mad to be a pilot

[foxcoverteddy]

I hope I can get some advice, I have a 12 year old who is mad keen to be a pilot, unfortunately he failed a colour test and the first thing they told him was he could never be a pilot.
However this has not diminished is love of aircraft. I was thinking of taking him to Waterford for one of the introductory flights, he has never been in a small plane, or should I leave this on hold and perhaps the desire might go away.
Any advice would be appreciated, maybe there is something I am missing. Thank you anyway.

[fungus]

I hope I can get some advice, I have a 12 year old who is mad keen to be a pilot, unfortunately he failed a colour test and the first thing they told him was he could never be a pilot.
However this has not diminished is love of aircraft. I was thinking of taking him to Waterford for one of the introductory flights, he has never been in a small plane, or should I leave this on hold and perhaps the desire might go away.
Any advice would be appreciated, maybe there is something I am missing. Thank you anyway.

Mate I am sorry to hear about your sons' plight and I know it may be difficult to explain to a 12 year old looking at a life in front of him that seems to be shattered for him but I assure you all is not lost. Whilst I may not be able to help you specifically I'm sure there are many paths within the field of aviation which he might still pursue. ATC (Air Traffic Control) may be but one.

If I may indulge here with something I always felt I'd never do on here. I'm only here because my doctor persuaded me many years ago to buy a computer. I had for years been tracking and monitoring aircraft here on my scanner (wondering how they got from A to B) along with monitoring my old mates from emergency services until they went digital and in some cases encrypted and put an end to that. Unfortunately I had to retire ill-health back in 1992 when a genetic disease finally began to get the better of me. I use a walker nowadays when I'm out and am currently lying in a recliner lounge in order to get some relief from the pain of my condition and partake on here. Fortunately (I hope) the dreaded 'chair' with wheels may be a fair way off yet. But I was introduced to flight sim after I purchased that computer and saw an advertisement in a UK Aviatiom magazine that I subscribe to for the SBS-1 virtual radar unit some years ago and I have been uploading to FR24 (and for a time other sites as well) for quite a while now.

I had no interest whatsoever in aviation when I was young even though at one point I lived directly under the flightpath of RWY07 into Sydney (oh how i wish i still lived there although it was rather noisy). I had to give up a career in emergency service and a voluntary 'career' which also saw me qualified to work in rescue, side by side with the police, ambulance and fire and rescue personnel. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. But I've been drawn into a wonderful part of the world that I never knew existed.

One never knows where life will take you. At 12 I'm sure he'll find a career path that he can and will enjoy. All the very best with his career. I'm sure many others will have some more specific advice on here which will be of help. As for taking him to Waterford, I'm in Australia and have no idea what's there but from past experience I've 'flown' with pilots on light aircraft and on one occasion kangaroo-hopped a little Cessna 172 down the runway on landing- I'll never forget that experience and I'm not a pilot. So I cant see any reason why he cant 'fly' just perhaps not solo. Memories with your dad are absolutely special as you get older, whether it has to do with a career or whatever. You may just need to take it slow and careful to see if he warms to it initially or if it has a negative impact. I was a kid with my dad in the car on the way to his work on Saturday morning here in Australia 23rd November 1963 when we heard the horrific news bulletin of US President JFK's shooting and subsequent death over the (valve) car radio. A very real tragedy that I'll never forget- because I was with my dad.

I was 12 years old when I had to begin wearing glasses. My first pair were those 'Buddy Holley' massive black-rimmed things. Dad convinced me I looked like Clark Kent and to practice turning into Superman. The bastard lied to me since I never did but he got me to wear those specs.

The world really is a 'glass half full' or 'glass half emty' place. I cant lie and say I've always looked at it as half full. In fact, Ive looked around quite a number of times for the waiter to 'top mine up, ....just tad.' But if your son can look at it in the light that it's for the most part half full he'll do ok.

Coincidentally, in my first interview in emergency service the interviewer rolled a hand full of coloured pencils across the desk and asked me to indentify them. I thought he was stupid at first and we all had a laugh (there was a 'panel' of interviewers) until I'd realised he was doing just what you spoke about. He wanted to see if I could distinguish colour. I passed that but barely got through the physical. Perhaps in hindsight I never should have but that's another story entirely. Thanks for reminding me of some wonderful memories I'd long forgotten about.

And if I get a tad narky on here at times guys, now you know why.

I just remembered something else. Forrest Gump's mum was right- life is like a box of chocolates and indeed you do never know which one you're going to get. Just try to make sure you dont get stuck with a 'turkish delight' like I did- cant stand them!

Hope this might be of some assistance,
Regards,
Gregg

So endeth the lesson from father fungus, tune in next week for another episode.

