Ever stop to think how lucky we are?

[CitationCapt]

Great thread!

Great thread and reminder of the unique life we share.

CitationCapt

 

[skydiverdriver]

I was holding on the way to LaGuardia yesterday, and the captain and I started talking about how we got there. He flew banners (dragged rags, he called it) in Florida, and I flew skydivers in Arizona and Delaware. That was my favorite job, as I always had fun passengers, and I got a bit of high-speed solo time as well. I remember flying cargo in the Fokker, with some pretty crusty captains that taught me a lot.

And here we were, holding on the way to New York, the ever frustrating situation, but we were happy because we had a lot to talk about. We watched the sunset and then the moon, or half a moon. It was a beautiful night. It took forever to get out of LaGuardia, but I'll never get tired of it. What a life. Funny how my non-flying friends just don't understand. I've always wanted to do this. Thanks for bringing it up.

SDD

 

[Yeti]

Sexual Parallels

Great thread! Truly this is an awesome way to make a living. I've been thinking a lot recently about how people sacrifice their passions and dreams on the altar of pragmatism and the need to merely "get by." There's something to be said for that kind of sacrifice, but I can't imagine doing something for a living where I was just going through the motions. Maybe that's immature or overly idealistic, but flying captures my imagination and I love it. By that I mean real love: Not the kind where you are in some constant gung-ho bubble of good feelings -- if that were possible -- but something that consistently calls to you to commit to it as something worthwhile and lasting.

Okay, maybe that's overly philosophical. Here's what I think it really boils down to: Anything you truly enjoy is like sex. Call me a sensualist, apologies for a possible mixed metaphor, and no disrespect to the feminists, but looking at an airplane is like the endless fascination of a woman's body, and a good landing is like a good orgasm.

Freud was right about some things.

 

[chawbein]

For my entire life I have wanted to fly (except for a brief 4 year detour in college). I had to think of my "future", can't be running around flying airplanes for a living...

Now I am out of school, I'm married (I did marry my best friend), and I have no interest in my job. The only thing other than seeing my wife that I look forward to, is the three times a week that I go fly.
I may not be able to do it everyday or do it for a living, but I cherish every second that I am up in the air.

Oh well, time to go live my "future"...

 

[bobbysamd]

Yeah .....

I was the same way when I was learning how to fly. .......

 

[aero99]

I think about how lucky you professioanl pilots are every day. I know that it is tough out there right now espescially for those newer pilots just looking for their 1st (or 2nd or 3rd) jobs and also for those pilots on furlough, but you will find that job and you will get off furlough and return to what you do best- fly.

No matter how bad it might be or currently seems, you guys pursuing and currently working as a professional pilot will always have the utmost respect and admiration from me...but I know that really doesn't matter.

I made the descion to not pursue a flying career at age 31 (last year) for reasons I won't bore you with. Now I fly a desk and push papers all day and it almost pays the bills for now. I do go to the airport everyday though and quietly "wish" I could have flown for a living.

You guys have the greatest job in the world. Savor it, enjoy it, appreciate it, and grow with it......

 

[bigD]

Wow - there are some great posts on this thread. It's especially cool to hear from the guys that have been in the industry for awhile and still love it. I know it's not all a bed of roses being a pilot for a living, but it's good to know that through all the politics and BS, the love of simply being up there still exists.

 

[JimboGoodPilot]

Can you pay off my $50000 training loan? Then I will too be as happy!

 

[Bustamove]

Great Thread

I'm relatively new to this board having taken about a 20 year break from civil aviation by joining the Navy. My memories of civil air are mostly of endless horizons in Big Sky Country as a 17-23 year old learning to fly and then mostly goofing off. Easy rules, quiet radios, fun destinations.

