Finally made the career jump into aerospace

[martinbayer]

Even with insurance, parents do not want to see their children suffer, especially in the case of some life-threatening illness or condition.

This, I think, is the heart of your misunderstanding of this whole debate. Nobody *wants* failure, or bureaucratic burdens, or bad bosses or economic downturns or leaky fuel tanks or hail damage. But want 'em or not, they're going to happen. Nobody profits from not planning for such things.

So, you've gone to a more reasoned position but still flawed. In engineering, there are no plans for something going wrong. It happens. The engine is shut down, the fuel leak is located, the likely culprit is named. Defective part? Vibration? Bad or damaged wiring? Then steps are taken: get a good part, protect the wiring or install different wiring to withstand whatever conditions caused it to short, etc. It is an ongoing process. No one is standing around, doing nothing, waiting for something to fail or malfunction. And no plans can be made in anticipation of any one particular failure or problem

*Cough*Fail-Safe*Cough*.

 

[Nicknick]

One thing which always kept me away from Aerospace engineering is, that the military sector is the only one where you really can try out new things (except some smaller companies like e.g. Lanceair). The big jets from Boeing and Airbus almost look identical and function almost identical. When working in such companies you will always (or at least 98 % of the engineers) be a small gear in a huge gearbox.

I choosed to work in smaller companies (engine development), didn’t make me rich, but it’s a great feeling to see your engine coming alive.

As an engineer and designer, I prefer to be a pessimist, this will definitely make you happier (positive surprises are much better than negative ones…).

 

[edwest4]

Industrial design is all about solving problems. Any pessimistic feelings brought in retard that impulse, leading to useless self-doubt. The confident win in such roles when paired with the necessary education.

 

[Nicknick]

No, especially if you want to invent something new, you must consider everything which might go wrong. In engine designs, you will never have sufficient space to make all parts so massiv, that you can feel secure. You need to reshape them so long until every part hurts to the same amount. I guess its the same in new aircraft designs...

The confident ones will end up standing in front of smoking ruins...

 

[edwest4]

Sigh. You are given a three dimensional volume and told 'all the parts go in there.' This applies to smart phones and aircraft.

And when inventing something new, you do what you want, within reasonable parameters. Then, if you want to sell it, you modify to suit, or not. There is of course the exhaustive search for prior art.

 

[F-2]

Honestly I’m not sure why more Aerospace engineers don’t use the skills they learn in industry to build their own plane, even just as a hobby. Otto aviation is a small operation, a few aircraft designers have had no formal education. You lose your humanity on the job and then never try to use your knowledge for anything.

 

[Nicknick]

Sigh. You are given a three dimensional volume and told 'all the parts go in there.' This applies to smart phones and aircraft.

And when inventing something new, you do what you want, within reasonable parameters. Then, if you want to sell it, you modify to suit, or not. There is of course the exhaustive search for prior art.

The components of smart phone don’t have to withstand high mechanical or thermal stresses, that’s something totally different. If you make one part safer in an engine (or many other applications like aircrafts with a given total mass), you need to weaken another one. Pessimism shall not be stopping anyone from trying out something new, but it should drive you to rethink your solution and keep on thinking about improvements even if your colleagues or bosses think it’s already fine. Avoiding failures during the design phase safes a lot of development time!

 

[Orionblamblam]

Industrial design is all about solving problems. Any pessimistic feelings brought in retard that impulse, leading to useless self-doubt.

Depends on how you define "pessimist." There are *actual* pessimists who view the world like "nothing will ever work out," and there are the people who view the world realistically, "here are the failure modes." The realists are viewed as pessimists by optimists, and as optimists by the pessimists. As always, the wisest course is almost always the middle course.

The confident win in such roles when paired with the necessary education.

The darker parts of the internet are filled with videos and photos of the confident. Splayed, on fire, riddled with holes. And there used to be crank.net, filled to the brim with confident claims about perpetual motion machines and flat Earth and whatnot, all backed up with *mountains* of "education." Confidence married with a *belief* that you are adequately educated is a fast route to running head first into a brick wall.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Honestly I’m not sure why more Aerospace engineers don’t use the skills they learn in industry to build their own plane, even just as a hobby.

Airplanes are big and expensive and require a multi-year commitment. Compared to other hobbies like painting or model building or collecting My Little Pony figures or drinking heavily, building your own airplane is a headache.

 

[F-2]

Honestly I’m not sure why more Aerospace engineers don’t use the skills they learn in industry to build their own plane, even just as a hobby.

Airplanes are big and expensive and require a multi-year commitment. Compared to other hobbies like painting or model building or collecting My Little Pony figures or drinking heavily, building your own airplane is a headache.

Which I get, but most of you went through four years worth of education design an airplane. Peter Bowers and Daniel Zuck built quite a few in their garage. I mean if you feel like your contributions are too small have a side project. tom mueller’s side project and dissatisfaction with his job made SpaceX possible.

 

[edwest4]

Industrial design is all about solving problems. Any pessimistic feelings brought in retard that impulse, leading to useless self-doubt.

Depends on how you define "pessimist." There are *actual* pessimists who view the world like "nothing will ever work out," and there are the people who view the world realistically, "here are the failure modes." The realists are viewed as pessimists by optimists, and as optimists by the pessimists. As always, the wisest course is almost always the middle course.

The confident win in such roles when paired with the necessary education.

The darker parts of the internet are filled with videos and photos of the confident. Splayed, on fire, riddled with holes. And there used to be crank.net, filled to the brim with confident claims about perpetual motion machines and flat Earth and whatnot, all backed up with *mountains* of "education." Confidence married with a *belief* that you are adequately educated is a fast route to running head first into a brick wall.

So, you're that guy on the Dark Web.

 

[Orionblamblam]

The confident win in such roles when paired with the necessary education.

The darker parts of the internet are filled with videos and photos of the confident. Splayed, on fire, riddled with holes. And there used to be crank.net, filled to the brim with confident claims about perpetual motion machines and flat Earth and whatnot, all backed up with *mountains* of "education." Confidence married with a *belief* that you are adequately educated is a fast route to running head first into a brick wall.

So, you're that guy on the Dark Web.

Nope. I said "the darker parts of the internet," not the Dark Web. Two different things. And given what even the conventional internet can dish up about the fate of the "confident," I can only imagine what the Dark Web has to offer.

 

[edwest4]

The confident win in such roles when paired with the necessary education.

The darker parts of the internet are filled with videos and photos of the confident. Splayed, on fire, riddled with holes. And there used to be crank.net, filled to the brim with confident claims about perpetual motion machines and flat Earth and whatnot, all backed up with *mountains* of "education." Confidence married with a *belief* that you are adequately educated is a fast route to running head first into a brick wall.

So, you're that guy on the Dark Web.

Nope. I said "the darker parts of the internet," not the Dark Web. Two different things. And given what even the conventional internet can dish up about the fate of the "confident," I can only imagine what the Dark Web has to offer.

Always look on the dark side of life?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Sadly @rooster I think this topic has run its course. Congrats again for pursuing your goals.