Since I last wrote I’ve visited two foreign cities: Amsterdam, Netherlands and Stockholm, Sweden. I’ve been taking advantage of my travel privileges on the weekends (leave Friday, return Sunday). This usually gives you about 24 hrs in each city, so I try to see and do everything I possibly can during my stay. Along with that, I try to stick to a budget.

Amsterdam was so much fun and most of the tourists are young people, so I fit right in. The city is situated on a bunch of canals and is very small so everything is within walking distance. I visited the infamous ‘Red Light District’, the flower markets, parks and met many people from all over the world.

When I travelled to Amsterdam, I went with another intern and we spent our overnight in a hostel. Hostels aren’t as bad as some people make them out to be, plus they’re cheap. It’s generally a dormitory with a bunch of other college kids, and it’s not uncommon for them to be co-ed. Just make sure you keep your belongings in a locker! It also doesn’t hurt to make friends with the people you meet. I’ve actually toured each city I visited with the people I’ve met at hostels.

Stockholm was a different story because I visited with my parents. We stayed in a hotel, but everything else remained the same. We toured and walked all around the city, and as expected for Scandinavia, I visited a museum to see a 17th century boat called “The Vasa.” Everything was so clean, nice, and colorful! But that all comes at a price, as Sweden has very high taxes.

Aside from my travels, this is my last week working in the Chief Pilot Office until July, as I will be in Houston for training starting on Monday June 13th. I will be out of the office for a month, so it’ll be a quite a change of pace. I’ve been studying B737 systems and flows for a few weeks now, and I’m looking forward to applying that knowledge and building on my flying skills. This will be my first experience training at an airline, so I’ll be sure to write about how it goes in the coming weeks. I’m very excited for this opportunity and I’m certainly looking forward to it!

Hey guys. I hope you’re all doing well. I am sure most of you are now on summer break from school and I hope that you all have a very happy and safe summer. I am doing well myself. I just got home from Florida two days ago and I am happy to be back in Connecticut. Seeing as I haven’t been here since January, I will say that it still feels weird to be here. But, it is nice to see everyone and my house nonetheless.

When I pulled in the driveway, my dog immediately saw me and he was ecstatic. I have to say that I missed him a lot being away. If you have pets, you will experience the same thing, but they are always thrilled to see you when you do come home and that makes coming even more exciting. I had seen my family several times in Florida, but it was nice to see them as well of course.

Before I left Daytona, I spent my time working at the Daytona Beach International Airport in the Operations department. This allowed for some good excitement and a great deal of valuable experiences. I will surely miss this job and my coworkers over the summer, and I will look forward to returning to the job in August.

My day of travel started early on June 3. One of my coworkers drove me to the airport for a 6:40am US Airways departure to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. When we landed here, I had about an hour and a half before my next flight to Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania. I was disappointed to learn that today the aircraft—normally a Boeing 767-200—had been swapped for a Boeing 757-200, but it was alright as I got a bit of a seat upgrade in the process. I then had 3 hours in Philadelphia before catching my last flight to Tweed New Haven Regional Airport in Connecticut. This was just enough time to allow me to explore the airport a bit and, of course, get an authentic Philly Cheesesteak for lunch.

When I arrived in New Haven—which, for those of you don’t know, is the airport I work at in Operations here in Connecticut—I was greeted by my good friend and co-worker. We caught up for a while and after I retrieved by bag from the baggage claim, I went to the administration building to catch up with them a bit. We got the paperwork rolling to get my ID badge re-issued and I will start work there again on Monday. I will have plenty of exciting stories from here to share with you throughout the summer.

Jumping back, though, for a minute to Florida, I had a nice experience on my last weekend there when I drove down to see my grandparents in the Stuart, FL area for Memorial Day. It was great to see them and catch up for a bit as I hadn’t spent much time with them for a while. They showed me around the area including Hutchinson Island, a beautiful resort-type area along the Atlantic Ocean there. We were even able to enjoy our cookout on Memorial Day at one of their friend’s condos right on the ocean. It was a great time and I look forward to visiting them again soon.

Packing up for home wasn’t that hard this year because I had my car with me in Florida. I was able to load it up with all of my clothing and items I wanted home before it got picked up by the transport company. This allowed me to drastically reduce what I had to carry in my suitcase. Even if you opt to drive your car home (if you decide to bring one), you can still load it up and save yourself from having to find storage for those items in Daytona. Having an apartment helped too, as I left many things there that I didn’t need over the summer.

