Would you become a Professional Pilot again?
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I think we all enjoy the flying aspect of our jobs , but unfortunatly there is alot of waiting about in fields/airports which can be very boaring. Beats working for a living though!
"Just a pilot"
Usually, a great way to make a living.
I've flown professionally 20 of the last 35 years. There are times that I wish I was doing something else. Then I remember that when I was doing "something else," I always wished I was flying.
I've flown professionally 20 of the last 35 years. There are times that I wish I was doing something else. Then I remember that when I was doing "something else," I always wished I was flying.
Beats working for a living? What?!
Of course we enjoy our jobs. I think it's safe to say that each and every one of us truly loves to fly or we wouldn't be doing this. After thirty years in this business and umpteen-thousand hours, I still get a big kick out of lifting up on that little lever next to my seat and seeing the world gradually drop away. It is a sublime pleasure, as fresh today as it ever was.
But make no mistake, this is just a job. J-O-B. It is a job that must be taken *very* seriously, and done with all due diligence or the penalty is death to you, your passengers and possibly people on the ground. We're not up there skylarking. The trouble is, when you look at the accident reports, it is painfully obvious that some pilots do not perceive commercial flying in this way. But flying is work...real, honest, legitimate work. Could it be that the "beats working for a living" attitude might be a factor in some accidents? I'm no psychologist, but I think so.
You'll often hear pilots say that flying "beats working for a living." That's the conscious thought. Sub-consciously, some of these pilots make a connection that since flying isn't "working for a living" then they're darn lucky to earn any money at all from it. Therefore, they are deathly afraid to:
1) Demand any more money for doing what we do; and
2) "Rock the boat" by voicing any criticism because it might cost them their job...which they were lucky to get in the first place.
You don't have to be Freud to figure that out.
The end result is that helicopter pilots have been compensated poorly over the years, and will probably continue to be for years to come. Or at least until we run out of pilots who will fly for free, which is not likely to ever happen as long as this activity is perceived as not "working for a living."
Is it all about money? Obviously not. But you have to have some dignity. If you work at a job in a field in which you are undervalued and undercompensated, resentment WILL creep in sooner or later. ...Unless you are one of those who think that since flying isn't "work" then we don't deserve to be paid very much. In which case you can stand there and cast stones at those who disagree. You can say silly things like, "You're a pathetically, terminally unhappy person," and "If you're not happy flying helicopters, then quit and go do something else." Happy flying helicopters meaning, I guess, accepting whatever pay/benefits/working conditions are offered.
Personally, I love to fly. And at this stage of the game I make a pretty penny doing it. But there were many, many years when my pennies weren't so pretty. *THAT* is the reality of helicopter flying. I love a great many things in this life. And if I couldn't ever fly a helicopter again, I would go and do something else that I love. We humans like to pigeon-hole ourselves, thinking that what we do defines who we are. We think that without flying, life would not be worth living or some such nonsense. Just read between the lines in some of the posts on this very board to see what I mean. I have been as guilty of that as anyone. Fortunately, I overcame that particular neurosis without the need for therapy.
So, is flying a good way to make a living? Yes. And no. It all depends on you, your goals and dreams, and what you are willing to settle for. Life is all about compromises, is it not? Would I do it again the same way? Absolutely...not. If I had it to do all over again, I would quit at the 5,000 hour mark and go do something truly meaningful with my life. But our foresight is not nearly as acute as our hindsight. (Oh, and before anyone gets their knickers in a twist that flying helicopters isn't "meaningful," keep in mind that getting pleasure by pulling up and down on a little stick all your life isn't meaningful, it's masturbation plain and simple.)
Just remember this: If you are paid to fly, then flying is a JOB, period, end of sentence. If you get some pleasure out of your JOB, great. If you have the talent to be a helicopter pilot and that's the only thing that "makes you happy," wonderful.
Whatever you do, just don't sell yourself short.
But make no mistake, this is just a job. J-O-B. It is a job that must be taken *very* seriously, and done with all due diligence or the penalty is death to you, your passengers and possibly people on the ground. We're not up there skylarking. The trouble is, when you look at the accident reports, it is painfully obvious that some pilots do not perceive commercial flying in this way. But flying is work...real, honest, legitimate work. Could it be that the "beats working for a living" attitude might be a factor in some accidents? I'm no psychologist, but I think so.
