Writing Across the Curriculum Paper - Math

Andrew Herbruck

12/15/10 5th

Writing across the Curriculum Paper

The profession I chose is to be an Aircraft Pilot; I have chosen this profession because that is what I have always been interested in. What interests me about being an Aircraft Pilot is you get to fly an airplane, you make a lot of money, you get to fly anywhere for free, free stays at hotels, how many people can say they fly planes for a living. A person who interested me in becoming a Pilot was a Senior Pilot invited me in to the cockpit and let me fly the plane for a little bit when I was 10 years old. That is why I want to be a Pilot.

Math is a crucial part of being a Pilot because you need to know where you are going and to see if you are on course and your altitude, what angle you should descend at. Most modern aircraft have computers or Flight Management Systems/FMS that do pretty much all the math for the pilot. However, sometimes they need to apply basic addition and subtraction to complete a manual weight & balance manifest if the computer goes down. They also may have to use basic algebra using rounded figures to figure time/speed/distance of the problems for climbs or descents over fixed points in their heads. There is no special math required to be an Aircraft Pilot.

What I need to do in order to become a Commercial Aircraft Pilot is Graduate High School, and Go to a Flight Academy. Aircraft Pilots are scarce so any major airline will hire a fresh Pilot. The Flight Academy I will be attending will be ATP Airline Pilot Training and Pilot Career Development in New York. I could become an Aircraft Pilot in less than two years. This is the path I will take.

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