Is Flying in your blood

[doctordoom]

Just starting this thread to see if anybody else out there thinks that flying is in your blood. I myself have alway's wanted to be a pilot from an early age and have alway's had dream's about flying. Chuck Yeager once said that pilot's are born not made could this be true.

[Pugilistic Animus]

It's not in the blood it's in the heart!!

you need love heart and courage--this is no place for cowards and sissies

sorry I didn't flower it up with flowery cute talk---but flying is a rough business!



PA

[FirstOfficer]

Could be... :ok:

My earliest flying memory, which is registered on a photo as well at home was when my parents took me to the Airport and I was holding the fence so hard looking at the planes that they briefly took their hands off me... for the photo shot.

I was one year old then... :ooh::}

[doctordoom]

Well said you just left out 1 thing :Oyou alsoo need a big bank account

[nick14]

I totally agree,

For me my whole family are medics or bank managers or child nurses and then there is me....always wanted to be a pilot ever since I could say plane ( which admittedly wasnt that long ago :})

From about the age of 10 I started flying model aircraft, then joined the cadets and now im getting close to my CPL/ME flight test and Iv never looked back!

I was born to fly, and that is what I shall do.

Nick:cool:

[bajadj]

I'm on the other side of the fence.

Flying is a career (hopefully) for me. My first love was music but last year i made the decision that 20 years of playing music was more than enough and decided to jack it in and follow my second career as a pilot. For many years i had wonderred what the hell i was going to do after i got too old / stopped enjoying the entertainment business and about three years ago i thought i'd have a trial lesson and give this flying business a whirl.

Personally i don't think it matters one jot whether you were "born to fly" or think of it as a career choice. However some people do and i have been looked down on and been asked "How can you be a pilot and not love flying?". My answer is "Do you think charterred accountants LOVE their job?? probably not...Do dentists love dentistry?? some do some don't...Do plumbers love to plumb???...etc etc..." I like flying...I enjoy flying....but I don't love it.

The question is whether a career as a pilot should be treated differently to other highly paid or skilled professions and my answer is no. It is ones ability to do the job that counts in a professional and qualified manner.

I seem to have taken all the romance out of the thread! for which i apologise!!! sorry.

My point is there may be people reading these forums who think that it is an absolute neccesity to eat, sleep and think aviation 24/7 to become a pilot and i just don't think this is the case. In is my opinion that it's the eat drink sleep brigade that give pilots the reputation for being one dimensional and dull...so stop it!!! get out more and talk to girls!!!! rant over!

[Pugilistic Animus]

Bajadj,

I agree it's not in the blood [although I make an exception in the case of C. Yeager].

but flying is a jealous lover--and there about a million ways to die---choose one---

a little slip of the lip from a controller
a little in attention on an instrument approach
a hasty grab at the prop controls---

In order to fly well you must understand your ship -- quiet unlike a stupid slow limited car---and doing so because of the vast number of operational pitfalls ----obsession is the only way to be on guard against them--


yes, I'm very sterotypical but people in my life have learned to accept my obsession with planes[and take advantage of it ]--and although overwhelming at times for some I do have many other interests--


For Aviation has no love for you--- it has no care--- no forgiveness in its heart ---and for the unfaithful it will eventually kill you---I've seen it---I'm not lying

You don't fly with one hand on your Pr**K and the other on the master switch

It loves no-one---in fact it's probably the MOST limiting thing in my life---


PA

[doctordoom]

Some very deep thaught's, but as for looking at flying as just a job I feel you have to have a pasion for wot you do, I was a carpenter who had dreams to be a pilot and I used my job to fund my pasion but to be paid for something you love doing I think you cant beat that. Bajadj I think by the sound's of it that you are a pilot that dreams of music everybody has a pasion if you dont you mite aswell be dead, but you are makin out that pilot's are some kind of freak's I think you mite be in the wrong game or did you just hear that pilot's make great money. Quote (Do dentists love dentistry?? some do some don't...Do plumbers love to plumb???...etc etc..." I like flying...I enjoy flying....but I don't love it) the reason why people do these job's all boil's down to one thing, money. It's better to do a job you enjoy and get little money than do a job you dont and get paid loads just my view on it :ok:. PA me thinks you should look into becoming a poet.

