself back at work). Something I never felt in California. And, my entire family agrees that it was the worst mistake we ever made.
Yes, it is something I now regret deeply and painfully.
We tried selling the house, but with the housing bubble bursting right as we were planning to move back, we were tied down to Florida. Stuck in the armpit of the universe.
But you take the bad with the good. I started attending Embry-Riddle, and I am working for an airline. I am doing what I can to wrap myself in that while I stay here. But once I get a better paying job, I am moving back to California. All my friends that have left LA regret that decision. And I agree with them. Los Angeles is home.
I'm a proud 'Angeleno'. I will do what I can to get back. Come hell of high water, I'm going back one way or another. My heart is still there, and I can't live without it.
Now to listen to some music that tugs at my heartstrings with California on my mind...
Jacob Wheeler - Magic (original, and instrumental)
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - Route 101
Randy Newman - I Love LA
George Strait - Marina Del Rey
Hall and Oates - Man on a Mission
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Satisfy My Soul
Hall and Oates - Life's Too Short
05 November 2008
Dreams of Flight...
My first flight in a small airplane occurred back in April 17, 1999. I was in the seventh grade. I had been pestering my dad for months to take me to Torrance Airport, because of this program called "Young Eagles", run by the Experimental Aircraft Association. He finally gave in, and took me there. It was a basic introduction to aviation. Plenty of other kids were there, just about none that I have seen before. Many boy scouts were there...I wasn't sure why. But that's beside the point.
During my middle school years, I was practically glued to the channel back then known as "SpeedVision". Their program block consisted of car racing, motorcycle racing, and boat racing. However, part of their program block had some of the best aviation programming ever. Shows like "Legends of Air Power", "EAA Sport Flying", and yearly coverage of AirVenture Oshkosh, among a weekly aviation news magazine. The EAA programming really spoke to me, because it felt tangible. I was thoroughly convinced that I have the capability to build my own airplane.
At that time, I had dreams of being the next John Roncz or the next Burt Rutan (hey, when your bloodline crosses with that of the Wright Brothers like mine does, your dreams tend to be really big). I also had dreams of being the next Sean D. Tucker, or the next Leo Loudenslager. Designing and building airplanes, along with airshows, were the big thing in my young life.
Then it all hit home that day.
"Gilroy Newball", the man called. I was next to fly. And what was this? I was going to fly in a Rutan Long EZ? Not only on this day, do I fly in a GA plane for the first time, but I also fly in a Rutan design?!
Ron Scroeder of EAA Chapter 96 (the Torrance/South Bay area of Los Angeles) is the pilot and owner of the Long EZ I flew in. He showed me how to climb into the back seat of a Long EZ, and showed me around. He started the engine, raised the nose and lowered the nose gear, and we started taxiing to Runway 22L at Zamperini Field (TOA). I felt my heart beating faster and faster as we lined up for takeoff. Then, he opened the throttle, poured on the power, and the little Long EZ began racing down the runway. In no time, we were in the air. I looked to my left, towards the General Aviation Building, and I saw my dad there, waving at me. I waved back.
Climbing was an awesome experience. With the Long EZ's bubble canopy, we were able to have an unrestricted view above us. We saw planes above us, and all over. Looking right, we saw some jets taking off from LAX, and to the right, we saw many planes...Cessnas, Pipers, Beeches, and some experimental planes as well.
My two friends who went with me also had a chance to ride. Between the three, I was the first to go. One of them went in a Thorp T-18, and the other in a Van's RV-6A.
We flew around the Palos Verdes Peninsula, then over San Pedro and the Harbor. It was a beautiful flight. My first in General Aviation.
The little plane felt like a fighter. The bubble canopy, the sidestick, the small quarters, it was an ethereal experience. I felt like a new person after we landed. It was a wonderful experience. It was one that confirmed my love for flying.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the good folks of EAA Chapter 96. I'd love to fly with you guys again. Not as a passenger, but as a pilot. I want to pass the torch that was passed to me. I kept that flame of aviation alive, and I want to share that flame with others.
During my middle school years, I was practically glued to the channel back then known as "SpeedVision". Their program block consisted of car racing, motorcycle racing, and boat racing. However, part of their program block had some of the best aviation programming ever. Shows like "Legends of Air Power", "EAA Sport Flying", and yearly coverage of AirVenture Oshkosh, among a weekly aviation news magazine. The EAA programming really spoke to me, because it felt tangible. I was thoroughly convinced that I have the capability to build my own airplane.
At that time, I had dreams of being the next John Roncz or the next Burt Rutan (hey, when your bloodline crosses with that of the Wright Brothers like mine does, your dreams tend to be really big). I also had dreams of being the next Sean D. Tucker, or the next Leo Loudenslager. Designing and building airplanes, along with airshows, were the big thing in my young life.
Then it all hit home that day.
"Gilroy Newball", the man called. I was next to fly. And what was this? I was going to fly in a Rutan Long EZ? Not only on this day, do I fly in a GA plane for the first time, but I also fly in a Rutan design?!
Ron Scroeder of EAA Chapter 96 (the Torrance/South Bay area of Los Angeles) is the pilot and owner of the Long EZ I flew in. He showed me how to climb into the back seat of a Long EZ, and showed me around. He started the engine, raised the nose and lowered the nose gear, and we started taxiing to Runway 22L at Zamperini Field (TOA). I felt my heart beating faster and faster as we lined up for takeoff. Then, he opened the throttle, poured on the power, and the little Long EZ began racing down the runway. In no time, we were in the air. I looked to my left, towards the General Aviation Building, and I saw my dad there, waving at me. I waved back.
Climbing was an awesome experience. With the Long EZ's bubble canopy, we were able to have an unrestricted view above us. We saw planes above us, and all over. Looking right, we saw some jets taking off from LAX, and to the right, we saw many planes...Cessnas, Pipers, Beeches, and some experimental planes as well.
My two friends who went with me also had a chance to ride. Between the three, I was the first to go. One of them went in a Thorp T-18, and the other in a Van's RV-6A.
We flew around the Palos Verdes Peninsula, then over San Pedro and the Harbor. It was a beautiful flight. My first in General Aviation.
The little plane felt like a fighter. The bubble canopy, the sidestick, the small quarters, it was an ethereal experience. I felt like a new person after we landed. It was a wonderful experience. It was one that confirmed my love for flying.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the good folks of EAA Chapter 96. I'd love to fly with you guys again. Not as a passenger, but as a pilot. I want to pass the torch that was passed to me. I kept that flame of aviation alive, and I want to share that flame with others.
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