IF you could do it over again

[flyallday]

If you could do it over again, would you choose the career of being a pilot?

 

[upallnight]

piano player

Piano player is a whorehouse. At least there I would have some self esteem.

If i knew then what I know now.......

Medical school without a doubt.

One of the flight docs in the National Guard nearby complains because he is having trouble making the payments on his Seneca and his Waco.

Hope this helps.

Jim

 

[FurloughedAgain]

I think i would've liked to have been a lawyer. Or a politician. I'm interested in both law and politics...and in either career I would most likely have been able to afford a nice 172, or Cherokee... or maybe even a partnership on a Baron.

ahh well. Look how GREEN the grass is over there...

 

[2000flyer]

Without Hesitation....YES!

Flyallday,

I got the flying disease when I was 7. From then on it's all I've ever wanted to do. I've been fortunate to find great job opportunities that have lead to my present position.

There are downsides to every job. There are also positives. Not to be cliche, but is your glass half full or half empty?

As soon as I'm done saving for my boy's to go to college, I too will be able to own my own plane.

I can think of hundreds of exciting careers but, IMHO, none would come close to the one I have now.

2000Flyer

 

[bobbysamd]

If you could do it over again, would you choose the career of being a pilot?

Definitely. But I would have started much earlier than I did, and would have gone about it much differently.

I learned to fly when I was 31 and decided to change careers when I was 36. My father, of blessed memory, said at the time that I should have started ten years earlier. His comments turned out to be most prophetic.

I had graduated from college years before and only needed my multi ratings. I had done all my training with independent instructors who owned their own airplanes. I felt I had to keep working at my day job (it was really a night job for many years) to support myself and my flying. What I really should have done was to summon up the courage to take out loans and go to school full time at someplace like ERAU to earn a second degree in Aero Science and finish my ratings.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Another cliche is you live and learn. Hopefully someone reading my comments will at least get some food for thought from my experiences.

 

[HoursHore]

Peter North seems to have fun while he is working.

 

[banned username 2]

I would do it all over again... and probably make the same decisions I did... I am very happy where I am at....

BUT....

If I wasn't going to fly, I think I would probably love being a Meteorologist... but not the kind that sits in an office, I would love to work for the Severe Storms Laboratory (I'd even live in Norman, OK) and be a storm chaser... THAT would be a very cool job!

I fly past storms cruising at FL450 wishing I was on the ground ahead of the storm watching the incredible light show and looking for rotation within the storm... Mesoscale Convective Complexes.... now THATS where it's at!

 

[enigma]

No way would I fly as a career. I would have gotten a degree in maintenence management along with an A&P, and gone to work in heavy m/x.

I have owned an aircraft, and have very fond memorys of being able to go waste two tanks full of gas on a Saturday afternoon. I would much rather be able to have an aviation job that allowed me to make a decent living and fly for pleasure that I would have a flying job. In my mind, having to fly for a living takes some of the joy away from being aloft.

Disclosure, I have a very healthy ego. I don't need to be called Captain, or wear stripes and a hat to feel good about myself.

I fly for personal enjoyment, and dealing with: FA's, screwschedulering, dispatch, load planning( sorry Dave) maintenance control, the FAA, checkairmen, ALPA, the TSA, caterers, cleaners, hotel van drivers, rent car reservations, limo reservations, hotel reservations, FBO easychairs, brokedown crew cars, etc, sort of takes a lot of the joy out of flying. The best that I can say about a 15 year career is that I have met lots of great people, and made lots of friends. But I could have done that in any job arena because I tend to make friends everywhere.

regards,
8N

 

[210FR8DOG]

beats working

When I was getting my ratings in '99/'00, every magazine article was about the pilot shortage and how were there ever going to be enough pilots? I just knew I would be at a regional by now. Well, I'm not. It seems like a far away dream now. Flying one of coolest jets in the world, Canadair or Embrear, would be the best. I have no expectations of anything bigger. At 32 and with the market the way it is, if I even make it to a regional I will be happy.

However, for now I enjoy being off on weekends, not answering to any bitter captain, coming home every night(or day), wearing shorts and sandals if I choose, and basically being the Captain of my own little world in the Beech Baron.

Here's the best part: I'm flying and getting paid!! I still get a big dumb grin on my face almost every time I take off(maybe not the 3 am takeoffs) There is nothing else like being airborn around sunset or sunrise on a beautiful VFR day. I've done fast food, warehouse, sales, Postal Service, gas stations, even the Texas Prison System. This is not work I'm doing, this is play!! Of course I wish I was making more money, and I wish I was flying a jet, and I wish I didn't have to keep moving all over the country, but so far it has been worth it. I told myself three years ago when I started my flight training that if I was going to have to work the rest of my life, I at least want to enjoy what I'm doing.

There are always aspects of a career that you do not realize until you are already there. I didn't realize some of the negatives of aviation until I had been doing it for a while ( I know three years isn't even that long) but the motivation is still there. I love flying.

Yes, I would definitely do it again.

Jeff

 

[B190Captain]

I got the flying disease when I was 5. My first plane ride was in a Delta DC-8 from Miami to ATL. I was a window seat kid (I am now too) and was fascinated with the flaps and spoilers and so on. Oh and BTW yes, I liked the uniforms. Especially Pan Am's.

I would most likely do it again but sooner. I would start at 16 years and not screw around in high school and go to college.

Perhaps the military if I can avoid being hit in the right eye with a baseball bat at 8 years old which affected my uncorrected vision. Or maybe be a hurricane hunter, that looks like hella fun!

But the answer is yes. I love to fly and would not have it any other way. I am on this ship until it carries me home or sinks along the way.

I would do it again, again and again!!

210Fr8's quote:

"I don't care how much avgas your company buys, stay away from the Popcorn machine!!!!............and put your shoes back on!!

ROFLMAO!!!