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 life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
20 March 2009
Cecil Field Air Show...This One's For You, Alan...
I have been going to airshows for almost 20 years. I've learned a lot about the airshow industry (for a while, I even wanted to get into the airshow industry as a pilot). I have had dreams of Oshkosh, performing in front of a hundred thousand people, me, and my airplane, merging into one being, making the sky my canvas, the airplane my paintbrush.
This airshow is going to be a special one. And although it is a good distance away from me, I am contemplating going. The drive to and from Jacksonville, Florida, can be done within a day, as long as driving is done at night. And although the tickets are $10, it's still not bad. It's something that I am seriously considering going to.
Why am I so bent on attending this airshow?
Alan Henley, the lead pilot for the Aeroshell Flight Team (which I have had the joy to see three times since moving here to Florida), was in a tragic accident at home not too long ago. The accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. It gutted his flying career. But it has not gutted his love for aviation. And the love the industry has for him is also unwavering. The airshow industry took it hard when the accident occurred. He, and his team, was one of the movers and shakers of the industry. One thing is for certain. The industry was willing and able to help a fallen brother. And that is what this airshow is about.
This airshow is unlike any other one in the sense that the time alone is much longer than the typical airshow. Most airshows don't start until noon, maybe afterward, and end at around 4 PM. This one will start at 10 AM and end at 5 PM. A full SEVEN HOURS of airshow performances. And while on performances, 35 performers are currently slated to fly the show. All the big names of the industry will be there.
If anything, this airshow, in the aspect of civilian performances, may surpass Oshkosh (but of course, I wouldn't know, because I have yet to go to my first AirVenture). This has never been done before. Thirty-five civilian performers, a full seven hours of air time, and the primary purpose is charity. It's not about military recruitment, or patriotism, but about helping out a fallen aviator and his family. This may be the airshow in its purest sense of the word.
I'll try to head out to it.
Here is the video from Aero-TV, and the airshow's website.
Blue Skies and Tailwinds, Alan. And a speedy recovery!
This airshow is going to be a special one. And although it is a good distance away from me, I am contemplating going. The drive to and from Jacksonville, Florida, can be done within a day, as long as driving is done at night. And although the tickets are $10, it's still not bad. It's something that I am seriously considering going to.
Why am I so bent on attending this airshow?
Alan Henley, the lead pilot for the Aeroshell Flight Team (which I have had the joy to see three times since moving here to Florida), was in a tragic accident at home not too long ago. The accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. It gutted his flying career. But it has not gutted his love for aviation. And the love the industry has for him is also unwavering. The airshow industry took it hard when the accident occurred. He, and his team, was one of the movers and shakers of the industry. One thing is for certain. The industry was willing and able to help a fallen brother. And that is what this airshow is about.
This airshow is unlike any other one in the sense that the time alone is much longer than the typical airshow. Most airshows don't start until noon, maybe afterward, and end at around 4 PM. This one will start at 10 AM and end at 5 PM. A full SEVEN HOURS of airshow performances. And while on performances, 35 performers are currently slated to fly the show. All the big names of the industry will be there.
If anything, this airshow, in the aspect of civilian performances, may surpass Oshkosh (but of course, I wouldn't know, because I have yet to go to my first AirVenture). This has never been done before. Thirty-five civilian performers, a full seven hours of air time, and the primary purpose is charity. It's not about military recruitment, or patriotism, but about helping out a fallen aviator and his family. This may be the airshow in its purest sense of the word.
I'll try to head out to it.
Here is the video from Aero-TV, and the airshow's website.
Blue Skies and Tailwinds, Alan. And a speedy recovery!
12 January 2009
Hmmm, add "novelist" to my repertoire?
I had this strange idea a few years ago of becoming a writer. My angst was building, it was just after I moved to Florida, and I had to let it out somewhere. So, I wrote a book, which is still in my hard drive, tentatively titled "Fly, Young Pilot, Live". I was in the middle of opening doors to aviation. I was in a flight training slump, looking for work, and going to school. And I wrote the main character, whom I named "John Allendale", to be modeled after myself; US-born of hispanic heritage with an Anglo-Saxon name, obsessed over flight, immersed in reggae music, stuck without a girlfriend when the desire to be loved blossomed into a furious love for someone, crossroads in life, longing to return to California (his home state), and making it big in aviation. I'm not sure if it will be a hit, but either way, it's worth a stab.
But, none of you ever heard of the book, as it is still in my hard drive. And in a computer that does not work anymore. Genius me, I never saved it on a disk. But I still have the hard drive, and it's still in working order, so it's just a matter of extracting the file (among others). Will I call a publisher to get the book out? I'm not sure. I'm not even familiar in the process. But it's a matter of tracking down a social studies teacher I had in high school, whom I just found out had retired recently. His name is Pete Justus, and his book is a compilation of poems, titled "Truths Taps and Time". I had the privilege of having him for history in my 10th and 11th grades at Westchester High School (Go Comets!). I'm aware that he does poetry readings at a place in Santa Monica called "The Rapp Saloon". It's a place I intend visiting this June, when I go on vacation back to the place I belong (all the while, looking for an opportunity to live there once again). And although we had our disagreements when November rolled around (he graduated from UCLA, and my intent at the time was to attend USC), all that was put aside when we started talking about one common passion: Corvettes. I wish to own one someday, even if it's one from the 1980s. They're all workable. It's just a matter of modding the car until it's your own. He owns a dark blue C-5 Vette, with UCLA plates gracing the front and back. But it's a stickshift, as all Corvettes should be.
Look up my friend's book, "Truth Taps and Time" at your local bookstore, or at any large online book retailer. And look for Mr. Pete Justus at the Rapp Saloon at 1436 2nd Street, Santa Monica, California. He's a great guy, and if you get him started on Corvette heritage, you'll be there for hours, as I have not too long ago.
Blue Skies.
Last Minute Addition: Be sure to check out his poem "My Hometown". It's a very nice poem, even if it is from one of the "Boys from Westwood".
But, none of you ever heard of the book, as it is still in my hard drive. And in a computer that does not work anymore. Genius me, I never saved it on a disk. But I still have the hard drive, and it's still in working order, so it's just a matter of extracting the file (among others). Will I call a publisher to get the book out? I'm not sure. I'm not even familiar in the process. But it's a matter of tracking down a social studies teacher I had in high school, whom I just found out had retired recently. His name is Pete Justus, and his book is a compilation of poems, titled "Truths Taps and Time". I had the privilege of having him for history in my 10th and 11th grades at Westchester High School (Go Comets!). I'm aware that he does poetry readings at a place in Santa Monica called "The Rapp Saloon". It's a place I intend visiting this June, when I go on vacation back to the place I belong (all the while, looking for an opportunity to live there once again). And although we had our disagreements when November rolled around (he graduated from UCLA, and my intent at the time was to attend USC), all that was put aside when we started talking about one common passion: Corvettes. I wish to own one someday, even if it's one from the 1980s. They're all workable. It's just a matter of modding the car until it's your own. He owns a dark blue C-5 Vette, with UCLA plates gracing the front and back. But it's a stickshift, as all Corvettes should be.
Look up my friend's book, "Truth Taps and Time" at your local bookstore, or at any large online book retailer. And look for Mr. Pete Justus at the Rapp Saloon at 1436 2nd Street, Santa Monica, California. He's a great guy, and if you get him started on Corvette heritage, you'll be there for hours, as I have not too long ago.
Blue Skies.
Last Minute Addition: Be sure to check out his poem "My Hometown". It's a very nice poem, even if it is from one of the "Boys from Westwood".
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