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!