Nothing to do with woodworking

Paul Douglass

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S E Washington State
Congrats to your son. Retired F-16 pilot here. Tell your son to treasure each one of his flights. He'll sure miss them when they're done, but he'll take them with him forever. Check 6.
 
Congratulations to your son! He will have fond memories forever and now has the chance for a second and equally satisfying career if he chooses. Retired desk pilot here, no remorse:D.
 
Congrats to your son. Retired F-16 pilot here. Tell your son to treasure each one of his flights. He'll sure miss them when they're done, but he'll take them with him forever. Check 6.

Ha, I laugh at my son, he say "Dad, I'm afraid to go out in the real world!" Says the Navy has taken such good care of him and treated him so nice. Steve what did you do for your second career. Brian is working at getting on with one of the airlines. They seem to need pilots now. I say to him, how can you stand to go from the beautiful fast sports car to driving a bus? He doesn't care as long as it is flying.
 
Pretty cool videos... it's a sight to watch some of those military jets in their maneuvers.

My son doesn't fly jets, but he's currently taking lessons to fly the smaller props... currently he's half owner of a computer company that does programing for several larger firms, including Dell computers. He lives in GA now, but his company operates out of San Antonio where his partner lives and he commutes down there once or twice a month....he's decided to build his own plane to do the commuting... he's just started, and figures it will take him at least one maybe two or three years to complete.
 
Steve what did you do for your second career. Brian is working at getting on with one of the airlines. They seem to need pilots now. I say to him, how can you stand to go from the beautiful fast sports car to driving a bus? He doesn't care as long as it is flying.

A couple of years before I retired, I told my grandfather (87 at the time) that one day I'd have to retire, grow up, and get a job. He replied that I might have to retire and get a job, but I shouldn't let anyone tell me I had to grow up. If they did, I was to tell them my grandfather was 87 and he never had so if he didn't have to, I didn't either. Wise words, I haven't.

I am very fortunate that my wife is a military retiree too, so we had the opportunity to do things our way. I taught for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University full and part time for 22 years. I also was able to move back to where I was raised and take care of my parents their last 8 and 13 years. That was a true blessing. I looked at the airline life and it didn't appeal to me, besides, you can't fly a 747 upside down. It's a great job if you can make it through the time you're on reserve, but those can be some tough years, especially these days. Good luck to him though.
 
Ha, I laugh at my son, he say "Dad, I'm afraid to go out in the real world!" Says the Navy has taken such good care of him and treated him so nice. Steve what did you do for your second career. Brian is working at getting on with one of the airlines. They seem to need pilots now. I say to him, how can you stand to go from the beautiful fast sports car to driving a bus? He doesn't care as long as it is flying.

Paul,
A good friend of mine from church was a fighter pilot in the navy during Vietnam. When he retired he joined the FBI as a pilot. He has retired form the FBI as well and has some of the best stories I've ever heard.
 
I looked at the airline life and it didn't appeal to me, besides, you can't fly a 747 upside down. It's a great job if you can make it through the time you're on reserve, but those can be some tough years, especially these days. Good luck to him though.

Steve,
I worked for TWA for 11+ years and during those years was always told that the airlines didn't like fighter pilots... they preferred the heavy bomber or cargo pilots... they claimed it was a mind set on the pilots part ??? It was a fun job while it lasted, but after 11 years I still didn't have the seniority to get off the night shifts and I had a young family that I wanted more time with, so I left... I was load master on the cargo planes, so had a lot of interaction with the pilots and at that time flight engineers.
 
Chuck,

The airlines' attitudes toward fighter pilots varied with each airline. Delta at one time hired only fighter pilots while others hired only bomber/transport pilots. Each had its own reasons for the preference. I think most of it boiled down to the attitude of management. Fighter pilots tended to be more independent and willing to make a decision while heavy pilots tended to be better at crew coordination and interaction.

I spent 3 years working with an Army Airborne unit and got very familiar with transports and loadmasters. I've got 5 more takeoffs than I do landings in C-130, C141, and UH-1's thanks to the nylon letdown. Was fun while and would jump again in a minute. Just now they'd need a cargo chute for me.
 
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