The airport in Daytona recently acquired two busses from the county which will be used to transport passengers in the event of an emergency evacuation out on the airfield, as well as for tours around the airport. This has been fun for me as I have been able to learn the systems of the busses as well as how to operate them should the need arise. Experiences like these are what really make my job great. I think it is crucial to attempt to learn as much as you can from everything possible—it really pays off in the future.

Finally, a few weeks before I came home, my friend Kyle and I flew up to Jacksonville International Airport for lunch. As I have mentioned before, I really like flying into this airport for many reasons. For one thing, I enjoy being in the vicinity of a lot of commercial traffic. Secondly, the facilities—including the FBO (Sheltair) are in immaculate condition. Thirdly, there is a huge selection of places to eat right near the airport which makes it very convenient. I look forward to visiting many more times next semester.

Well, that’s all I have for you this time, guys. Stay tuned for stories as my summer here in Connecticut begins!

Talk to you soon and take care!
Pete

Well, guys, I’m back! I had thought that my last entry would be my final entry, but the Admissions Department has asked me to continue writing for you all for the summer to tell you guys about what I am up to. I’m very happy to have the opportunity to continue sharing my experiences with you for a few more months.

For any new readers, welcome, and I hope that my experiences will help you in deciding which college and degree program suits your interests best. Please take a moment to review my previous journal entries from the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters as there may be information in those entries that will help you as well.

Since I wrote to you guys last, classes ended and the summer started! I ended the semester with a very high GPA and am happy that all my work throughout the semester paid off. Very shortly after classes ended, my friends went home to their respective states, so I was left here without much to do, or so I thought. Luckily, I found that many of my friends were actually staying to take some summer classes, so I really haven’t been all that bored to be honest.

Now, obviously, I am working full time and living in my apartment full time as well. It is pretty neat to have a place all to yourself as my roommate has gone home for the summer. It is actually pretty easy to maintain the apartment being here alone as I am a relatively clean person. I am really not at the apartment all that much anyways so this helps as well.

My time has been spent primarily working in the Operations Department at the Daytona Beach International Airport. It is a great opportunity for me because as many of you know, this is what I want to get into upon graduation from Embry-Riddle. Airport Operations is great because of all of the responsibility that is associated with the position. You are a representative of the airport management and it is your job to patrol the airport enforcing regulations and rules, coordinating emergency response or any other irregular things that may be going on at the airport, and ensuring everyone’s safety. I really have a blast with it. Contrary to what I thought initially, I have not found the summertime to be any less busy than the main school year in terms of flight traffic. This is good as it always translates to more excitement and things going on.

I have found ways to keep myself busy on the weekends and days off, as well. As you know if you read my journal before, I am obsessed with Disney World and go there often. This has only increased since I finished classes and I have been going at least once a week for the most part. It is really a blast and some of my friends still in the area love it just as much as I do so it has been a good way to pass time. Even some friends from home have come down to visit Disney World and I have met up with them there.

Some of my family that lives in southern Florida have also driven up to come and see me so I have had things to do during most of my free time. I went down to see them on Memorial Day. This is also my last weekend in Florida before I go home for the summer so I am busy for sure.

For those of you that don’t know, I am from Connecticut and work in Operations at an airport up there when I am home—Tweed New Haven Regional Airport. So, once I go home (actually this will be my last entry written from Florida), I will continue to provide you stories and insight from that airport and things I do up there.

I am definitely looking forward to going home as I haven’t been to Connecticut since January when I left to come back to Daytona for the spring semester. I have been able to see my family several times since then but I definitely miss my dog and am looking forward to seeing him.

In my next entry, I will tell you some of the stories and things that have happened at the airports during my shifts, but in the meantime, please read back to my older entries if you haven’t already. As always, I encourage you to email me at grecoj1@my.erau.edu with any questions you might have at all.

Talk to you guys soon!
Pete

Some of you may recall I wrote a journal on this site about a year ago as a freshman. Since then, I have completed my second year of college, now hold junior standing, and still pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Science. In addition, I also now hold Commercial Pilot certification for Single and Multiengine Land Airplanes.

For the summer months ahead I will be writing about my internship at Continental Airlines. I’m currently based at Newark Liberty Int’l Airport (EWR), working in the NYC Chief Pilot Office. During the month of June I will be in Houston, Texas receiving training for Continental’s Boeing 737 fleet. I am very excited and appreciative to have been accepted to such a program.