You'll often hear pilots say that flying "beats working for a living." That's the conscious thought. Sub-consciously, some of these pilots make a connection that since flying isn't "working for a living" then they're darn lucky to earn any money at all from it. Therefore, they are deathly afraid to:
1) Demand any more money for doing what we do; and
2) "Rock the boat" by voicing any criticism because it might cost them their job...which they were lucky to get in the first place.
You don't have to be Freud to figure that out.
The end result is that helicopter pilots have been compensated poorly over the years, and will probably continue to be for years to come. Or at least until we run out of pilots who will fly for free, which is not likely to ever happen as long as this activity is perceived as not "working for a living."
Is it all about money? Obviously not. But you have to have some dignity. If you work at a job in a field in which you are undervalued and undercompensated, resentment WILL creep in sooner or later. ...Unless you are one of those who think that since flying isn't "work" then we don't deserve to be paid very much. In which case you can stand there and cast stones at those who disagree. You can say silly things like, "You're a pathetically, terminally unhappy person," and "If you're not happy flying helicopters, then quit and go do something else." Happy flying helicopters meaning, I guess, accepting whatever pay/benefits/working conditions are offered.
Personally, I love to fly. And at this stage of the game I make a pretty penny doing it. But there were many, many years when my pennies weren't so pretty. *THAT* is the reality of helicopter flying. I love a great many things in this life. And if I couldn't ever fly a helicopter again, I would go and do something else that I love. We humans like to pigeon-hole ourselves, thinking that what we do defines who we are. We think that without flying, life would not be worth living or some such nonsense. Just read between the lines in some of the posts on this very board to see what I mean. I have been as guilty of that as anyone. Fortunately, I overcame that particular neurosis without the need for therapy.
So, is flying a good way to make a living? Yes. And no. It all depends on you, your goals and dreams, and what you are willing to settle for. Life is all about compromises, is it not? Would I do it again the same way? Absolutely...not. If I had it to do all over again, I would quit at the 5,000 hour mark and go do something truly meaningful with my life. But our foresight is not nearly as acute as our hindsight. (Oh, and before anyone gets their knickers in a twist that flying helicopters isn't "meaningful," keep in mind that getting pleasure by pulling up and down on a little stick all your life isn't meaningful, it's masturbation plain and simple.)
Just remember this: If you are paid to fly, then flying is a JOB, period, end of sentence. If you get some pleasure out of your JOB, great. If you have the talent to be a helicopter pilot and that's the only thing that "makes you happy," wonderful.
Whatever you do, just don't sell yourself short.
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Mmmh?
I do enjoy flying around for a living very much, but I know more pilots who are bored and would rather do something else than satisfied ones.
I don't think I want to be bouncing up and down all day in a helicopter for a a living when I am say 50-55 years old. (I'm 32).
I do enjoy flying around for a living very much, but I know more pilots who are bored and would rather do something else than satisfied ones.
I don't think I want to be bouncing up and down all day in a helicopter for a a living when I am say 50-55 years old. (I'm 32).
Avoid imitations
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Do I enjoy working very long shifts, sometimes for quite little job satisfaction? Making less money than younger fixed wing colleagues who work about half the hours that I do, some of whom I know failed rotary training and would faint at the thought of having to do what we do? Walking past the row of shiny new plank wing pilots' cars to get to my own 11 year old car because it's all I can afford? Let me see.... 
Yes, I enjoy doing it to the best of my ability, knowing that we are doing a pretty good and safe job. I still try to do it that little bit better every day.
BUT! After 25 years or so of being shut in, shut out, shouted at, shot at, sat upon, and shat upon, if I never had to do it ever again I would just shrug my shoulders and find something else.
Maybe I would even just dust off that old FW commercial licence
Yes, I enjoy doing it to the best of my ability, knowing that we are doing a pretty good and safe job. I still try to do it that little bit better every day.
BUT! After 25 years or so of being shut in, shut out, shouted at, shot at, sat upon, and shat upon, if I never had to do it ever again I would just shrug my shoulders and find something else.
Maybe I would even just dust off that old FW commercial licence
Well, I must be one of the lucky pilots who has had job satisfaction in every job I have had and in every sphere of my work. The only time i found myself shat upon was instructing in a civil flying school - I left there and started my own school, and the satisfaction returned.
