Swayne coming to a 121 near you

Hacker15e said:
Personally, I like Swayne's videos. Yeah, he comes off as smarmy to me, but that may or may not reflect what he's actually like in person. The videos have a good production value and videography, and I enjoy watching the flying scenes. Some of it is cheesy (like the scenes filmed while sitting in the cockpit of an empty airplane sitting at the gate, but while wearing a headset), but I'm also not Swayne's target audience for his videos.

The backlash against the dude, though, strikes a chord very close to home. As most of you know, back 20+ years ago when the internet was still in its infancy, I had a website where I kept what we'd now call a blog where I detailed my experiences going through USAF pilot training as a student (still on archive.org if you want to gawk: www.militarypilot.net). It sounds like a commonplace thing today, but so far as I know there was only one other guy who'd done something similar at the time (a Navy guy whose journal I found, and who I shamelessly copied).

My reasoning was that, prior to starting training, I had been searching for information all over the place about what USAF training was like in order to prepare (plus I was just plain excited about what I was going to be doing). I'd bought and read literally dozens of books written by USAF pilots, and gotten little nuggets in each book: a couple sentences, a couple paragraphs describing training. One or two books had complete chapters about USAF training, but they just didn't provide any granular detail. All that money and effort spent book-hunting in the pre-Amazon days, and very little to show for it.

So, I decided I'd create the resource that I had originally wanted, in order to help those who would follow in my footsteps. Like the airlines, the military had policies about what you could and couldn't say in public (mostly related to operational security issues), but there was no such thing as "social media" in the 90s, so there was thus no social media policy for me to follow (or break!). I was careful to keep in mind what the actual rules were, and I kept things as anonymous as I could those days (I used my name, but didn't use the names of any of my classmates or instructors, etc).

The best I can tell I was pretty successful at the objective. The number of USAF pilots over the years who've met me and said, "I read your journal, man! That was great, thank you...I'm an AF pilot because of you" is significant. Probably greater than a hundred that I've personally met, and way more than that who sent me emails or whatever over the years. Mission accomplished.

BUT

The amount of crap that I received from people for keeping that journal over the years was crazy. When I say "people", I mean other USAF pilots (my future peers and bosses) who were already out flying operationally. I received every criticism in the book: that I was arrogant, that I was some sort of attention-hound, that I was trying to glorify my feeble training flying, etc. Those criticisms also usually had punchlines like, "I can't wait to see you fall on your face", and "I know some of your instructors...they've got your number, boy", and "when you get to my squadron, we're gonna eat your lunch," and the like.

Obviously none of that was true. I'd started and written that blog with a most non-arrogant/self-aggrandizing intent, and I couldn't understand why other folks automatically attributed such a negative motivation to my work without knowing me at all.

Some of that attention resulted in me being scheduled to fly with supervisors in my training squadrons: the Director of Operations and the Commander. They never told me explicitly that they were putting themselves on the schedule to fly with me to check out what kind of a pilot and officer I was, to follow up on whatever "tips" they were receiving about "the guy with the journal on the internet", but it was obvious to me. None of my classmates were getting these guest instructors from the Commander's office, hehe.

There were other things, too. Later on in my career I had a buddy tell me that my name had come up reference one of those secret jobs flying secret things at a secret location, and that my public profile on the internet from years before had disqualified me from further consideration.

Anyway, all of this is to say, I see a disturbingly similar reaction to my man Swayne and his videos, and I'm struggling to understand the negative reaction. Can any of you who are mocking or criticizing what he's doing actually articulate why you are being critical? It all just comes off as sour grapes to me, but I know that's because of my past experience of being the object of such criticism.
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Writing things on the internet? What are you, some kind of hacker?
 
Hacker15e said:
Personally, I like Swayne's videos. Yeah, he comes off as smarmy to me, but that may or may not reflect what he's actually like in person. The videos have a good production value and videography, and I enjoy watching the flying scenes. Some of it is cheesy (like the scenes filmed while sitting in the cockpit of an empty airplane sitting at the gate, but while wearing a headset), but I'm also not Swayne's target audience for his videos.

The backlash against the dude, though, strikes a chord very close to home. As most of you know, back 20+ years ago when the internet was still in its infancy, I had a website where I kept what we'd now call a blog where I detailed my experiences going through USAF pilot training as a student (still on archive.org if you want to gawk: www.militarypilot.net). It sounds like a commonplace thing today, but so far as I know there was only one other guy who'd done something similar at the time (a Navy guy whose journal I found, and who I shamelessly copied).