[bajadj]

Doctor Doom. I do enjoy flying. I enjoy it very much, however I could live without it. It isn't my be all and end all. That was the point I'm trying to make. I stopped enjoying playing music so now I'm doing something else I enjoy. I'm not just doing it for the money, if that was the case i would still be a dj (it pays about the same and i wouldn't have to fork out for the training costs). Please don't think I'm disillusioned in any way with aviation, I like it very much. I just don't wake up in the middle of the night after dreaming of a seneca. I think there's more than a few who think like me but don't want to admit it. But each to their own...

[Tootles the Taxi]

At a recent airline interview, the Chief Pilot addressed the interviewees collectively & asked " How many of you look up when you hear the sound of an aircraft flying overhead? ". Many were reluctant to acknowledge & after surveying the audience, the guy said this - " Having spent as much time & money training to fly them the least you should do is look up when one passes. ".

Another interview, TP fleet manager asks candidate to identify aircraft in picture hanging on wall of his office. Candidate unable to leading to questions of a more technical nature. Not doing very well, FM says " you really aren't interested in flying at all are you? " Result, no job offer.

[bajadj]

second interview: fair enough, not being able to answer technical questions isn't going to endear yourself to the interviewer!!

first interview: the interviewer is a pompous arse.

[BerksFlyer]

Or maybe the first interviewer feels that the best candidate would be one most passionate about the job?

Perhaps he was looking for someone who really wanted it rather than someone who went in on a whim?

Just playing devil's advocate ;)

[bajadj]

it would make it a bloody dangerous drive to the airport if you happened to have a convertible though. :}:}

[doctordoom]

Bajadj could you live without music of course you could but life mite just be that bit more boring without it thats the way I feel about flying. I dont go around thinking of planes and talking about them at every moment I am not a complete aerosexual but I do always look up when I hear a plane its like music to my ears and I just love the smell of burnt jet A1, ok maybe I am a bit of an aerosexual but is there anyting wrong with having a pasion for someting. I know my life would be boring with out flying :( I get such a buzz from it.

[preduk]

I always wanted to become a military pilot rather than a civi pilot as a child. Almost every male in my fathers side joined the armed forces, mostly the same regiment as well (Scots Guards).

Although over the next couple of years it will be the civi route for me.

I am addicted to flying these days and yes I enjoy looking up in the sky for every passing aircraft.


I sometimes randomly drive down to the airport and just sit about watching the aircraft depart/arrive just for the fun of it, pretty sad to some but I really don't care.

[bajadj]

Of course there is nothing wrong with it. I never suggested that there is anything wrong with it. My life would be more boring without flying, and music. I suggest most peoples would!!!!

My original point was in answer to your question asking if flying was in the blood, and as many people have pointed out, including your good self, yes it can be!!!

i seem to be in the minority (no shock as it's a flying forum!!) in saying that for me, it wasn't in my blood. It is a career choice. I don't mean anybody any malice or disrespect, I'm just participating in the debate.

[doctordoom]

I agree with wot you say and it's good to get point's of view from every perspective that's wot pprune is for and that's why I started this thread to see wot people have to say on the matter. Come on you must have a great passion for flying :E other wise you would not be doing it or you would have givin up when times get hard as it does so many times in this Industry and I think its the love of flying that keeps us going when times get tuff and thats why so many Airline's are killing us makin us pay for TR's cause they know every pilot has a passion for flying, I think they all will have us paying them to work for them, I know alot of guy's that would.

[Whirlygig]

My parents met and married whilst working in aircraft research in the 60s. I had very little interest in flying even after being dragged round RAE Farnborough and various air shows but now ...??

I suspect it was because they didn't get involved with helicopters!!!

Cheers

Whirls

[doctordoom]

Well I guess it was in your blood Whirls but it just lay dorment for a bit.;)

[Tootles the Taxi]

first interview: the interviewer is a pompous arse.

Perhaps, but as the interviewer he was entitled to ask the question.

Flight training is hard work, expensive & antisocial. Airline flying is demanding, not overly rewarding financially & antisocial. It's good to have a little motivation when you're struggling to pay back the 70 odd grand you borrowed to undertake the training.

[doctordoom]

I would not say it's antisocial I met some great people tru flying some which I have become very good friend's. But it is a bit antisocial as toward's family it also pay's to have a very understanding partner to.

[Grass strip basher]

Well I'm a 3rd generation flyer....