[foxcoverteddy]

Hi there Gregg, well what can i say about your reply, first thoughts why haven't you written a book? It seems you have crammed an awful lot into the years, and I suspect a great deal of satisfaction. Yes memories do tend to stop one, whilst my mum and I had a brilliant life, Dad died on the burma Road, so thanks to him and all the others who gave their lives, my memories of him are very frail, but he is, well both of them are thought of every day.
We have family in Sydney and Brisbane, our neice has just had her first up in Springfield, so mam and dad are flying in roundabout the 15th, which we will be tracking from Ireland, our Bobby has me up and down like a yo-yo checking the flights going over the house to LHR in the main. Despite being 35thou some of them are very visable colour wise.
He is on the thought line that in ten years or so they may be able to correct the problem, if not Dad I will fly a helicopter? He is determined to fly something.
Going back to your reply I found it moving and gave me a confidence that he should make it in the airline industry somehow and somewhere.
Thank you so much and we all wish you our most sincere regards. We will keep you up to speed as to what is happening. Ted Eileen and robert or bobby to friends.

[fungus]

Hi there Gregg, well what can i say about your reply, first thoughts why haven't you written a book? It seems you have crammed an awful lot into the years, and I suspect a great deal of satisfaction. Yes memories do tend to stop one, whilst my mum and I had a brilliant life, Dad died on the burma Road, so thanks to him and all the others who gave their lives, my memories of him are very frail, but he is, well both of them are thought of every day.
We have family in Sydney and Brisbane, our neice has just had her first up in Springfield, so mam and dad are flying in roundabout the 15th, which we will be tracking from Ireland, our Bobby has me up and down like a yo-yo checking the flights going over the house to LHR in the main. Despite being 35thou some of them are very visable colour wise.
He is on the thought line that in ten years or so they may be able to correct the problem, if not Dad I will fly a helicopter? He is determined to fly something.
Going back to your reply I found it moving and gave me a confidence that he should make it in the airline industry somehow and somewhere.
Thank you so much and we all wish you our most sincere regards. We will keep you up to speed as to what is happening. Ted Eileen and robert or bobby to friends.

Not a worry at all Ted and thanks. Yes indeed we do owe a great deal of gratitude to many of those who trod this ball before us, some for an all too brief period of time. It's also unbelievable the number of people who have family in the colony these days. And I think you'll find everyone on here does there level best to assist in any way they can. Not sure about that book though mate as a lot of pages would probably require some heavy editing and perhaps much deleting and I've lost the word for the moment on what they call that stuff that gets junked. 'The life of Fungus' however, does conjure up a certain level of appeal.

I can see it now. 'The life of Fungus' (the true, real-life story of the Douglas 'Tin legs' Bader of Flightradar24) Oh dear.

Yes hopefully in time with the advances in technology and medicine they'll be able to help your son out. Tracking and monitoring aircraft in whatever form can be thrilling in itself though and I've just recently been convinced to buy a camera (a proper digital SLR with zoom lenses) and that can be a lot of fun also grabbing pics of the local traffic or overflying flights when able. The missus thinks I look hilarious trying to lug all the massive cam gear out the back trying to catch an aircraft before it's gone and without a faceplant into the deck. I've had to get a tripod to assist me to hold the cam but where there's a will there's a way. FR24 helps a lot with the issue of missing them.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was back in my initial training when I asked a copper (as we call our police officers over here- sometimes affectionately, sometimes not) after asking him how you keep your head together doing the work I described in my previous post. He told me how he 'created' memories of the jobs, mostly funny ones, either on the way to, during or after it was completed. He said however to just make sure that if it was during an incident to make sure there were no camera crews around to film you laughing. I had no problem with that as I found those camera lights very, very hot up close and soon wiped any semblance of a smile off many faces. Then when your head hits the pillow at night and you find your mind drifting uneasily into the horror you can turn your thoughts to the humorous and believe me it works wonders in life in general also. So if ever you catch those guys (and the girls these days) laughing remember it's not because they find their work hillarious they're just trying to survive. I dont know if you're on the chat at all but if so you may well find me doing the 'graveyard' shift at night your time with a few other night-shifters (when I'm able). I'm just about to fire up the radar receiver so I'll sign off.

Again good luck and I look forward to catching more down the track
Regards,
Gregg

[foxcoverteddy]

Hi Gregg and everyone else who gave advice.
You will all be delighted that our Bobby made his first flight with the local Waterford Aero club this morning, it was quite an emotional thing for Mam and Dad, but Bobby who did say on his return that he had butterflies for the first few minutes, however George the Instructor and a fatherly figure soon calmed that aspect down. He thought it was the most marvellous experience, despite not being told where and what we doing, it is a surprise, until we got to the airport, even then he had no idea that he was going up. We met such a brilliant friendly bunch of people at the club and are looking forward to the next trip.
Thanks again, Ted Eileen and Bobby

[fungus]

Hi Gregg and everyone else who gave advice.
You will all be delighted that our Bobby made his first flight with the local Waterford Aero club this morning, it was quite an emotional thing for Mam and Dad, but Bobby who did say on his return that he had butterflies for the first few minutes, however George the Instructor and a fatherly figure soon calmed that aspect down. He thought it was the most marvellous experience, despite not being told where and what we doing, it is a surprise, until we got to the airport, even then he had no idea that he was going up. We met such a brilliant friendly bunch of people at the club and are looking forward to the next trip.
Thanks again, Ted Eileen and Bobby

Great to hear that mate and hope it leads to many years of joy and satisfaction for all concerned.
Gregg