A career in Historic aviation

At the last BAPC Meeting at Snibston it was advised that BAPC are seeking funding to try and allow the scheme to continue in some format – hopefully they can get something sorted out!

I really do hope so. As a ‘best practice’ guide for volunteers, it can only become increasingly valuable.

Excellent news Rob,well done!

Thanks, and my new location should give me the chance to still volunteer on vintage aircraft, but at a new place

I know, that’s what I thought! There’s more to say about the IWM’s attitude to this course (the future of which is doubtful) but that’s another thread..

At the last BAPC Meeting at Snibston it was advised that BAPC are seeking funding to try and allow the scheme to continue in some format – hopefully they can get something sorted out!

Back on topic, I earlier asked SpitfirePRXIX to give us some idea of his location, interests and plans, which, from previous similar discussions, might result in some opportunities or offers being made available.

SpitfirePRXIX?

Yes, if I could find a way to confine it to just two languages – English (UK) and French (France) – but the damned thing wanders like a world tourist and always defaults to English (US). Now if I was thirteen, no doubt I could resolve it in a flash. But I’m not and I can’t! PMs explaining, in words of one syllable, how to do it will be accepted willingly!

…………please don’t get me onto that one. If I had an Euro for every time Word Spellcheck changes the name of my postal town to monotint, and I have to change it back manually, I’d be able to buy a data plate based Spitfire restoration with the money generated!

Can’t you just add it to your Spellcheck dictionary? That’s what I do to any words that I use frquently that Spellcheck throws out.

:confused: An interesting response when they’re a ‘partner’ in the scheme! http://www.nahsi.org.uk/

I know, that’s what I thought! There’s more to say about the IWM’s attitude to this course (the future of which is doubtful) but that’s another thread..

I think the lesson for anyone pursuing a dream, like Spitfire PR XIX, is that knowing an awful lot about old aeroplanes doesn’t make a blind bit of difference, sadly. Similarly, being exceptionally keen – going on that course, even being prepared to take a cut in salary – is no qualification to those on the ‘business’ side of the larger organisations.

If you want to work in administration at Duxford, you need degree-level qualifications – and experience – in business administration. If you want to work in curation, you’ll need experience – probably a degree – in curation.. and so on. I suspect if you want to clean toilets these days you need a degree in organic waste management.

I believe the sad truth is it’s never going to be like so many memoirs of the 20’s and 30’s. If you hang around an airfield looking bright and offering to polish things no-one is going to say ‘My, there’s a keen young fella-me-lad, I think I’ll make him my apprentice’. I was forty before I worked that one out!

Like many others here, I reckon your best bet, PRXIX, is focus on doing a degree. Then at the very worst you can get a decent job that allows you to do aviation things in your spare time.. and at the very best? The dream job. I reckon you’ll do all right 🙂

PS Having read your last post – don’t be TOO cynical, despite everything I’ve just said – generally individual people want to help, even when the ‘system’ doesn’t seem very friendly!

Excellent news Rob,well done!

As Ben says, and many others also have, get a degree! I’m on the same course as Ben, Aviation Management and Operations, got my results through a couple of days ago and yesterday had news that i’ve got my dream job at my dream company – not a historic company, but the shift patterns and amount of time off, as well as location, means i’ll hopefully be able to continue to be active with historic aviation, if not more so

I totally agree with You Pete, I hate the competitive side of getting a job, sadly, it’s the reality of the immensley competitive world.I just wish employer would employ You on the grounds of, Your potential and how passionate you are.

Right, better get into the cruel ‘real’ world. This unpleasent modern hell.

Cheers, from a cynical human being.

George

P.S, I hope I have’nt made you want to cut your own head off reading this.

Reading through this thread makes me realise how seriously the current education system has failed our children.
I went to school from age 5 to 16 from 1937 to 1948 finishing with the equivalent of GCSE (plus exemption from Matriculation) so I had two years of varied jobs, farm labourer, clerk, and met assistant before walking into a navigators job in the RAF at 18. No sweat.
Nowadays they are not allowed to do competitive sport in case they feel ‘disadvantaged’, they do not learn to spell, write or add up, but on leaving school face intense competition for the job they want. A crazy situation which does the country no service.
Bring back the birch and 3 Rs
Rant over.

Edit – I am doing my course at Duxford. I mentioned this when being interviewed for an admin job with the IWM there – and I felt the level of interest in the room drop through the floor!

:confused: An interesting response when they’re a ‘partner’ in the scheme! http://www.nahsi.org.uk/

I’m interested to know – has anyone used their BAPC ‘National Aviation Heritage Skills Initiative’ qualification to help get a job in historic aviation?

In theory it is the ultimate vocational course for those who want to ‘break in’ professionally – I’m doing it at the mo, and it’s jolly useful and informative – but I wouldn’t recommend it solely as a step towards the career Spitfire PRXIX is after unless there was compelling evidence that it worked in one’s favour. Similarly, would any professionals out there in a position to actually employ people be swayed by this?

Edit – I am doing my course at Duxford. I mentioned this when being interviewed for an admin job with the IWM there – and I felt the level of interest in the room drop through the floor!

Same applies down-under here in New Zealand. Uni degrees are the
first requirement for an aviation research/librarian job and the pay
is real low considering the level of degrees required (Masters deg. in
some cases). Some I’ve known even do a second job.

Be wary of making your hobby your job – sometimes it works out and
sometimes it doesn’t. I rode jumpseat once in a Boeing 737 and the
captian said how he wished he’d stuck to recreational flying only. Couldn’t
believe what I was hearing!!!! how can this be??? but its something I’ve
always remembered.
On the flipside I made my “other” hobby – TV production – my career and
still enjoy it after 18 years.

My advice as others have stated, get into volunteer work and get
yourself known to people, you never know down the track, you
just might end up a museum director or in admin. and the pay is much
better. “Who you know” is sometimes as good as a qualification – in
some circles….

…But it occurs to me how singularly boring I am being and who really gives a t**s whether or not bête noir, when written as part of English language text, carries a circumflex accent on the e!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Moggy

[I]
Of course the real trick with accents is protecting them all the way to print from the almost inevitable attack by the semi-literate programmers working for MicroSoft.

…………please don’t get me onto that one. If I had an Euro for every time Word Spellcheck changes the name of my postal town to monotint, and I have to change it back manually, I’d be able to buy a data plate based Spitfire restoration with the money generated!

…and who really gives a t**s whether or not bête noir, when written as part of English language text, carries a circumflex accent on the e!

Hart’s Rules and Bryson’s Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors suggest you should. I’m not being paid, so I’m not looking it up in Butcher’s Copy Editing which isn’t to hand and is a bit bigger! 😉

Of course the real trick with accents is protecting them all the way to print from the almost inevitable attack by the semi-literate programmers working for MicroSoft.

I continue to use a QWERTY keyboard, because my fingers and brain are used to this, rather than transferring to an AZERTY keyboard but I can still access the full range of accents and suchlike via the former by using ‘alt plus ***’. Thus the circumflex accent on the letter e is ‘alt plus 136’. But it occurs to me how singularly boring I am being and who really gives a t**s whether or not bête noir, when written as part of English language text, carries a circumflex accent on the e!

Tsk, tsk. You’ve forgotten the circumflex accent on the e in bête noir.

Not forgotten. Merely limited by my keyboard 🙁

Moggy

If you do decide to go for a degree it might be possible to combine foreign languages and history – two subjects mentioned above. I don’t know if any universities offer that these days, but I know it was possible some years ago. You’d need at least one language at A level, though.