Grandfather RAF Sqd Leader (Lancasters WW2... then career RAF)
Dad career BA... think he was originally BOAC via Hamble

Me... the blacksheep as I don't earn a living as a pilot (working on that) but fly for pleasure so still airborne at every opportunity... dunno if its in my blood though

:ok:

P.S. (oh yeah mum a stewardess etc etc)

[SkyCamMK]

Hiya DD you don't have to be an anorak plane spotter to be a good pilot at any level. If you are passionate about flight as many humans are you would be excited and happy flying a microlight. I have owned aircraft and shares and would add that as others have said before that a pilot when asked what he liked to fly would answer something like "anything I can get my hands on or whatever they let me". 3D motion is a funny thing, many pilots sail and many sailors fly, There is a lot of crossover. As for being in the blood as we are descended from aquatic mammals and not dinosaurs it is unlikely from an evolutionary point of view but I know what you mean. I could never ignore aircraft that interrupted lessons or even work an was only ever motivated to fly above all other things. I am not airline oriented and at 54 am happy flying as FI and using CPL for aerial work when I can in between sailing the coasts of UK. I would have a microlight to play with again but for the cost and limiting weather. I love to fly IMC and at night but after 2500 hrs I am still learning having new experiences and it is more like a drug than anything else. You can give it up but have strong withdrawal symptoms, I know that have had on several occasions since 1975!

[Pugilistic Animus]

I'll never stop learning!!!

[Diaz]

For me... no really huge interest in aviation up until a couple of years ago, now I can't get enough of planes and aviation- my parents have given up on thinking it's a phase- the problem is I feel I can't wait to get up there flying- but I'm still stuck down here on the ground learning for A-levels... how I envy those 744's that fly over my house every morning....

[Mikehotel152]

Deep down I always knew I would get a pilot's licence some day, but I ended up following a different career path because at 15 someone told me I couldn't become a pilot unless I was very good at Maths and Physics.

I spent the next 5 years wondering what to do and the following 10 years doing something that I had no real passion for. Then a few horrible things happened to me :( and they shocked me into thinking deeply about what I wanted to do with my life.

I then remembered all the model planes I had built, books I had read, magazines I had collected, and air shows I had been to. It was like that moment you recognise a long-lost friend across a crowded room. The memories come flooding back and I realised what I had been missing.

I've always loved airports (:O I know, I am odd) and love flying in airliners, despite the lack of legroom :mad:. Since I've had a PPL I love every minute in the air and time spent at airfields. I also enjoyed all aspects of my training - even the ATPLs. And for the record, I've had few problems with any of the maths and physics! I just wish things would hurry up so I can get paid to fly. :E

[doctordoom]

I know how you feel Mikehotel it's a long road with big bills but it will be worth it when you land your first job. :ok: Keep on trucking

[abs_kols]

ooh nice question. i do definitely think flying is something that comes from within.:8to think a pilot must sit through an entire flight every time doing the same procedures for years together and not get bored and complacent. that would be someone who is worthy of being a pilot. its the love.

i would say im pretty sure its in my blood (3rd generation pilot in the family) but i would keep that thought with pride and not let me feel like im the best pilot.

[Magic and Sparkle]

mmm interesting... for whats its worth i think that its a totally personal thing. Some do it for a career, like any job but the majority do it for the love, passion and a deep down desire that no other job will ever do! How can you explain why you would put yourself through the financial and emotional upheavals and sacrifices to achieve a dream that you didn't love or felt you were destined for?
For me, I come from a aviation background and I was fortunate as a 3 yr old to have my pic taken in the cockpit of a Red Arrow.....from then on i can't remember wanting to do anything else. I tried and even gave up flying for a couple of years for other reasons but became exteremely miserable and despondant....so for me nothing else will do. Flying has taken over my life and I couldn't be happier. Now as a nearly qualified FI, I can share this v.cool life with everyone else!!

[preetham]

To be frank , I have never been in a plane before. But i used to go to the airport every weekend, just to look at them for a few hours just to listen the sound of the jets. I did not had any childhood dream to become a pilot ,but when I first played the flight simulator in 98 that changed me entirely, from that time I decided to be a pilot , not an Airline Pilot but as an Instructor.
Even my brother is pilot.

[Pugilistic Animus]

Dr. Doom
"PA me thinks you should look into becoming a poet"

here, I rewrote a couple of my prior posts, at the risk of being plagiarized by others--


It's not in the blood, it’s in the heart!!
Some say, aviation’s in the blood—and believe themselves--

It's not in the blood- it's in the heart [although, I may make an exception in the case of C. Yeager or J. Doolittle]!!!

