Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

If I remember correctly - there's a few pilots around here

#1

What’s the future of “commercial piloting”? Strong? Drones?

Reason I ask? My youngest has been 3Q’d (meets all qualifications + congressional nom) to enter both the AF Academy and West Point. He spent a week this past summer living as a cadet at The Air Force Academy…to “try it out” via an invite. Coast Guard Academy invited him to show up there for a week also.

Friday he was notified of being a successful recipient (1 of 800 or so out of 10K applicants) to receive a 4-yr Army ROTC scholarship for VMI, The Citadel, or UTK (U TN -Knoxville). Getting this scholarship? Just as difficult as getting into West Point…same kids apply for both.

See where I am going with this? AF Academy told us this summer that he was a “Top 300 kid in the United States” (based on up to sr year of high school)…he’s going in one of the service academies…and he’s wanting to fly…even if it’s helicopters in the Army.

What do you think commercial pilots? Good path to commercial? Future? USAFA is his #1 choice btw.

You PPL folks feel free to chime in too.

…and a shout out to @BanjoBen for helping my son make it up into the skies over Lebanon/Nashville - 1940s “open air” PT-19…he LOVED IT!

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#2

Well heck, tell him to go Navy and be Top Gun!!

I have lots of friends/family went the USAFA route, they all loved it. Seems to be lots of pilot slots right now, that may change and I don’t have my ear to the ground.

One of my best friends was Apache pilot in Army, went on to fly commercial airliners, now he’s back in the Army instructing in the King Air…so many possibilities.

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#3

In 2019, I would have said that the job prospects in aviation were the best in my lifetime. 2020 cut it down a notch in multiple ways, but it is still good, with promising future prospects. With that said, your son’s time horizon is too far out to have much meaningful predictions for where the airlines will be (that will likely be about 12 to 14 years out). If he wants to go into the military AND he wants to fly, I highly recommend the pilot programs in the academies. It is a perfect fit. If he just wants to fly, the academies + pilot school is a huge commitment. Learning through the civilian route is a great way to go. He could be with a major airline in about half the time as he would going to an academy. If he wants to fly airlines, fixed wing is a much preferable path than helicopters in the military.

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#4

I’m not a pilot, but I did teach engineering at the Air Force Academy. It’s a beautiful place. I also taught ROTC at the University of AZ. Also a beautiful place and a great commissioning program. But if your son wants to fly, the Air Force Academy is the way to go. The USAFA cadets go to the front of the pilot line, and a majority of USAFA cadets are groomed for pilot training. ROTC is used to fill additional needs. And if there are pilot slot drawdowns, the ROTC folks take the bulk of those cuts. Best of luck to your son in his pursuits.

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#5

FWIT - If he wants to be a commercial pilot, I would suggest the Air Force. Sad to say, it’s become more of a cargo service than a fighting force, but those are the skills wanted by commercial airlines, not Top Gun types.
UAV pilots tend to have more psychological issues than others. The brain gets weird when reality is so far away from the joystick.

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#6

Hi @Oldhat2, I agree with @JKL. I’m a Warrant Officer in the Army, have been in Army aviation, and also went to VMI. To answer your question, “commercial piloting” is strong and I don’t see that being a drone mission anytime soon. I primarily see drones in MI, and our OH-58 Scout mission was replaced with UAV’s (which hurt army aviation). There’s a saying “drones can’t replace pilots, only pilots can replace pilots” and I believe that will hold true for commercial aviation for years to come. BUT even if it does, your son is a high achiever, and will excel at whatever path he chooses. As a parent of high academic achievers, I unnecessarily stressed about “which path”, but eventually realized there is no better indicator of future “success” and happy life than the individual. With his visits, he’ll know which one fits him the best, and that will be the most right path. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss.

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#7

He didn’t apply USNA…didn’t think he had what it takes for that one.:::thinking:

Good to see you w/some additional knowledge via friends and family. Enough room on that Texas ranch for A10 vs Apache shooting range? Send an invite if ya set it up.

Yes… so many possibilities. Makes an old man’s head spin.

#8

Thanks for this Mike. Lot of weight in your opinion in “my book”. Experience around Hazard gets ya a bonus +50 pts automatically! Ya can’t lose!

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#9

Interesting.

He’s 100% STEM. 100% heading into engineering.

He accepted ROTC scholarship yesterday for UTK. Other academic offers - academic, honors, ROTC? Young man is “set” at UTK.

He’s up to $116K worth of scholarships at UTK over 4 years. During the summer heading into his jr year of high school he spent 30 days there studying engineering. TN selects the top 100 STEM students and awards them scholarships to attend “Governor’s School” at UTK for 30 days…and it’s all about STEM. He lived in dorms. Great experience. Boys State too, class pres, #1 in class, team captain, and scholastic level “State Champ” title. National recognition SAT w/ACT 31…and about 100 other outstanding awards and achievements.

UTK? Turning heads on the STEM offerings and teachings. Highly ranked for public. His “back up plan” is a good one.

Thanks for your response.

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#10

…wife w/Masters of Heath Information (MIH) from there, daughter with chem/bio molecular eng from there that is now with MS (Data Analysis) from there, and the 3rd child in her 2nd effort over in Knoxville trying to break into the radiology field…college sure is expensive on an old man.

We’re all from Ohio…but outside of me? It’s Volunteer orange and white around here…I don’t even try n’ fight it.

#11

Thanks. I’m a combat vet. Go Army! I can certainly understand the part about psychological aspect/rabbit holes that might pop up in drone pilots.

Thanks for the reinforcement in the fact.

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#12

Yup Banjo Ben Clark

d-pilot-thinking-render-50306654.jpg800×800 39.3 KB

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#13

…climb on in Archie. We’re about to take flight.

#14

Thanks so much for this response…and your service. I’m prior Army myself - enlisted. Have a little time under my belt In Iraq…another life.

We’ll most certainly reach out if we need it. We are somewhat “leaning on” the ROTC folks over at UTK to offer guidance. I’m not shy, combat vet, etc…so I just spill it all out on the table and sort it out from there. Seems to be the right way most of the time.

Oldest was on the fully functional “spectrum” side of things, middle child about the same (boys slowed her down a bit), and the last one coming out of HS that is making his marks too. Yep, I know it’ll all work out in the end…and that my fretting should be on that old martin over in the corner instead! But you know how it is…

Oh, he’s LOE/NWL West Point.

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#15
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#16

MHO - if a high schooler has been accepted to one of the military academies, they probably have self discipline and a grasp of time management. They will find their thing and do well.

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#17

I have not been around in a while - busy!

Stopped in to follow up and let you know that my son picked up an AFROTC 4-yr Type 1 Scholarship yesterday morning.

I’m thinking that w/Army and AF ROTC 4 -yr? Pretty good chance the kid is going to get a call.

Interviewed with Coast Guard Academy last week and that went REALLY WELL! He was a bit late to the slate there…high school was dragging their feet.

just an fyi/following up.

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#18
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#19

FYI- USMA offered him an appointment yesterday.

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#20

FYI. He made it down to the final 2 days for USAFA then got the “sorry” letter.

Still a chance he can get in later… but he’s West Point bound as of right now.

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