My Aviation Future

When I asked what my ultimate goal is in my career, it is tough to just pinpoint one. But I guess if I had to rattler them off they’d be; earn enough combat hrs. in a jet, fly one tour with the Blue Angels, and then move on to NASA and fly anything that would get me into space. Kind of a steep slope to accomplishing all those, but I believe that my long term goals in aviation are most definitely reliant on completing a number of short term goals in the process, and dependent on how many of those short term goals I can accomplish before I go blind or lose a physical qualification to fly an aircraft.

My view has definitely changed on where and what I want to do with my career since say high school, when I initially began contemplating real life. The only goal of mine that I know is certain on my list to reach is staying on my current path and finishing a minimum 20 to hopefully 30 year military flying career, retire and move on to something else. After that I would like to go into the civilian sector, but where totally depends on how long I can stay in.

Presently, the majority of military aviators I know are satisfied with their positions and not looking to get out into the civilian sector, myself included. This is not how it has been in the past and it makes it tough studying the civilian sector, but at the same time knowing you will not enter it for at least another ten years. The military is a great path which can save a ton of money as far as education and earning flight time, and the actual annual salary a military aviator brings in would most likely surprise the majority of the population.

The ultimate position I would like to reach in this sector, would be that of a command level, a single squadron, carrier, entire air wing, or an entire fleet, why stop? The commanding Officer acts as the CEO would and oversees all departments of each command, and is directly responsible to his superior for everything that happens in his command. These positions are comparable to high executive positions in many civilian aviation companies, briefly described here and the opportunity to earn a magnitude of experience that would transfer to that area as well. To me successfully commanding 5,000 members of the military in the capacity of an operational aircraft carrier seems it would pretty much prepare you for any leadership challenge you could ever encounter. To reach this position, the flying starts to go away, as with any executive position, an emphasis shifts to leading others.

My background in the Navy up until this point was flying, but as a radar operator, not a pilot. I have had extensive experience in the maintenance department, which are operated and ran very similarly to that of those in the civilian companies. Flight operations, scheduling, safety, training, quality assurance, etc. are all areas present in a military aviation commands and can provide the same type of experience. After college in the spring I will shift my attention to flight training for a pilot slot, but as we all know in this enterprise at some point in life an unforeseen medical issue could halt that if it’s your only plan, which is why I chose to major in the management side and plan to continue with my education and obtain my MBA.

My main reason for wanting to stay in the line of work I already am, other than the fact that I love the job, and the people, and the ability to get experiences that you cannot not otherwise obtain, here  is the emphasis the Navy places on leadership, professionalism and taking care of your employees or subordinates. These are values that are consistent (or should be) in all organizations, at least somewhere in writing, but are not always evident to those on the outside, or even the inside. If and when I am able to move on to the civilian sector aviation, my goals will undoubtedly change from where they are now, but these are the practices, methods, and priorities I would want to bring to any organization I would be affiliated with.

More Presence in Space!

Our future presence in space is undoubtedly still in the works! NASA launched its next rover to Mars on 11/26/2011. The rover named “Curiosity” is currently flying freely and is separated from its Atlas II rocket in route to Mars, with an expected landing date of August 2012. This rover, which is about the size of a motor vehicle, will be an important part of continuing the research on the surface of Mars. The timeline, specs, and mission information can be followed here on the NASA website as well as on twitter and Facebook. The main mission of this rover also referred to as the Mars Science Laboratory is to determine if Mars ever was or could be habitable. The outcome of this mission could prove or display the ability to land larger craft on the mars surface, which eventually could fly to mars and then have the ability to return to Earth with samples. These are the type of missions that would first need to take place before a manned mission would ever be possible, but if successful these missions would be an extraordinary step in the right direction of making this possible.

Al Haynes

I chose to describe Capt. Al Haynes as an individual that is influential in present day aviation. Mr. Haynes has been retired since 1991, but still spends about 100 days a year traveling the country giving presentations on United flight 232, which he piloted on July 19^th. 1989.

            Mr. Haynes attended Texas A&M served four years in the military before joining United Airlines for the next 35 years of his life. He was an engineer in a DC-8, flew the DC-6,7,and 8, before being a co-pilot in the 727 for eight years, 727 captain, DC-10 Co-Pilot and then picking up the DC-10 Captain job. At his retirement, Al Haynes had completed over 27,000 flight hours.

            I consider him to be influential because, before attending EMU, I was not familiar with this crash. People talk about many other aircraft emergencies, especially the Hudson River event in 2009, which was also incredible in its own right, but to me that does not even compare to what Al Haynes, his crew, and his resources on board flight 232 accomplished. The fact that they successfully controlled an aircraft to the ground without any hydraulic control and saved many more lives than seemed possible is unbelievable to me. Especially since not one out of 57 crews that replicated the incident could control the aircraft to the ground as they did in the real life situation.