You need love, and heart; devotion and passion---Stay humble!
--The air is NO place for cowards whose hearts are composed of Jell-O—which pump Kool-Aid instead of blood, nor a place for the bold – but maybe the old---as is said-- no ones old and bold- however

My apologies, I didn't paint it up with flowery cute talk--- flying IS a Rough Business!

Aviation is a jealous lover, yet has no love for YOU—
And
there about a million ways to die---Choose one

a little slip of the lip from a busy controller
a little inattention on an instrument approach
a hasty grab for the prop controls---

--- Aviation don’t love you!

In order to fly your ship well-- you must understand your ship well -- quite unlike a stupid-slow -limited ground vehicle--[although, I may make an exception in the case of my ’88 VW]

Notwithstanding the vast number holes one day to align in the Swiss ----Pure obsession is the only way to be on guard against them—I’ve seen madness!!

Yes, I'm very stereotypical and people in my life have learned to accept my obsession with those ladies [and take advantage of it ]--and although overwhelming at times for some--- I do have many other interests—such as aerodynamics---but I write this--

For Aviation has no love for you--- it has no care--- no forgiveness in its heart ---and for the unfaithful it will eventually kill you---I've seen it---Forgive me for speaking for the dead –but listen to those souls they’re just telling you!!!

You don't fly with one hand on your prick and the other on the master switch
You must develop habits of the air and not the ground---as the ground has no use for pilots, yet neither does the air

It loves no-one---in fact it's probably the MOST limiting thing in my life---and the MOST unlimited---avoid them [the limits] [shy torque]

Remember!
That more folks have died on the ground!

So, don’t despair friends---because, even in the history of civil aviation---the most number of SOBs [souls on board] to ever get killed by an air plane---

All died on the Ground!!!
PA








The mountains don't care!
When it come to any talk of 'differences in pilots’---well I’m not a judge, but the mountains don’t care! ---

That’s my answer and I’m sticking to it---

One male Capt and one female Co-pilot were on approach to Colorado springs--- hit sudden shear--A Spiral Dive into the Ground--DEAD!

A seven year old girl trying to be the youngest pilot cross country in the world--with her experienced father-- entered IMC--- a Spiral Dive into the Ground--DEAD!

A 20,000 hr male pilot with a 7000 hr male FO and male FE entered a rotor cloud near mountains in Africa ---A Spiral Dive into the Ground--DEAD!

A female commuter pilot and her FO—EFATO--auto feather fails---- A Spiral Dive into the Ground--DEAD!


When does aviation care about YOU? Your race/age/ sexuality/ sex/ experience /talents shortcomings/ passion/experience/ looks etc....

By the way ---it's always a spiral dive into the ground...


And


We Are All Subject To The Mountains Friends!!!



PA

[cirruscrystal]

Is that from sand and stars?

A cruel mistress she is - what other woman would demand 100,000 to live with them?

[Pugilistic Animus]

Cirrus Crystal -No, but I share the same passion with that aviator-I'
ve been meaning to read "sand and stars and L'aviateur [en anglais bien sur]

jus' crazy ol' PA:}

[Fastair345]

Talking of convertables. I know a friend who is a train driver but mad about aircraft/ Gliding ..anything with wings. He was repremanded for missing a Train station 'cos he was staring up at a Glider beating up and down on a wavebar (lenticular for the ATPL's).

Now that's in the Blood !:rolleyes:..choo choo..

[Leezyjet]

I drive a convertable and work at an airport.

:}

[Visual Calls]

Pure obsession is the only way to be on guard against them

Right, so by that logic all the non-obsessing non-aerosexuals should all be dead. But they're not, in fact they're the best operators around.
What utter toss :rolleyes:

It's a job, pure and simple. Do it well and thoroughly, then go home and forget about it til the next report.

[Pugilistic Animus]

that 12000 hr [X-15] test pilot who just didn't update the wx while in a C-182-- he was an aerosexual too---A spiral dive into the ground -dead!

I said there's NO love!

[bajadj]

good lord..did someone actually agree with me!!!

they did!!

thank you Visual Calls.

