What would you do?

Jettsdad

New Member
hey everyone, i have a question for any dispatchers but particularly those who went to Sheffield. If you had 18 months before heading to FLL, what would you have done in that time to prepare, and prepare for an aviation career in general. I spend ALOT of hours at work non-aviation related and the time off i have Is divided between online college, ground school, and working towards my PPL. any thoughts are appreciated!
 
That's easy. Study 15 min a day for your ADX written test and have that done before your go to school.
 
Sounds good Zona, I was really wondering if there was anything else, other than the ADX I should look into.
 
Learn how to read weather. Most of the dispatchers I have seen not make through a comp check has been due to not understanding weather.
 
That's a good tip. Regretfully, right before I plotted out my next career course i had just got done with a meteorology course as an elective that I was super interested in but didn't retain much because I tend t do that with (at the time) irrelevant information as I didnt start flight school yet or decided to make a career change before it's too late. hey, atleast I still have the textbooks!
 
If you have 18 months I would consider working on a degree of some kind, even if it's just an associate's, in addition to your PPL. This isn't so much to help with school as to help your marketability after you get a license.
 
Roger that @manniax, I guess you didn't catch it but I go to school online. I was in college before i joined the military so i don't have many credits left. literally the two classes i'm taking now and two classes I'll be taken starting next month and it's done. unfortunately it's in business but i didn't want to taste all the credit hours i completed before the army that applied directly to business.
 
Hey JD sounds good - I just reviewed the first post you did and I didn't see college mentioned anywhere, but a business degree is fine. Actually pretty much any degree is fine, it's just a box that some majors like to see checked off. That being said I have known people to get hired without a degree as well. The PPL should help although I wouldn't really try and go farther (unless it's a desire of yours to do so.) Once you finish your degree, you might take some meteorology classes if you have time. You could also look at doing an online dispatch course to save time on your in-residency portion, depending upon how much time you have to devote to it. Good luck with getting your license!
 
Review the ADX for sure...I would buy a FAR/AIM and FAR/FC if you dont have one yet and look through those books as well. I got my private pilot license as well. I am building time towards my commercial as well currently, but I love to fly!
 
thanks everybody for the tips. @TrotFox ADX, financially did you have a pretty hard time balancing flying on your own time and dispatching with a new dispatcher salary.
 
I suggest over the next 18 months finishing your degree, and study and take the ADX prior to going to dispatch school. You could even take a look at doing a distance learning dispatch test if you feel you are self-motivated enough to do so. Aside from that, you will learn many of the pertinent regs and other dispatch know-how in school, then go work at a regional and really learn how to dispatch.
 
I went to Sheffield and agree get the ADX out of the way beforehand, the workload down there is intense. I would highly recommend sheppardair.com it's absolutely worth the $75.
 
thanks everybody for the tips. @TrotFox ADX, financially did you have a pretty hard time balancing flying on your own time and dispatching with a new dispatcher salary.

I received a grant for my private pilot training so that helped tremendously, and then for my instrument onward it has been on my own dime. I do get into a low rut every now and again not finding the money to fly, half the time I can't fly cause of my crazy weird inconsistent hours I work dispatching. Being married and having my wife make the same income as me and no kids also helps a ton!
 
@TrotFox ADX yea, what kind of grant did you get if you don't mind me asking. I'm married with a kid and made some huge sacrifices to be able to fly as much as I do now but I'm loving it. I feel better about myself when I know wanting to fly again (flew when i was younger on pops dime) gave me discipline to cut out unneccisary things and a get my finances in order.

@TonyPerkis I checked out that sight, I'm gonna have to get that for sure, looks real good!
 
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