At age 11, we moved to Spokane, Washington. That was a total change of pace! Spokane, a city of about 250,000, although not large, did not have the open spaces that I was used to. Nor did I have the support of friends that I had developed in Vandenberg. In short, moving sucked! But in a lot of ways it was helpful for me in the long run. For one, I wasn't a very motivated student in California, so when I had no friends in Washington, all I could do was study. So I became a straight A student almost overnight. Thankfully, I found football and made some friends there, baseball, and band (I was a drummer - still am!) and got back on the right track socially.
High school was about what would be expected. Scholastics, sports, cars, friends, yada, yada, yada.......... SAT....... denied Air Force Academy entrance... ouch........ Accepted at Central Washington University where they had a small aviation program. There I earned my wings in a Cessna 152. However, I found that CWU was not an accredited school in aviation, so I looked for one that was. UND came to mind and I took a train ride out to North Dakota to find out. Holy Crap is what came to mind when I saw the facilities both at the school and at the airport. I had never seen anything quite like that, I was completely impressed.... and I transferred after completing my freshman year at Central Washington.
Anyway to make a long story short, I completed the rest of my training on the way to becoming a professional pilot (instrument, commercial, multi-engine ratings) and had a pretty typical college experience ( I think) i.e. college fraternity, midterms, extra-curriculars. It was fun. After graduating, it was not fun.
At that time there were not many jobs for low time pilots. So I went back to school in Washington and started in on a management degree. Well, management was not my cup of tea, so I looked for a job as an instructor in the Washington area. After a few leads, I got an offer at Wings of Wenatchee, in Wenatchee Washington. Located on the Columbia River gorge about 10 miles from the Sierra Nevada range which borders eastern Washington from Western Washington - It is one of the most beautiful areas I've ever been. If you've never been to that area, you should visit! Beautiful as it was, I was not getting enough flight hours to make a living (flight instructors are paid by flight hour typically) so I looked for a different instructing job. UND again came to mind, but this time as a job opportunity.
I went through a pretty rigorous screening process, but was hired for an instructor position at UND. Among my students was the creator of this page... Josh Shields. Anyway, I continued to "pay my dues" as an instructor at UND progressing through basic training to more advanced instrument, commercial, and multi-engine training. After almost two years of instructing at UND, I received notice from Continental Express that they were interested in interviewing me. The interview went well and they offered me a position flying Brazilias (a twin engine commuter turboprop with 1800 shaft horsepower each side on a four bladed reversible propeller - max cruise speed of 360 mph at 32,000 feet wwwwoooooo hoooooooooo am I excited.... darn right I am!!)
Anyway that's were I am right now. Waiting for my class date to start
for training on that beast (only a week away) and
packing my stuff for another big move... this time to Houston, TX.
If you've read this far, thanks. If you're in aviation, stick with it,
keep your nose clean, and you'll do fine. Decide early in your training
if this is absolutely what you want to do, because this business can break
your heart. But it does have its rewards!
Thanks For Reading!
Mike Rainville