[Pugilistic Animus]

you all must've been obsessed MetAR coding ---boring--

[smo-kin-hole]

I was lucky to get a CFI job which involved IFR, acro, seaplanes, etc and got into freight. As I look back, there are several observations:
1. I should have read fewer glory stories and more of the technical manuals
and weather books.
2. I love the planes more than flying. They are works of art in every sense.
3. I think flying is a better hobby than a career IF you have a decent career to pay for it. I have told several relatively happy and successful engineers to stay put and not try to fly for a living. I would do that myself. But it takes the right job.
4. The jet job I have now is fun, but I have no life. That gets much harder as you get older. Too many missed birthdays, etc.
5. I would not trade my view of the weather for any other job. The view is the best part.
6. I worked very hard for what I have. But don't go climbing that ladder of success and find out it's leaning against the wrong building. Good luck!

[Wings Of Fury]

Someone once said there are two types of pilots;

“Your either a pilot or your a “pilot””

Now that may sound strange but I fly for a living and love it, payed very well, and in my spare time I put money back into it, buying and flying old Aeroplanes because they are fun to fly, need I say anymore? Ill let you figure out the other pilot. (prob much smarter that me and "invests" money more wisely)

And to save you trouble, I know I am sick many people have already told me that. :}

Sacrifice is a hardest thing about being a pilot, fighting months and months even a year before the function, birthday, wedding ect.. When most people already have that day off every week, but that’s our job, I know its easy to but don’t forget it! :ok:

And for all who said, “For Aviation has no love for you” Not a truer word said.

Another true statement:
Nobody is born to fly; if you were then you would have feathers and wings.
(How often do you see a bird fly into a hill)

-Flying is a Privilege, always has been always will be.

[lazy george]

Is flying in yer blood?

DAMN RIGHT IT IS

[doctordoom]

Smo-kin-hole + Wings of fury some good point's of view,a bit of an eye opener:eek: I guess it's not all plain sailing (flying) there is alot of sacrifices to be made along the way to find that dream job.

[Gbird]

My surname is Bird, my father has been at various stages a pilot, aircraft engineer and airworthiness inspector with the CAA, my uncle was a pilot (unfortunately died in a air accident), and my sister is a flight attendant currently studying aviation management.

I guess you could say aviation is in my blood.:cool:

[David Horn]

I reckon so. All I can remember from early family holidays are the airports and the planes, and if an airline pilot even spoke to me or offered to show me the cockpit... well, I nearly wet myself* with excitement. :)

* I was only about 4 at the time

[Captain_djaffar]

I was borned to fly.
It's in my blood my heart my pants everywhere....

I couldnt see myself doing something else apart flying...and that from my early childhood.

Flying contains love,passion,every flight spices up your life,and it goes on goes on goes on...what a life...

[Luke SkyToddler]

Top tip for you guys - aerosexuals make the worst pilots

The only time in my 15 year flying career that I've ever made a formal report / complaint against any FO I ever flew with, was a bloke who just couldn't function as an effective crew member due to his complete obsession with admiring every passing aircraft that was bigger than ours (just about all of them since we were a 19-seat turboprop). He'd break off mid-approach-checklist to dig out the camera and take a picture of a B747 doing an approach on a parallel runway, or dig into his spotters handbook to find out some obscure callsign we'd just heard on the radio, and was generally utterly useless whenever we were within visual range of a big jet of any sort.

All this discussion about "flying in the blood" is generally something that's reserved for PPLs, wannabes, retired old nostalgic types and people who haven't actually spent a long time in the 21st century commercial environment. I know where you guys are coming from but sadly I haven't had any of those "awesome, I'm a jet pilot" moments for a looooong time now

[David Horn]

In that case, I retract my original statement. I'm only doing it for the uniform. ;)

Seriously, I completely agree with you. I can't imagine anything worse than being trapped next to someone whose sole conversation topic is aeroplanes. I got a scathing comment the other day when I couldn't instantly spot the difference between an A320 and a 737 with a quick glance at the nose cone. Should I be worried? I doubt it.

If I just wanted to fly I'd have got a PPL, not thrown an anchor of debt around my neck and embarked on a full training course. I don't think, however, that it's wrong to take an interest in something that you've wanted to do your entire life - provided, as you say, you don't forget that you're employed to do a job.

But this thread is asking whether people have known that they want to fly since their childhood, not whether they have a spotter's obsession with aircraft. Are you suggesting that it might be better if the upcoming generation of pilots chose their occupation by closing their eyes and sticking a pin into a list of jobs? ("Ooh, a pilot. That sounds interesting. Maybe I can be like Jack Sparrow?") ;)