I applied through a link made available by the Career Services department and within two weeks received a phone call about an interview. The interviews were conducted in Houston and Continental flew me out there from Orlando. Upon arrival I was greeted by the current interns, had breakfast with them, and had some time beforehand to ask them questions.

I was told shortly after the interview that I had been accepted for the position. I was so happy to hear those words. Afterwards, I was taken on a tour of the pilot training center. At the end of the day, I returned to Daytona Beach to finish the spring semester and began working one week after final exams.

So far, I’m completed three weeks and I’ve learned so much! Most importantly I have enjoyed every minute of it!

On my first day, I got settled in at my desk and began some of my daily tasks. These daily tasks include distributing mail to pilot’s mailboxes or v-files, collecting and storing international flight envelopes, and various other office tasks. I occasionally get assignments from the Chief Pilot and the Assistant Chief Pilots as well.

On my second day, I assisted at a meeting with Continental’s Boeing 777 check airmen. Afterwards I was invited to join them out to dinner, where I got to meet all of them and ask them about their experiences and very extensive careers.

 While at Newark, I’ve attended some classes taught by pilots, for pilots, about common topics and upcoming issues. These classes were so neat to attend because they offered lots of insight about working as a pilot, and more specifically at Continental (soon to be the new United).

I got a chance to visit the operations tower at Newark’s Terminal C, which has a great view of Manhattan, as well as the ramp it controls.

After a week into the position, I travelled to Houston, TX for corporate orientation, where the other interns and I got to meet executives, including the Chief Operating Officer.

The following Monday, I returned to Houston again to take advantage of an Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) tour/demonstration. It was quite amazing to see how sophisticated their trucks really are. Interns at Continental are given opportunities to tour many facilities. Some of the tours I can setup myself while at Newark. But others are setup for me, by our coordinator, and take place in Houston. For those tours I can commute or ‘deadhead’ to attend.

As Continental and United merge to become the world’s leading airline, many changes are taking place. It is certainly an exciting time to be a part of this company! During this past week, I was in charge of handing out the new crew IDs.

The best part about working in the Chief Pilot’s Office so far is meeting all the pilots as they pass through and listening to their advice and stories, which are invaluable.

All interns at Continental are given standby travel-privileges. Just this past weekend I travelled round-trip to Geneva, Switzerland in Business First. All I needed to pay was a departure tax when returning to the US. I hope to travel to more countries and cities throughout the summer and I am very appreciative to have this opportunity!

That’s all for now!
Over and Out.

Hey everyone! I want to start out with a little introduction of myself. My name is James Dingell, and I am headed into my junior year at Embry-Riddle in the Business Administration degree program with a focus on Air Transportation. I am happy to have the opportunity to write for the program and hopefully give you a glimpse of what it is like to be a student at Embry-Riddle.

I am from Oak Hill, Virginia – about 20 miles west of DC, where I have lived all my life. If you have been to the area, you know that we have a ton of history and activities year round… which is great. Since I can remember, I have had a major interest in cars and airplanes. In 2003, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center – Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum at nearby Dulles Airport opened its doors, and I was one of the first persons through the doors at a private preview. Since then, I began volunteering at the age of 14 with the Education Department where I did many events and activities with the public.

The largest is the annual Fly-In “Become a Pilot Family Day” where we have had more than 100 aircraft from all different backgrounds attend. At nearly the same time, I began working at Dulles Jet Center, a private aircraft facility at Washington Dulles International Airport. As a line service worker I was exposed to the great world of business aviation. I had known since middle school that I wanted to attend ERAU, but my high school classes combined with my work at Dulles Jet Center made me quickly focus towards Business and the business aviation industry.

Getting closer to graduating high school, I made it my goal to have my Private Pilot Certification before coming down to Embry-Riddle. After a long winter packed with cold weather and snow… July 20, 2009 came and with it came my check ride. Mission Accomplished! High school also brought with it a new look towards my future in aviation. I created Dulles Jet Management, a sales/management company that specializes in corporate aircraft. I have continued to grow the company, now listing a total of 4 aircraft.

My freshman and sophomore years at Riddle were packed full of memories that I wouldn’t have had at a different school. The first thing you will notice is the weather. It gives you more opportunities to get out and do things, even in the winter months when your friends are stuck in their dorms back north with snow on the ground. The friends you meet freshman year will become some of your best friends. To this day, we pull out our sectional charts and find a new place to fly to and explore on weekends. That is one of the perks of having a ramp packed full of Cessna’s and good weather (for the most part).

