Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by to read my biography. Before I begin, I would like to thank the current Mentors and Administrative team for all their support and advice. I’m excited to be a part of the Pilot Mentor team to share my experiences from when I was a student and now current First Officer at Piedmont Airlines. I am a first-generation pilot in my family and hope to inspire many others to turn their dreams into reality.
A quote that I always think back to is:
“A mile of road can take you a mile, but a mile of runway can take you anywhere.” ~Anonymous
Growing up I always admired when my hometown airport had discovery flights, my mom would take me…I wish I had a logbook back then. A family-friend was in a partnership with a Piper Cherokee, who occasionally would fly it into my hometown airport and took me for quick trips. My first plane ride was when I was 8 years old, in a little Cessna 150; named Little Joe.
During high school I always had aspirations of getting my pilots license, though I could not yet reach the rudder pedals. With college around the corner and an undefeated tennis season with state playoffs ahead, I did not have outside time to pursue my license nor the funds.
Sophomore year of college at Penn State, I came across an ad for “ATP Flight School” and wondered what the hype was about. After looking at other Universities and Academies, I found that ATP was where I was destined to go, but the time was not right. I needed to focus and finish my degree with a good GPA.
I started my aviation career during my senior year of college while working at a bank, officiating soccer across the Northeast and taking my firefighter essentials classes. It took me nearly 13-months to finish my Private Pilot license at a “mom and pop” school. They closed the location where I began training, which was in my backyard. This caused me to commute at least 45-minutes each way to take lessons - as you can imagine this slowed my training. I had to space out my training as well due to funding, through hard work and perseverance, I acquired my Private Pilot certificate in April 2019.
While working at the bank, I was on the approach end of my hometown airport always looking out the tall glass windows seeing planes fly. In September 2019, I came to this forum seeking advice to pursue my dream into a reality. In November 2019, I took an Admission Flight (“Introductory Flight”) at the Trenton location, enjoying my experience and interaction with former CFIs and students. I had an hour-long conversation with Eric from Admissions and got the start date all setup. I was able to complete all my writtens prior to starting and that was preferably the best decision I did coming into ATP.
Fast forward to July 2020 when I started Credit Private, it took me 220 days from July 6th to complete the Fast Track program. To view my journey from student to instructor, please visit my thread titled “Checking In Ground Level.”
I am currently rated in the Embraer 145 and flying for Piedmont Airlines. Please feel free to check my Schedule and Flying the Line section on the forum for up-to-date experiences of flying as an airline pilot.
Brady