What I've found as I'm transitioning back from military to civil has been exhilerating on the one hand and profoundly alienating on the other. The exhileration is exactly what's been said in previous threads - getting back to making my hobby my job after the last few years flying a desk. The disappointing side has come from these boards and from talking to some people in the industry whose love of aviation has been overcome by a bitterness towards the aviation industry. I have not walked a mile in anyone's moccasins and so don't know all the arguments and haven't felt all the pains. But it's difficult to discern a love of aviation and its brother/sisterhood from the flame trails in many of the industry threads. I think in alot of cases people take the results of economic laws personally and/or forget why they joined this fraternity in the first place - or maybe joined it for the wrong reasons.

This thread has been a breath of fresh air and I hope it stays active long enough for everyone to go back and remember why we:

- look up when we hear an airplane
- look down on people who don't 'get it'
- get butterflies at the sound of a straining engine
- keep 'salty' flight bags well past their prime
- (add your list here)

I know there are people who don't 'get it' out there taking the fun out of flying to advance the bottom line - happens to cowboys, teachers, artists, and a whole list of other folks whose passion is someone else's product. There's nothing wrong with resisting that tide, but you're not going to stop it, and what's ultimately tested should be our commitment and not our tempers, especially when talking to each other.

I was going start a treatise on supply and demand and compensation not just being money, but this is already too long. Suffice it to say that if you're doing something that you enjoy and getting paid for it, you're one of the fortunate few.

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

BD thanks for bringing the post up.

Flying today, viz was very hazy and very hot. Yet it was a blast. Good for the soul. Things like golf can be fun, and a great place to practice your cuss words, but one hour flying beats a day out on the golf course.

Ran into a guy who is retiring soon via age 60. Felt bad for him because it appeared to be eating at him. Yes, I know he knew it was coming but it is still hard to take. He plans on "protesting" (I think) by jumping/parachuting out of an airplane tomorrow 60 times.

Thank you UPS (sorry for the plug) for getting me started!

Enjoy the view from above!

 

[Dash Jockey]

i have to add my 2cents worth to this. Just this morning i went and bought myself two hours in a 172. It was a clear blue sky, and cool temps (for Phoenix in July) and loved every minute of it.
I have to admit that sometimes i get so caught up in paperwork, call outs, checklists, times, and all the other stuff that goes along with commercial flying that i sometimes forget that other people are stuck in a cubicle with a phone and a computer all day.
i recogmend that everyone get out and do some flying for yourself.

 

[banned username 2]

We are truely lucky....

Earlier this week I did a trip from Phoenix to Chicago, it just so happened that the flight was a Corporate Angel Network flight and we brought a gentleman back to Chicago for some medical treatment (I am guessing cancer but didn't want to ask)...

We left PHX just before sunset, we climbed up to FL410 and settled into cruise just as the sun was setting.... We were running in and out of the very top of a cirrus deck that had been left behind from some major thunderstorms that had occured earlier... If any of you have ever seen the introduction to the show "Quantum Leap" it looked very similar to that...

I went back to check on our passenger and he sat in awe as he gazed out the window, the cabin was flooded with a brilliant orange glow... He said he had never seen such a beautiful sight, and how it seemed to make all the troubles of the world just fade away... He said just days earlier he didn't feel the need or desire to continue with his uphill battle... but after seeing this he realized there is so much in this life he hasn't seen yet that he needs to put all his effort into defeating his illness so he can once again enjoy life...

As he left the airplane later that evening, he thanked me for a glimpse into my world that cleared the view into his world...

It is flights like these that make it all worth while.... Even after 7,000+ hours... it is still the greatest job in the world!

Fly Safe!

 

[TurboS7]

You guys are going to make me cry--all I get to fly with are whinnners and complainers. Geeesh.

 

[ILS JNKY]

flying

I remember the first time my farther took me to the airport down the street from our house.

The small flight school was having an open house, and you could fly with an instructor for pennys , well what ever you weighed in at , i think mine was around $ 5.00 dollars to go up for about 15 mins.

Since then ,i have finished college, got married , we have no kids just pets a dog a cat and a noise bird that flys.