My reasoning was that, prior to starting training, I had been searching for information all over the place about what USAF training was like in order to prepare (plus I was just plain excited about what I was going to be doing). I'd bought and read literally dozens of books written by USAF pilots, and gotten little nuggets in each book: a couple sentences, a couple paragraphs describing training. One or two books had complete chapters about USAF training, but they just didn't provide any granular detail. All that money and effort spent book-hunting in the pre-Amazon days, and very little to show for it.

So, I decided I'd create the resource that I had originally wanted, in order to help those who would follow in my footsteps. Like the airlines, the military had policies about what you could and couldn't say in public (mostly related to operational security issues), but there was no such thing as "social media" in the 90s, so there was thus no social media policy for me to follow (or break!). I was careful to keep in mind what the actual rules were, and I kept things as anonymous as I could those days (I used my name, but didn't use the names of any of my classmates or instructors, etc).

The best I can tell I was pretty successful at the objective. The number of USAF pilots over the years who've met me and said, "I read your journal, man! That was great, thank you...I'm an AF pilot because of you" is significant. Probably greater than a hundred that I've personally met, and way more than that who sent me emails or whatever over the years. Mission accomplished.

BUT

The amount of crap that I received from people for keeping that journal over the years was crazy. When I say "people", I mean other USAF pilots (my future peers and bosses) who were already out flying operationally. I received every criticism in the book: that I was arrogant, that I was some sort of attention-hound, that I was trying to glorify my feeble training flying, etc. Those criticisms also usually had punchlines like, "I can't wait to see you fall on your face", and "I know some of your instructors...they've got your number, boy", and "when you get to my squadron, we're gonna eat your lunch," and the like.

Obviously none of that was true. I'd started and written that blog with a most non-arrogant/self-aggrandizing intent, and I couldn't understand why other folks automatically attributed such a negative motivation to my work without knowing me at all.

Some of that attention resulted in me being scheduled to fly with supervisors in my training squadrons: the Director of Operations and the Commander. They never told me explicitly that they were putting themselves on the schedule to fly with me to check out what kind of a pilot and officer I was, to follow up on whatever "tips" they were receiving about "the guy with the journal on the internet", but it was obvious to me. None of my classmates were getting these guest instructors from the Commander's office, hehe.

There were other things, too. Later on in my career I had a buddy tell me that my name had come up reference one of those secret jobs flying secret things at a secret location, and that my public profile on the internet from years before had disqualified me from further consideration.

Anyway, all of this is to say, I see a disturbingly similar reaction to my man Swayne and his videos, and I'm struggling to understand the negative reaction. Can any of you who are mocking or criticizing what he's doing actually articulate why you are being critical? It all just comes off as sour grapes to me, but I know that's because of my past experience of being the object of such criticism.
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Goddamn people are dicks
 
Autothrust Blue said:
I've actually not talked to Sked here beyond a few calls for release (R03 = self notify, set your alarm and rack out) and a "can you help me find where to be picked up here for the MCO Long" I had to do on OE.

In the latter call, there was this pause, and a "Wait! This is the first time you've called us! Welcome to Spirit, First Officer Blue! We're proud to have you be a part of this team."

Me, traumatized from my regional: "This is Crew Scheduling, right?"

Them: "Ha! Yep! Welcome. Anyway, let me look at the MCO notes (etc.). [details] And we look forward to speaking with you again soon!"

It was...different.
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I would have hung up out of fear.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
I've actually not talked to Sked here beyond a few calls for release (R03 = self notify, set your alarm and rack out) and a "can you help me find where to be picked up here for the MCO Long" I had to do on OE.

In the latter call, there was this pause, and a "Wait! This is the first time you've called us! Welcome to Spirit, First Officer Blue! We're proud to have you be a part of this team."

Me, traumatized from my regional: "This is Crew Scheduling, right?"

Them: "Ha! Yep! Welcome. Anyway, let me look at the MCO notes (etc.). [details] And we look forward to speaking with you again soon!"

It was...different.
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word302 said:
I would have hung up out of fear.
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What's their angle.... they can't be nice
 
I'll take his upbeat attitude and positivity rather than the YouTubers who bash the industry for their lack of research (reserve life, commuting, pay outside of their year 1 bonus, saying they can only afford to eat first class snacks, saying they sleep 2 hours a day then work until 2am every week).

Swayne has a great opportunity to do this for a little bit, and then take his brand and do something else or stop completely and live the life at a legacy. I have no doubts this kid has a bright future. Maybe hatred towards him is bitterness? I don't prefer his videos but then again I'm about having a healthy balance and tend to not watch aviation stuff on YouTube anyways. He can edit a video very nicely though.

I still stand by my comment when this thread started that he makes a regional look way better than it is, but it's all about perspective. One person can make this job look like the worst thing ever and another cherish the dream everyday for the rest of their career. I don't think he's selling the regionals like a Fyre Festival by any means. He gives great information about the industry and how it works. Anyways, seems everytime a video pops up we have this "talk". Kinda never ending. Just scroll on, fall down another YouTube hole at night.
 
