Is ERAU hated by the flight community?

Brendan

Brendan

New Member
Just to throw this out in the open, as some subverse things I notice are getting old. In everyones opinion, what do you really think about ERAU? Do you have and predisposed opinions on the students and pilots from there? If so, why do you think that way?
Feel free to post both positive and negative things you think about ERAU, but please, lets all be civil. I dont want a flame war, so if you want to yell at someone, PM them. I really just want to know the peoples feelings, and have a good conversation about it.
 
I'm totally curious to being a riddle student myself. There seems to be this general hatred and I don't quite understand it. In the end all of us pilots regardless of where we train, hold the same piece of FAA paper (plastic more recently) when we're done. 3 Years ago when I started at ERAU I thought it'd be a great way to start my aviation career, if this board is a good illustration of the attitude the industry carries, all i've gotten is sour feelings. Oh well.
 
I have always seen Riddle Grads typically held in fairly high regard... After a couple years in the industry no one cares where you went to school, just what experience you have...

I am a ERAU-PRC Alumni... I wouldn't change a thing...
 
By the time I'm done, I'll be the red-headed stepchild of the Riddle grads with the Distance Learning degree. From what I've seen and heard it seems that a small, yet vocal, group of hot shots that come from both PRC and DAB kinda give the school a bad rap. Piloting isn't the only profession where a know-it-all kid comes to a company with wet ink on his diploma expecting to be handed a high paying job. It's probably because aviation is such a small, close-knit community that the stories circulate a bit more than say accounting or business management.

Like it's mentioned above, after working the line (or whatever) for a few years, no one will really care where you went to school. As long as you're not an annoying jerk and think you're better than everyone else, I think the Riddle won't hurt.
 
Thanks for the input guys; it means a lot to hear some good news.
wink.gif

I agree strongly with two of the main points made. First off, once you work for a little bit of time, you keep your job; your college degree doesnt. Secondly, I think there is a group that comes out of here thinking they own the world, and it's honestly offensive to sometimes feel like I am lumped into that group.
Thanks again for the wonderful input guys, as hearing good news helps out when you feel the reputation of others weighing in on your own shoulders.
 
I'm a Riddle PRC grad from 1982. During my interview at UPS, I was asked why I didn't get a degree from a "real school". The other Riddle grads in my class were asked this as well. You can explain this away as typical interview intimidation to see how you'll react....but why choose the Riddle as the topic?

I don't recommend aviation degrees and, as such, I don't recommend Riddle.

That doesn't mean I hate Riddle grads. The important thing is that you are able to check the "I have a degree" box on the app. However you choose to go about that is your business but Riddle isn't the end all, be all, "go here to be an airline pilot" place that the recruiters want you to think.

I honestly think I learned very little at Riddle that I carry over to the present day. To say "one is a successful because one is a Riddle product", as I saw around here earlier, is a bunch of BS in my view.

I went to Riddle but I am who I am today because of hard work, timing, and persistance...where I went to school had nothing to do with it....
 
I think so....but what do I know.

In my humble opinion. The only advantage to a Riddle type school is the internship programs. Those internships are a nice foot in the door, if you can get one. Does it outweigh the negatives? Not in my book....
 
If you REALLY want a Riddle degree, you could do it this way: Get some classes out of the way (and probably your AS or AA while you're at it) at a community college. Do your flight training at a local FBO, it's WAY cheaper than Riddle. It might not be as in-depth, but it will help you in the financial arena. After that, you can get your degree through Distance Learning. I'm basically sticking with Riddle b/c 1) they give me college credit for my flight ratings and 2) I'm too lazy and cheap to pay to have my transcripts from previous schools and CLEP sent to another school. Besides, I'm three classes away from being done. Why stop now?
smile.gif
 
The things I got from Riddle were Name Recognition and lots of connections. I even got my first full-time Flight Instructing job because another pilot overheard me mention I went to Riddle (he did too) and one thing lead to another and 2 weeks later I had a new job... That job lead into a good Charter job which then lead into my current Corporate Job...

(Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Your mileage may vary. Closed track with professional driver. Do not try this at home. Consult your physician before taking this medication.)
 
Maybe I am just blind or something, or maybe older Riddle Graduates didn't get that great of an education from Riddle way back when. But presently in DAB i can honestly say I learned a lot that I would not learn by just going to a regular college and getting my rating at a FBO.
From turbines, systems, ATC, and all other classes that i have not yet takes, I learned a lot that I guess no normal pilot would know. Yea if you went to a regular college you could learn systems and stuff by buying a book. Plus you can't pass up on all the experienced teachers. I've had a B52 pilot, and F4 pilot and graduate of Top Gun, Harrier Pilot, and many others. All the stories and experience your not gonna get any where else.

Another point I would like to make would be many people think that a Riddle degree would not help, that airlines only care if you have a 4 year degree. I think a Riddle degree would help a lot especially at the Regionals. If you have two identical applicants, one has a 4 year degree in Finance and another has a Riddle degree, who just spent 4 years spending his like around aviation. I definitely learned a lot about aviation during the past 3 years. Most of my knowlege probably came from the classes i took. Not just the rating i earned.
Maybe I am just one sided b/c I go to Riddle. But thats just what I think.
I don't think Riddle can hurt you, it can only help.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I can honestly say I learned a lot that I would not learn by just going to a regular college and getting my rating at a FBO.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree 100%...
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think a Riddle degree would help a lot especially at the Regionals. If you have two identical applicants, one has a 4 year degree in Finance and another has a Riddle degree, who just spent 4 years spending his like around aviation.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes and no. I think it depends on how you interview in addition to your degree. If all you know is aviation, they might take the other guy b/c he is "more rounded" and might fit better.

