Page 36 - Sept 19 TNT

From the Flight Deck by Kevin R. Dingman Participation Trophy Generations Silent – 1928-1945 – Strong work ethic, humility, prudent saver Boomers – 1946-1964 – Idealistic, revolutionary, collectivist Generation X – 1965-1980 – Materialistic, competitive, individualistic Millennials (Gen Y) – 1981-1996 – Globalist, questioning, self-oriented Gen Z – 1997-? – “Communaholic,” dialoguer, realistic Squarely in the middle of the boomers, I grew up in aviation at the end of the last GA boom. The year that I started high school, a brand-new Cessna 172 was $33,950 and they built 750 of them. The favorite flavor of flight school fuel was red 80 octane, and a third-class physical was completed as if you were applying to be a Mercury astronaut. I paid $16 per hour to rent a new Mooney Cadet and $8 for a not-so-new instructor, all while earning $1.25 per hour washing airplanes and pump- ing that red fuel. It was a time when you needed a restricted radiotelephone operator permit to use the airplane radio, and your flight instructor chastised you for not only piloting errors but for improper use of the radio. After soloing, your shirttail was ceremoniously and publicly cut off, potentially exposing non-pierced nipples and navels. Those good times were followed by more great flying in the military and Part 121. No Such Thing as Bad Student, Only Bad Teacher. Teacher Say, Student Do. – Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita –“The Karate Kid”) Shake My Hose The United States Air Force UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Train- ing) instructors would grab your oxygen hose at the mask and shake you to enforce a point and openly embarrass you in front of squadron mates. Soloing the T-37 resulted in being thrown into a congratulatory dunk tank. During my new hire B-727 engineer training, the ground school instructor slapped me in the head for allowing my family to do Jepp revisions. And the two stripe (career flight engineer) sim instructor swore profusely 34 • TWIN & TURBINE / September 2019