Of course not everything has to do with airplanes, aviation and being pilots. Daytona Beach has a ton to offer off campus. Being so close to the Daytona International Speedway, I have attended the Rolex 24 Hour race, Daytona 500, Nationwide Series and club sponsored race weekends each year. This is a great plus for me since I am really into cars and automotive-related events.

The Daytona 500 is a huge event for the Daytona Beach area. I was able to get a unique perspective of the 500 this year working at SheltAir Aviation – Daytona, the FBO over at the airport, where we had several hundred… yes several hundred airplanes ranging in sizes. Both working at Dulles Jet Center and SheltAir has given me contacts in the industry that I will have when it comes time to graduate, you will notice networking is a key to success in the aviation industry. Working during the Daytona 500 gave me the chance to see and meet drivers, crews and owners.

Over the past two years we have made plenty of trips back and forth from Orlando to visit Disney World and Universal Studios. My roommate Pete and I went down to Disney World last August and purchased our Annual Park Pass that gave us access to the Disney Parks year round. It is a great feeling to work through the week with classes and course work knowing that your hard work during the week will lead to a stress free weekend of fun at Disney World. Now, I want to say that I thought at first that having the ability to go down to Disney so often would wreck the experience – boy was I wrong, it takes me back to my childhood visit of the parks. You don’t want to sit around the dorm room and play your Playstation or Xbox 360 – remember we are in Florida… get out there and have fun. v

So, by now you are probably wondering what I do when I leave Florida. I decided to stay a few extra days in Daytona to finish moving from the dorm to my new apartment. My friend Pete and I decided to move off campus for the next two years. This summer, I have now returned home to Virginia where I am continuing my volunteering and work combined with several big trips. I didn’t waste too much time; I arrived home on a Thursday and was back at the airport Friday morning for a day trip down to Wikesboro, North Carolina with my dad and friends.

As I mentioned earlier, I am interested in cars in aircraft, I have several car and air shows to attend around the country. I will be in Boston for a week in July for the National Buick Club of America car show and Oshkosh towards the end of the month for AirVenture. A good friend and fellow Embry-Riddle student, Eric and I are flying from Winchester, VA (KOKV) to Oshkosh, WI (KOSH) in a Cessna 182 Turbo for the EAA AirVenture show. It is the first time I am attending Oshkosh so I am very excited. It will be a great week of camping, airplanes, friends and memories. Other trips include several trips to Pennsylvania and other states and several trips to Nationals Park for MLB action.

Well, that pretty much sums up a lot about me and my future plans for the summer. If you have any questions with regards to ERAU, student life or anything, don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail or via Facebook. I will be sure to keep you all posted on summer events and my travels.

Sincerely,
James Dingell

Well, this year is coming to a close. It is really depressing in some ways but happy in others. To know that my first year as a college student is over and moving out of my first dorm with my first roommate ever is sad. This will be one of the weirdest summers till this day. While I was in high school, summer meant beaches and spending time with friends who I had seen just a couple weeks ago. Now it is completely different. The friends that I’ve made over the past 9 months are going to spread all over the country and the world. Knowing that we will see each other in 3 months makes us all feel better, but these people are friends that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. You will learn that once you come here. Friends that you make in high school and when you were younger are completely different than those who you meet here in college. There’s a different bond that is acquired between college friends, one that you don’t want to break.

This past weekend was Easter and you will realize that in college, you sort of forget about holidays. Easter was no different than typical weekend here. All that was different was seeing the Easter decorations and candy in Walmart and Target. I hope you all had a great Easter, if you celebrate it.

In other news, classes are going great. I’ve had quizzes and tests during the past couple weeks and doing very well on them. I only have one real final exam in Physics but have a LaserGrade for my instrument class, which is basically a final test but contributes to 10% or your final grade. If you don’t get above an 80% on it, you lose that 10%, thus it’s extremely important to study as hard as you can. Other than that, most classes are wrapping up and teachers are just summarizing the course, telling us how they enjoyed the year and to have a great summer. I will be seeing a couple of my teachers next fall because I have them for other classes. I have my Flight Physiology teacher, Professor Moren, for Aircraft Engine-Turbine, and my Science-Fiction Monsters and Villains teacher, Professor Porter, for my upper level humanity, Studies in Film.