Cool run in Ozzie! I’d get a kick of seeing him while walking around a terminal and would probably give him some kind words of encouragement as well. Not to bash a fellow pilot, but that YouTube pilot who went from CFI to regional FO and made this ridiculous video about how he was quitting because yadda yadda- I would walk right past that guy if I saw him in the field.
 
ozziecat35 said:
I ran into him walking through ORD last week. Introduced myself and we chatted for a few minutes. Seems really down to earth and had a good conversation. I think the old adage of critics critique because they can't applies here.
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I've swapped airplanes with him before. Seems like a nice kid. Some of his videos are unrealistically upbeat towards JR reserve life as a commuter, but I have yet to see him talk blatantly dishonestly about it. Haters gonna hate...
 
statusseeker1 said:
Cool run in Ozzie! I’d get a kick of seeing him while walking around a terminal and would probably give him some kind words of encouragement as well. Not to bash a fellow pilot, but that YouTube pilot who went from CFI to regional FO and made this ridiculous video about how he was quitting because yadda yadda- I would walk right past that guy if I saw him in the field.
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On the other hand, if it isn't for you, it isn't for you, and subject pilot may serve as a cautionary tale.
 
statusseeker1 said:
made this ridiculous video about how he was quitting because yadda yadda- I would walk right past that guy if I saw him in the field.
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I don't find it odd that some people just don't like the 121 line of work. His reasons for leaving may seem stupid to some of us, but different strokes for different folks.

Personally, I'd rather have the CFI corps manned by guys like him who have an enthusiasm for being instructors and aren't just running the hobbs to time build and in which student learning may or may not be an incidental byproduct of that time.
 
Hacker15e said:
I don't find it odd that some people just don't like the 121 line of work. His reasons for leaving may seem stupid to some of us, but different strokes for different folks.

Personally, I'd rather have the CFI corps manned by guys like him who have an enthusiasm for being instructors and aren't just running the hobbs to time build and in which student learning may or may not be an incidental byproduct of that time.
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Frankly I think the requirements to be an instructor are far too low. I know how I was at 260 hrs - I was a dumbass. I still am a dumbass, but at least I have a better idea about how much of a dumbass I am. You don't get that kind of experience - i.e. learning you're an idiot - without having some time to make some real mistakes in your flying career, and when you're right smack in the "gooey center" of the envelope, you don't build those kinds of skills. You don't know how "operational needs" will push the boundaries of safety, your school might prevent you from flying in conditions that are close to what is legally permissible, you have an hour to plan every flight you do, etc. You get to watch other people make bad decisions, but the decisions you do make are limited by the operational environment. You need good weather (most of the time) to do primary training, you can't take most students out in marginal conditions unless there's a reason for it - meanwhile, you will operate where it is legal most of the time on the job.

CFI-ing shouldn't be a time-building job enroute to greener pastures - it is good experience, but I'm inclined to think that 250hrs of flying, followed by 250 to 1250hrs of telling people how to fly isn't necessarily the best way to build that kinesthetic intuition for flying. I think people do learn valuable skills instructing - but given the opportunity to hire a guy at 500hrs, I'd rather have the guy who worked flying survey, or throwing skydivers, or doing something that involved them personally manipulating the controls for 250hrs before showing up to fly VFR 135.
 
Hacker15e said:
Personally, I'd rather have the CFI corps manned by guys like him who have an enthusiasm for being instructors and aren't just running the hobbs to time build and in which student learning may or may not be an incidental byproduct of that time.
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Hacker15e said:
I don't find it odd that some people just don't like the 121 line of work. His reasons for leaving may seem stupid to some of us, but different strokes for different folks.

Personally, I'd rather have the CFI corps manned by guys like him who have an enthusiasm for being instructors and aren't just running the hobbs to time build and in which student learning may or may not be an incidental byproduct of that time.
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I get your point and agree with it completely. I was more perturbed by his specific video that made it clear he didn't really process all the concessions required of a first year regional F.O. I wish I could remember his YouTube account to be more specific but he has a lot of CFI lessons for private pilot type stuff and then he briefly went to the regionals. And then made a long video about how he could only eat airline peanuts and was awake 20 hours a day and was making low wages.
 
statusseeker1 said:
I get your point and agree with it completely. I was more perturbed by his specific video that made it clear he didn't really process all the concessions required of a first year regional F.O. I wish I could remember his YouTube account to be more specific but he has a lot of CFI lessons for private pilot type stuff and then he briefly went to the regionals. And then made a long video about how he could only eat airline peanuts and was awake 20 hours a day and was making low wages.
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