Originally Posted by
f1yhigh
Honest question and I mean no malice by this, who regrets becoming a pilot? and if you could do it all over again, what careers would you get into?
I can’t say I regret becoming a pilot, I always loved flying but hated the Airline Industry. It’s a hard road when you consider what you have to do to stay in it.
Would I do it again, that’s also a hard question and based on what I know today as a retiree, which isn’t known while you’re in it Today probably not, at least not airlines.
911 was the game changer. I can’t say it was fun beyond that.
What do I miss, the sunrise and sunset at altitude, capturing the sight of space junk entering the atmosphere at night.
Christmas eve before 911, I used to bring the kids up to the flight deck and bull**** them about santa out there off the port wing overtaking us, (port position light not visible from the cabin) the awe in their eyes.
What don’t I miss, getting up at 3am to go to work, waking up in a hotel and just momentarily not knowing where I am, driving home on the freeway, tired in the dark.
None of my kids went down the aviation road, thank goodness. Age for age they are more ahead of the game than I was at their age. My eldest almost owns his own home, at 35 I was just getting started.
A tip, if you can, choose a partner who is not aviation, otherwise when it’s over you’ll have no friends outside of aviation, it has its own language that no-one else understands. It takes 2 years minimum to disengage and get your head around a world outside of aviation.
Today, I love my life, retirement is good to me, although I admit for the first few years I wondered if I had made a mistake going early, but no, it was the right decision, I was fortunate enough to be able to make.