Now, after 34 years and 12,000 hrs since first solo, i still think flying is a real hoot, and i love to introduce new people to helicopters. They are the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
I didn't like the early starts of police work, and the constant strain of low-level powerline inspections would pall by the afternoon of the fourth day in the field, but now I am paid to be on standby in my house, 200m from the hangar holding the three toys. Just finished my first cappucino of the day, I love this job.
Now, after 34 years and 12,000 hrs since first solo, i still think flying is a real hoot, and i love to introduce new people to helicopters. They are the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
I didn't like the early starts of police work, and the constant strain of low-level powerline inspections would pall by the afternoon of the fourth day in the field, but now I am paid to be on standby in my house, 200m from the hangar holding the three toys. Just finished my first cappucino of the day, I love this job.
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wanted to see it from the other end...
thanks for your replies guys - extremely interesting reading.
i asked the questions as i have the opportunity to pursue a career in the field and wondered whether the enthusiasm that exists in intial training dispurses (the novelty wears off) as your hours increase and it becomes "just a job".
basically i wondered if you thought it was worth all the money, exams and effort. did it turn out as you hoped? (only one way for me to find out!)
ultimately i guess i already knew what i have read here; that it is different for everyone, just wanted an insight...
ta, mpd
p.s. any more replies really appreciated.
i asked the questions as i have the opportunity to pursue a career in the field and wondered whether the enthusiasm that exists in intial training dispurses (the novelty wears off) as your hours increase and it becomes "just a job".
basically i wondered if you thought it was worth all the money, exams and effort. did it turn out as you hoped? (only one way for me to find out!)
ultimately i guess i already knew what i have read here; that it is different for everyone, just wanted an insight...
ta, mpd
p.s. any more replies really appreciated.
Twenty years and counting and I don't regret a minute of it. I'll be one of those old guys that won't retire until they force me to. I love it so much; my wife says I get downright ornery if I don't get out flying on a regular basis.
Just don't let yourself get into a rut. If you don't like what you're doing, try a different aspect of the industry, it has a lot to offer. I used to love hanging my head out the door and slinging drills all over the hills, but the family-life/conditions made me move on. EMS was alot of fun, I liked the professionalism and excitement, and the schedule and homelife is much, much better, but I found the odd taste of actual IFR just wetted my appetite for more, so now I'm flogging heavies in the clag all day, yet home everynight, and making good coin to boot. If traveling is your thing, I doubt there are people that have seen more than guys touring offshore. It’s a great life, but you may have to work abit to make it fun. Life's too short to be miserable!
Just don't let yourself get into a rut. If you don't like what you're doing, try a different aspect of the industry, it has a lot to offer. I used to love hanging my head out the door and slinging drills all over the hills, but the family-life/conditions made me move on. EMS was alot of fun, I liked the professionalism and excitement, and the schedule and homelife is much, much better, but I found the odd taste of actual IFR just wetted my appetite for more, so now I'm flogging heavies in the clag all day, yet home everynight, and making good coin to boot. If traveling is your thing, I doubt there are people that have seen more than guys touring offshore. It’s a great life, but you may have to work abit to make it fun. Life's too short to be miserable!
For me, it's not a job...it's my life , I think I would die of sorrow if I had to do a "real" job for a living now,
My only concern is the age of 60 limitation...I still have 13 years to go and I am desperatly trying to become "RPM saturated" in flying more and more and go sailing instead.
But I know that when the time of my last rotor brake will come I shall not be cured, maybe microlights...
Anyway, I am already aware I had been lucky.
My only concern is the age of 60 limitation...I still have 13 years to go and I am desperatly trying to become "RPM saturated" in flying more and more and go sailing instead.
But I know that when the time of my last rotor brake will come I shall not be cured, maybe microlights...
Anyway, I am already aware I had been lucky.
Tis the pity that the most enjoyable of the flying I have done....Bush Flying is seasonal and not year around. If I could just find a way to do it year around. Bounding around Alaska in a Hughes 500, slinging core drills, hauling geologists to their traverse routes, fishing everyday......was fun.
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PPF *1
Don't get me wrong , I take this job very seriously , Three engine failures a tail rotor control failure plus the fact I have lost five friends to aviation help me keep focusd .
what i meant when i said it beats working for a living was that i couldn't see myself getting up every morning in dread of the job waiting for me.
Just because i am working hard doesn't mean that i can't enjoy myself a little bit , does it?