While I agree that the faculty at Riddle is top notch (I've noticed this even in the DDL area), it's still a LOT of money. $100K and a library card could get you a lot of knowledge as well. You just wouldn't have the piece of paper that says ERAU on it.
 
My only concern about the helping and hurting of Riddle students is the new FAR part 142 training they're doing with their $200 an hour sims. (That price isn't accurate but it's close). I flight instruct at PRC and I've seen at least half a dozen log books with simulator time logged as 1) Total Flight Time and 2) ACTUAL INSTRUMENT time. That's my concern is that Riddle is downsizing their fleet for more specialty "toys" such as the Decathalons and minimizing the time that students spend in the airplanes. Their private pilot course last fall even started out (thank god as a trial run only) but student pilots were soloing with 20+ hours in a Level 6 Frasca Sim and <5 hours in a real airplane. No wonder the program crashed and burned. But still...in the multi instrument course, you end up with like 3 total flights through all of it.

I don't know...maybe I'm just biased because I work across the street from Riddle but it's starting to show in the quality of pilot that I've seen which definitely concerns me. A) because Riddle grads rent our airplanes and B) because MY name is on a Riddle Degree too.

What does everyone else think about logging Level 6 sim time as REAL flight time? What do you think the chief pilot of a 121 carrier would say?
 
The whole Part 142 switch is a big negative in my mind, and the main reason I'm heading across the street for my CFI instead of doing FA417 for a Riddle job. FA325 was a big joke because of this whole thing. For my multi commercial, I spent 5.0 in the Level 6 (and sometimes Level 5), and 3.8 hours in the real plane (including a 1.3 hour checkride). I seriously feel that I didn't gain any real skill in that training at all.

I feel bad for the people that have to go through the new version of the multi instrument course, because as Tallboy said, it's all sim work. I can say from personal experience that the Level 6s are "okay" for instrument work. You can practice procedures pretty well, but the controls and power are unnecessarily twitchy. I don't see why they'd do a full course in them.

What really irks me is the fact that they got rid of some really great airplanes just to move to Part 142. Instead of doing my SE Commercial in a Bonanza like before, I had to do mine in a C172. Instead of getting to fly a C340A at FL270 next semester, I get to pretend I'm a Part 135 cargo pilot in the PA44 Level 6s. Of course we got some Decathalons to do a very expensive basic-aerobatics course instead of all the other good stuff.
tongue.gif


At any rate, I don't hate Riddle. I really think the flight program is going in the wrong direction is all.
 
It's what you make of it. I've seen good Riddle studs/alumni, as well as Riddle studs/alumni that think the place it end-all-be-all. So it really depends on what the person makes of it. People tend to look at how people carry themselves and make first-hand judgements from there based on perceptions. For example, in my day at least, the guys with the Riddle window stickers and plate frames on their cars were typically the chip-on-their-shoulder Riddle pilots. These guys got out into the industry and couldn't understand why they had to "qualify" for a CFI job, or why they had to compete with the "FBO scum" for a job, since they went to Riddle. That was the perception that was proven a number of times in reality. Is it necessarily right? No. Does it mean that everyone that has those accourtements are that way? No. But you'll get some in the industry that have seen the same bad experiences I've seen with some of these people, and they'll tend to take a double-take at that.

Good school for academics, but the flying was mostly blind leading the blind of FNG IPs teaching new studs w/o any real world experience. Then again, that's the common story of the industry all over at that level.

Though the cost was too high then, and think it's much too high now.
 
Thanks again for all the insight guys. I do have quite a few gripes about this place (the 142 switch for example), and I do feel it is full of it's share of morons. I also really agree with MikeD in that this place costs too much...
It seems that a group of Riddle grads really influenced how people percieve this place, and that tone shows through a lot. Too bad it was the group of morons that name drop this place like crazy, but hey, as long as I dont fit into that category I can sleep at night. Thank god that isnt 100% of the population here, but it seems like it is a fair share. Once again, thank god for the hiring process.
I for one cant wait to see ERAU almuni after I am gone, and see how their attitudes change. Hopefully it is an attitude that gets washed away as they age and mature, but I cant say for sure.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks again for all the insight guys. I do have quite a few gripes about this place (the 142 switch for example), and I do feel it is full of it's share of morons. I also really agree with MikeD in that this place costs too much...
It seems that a group of Riddle grads really influenced how people percieve this place, and that tone shows through a lot. Too bad it was the group of morons that name drop this place like crazy, but hey, as long as I dont fit into that category I can sleep at night. Thank god that isnt 100% of the population here, but it seems like it is a fair share. Once again, thank god for the hiring process.
I for one cant wait to see ERAU almuni after I am gone, and see how their attitudes change. Hopefully it is an attitude that gets washed away as they age and mature, but I cant say for sure.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fully agree, Brendan. Anywhere you go, it's always the few or more bad apples that ruin the reputations, or create false perceptions, of the good people that come from the same place, be it a company or a school. Knowing that, is why I'll always try to judge the man by the impression he gives, not just by what's on paper (resume) or otherwise. It is unfortunate that the good people have to fight negative stereotypes that they didn't even have a hand in creating.

Riddle expenses....I see some things never change!
laugh.gif
 
Ouch. That 142 sounds like a bad deal to me. Sim time really can't be logged as total time, so that would be like another year after you get all your ratings before you could move on from an instructing job or other entry level flying job.
 
One of the neatest things about being a Riddle grad in the airline industry is all the connections you can make without even trying. I've been in the 121 world for 3 months now, and the 3 times I've jumpseated in the cockpit, one or both of the crewmembers were Riddle grads. Two captains I'd never met before gave me their business cards and said, "If you ever need anything, let me know..."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top