Flying is going well. I might not be able to finish my private due to the fact that I am low on money. We shall see how it goes but I’m hoping to finish it. I got a new instructor who is very nice but I definitely miss my old instructor, Lindsey, who is getting trained for the airline, ExpressJet.

That pretty much wraps up this semester. It has been so great getting to know you prospective students and actually meeting some of you, those that came down for the Sneak Preview. I hope to be involved next fall in reaching out to more prospective students, in either journals or some other way of outreach. I hope you enjoyed reading about my first year experience here at Riddle and know you definitely will enjoy yours, once you get here. During the summer if you have any questions, please feel free to email me personally and keep up-to-date on my Youtube Channel. I will be posting videos during these last few days here at Embry-Riddle and might even post during the summer.

Hey guys. How are you all doing? I am doing well here. I’m just finishing up the last week of classes. I can’t believe that a whole second year has gone by. Time truly flies. I am halfway through with college already and that is hard to believe. Unfortunately, that means that this is my final journal entry for you guys as well. Since I last wrote, again not all too much has been going on. My days are primarily filled with classes and work. As I have mentioned to you before, the end of the semester is a hectic time as all semester-long projects become due combined with the final exams and tests for each class. It is kind of stressful in the middle of it all, but then before you know it, it is summer and you have four months off from school. It’s great.

Other than classes and work, I have been spending some time moving into my apartment. Most of the furniture has come by now, and I should be sleeping there by the end of the week or early next week. It’s coming along quite nicely. With this comes moving out of the dorm room, too, which is a lot of work in and of itself. You’d be surprised how much stuff you accumulate throughout the year without even knowing it. Then, when you are moving out, you have to figure out what you’re going to do with it all. Last year, I got a storage unit for the things I didn’t want to send home, but this year I will just move what I need into the apartment and throw away the rest. Then, all that’s left is to clean the dorm, check out, and give back the keys. I remember from last year the somewhat strange feeling of seeing your room completely empty just before you walk out the door for the last time.

The weather is beautiful now, in the 80’s every day. People are getting out to the beach as much as they can and the atmosphere has been very upbeat. It is really nice to have warm weather starting in February instead of having to wait until May like I did at home. Everything seems better in the warm weather. The most exciting thing I did since I last wrote was this past Easter weekend when I brought my roommate down to my parent’s house in South Florida. My whole family was there for Easter weekend and we went down to spend it with them. It was really a great time. Two of our friends from school were also down there visiting their families so we all were able to meet up a few times. Friday night, we all went out for ice cream after dinner with my family. On Saturday, we went to the pool for most of the day and just enjoyed relaxing in the sun. That night, we went to Stuart, Florida to see my dad’s parents and his brother and his family, many of whom I hadn’t seen in several years. It was great to catch up with all of them and to learn what they were up to. It was amazing to see how much they’d grown since I last saw them.

On Sunday, we had Easter breakfast with my family and then my roommate and I went to meet with our friends from school. His family has a brand new boat and we went out on it for a few hours on the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a great time. The water was crystal clear in the Intracoastal, probably the clearest I’d ever seen it. The weather was perfect as well. We went out of the Boca Inlet and entered the Atlantic which was a little choppy but that made for some fun wave bouncing. At one point, we were all suspended in the air as the boat came back down to meet the water. We then drove up and down the Intracoastal a bit and looked at the massive houses on it. Finally, we returned to the Boca Raton Resort and Club, where they keep their boat, and got a famous frozen hot chocolate from the Serendipity restaurant inside the resort. Then, we went out to grab a late lunch at Stir Crazy Café, which had amazing stir fry. It was a great way to end the weekend.

After heading back home and saying goodbye to my family, my roommate and I headed back to Daytona for one more week of school. Well, guys, that is really all I have for you from the past two weeks. I want to take a moment and mention how much I enjoyed writing this for you every other week this year. I hope that my experiences and knowledge was able to help you in deciding where you wanted to go to school and what you want to do for a living. I sure have enjoyed interacting with many of you and even meeting a few of you at the Accepted Students Day reception. Even though I will not be writing any more regularly, please feel free to contact me anytime at grecoj1@my.erau.edu with any questions of if you should need anything at all.

I sure hope that you ended up deciding on Embry-Riddle for your college and I hope to see you around campus next year.

Thanks again and please take care.
Pete Greco