After some phone calls to find out about meeting times and other administrative items, I attended my first CAP meeting tonight.
The local squadron is a "composite", meaning it is made up of cadets (under 21) and senior (I prefer to think of myself as the type in college, rather than the "citizen" variation...) members. This means there are two meeting schedules: one for the cadets - weekly for 2 1/2 hours each, and one for the senior members (SM's) - monthly.
The first meeting was pretty dry. The cadets learn a whole mess of stuff, but the intent of the organization is not just aviation. I identify a whole lot more with kids half my age than with SM's nearly twice that, and tonight's lecture on drug abuse didn't seem all that different than what I heard in school many years ago. That's unfortunate, since I realize that kids learn and process information much differently than 20 (or even five) years ago. But the lessons don't really reflect that. But I'm not going to rock the boat without even being a member first.
Tonight was just intended to get a feel for the group and meet everyone for the first time. I found out that it really is a quasi-military group. Sharp uniforms, drill for the cadets, saluting, the whole bit. I really had no idea.
I had to arrive a bit late, and ended up leaving early. It turns out that most of the SM's don't attend the cadet meetings for various reasons. The ones that do are those that are tasked with giving the many lessons. I will try to get to the first senior member meeting next month to get a better idea of just who I will be dealing with.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Trying Something New
This will be the start of a new chapter in my aviation "career." Due to the inherent connection between this new endeavor and my flight training and subsequent private pilot exploits, I thought that adding it here would make the most sense. For that matter, since I haven't been doing any flying lately, this gives me a good chance to contribute some additional insights.
First off, I have always been interested in aviation. But only recently have I become more aware of it as an economic and political force (or perhaps pawn). In any case, I believe that any political advance starts with having the particular activity in question be an ingrained part of society. For instance, the ongoing health care debate exists in part because we have become so accustomed to a certain standard of living and care. We can't imagine going backwards.
Apparently, this is not the case with aviation, either general or airline. Outdated technology, low pay, and some pretty awful working conditions constantly amaze and worry me -- how did the industry get to this point? Since I'm far from an expert on such matters, I thought I'd explore what avenues were available to educate and enlighten.
There are actually more options than I had thought, but after looking into one in particular, I decided I'd check it out in person: the Civil Air Patrol. If you are an aviator of some advanced years, you may already know something of this organization. For myself, though definitely not as young as I once was, I know very little. It's something out of the fifties isn't it?
In the back of my mind, I have an idea to turn this little escapade into a running article for a publication like AOPA or EAA. That remains to be seen. For now, I wanted to keep a running journal of the experience, since it looks like a valuable, though perhaps underutilized, asset to aviation.
I look forward to finding out more about the group, and joining if it looks like the time commitment will work with my schedule. I hope you'll enjoy learning a bit more about it as well. Let's go!
First off, I have always been interested in aviation. But only recently have I become more aware of it as an economic and political force (or perhaps pawn). In any case, I believe that any political advance starts with having the particular activity in question be an ingrained part of society. For instance, the ongoing health care debate exists in part because we have become so accustomed to a certain standard of living and care. We can't imagine going backwards.
Apparently, this is not the case with aviation, either general or airline. Outdated technology, low pay, and some pretty awful working conditions constantly amaze and worry me -- how did the industry get to this point? Since I'm far from an expert on such matters, I thought I'd explore what avenues were available to educate and enlighten.
There are actually more options than I had thought, but after looking into one in particular, I decided I'd check it out in person: the Civil Air Patrol. If you are an aviator of some advanced years, you may already know something of this organization. For myself, though definitely not as young as I once was, I know very little. It's something out of the fifties isn't it?
In the back of my mind, I have an idea to turn this little escapade into a running article for a publication like AOPA or EAA. That remains to be seen. For now, I wanted to keep a running journal of the experience, since it looks like a valuable, though perhaps underutilized, asset to aviation.
I look forward to finding out more about the group, and joining if it looks like the time commitment will work with my schedule. I hope you'll enjoy learning a bit more about it as well. Let's go!
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