I wholeheartedly back your opinion on people flying for free and it really gets my knickers in a twist when i hear of people flying for ten or twenty euros an hour when i am trying to explain to my boss that i am worth ten times that.
Don't get me wrong , I take this job very seriously , Three engine failures a tail rotor control failure plus the fact I have lost five friends to aviation help me keep focusd .
what i meant when i said it beats working for a living was that i couldn't see myself getting up every morning in dread of the job waiting for me.
Just because i am working hard doesn't mean that i can't enjoy myself a little bit , does it?
I wholeheartedly back your opinion on people flying for free and it really gets my knickers in a twist when i hear of people flying for ten or twenty euros an hour when i am trying to explain to my boss that i am worth ten times that.
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As soon as I am 50, there or thereabouts, I shall release the squillions of equity in my house and retire to France, never to fly in a Helicopter again! Just another day in the office for me I'm afraid
You know, Letsbyavenue, I have seen more than one saying that and then come back, even after retirement.
Maybe for some of us flying is just the result of a choice between others but for the great majority it has been a long story lasting since childhood.
In both cases it seems there is often some sort of syndrom of "adiction" we are not even aware of, it's maybe a side effect of these big rotor blades that have kept turning over our heads for so long after all
Maybe for some of us flying is just the result of a choice between others but for the great majority it has been a long story lasting since childhood.
In both cases it seems there is often some sort of syndrom of "adiction" we are not even aware of, it's maybe a side effect of these big rotor blades that have kept turning over our heads for so long after all
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tell me more Letsby Avenue...
hi and thanks for your input.
i have a question:
has it always been another day at the office or has what initially attracted you to helicopters as a career gone?
cheers, mpd
i have a question:
has it always been another day at the office or has what initially attracted you to helicopters as a career gone?
cheers, mpd
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Sorry for the delay – I’ve just realised that you were asking a question!
I’ve been flying for about 23 years which includes 18 years of military flying and I think it’s a case of seen it, done it! Believe me, nothing-quite compares with planning, briefing and flying as part of a 10 ship NVG sortie at 100 ft, 100 knots and 2 rotor spans, it’s kind of difficult to top that… Or as part of a helicopter display team for a season in the UK – Great fun! I fly for the Police now and life will be pretty sedentary for the near future..
Having said that, I have never regarded my job as normal and would rather retire than do anything else!
I’ve been flying for about 23 years which includes 18 years of military flying and I think it’s a case of seen it, done it! Believe me, nothing-quite compares with planning, briefing and flying as part of a 10 ship NVG sortie at 100 ft, 100 knots and 2 rotor spans, it’s kind of difficult to top that… Or as part of a helicopter display team for a season in the UK – Great fun! I fly for the Police now and life will be pretty sedentary for the near future..
Having said that, I have never regarded my job as normal and would rather retire than do anything else!
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Do you know what is bad about being a helicopter pilot? Nothing, absolutely nothing!
Helicopters are like crack cocaine--more addictive and far more expensive--but that is not a reason to consider ever doing anything else.
In all seriousness, few people get to live their dreams. My profession has provided me the ability to travel to places and see things very far off the beaten path. Few people who are not helicopter pilots can relate to my experiences because they are so unique. I can tell you story after story about people and places I have experienced and most would seem like fantasy. There are still places in the world that are so far removed from civilization that they remain virtually untouched unless you have a helicopter. The deep Amazon or Borneo jungles, high mountain regions of the Andes or Himalayas, the deserts of the middle east, northern Chile, and a million unnamed islands in the various seas and oceans. I have hunted with tribesmen in New Guinea, been asked to mate with the daughter of a Dyak headhunter in Borneo (I declined with humorous consequences), was nearly killed by a Dani tribesman in Irian Jaya, robbed in Bolivia, nearly froze to death in Finland, almost died in an earthquake in Turkey, flew with pink flamingos over the Abadan plains of Iran, have eaten Hagis (or however you spell it), war, the occasional life-saving and have experienced hundreds of other adventures. I have never envied anyone for few people could ever live the life I have lived. All of these things I experienced only because I am a helicopter pilot! That said, it is not for everybody.
Helicopters are like crack cocaine--more addictive and far more expensive--but that is not a reason to consider ever doing anything else.