Afew years ago i got intersted in flying again, so i started just going a few days a week, then it led to more. It was during this time that i was working in sales for an office copier company and at that time did not care much about my job,It seemed the harder i worked at my job nothing seem to happen, success was just not there as it had been before in sales, but one thing was happing my flying was getting better, so with that in mind ,I marched into my former bosses office and gave him my letter saying i was leaving to change professions at the age of 45??.

Now i have my success that i so pursue , i have been to Atl, Mia Pdk, Gpt, Kapf, and many others, to many to list, i fly on the average 6 days a week, My wife has all ways said when ever you want to fly just go, she looks forward to the time when i can join the ranks of an air cargo company, one of the big boys, may be an international route,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Some people say it's nuts to change so late , but what is late in life when you realy want some thing bad enough.

Flying also gives me time to reflect most people don't get to do what they like it seems that so many times we get so busy in our lives that we have trouble finding some thing that we like.

To both my parents who are no longer on this earth , flying gives me an opertunity to visit with them. To both of them i say thank you, for doing such a good job,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and yes i am a pilot

 

[RockyMnt1]

Yes, we are lucky, but....

I agree that those of us who fly are indeed a lucky few and I don't mean to put a wet blanket on the thread, but for the benefit of the folks just starting out I think that this needs to be said.

Unlike so many other professions, flying professionals need alternative viable backup skills in order to make a living. I make my living with computers. If I lose an eye, I can still make my living with computers. Not so with flying.

If you bet all of your marbles that you will always be qualified to fly physically, you may be sadly disappointed. I am a case in point. Out of the blue at age 46, I was diagnosed with non Hodgkins lymphoma 2 years ago. I don't smoke or drink or have a family history of the disease. I played soccer 2-3 times/week so I was in pretty decent shape. The doctors don't know how or why I got this, yet here it is. I got my medical back for now, but I can assure you that I would have a very difficult time getting a job flying with this hanging over my head. Nor am I sure that I would want to jump ship to an unstable job situation at this point due to health care insurance concerns.

Just a word to the wise. Have something in your back pocket that is unrelated to flying that you can do to support yourself if your flying career is sidetracked.

 

[bobbysamd]

RockyMnt1

You have a point.

Once again, it doesn't take much to lose the privilege of flying. And, indeed, it is a privilege, in more ways than one. Enjoy it while you can.

Feel well, my friend.

 

[norskman2]

Rocky,

You are no wet blanket. Between furloughs, roller-coaster job markets, keeping the ol' medical and I-could-get-hit-by-a-bus-tomorrow, it's good to remember that each day we get to fly is a privilege. Make the most of it, and savor each landing.

Continue to be well, my friend.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
Flying is indeed a privilege, and I always say to myself that if something were to happen and I wasn't physically able to fly that I would be grateful for the time(s) that I did fly. Looking back on my military flying career, I can remember many times that it was a gigantic pain in the ass. However, the perspective is a lot different staring at a RADAR or SONAR scope, freezing my ass off on CSAR training flghts or all the PT that was required as a rescue swimmer. I DON'T miss that flying! However, at the same time it was a great experience and taught me a lot of humility.
Best of luck to all of you in your careers...

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[HappyFlying]

I am still in the "Paying my dues" end of the flying food chain. It is easy to get caught up in trying to build time and keep working towards the next level. Despite the financial drain, I keep my Cessna 150 to fly for fun. I love to fly the King Airs but I think low and slow is the most enjoyable. I fly for a paycheck because of the joy I found at eighty-five knots. My beloved 150 and I can be spotted at some pancake fly-in most any weekend I am town. There is nothing like taking off into a pink sunrise with a credit card, a stack of sectionals and absolutely no itinerary. We are most blessed to have the freedom to fly.

 

[redshirt]

good thread BigD

I just got my private license in May and I am building my XC time for my instrument license. My first flight as a private pilot was flying to Madison, WI, close to where I grew up. I flew over my old house. Doing so I remembered the little kid who twenty odd years ago would ride his bike down to the river and watch the airplanes cross the sky and wish he could fly. I remain grateful for the privelage, and I look forward to every experience that awaits me in the future.