Confusion is over -- I moving to...

It's not that I have been confused, but a lot of you guys are, who have been wondering what I'm doing and where I'm going. Well, you don't have to be boggled any longer. This past Monday I had a 4-hour interview with IFTA (International Flight Training Academy). After the ordeal, they decided to offer me a job and I ACCEPTED A FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR POSITION. So I am moving to Bakersfield, CA. I start work next Monday!!!

I will be in training for the first six(6) weeks with orientation and flight standardization. Their demands are high. So it will be a hard challenge to successful complete their training, so that I can be one of their next flight instructors. Even though I passed the interview, which included a difficult written test, oral examination, and flight test, I have to meet the strict and professional standards of IFTA. The company is one of the best flight schools in the country. I will be training international students, primarily from Japan, who are already employed by an airline. They are highly motivated. The airlines pay for their training from Private Pilot level all the way into their jets. It will be my job to teach them the basics through commercial, multi-engine, instrument level flying, which will prepare them for their jet training. Check out the schools website at www.ifta.net.

Today and tomorrow I finish packing and will begin the ROAD TRIP on Friday. I am getting to pack up a good chunk of my stuff, especially since I plan to live their for two years. Bakersfield is conveniently located within hours of LA, the Pacific ocean, and some of the best hiking, rock climbing, and skiing in the Sierra Nevada's, so I will need my recreational equipment along! I will leave my house in Dinkytown in the good hands of my housemates. (By the way, we are still looking for a roommate to fill my space.) In Bakersfield, I don't have to worry about a place to live right away since the company puts me up in their student dorms while I'm their standardization training. I'm looking forward to this move, meeting new people, and getting to use my flight skills again. The job will be challenging, but I get the weekends off so I can enjoy God's creation that surrounds the area. One of my FIRST GOALS will be to pick up a DIRT BIKE with which to explore the dessert!

The hardest part of moving is leaving family and friends. Even though I'm originally from California and it was my home for over 25 years, Minnesota is now home and I'm going to miss it. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I'm back for a visit to see everyone, check up on my house (and my old housemates, too), and taste and smell MN again.

Eastcoast or Westcoast?

Over a month ago I completed all my instructor upgrades ("add-on" in aviation terms). YEAH! I have been back doing construction temporary while I wait for a flight instructor job. I sent resumes to all the local airports but that showed no promises. I did apply with the school (ATP, Inc) with which I had finished my most recent training. The day that I applied I received a call and was offered a job training date. Another yeah!

So I'm scheduled to either head to California or Florida and don't know which way to go...weird. Actually, I would like to go to California and I will. This weekend I'm off to an interview in Bakersfield, CA with a company called International Flight Training Academy (IFTA). (IFTA/Bakersfield is about 2 hours north of L.A.) It's a flight school that primarily trains internationals from Japan or Italy and this is the company with which I would like to work. However, I already have a job training slot with ATP in Florida, but was able to postpone my start day. If everything goes well with my interview with IFTA, I will be headed there instead of Florida. So it's not so weird then that I don't know which way to go.

In either case I will gone for at least a year. And then after that I could still be gone for another year as I will be applying for jobs with the regional airlines. That the plans anyhow. That could change.