In all seriousness, few people get to live their dreams. My profession has provided me the ability to travel to places and see things very far off the beaten path. Few people who are not helicopter pilots can relate to my experiences because they are so unique. I can tell you story after story about people and places I have experienced and most would seem like fantasy. There are still places in the world that are so far removed from civilization that they remain virtually untouched unless you have a helicopter. The deep Amazon or Borneo jungles, high mountain regions of the Andes or Himalayas, the deserts of the middle east, northern Chile, and a million unnamed islands in the various seas and oceans. I have hunted with tribesmen in New Guinea, been asked to mate with the daughter of a Dyak headhunter in Borneo (I declined with humorous consequences), was nearly killed by a Dani tribesman in Irian Jaya, robbed in Bolivia, nearly froze to death in Finland, almost died in an earthquake in Turkey, flew with pink flamingos over the Abadan plains of Iran, have eaten Hagis (or however you spell it), war, the occasional life-saving and have experienced hundreds of other adventures. I have never envied anyone for few people could ever live the life I have lived. All of these things I experienced only because I am a helicopter pilot! That said, it is not for everybody.
Iconoclast
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Where does an alien go to register?
I’m not a pilot but the opportunity to be one was offered to me not one time but two. The first was a direct commission as a full Lieutenant in the USCG as a maintenance officer with the option of attending flight school. The second was a direct commission in the North Carolina Army National Guard as a maintenance officer on helicopters and a slot in flight school with an option to go into the US Army aviation program. It may sound foolish but I turned both opportunities down. However my professional life has not been dull. I was a techrep on helicopters for four years, I was a manager of product support on helicopters for three years and I worked in an engineering function on what at the time was state of the art. That included the Cheyenne, the Apache, the A-129, the EH-101 and the V-22. In the fixed wing arena I worked on the Panavia Tornado, the A-310, the FD-728, the Bombardier challenger 604, the Bombardier Regional Jet, the A340, the 767-400-ER, the F-16 and right now I am working on the engine upgrade for the Gulfstream G-IVX. On the non-aviation side I have worked on ballistic missiles, spacecraft, ships (two types) and heavy industrial equipment used to make medicines and animal feed. (The smells on this job were terrible).
My work has taken me to Iran (3 years), Germany (4 years), Italy (3+ years) and Holland (13 months) as well as to England, France and Yugoslavia.
The money is excellent and right now I sit at my computer at home doing my job.
My work has taken me to Iran (3 years), Germany (4 years), Italy (3+ years) and Holland (13 months) as well as to England, France and Yugoslavia.
The money is excellent and right now I sit at my computer at home doing my job.
I think that many helicopter pilots assume that any other job in any other field must necessarily be sheer torture. So they cling to flying for a living as a lifeline. And no matter how bad it is, it's still "better than working for a living."
I feel sorry for those who have no other apparent talent, drive or desire - for those who derive no other pleasure in life than from flying helicopters. Sad when you think about it. How empty and shallow their existence must be if their happiness is tied to the operation of one cantankerous machine. How miserable they must be when they're out of the cockpit, out of their element. How enjoyable it must be for others to be around them...not! Ironically, some wear this personality "quirk" as a badge of honour.
Yes, flying is great, wonderful, exquisite and all that. Yes yes, we love it more than life itself. Funny though, the rest of my family and nearly all of my friends lead perfectly happy, rewarding, fulfilled, content lives and...can you believe it?! they're not pilots! So ask yourself what you would do if you lost your medical tomorrow. Would you fall into a deep depression? Would it be the end of the world? Or would you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go out there to find what ELSE life has to offer?
I feel sorry for those who have no other apparent talent, drive or desire - for those who derive no other pleasure in life than from flying helicopters. Sad when you think about it. How empty and shallow their existence must be if their happiness is tied to the operation of one cantankerous machine. How miserable they must be when they're out of the cockpit, out of their element. How enjoyable it must be for others to be around them...not! Ironically, some wear this personality "quirk" as a badge of honour.
Yes, flying is great, wonderful, exquisite and all that. Yes yes, we love it more than life itself. Funny though, the rest of my family and nearly all of my friends lead perfectly happy, rewarding, fulfilled, content lives and...can you believe it?! they're not pilots! So ask yourself what you would do if you lost your medical tomorrow. Would you fall into a deep depression? Would it be the end of the world? Or would you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go out there to find what ELSE life has to offer?