Go for it!!
I'll be on my way to TX this coming April to start an Aeronautical Engineering degree from UT.
Bo - that's a great start! Your passion for things aeronautic and flying will drive you to excel in this exciting field. I'd like to relate a little story here for your benefit:
I did virtually the same thing back in 1980: Wanted to work as an engineer but I also wanted to fly. Got my PPL in high school, and then on to college at Cal Poly Pomona for a BS in aero engineering.
Two things I did basically shaped my life to this day, both of them "long shots" taken in the pure pursuit of my dreams: I always wanted to design *and* fly, so in my second year of college, I took a shot at getting into the Air Force as a pilot. There were only 2 slots available for my school that year, and over 40 applicants. Well, I was accepted and flew 9 years as an active duty pilot!! Dream #1 fulfilled...
I also wanted to get into some cool design work, and right out of college I had a year to wait until reporting for pilot training. So - I drove up to Edwards AFB to go see if I could work there and get my hands on something fun. Long shot again!! Guess what? I got a job - for almost a year - working in the F16 Combined Test Force, doing performance analysis on the F-16C/D fighters!!! I got around Test Ops on a regular basis, got some great specialized training by NASA while there, and met LOTS of cool pilots (Yeager, Sewell, many USAF test pilots, and worked with some really sharp engineers too). Since then, I've worked a couple other full time engineering jobs, and have done lots of free-lance work on many many interesting projects, worked with a couple race teams, experimentals, jets, and RV's! Its been GREAT!
Today, I still work full time as a pilot (B777, United) and just about full time as an engineer. Hey, check out the little wiring tool I put on the market; another example of dream + action = reality. The engineering now is specific to my own interests - there's another dream wrapped up in that effort, which is underway.
Bo, that's TWO long shots that would have never happened if I didn't take them. Now you go do the same. You have the passion, the interest, the motivation, and the talent to be
great. To live
your dreams. Being here on VAF is one obvious piece of evidence that you are that kind of pilot and engineer "in the making". Carry on!
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