Welcome to Gaia! ::

Congrats on the seal... I wanted to point some things out. Not to say the staff in unknowledgeable, Kamiki's dad WAS a pilot... but I am a little confused about some things, and I think it may help ya. I am a pilot, going to school to become commercial.... so while I am not an aviation guru, I do know that I know more than the average person ^^;;

-One-
Alex grew up by the airport, it seems. Now, there are only a few people that go to muni airports on a regular basis: the pilots, the friends/family/passengers of the pilot, and the workers. You really don't have people that just hang out there for no reason. What I recommend is have Alex be a line-worker for the airport once he got to legal age. Many of my fellow-students do this in the summers, and they learn a LOT every year about everything. You do NOT need a mechanic's license to be a line-worker. They are the ones who mostly help with fueling, minor fixings, and that kind of stuff. They also help with the maintenance of the ramp, and help with the office as well. This would be a reason for him to not only be there -cuz even then people were wary of everyone at even little airports, he'd learn lots, AND this would help with him when he goes to mechanics school.

-Two-
He went and started his flying training at the Phillipines? I didn't understand that that much.... he wouldn't have. Anything outside of the USA is goverened by ICAO, not the FAA. While the licenses sort of transfer (they honor them, like states honor drivers licenses from other states), you cannot start schooling with one and end the other. There are different rules and regulations that go with everything.

-Three-
I couldn't tell, but how long did it take Alex to get his Private pilot certificate? A student pilot has 24 calendar months to complete that certificate.... it's either that or 12 calendar months. My school is 12, but I believe the FAA is 24... HOWEVER, the student certificate is only good for 12 months.... meaning, it would have to be renewed if they go over 12 months.

-Four-
Was Alex trying to fly himself for his company? In order to fly any passengers, the pilot must have their commercial certificate... which means 250 hours (you need at least 40 hours for private pilot cert) of flight experience and an instrument rating. THis takes a LOT of time and money... as I am finding out because that is what I am working on right now. And it isn't something you can just be wishy-washy with, you need to have dedication, time, and money, in order to get it all because they are skills (especially instrument) that will leave you if not practiced. And they leave faaaaaaast.

-Five-
Also, you have his airplane/vehicle as the Catalina.... which is a multi-engine. That would need extra training and that would be hella-expensive. A cheap, broken down cessna, single engine, with just the basic six-pack and maybe a transponder would cost about $90,000. Multi-engines of the same caliber would be... I think about a quarter of a million. I know my schools spends about $120K per Warrior -single engine- and I think about $500K on our seminoles -multi-. He would need to take out one heck of a loan or have some very wealthy friends. That kind of goes with the owning a small business too.... what we learn quick at our school is there are too many pilots/planes than people who want to fly.

X3 Bumping your thread up.


Also, might I comment on how awesome your charcter is as a whole? Cause, he is awesome! Congrats on the seal too!