Why shouldn't I go for a flying career?

[Timebuilder]

Someone told me that the latin phrase for "don't let the bastards grind you down" was "Illegitemi non corborumdum".

Crazy idea, latin in the sixth grade....

 

[WrightAvia]

The kid is going to have to weigh it for himself. If we have to convince him IT is worth it, he's looking at the wrong line of work.

LR 25 is saying don't listen to the guys flying the line too long or just a little bit...they are bitter. Heck, that ought to be a clue right there. Even the young dudes that are just getting established in professional aviation are making generalizations that anyone that has been flying for a while is jaded. Don't take it as a personal attack LR 25. Just an observation.

The original poster asked if it was worth it to start a career in aviation...no one can answer that for him. He'll have to belly up to the bar, plunk down his cash and risk it all for nothing, like the rest of us...Or just walk on by. It's a crap shoot.

 

[LR25]

quote
"LR 25 is saying don't listen to the guys flying the line too long or just a little bit...they are bitter. Heck, that ought to be a clue right there. Even the young dudes that are just getting established in professional aviation are making generalizations that anyone that has been flying for a while is jaded. Don't take it as a personal attack LR 25. Just an observation."



I wont take it personal, but I also said I believe about 60% would steer you in a wrong direction, not all. And I'm mainly talking about the guys out there flying the line, hell yeah it gets rediculous, crew shedulers, managment, airplanes, whatever.

I have flown for, or have worked as a mechanic for four 121 airlines. I know guys that are there becuase they have to be, its the only thing they know, they would tell someone up and coming to run as fast as they can in the other direction, this is total BS, these peoples attitude suck completely, and maybe its warranted, but dont let it be contagious.

If this was an easy business, everybody would be doing it, but lets not talk doom and gloom to someone who hasnt a clue just becuase we have 15 years in the business and we have seen the worst it can do. It wasnt a bowl of cheeries for me, but Im not about to give someone false impressions becuase I had a rough time. Face it folks, it beats working for a living. But I wont mind telling you the time I lived in an FBO hualing boxes in a Beech 18, never home but on the weekend, but it dont stay like that all the time, you progress in your career, where you end up is either up to you, or through a few bad luck senarios, I have had both.

So like I have said from the get go, we need to tell the truth, I could give a rats a$$ about RJDC, unions, J4J, offline jumpseating, or whatever you can deam up.

The question was, is it worth it.

Well is it?

No one said you have to be an airline pilot.

I fly becuase I love to fly.

Most of us on here are pilots, and we most would aggree that it is worth it.

 

[Boomhauer]

quote



I fly becuase I love to fly.

Heh…

I fly because I didn’t want to join the Army and come home in a body bag and some stupid little **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** persuaded me that by the time pilot training ended the war would be over.

 

[LAXSaabdude]

LAX, I wasnt bashing anybody, but I will say this.

Jesse shouldnt even be concerned with any of the subjects that you all have turned this thread into.

Dont you see, he is asking these questions becuase of this type of dialog. What you all should be saying to him is that the aviation industry as a whole is not like this. Unions and all of this airline BS is not what he is interested in, all he is asking is it worth it.

Jesse, IT IS WORTH IT. Like I said before, dont listen to an airline pilot that has been doing it for all his life, or for a few years for that matter, I would have to guess that 60% or so are Jadded by the industry, I got the T-shirt to prove it. I;m not saying the airlines is not a good place to work, I had a good time, but the ride was over, and its going to be over for a while to come.

There always something new in the flying business, some good, some bad, but in the end it will pay off, you have to stick with it.

Jesse wanted to know why people keep trying to steer him away from the field, and I told him why. Pilots have tunnel vision with their careers, and explained how that thought process works. I then explained to him I wouldn't ever want to do anything else. Just trying to give a balanced picture.

WrightAvia said it best when he said:

If we have to convince him IT is worth it, he's looking at the wrong line of work.

If anyone comes to me and says "I wanna be a pilot, no matter what!" I will give them all the encouragement in the world, because they have the drive to make it happen. I would never try to steer someone away from this field if they had a true desire for it.

Hope that clarifies my point.

LAXSaabdude

 

[bobbysamd]

"Illegitemi non corborumdum"

Someone told me that the latin phrase for "don't let the bastards grind you down" was "Illegitemi non corborumdum".

I've heard it both ways, but I believe that you are correct, Mr. Time.

Further to what I wrote above about a job grinding you down, when it comes right down to it all jobs will grind you. Uncooperative and uncongenial work group situations will grind you. Deadlines and their ancillary effects can really grind you. I've worked in law about nine years. Just like in radio and aviation, I have to meet deadlines and schedules in law, especially during litigation. That can be tough and stressful - especially when you are counting on outsiders and third parties for cooperation.

I also experienced deadline pressure very much in news. Same situation. Unlike print, in radio news you have a deadline every hour or every half-hour. If you can't get a source to cooperate, you might miss a critical story - and suffer tremendous wrath from your news director or editor.

Of course, meeting schedules in aviation is a given, even at the grass-roots level of training. Sometimes, you are forced to send a student for a stage check or practical against your better judgment because training mins have been met and/or because of outside pressure. Any 141 school instructor who says that he/she never experienced such pressure is not leveling with you. Or, if you are in a check airman capacity, you may be under pressure to pass some students, even if you feel in your best professional judgment that they're not meeting standards. Ask most any Part 141 self-examining authority stage check pilot about that.

It seems as if working has gotten tougher over the years. Especially if you deal with people primarily by telephone. Voicemails and the layers of touchtone menus can be a real bane to your existence. Also, there is something about telephones that impede communications. Sort of like kissing your girlfriend/boyfriend through a screen door. Studies have been done on that. Somehow, you communicate far better face-to-face. But that's not always possible or practical.

Having said all this, perhaps that's why work is called "work." Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[dmspilot00]

Re: "Illegitemi non corborumdum"

Also, there is something about telephones that impede communications. Sort of like kissing your girlfriend/boyfriend through a screen door. Studies have been done on that. Somehow, you communicate far better face-to-face.

I believe it's because we get a lot of information not only from body language but from "lip-reading" as well. I watched a show about this a long time ago, where they had some nonsense recording like "gy gag gawt gee goo grive" and they played it back with a computer-generated face that was 'saying' something like "by bah baw bee boo brive." When they put the two together, you perceived the face to be saying "My dad taught me to drive."

 

[bobbysamd]

Phone "Communications" v. Face to Face

I believe it's because we get a lot of information not only from body language but from "lip-reading" as well . . . .

That, and also because phone lines seem to have an insulating, firewall-type, semi-permeable effect.

I remember a couple of times having to deal with a particularly anal court clerk. I wasn't able to communicate with her about certain things over the phone. So, I would drive down to court and visit with her, and we communicated.

I dunno . . . . . . .Sometimes, you telephone an entity and the phone is answered by a recorded voice that offers you several touch-tone menu options. None of which seem to fit. You select one - and you're greeted by another menu. You select one - and you're greeted by still another menu. And so on. Finally, the phone rings, and you wait in eager anticipation for the sound of a human voice. It is answered by a voice mail. Or else, the person who answers doesn't know dikk about what you want and redirects you through the entire labyrinthine, Kremlin-like network again. It is called something like voicemail hell.

It's enough to drive you insane.