            Mr. Haynes and this crew contributed to the aviation industry in a very important way, even though that contribution came at the cost in the lives that were lost, but the procedures and practices that were implemented into aviation since this incident have undoubtedly made the industry safer and more efficient. Cockpit/Crew Resource Management was a big practice that came from this incident. The communication, decision making, assertiveness, leadership and situational awareness on the ground and in the air in this incident highlighted ways to use all available resources to help minimize loss in future aviation operations. The guidelines and procedures that evolved from this accident are still practiced and continuously developing today. Along with the amount of beneficial information we are able to learn about from this information, Mr. Haynes himself is a major contributor to aviation. The days he spends traveling and giving his presentations on this incident benefit any and all who can experience them. He is committed to sharing his experience, and doing what he can to help equip present pilots and crews with the skills and insight his crew used to minimize the loss from flight 232, to hopefully be able to apply them when needed in their careers.

http://www.avweb.com/news/profiles/182969-1.html

Aircraft Manufacturing in China

Add aircraft manufacturing to China’s list of another stimulus to its industry plan. China plans to have aircraft designed and manufactured to rival Boeing and Airbus rolling off assembly lines by 2020. According to an article by Autopia, the Chinese government approved the launch of Chinese Commercial Aircrafts back in 2008. Asian airlines are expected to buy 10,000 aircraft in the next 20 years, with 2,200 of those going to Chinese airlines.

                China’s State-owned aircraft manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), unveiled the first look at its new C919 narrow body aircraft at the Hong Kong Air Show in late Aug-2009, announcing details of the aircraft that it hopes will reduce China’s reliance on foreign aircraft and challenge the global duopoly enjoyed by Airbus and Boeing. Comac, formed in Jan-2009 with USD2.7 billion in assets, will design, develop and build the aircraft, which it hopes will be a landmark for the Chinese aerospace industry, similar to the A300 for Airbus and the E145 for Embraer.

 China has been pressing for years with ambitions of creating its own aircraft manufacturing industry. They have progressing with several small commercial aircraft products, but are also currently the home to the only Airbus manufacturing plant outside of Europe since 2008. An article from CAPA Centre For Aviation explains this in good detail and the plans Airbus has for China currently and in the future, as well as China’s plans for its own industry. Airbus is pushing aircraft manufacturing in China due to cost advantages, and that both Airbus and Boeing forecast China as the single largest national market for narrow body aircraft over the next two decades. The problem that may arise for COMAC and China is matching the bottom line for its local and international customers to the extent that Boeing and Airbus already does. Comac’s assistant GM still admits they have a long way to go in relation to those competitors.

If China is successful in growing it’s aircraft manufacturing industry to the level of the US or one day surpassing it, it will change the competition all over the globe. China is one of the largest customers for these US and European companies when it comes to purchases, manufacturing their own models with the possibility of being more cost effective and efficient will save their economy money and attract customers from other nations as well, adding to their assets. This could hurt customer relationships with US and European companies such as Boeing and Airbus ability to do business with nations more satisfied with what China has to offer.

As well as with any other growing industry, employment opportunities will continue to pop up. China is still behind where it would like to be in comparison to other global aircraft manufacturers, but not so much in the economic scheme. As their economy continues grow rapidly, along with their airline and air transport industry, China will need experienced managers to incorporate successful plans into these businesses. As the number of aircraft in operation increase in the coming years, so will the pilots required to support those operations.

               

               

Air Royale

The corporate aviation enterprise I chose to describe is that of Air Royale International.  This company is an On-Demand air charter, flying Lear Jets to Gulf Streams to 747’s. Their database tracks more than 5,500 aircraft worldwide. They have turbo-props available in the King Air 200 and 350 models, Light jets in the Lear Jet 31,35, and 45, Citation II and V, and the hawker 400 XP.  Midsize jets also include larger Hawker, citation, Lear jet and Falcon models. Their heavy jets include larger gulfstream, Global Express, Falcon, and Challenger models. Executive airliners are also available.
            From what I found Air Royale employs a range of between 100-250 employees, but I found little information on how they are divided. This number seems to be more closely related to administrative employees, seeing as how an international company with this many aircraft should include many more regarding flight crews and maintenance.  Air Royale features current clients such as Paramount Pictures, CNN, and Warner Records and operate on an FAA Part 135 Certificate.

Broad standards are listed for pilots on the website and include; requirement of attendance to Flight Safety International, Simulator qualifications, and requirement of a pilot in Command Qualification. Each pilot has passed an EKG, drug and alcohol tests, which is subject to random testing. Additionally, each pilot holds an FAA first class medical certificate, renewed every six months, from a doctor approved by the FAA. Each network air carrier has an in-house maintenance program with technicians who’ve completed approved factory training and operate under an FAA issued repair station license.

A corporate aviation pilots schedule can be pretty unpredictable. Many companies such as this one offer on demand services and they need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.  Some information found during a job shadow at http://www.jobshadow.com/interview-with-a-corporate-pilot/ state working approximately 50 hrs. per week involving 15 in the air, making an approximate salary of $95,000 annually. The Air Royale international Site is included below.

http://www.airroyale.com/safety.html