Jon Tucker:
My point is that, sorry, but YOU'RE NOT SCARING ME
I don't think anyone is trying to scare you, Jon. Just trying to give you some perspective and insight. F'rinstance, you wrote:
have had friends that have been very seriously injured and 1 that died in a rally car. One thing I dont understand is why, if anyone thought about that when they got in a car, would they still do it? I dont think about that in the car, EVER. Same for choppers I guess, Rotordog?
Wrong! I think about all of my friends who've died every time I strap on the bird. I think about all the other accidents I've heard or read about or studied. Like the guy I knew who had a clutch failure and did not recognize the symptoms in time to expeditiously lower the collective pitch. When they pulled his helicopter out of the water, the main rotor blades were barely damaged, indicating that they were barely turning at all upon impact. He lived. His passenger did not.
I think about the close-calls I've heard about too, the ones that somehow...miraculously did not end in a fatal accident. Like the friend of mine who accidently flew into a cloud over the swamps of south Florida one dark, dark night and got his BK-117 inverted. Inverted in a helicopter is when you, for the instant that you have left to live, think to yourself, "That's it, I'm dead." Fortunately for my friend, he managed to get it upright a moment before hitting the ground and wrecking the ship. Had he been in anything but a BK, he would probably not be here to tell the story.
I think about these things all the time, not in an emotional, obsessive, depressed way, but primarily so I do not repeat them. Accidents happen to the best pilots. We must study those that have already happened, even if it is sometimes gruesome. Why or how do I still fly? Sometimes it is not easy. But I think about these things and I make a conscious self-committment to *not* make those same mistakes as the ones who came before me. Remember, wings and rotorblades and tailbooms do not fall off (unless you're in a 407 that is). Catastrophic structural failures are rare. The majority of aviation accidents are pilot-related. We're human. We make mistakes. So learn from the mistakes of others, KEEP THEM IN MIND! And hopefully you can avoid making the same one.
I have said that I did not have a choice other than to become a helicopter pilot. Flingwing207 wondered:
What, you were threatened with death if you didn't become a pilot?
What I meant was that for me there was never anything else I
wanted to do more than fly! My destiny was to do this (father handing down the flying genes helped). I can never remember a time when I ever waffled when asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up, Rotorpup?"
So for me there was no choice. This was what I was going to do, and for better or worse, by God this is what I've done. Fortunately, I've done some other things along the way. Flying these contraptions is not and has never been my sole-source of income - just my primary source until recently.
Guys like Jon are the ones who have a choice. He obviously chose to do something else with his life at first, and now thinks he'd like to "try" being a commercial pilot. That's the difference between him and me, and that's all I was trying to point out.
Flying helicopters for money is great fun, I'd never deny that. And it is not my intent to discourage anyone from becoming a pilot either recreationally or commercially. Far from it, in fact. Is it do-able? Sure! Obviously! That is not in question.
My posts merely focus on Jon's stated motivation. Commercial aviation is not something you "try on" like a new pair of jogging sneakers to see if you'll like them. Aviation requires a committment that goes beyond the "that looks cool!" mindset. It's easy for one to claim that they have the necessary dedication and committment. We can only hope that for their sake it is true. The fact that Jon ditched not only a pretty cool hobby but also his main job is telling. And I still maintain that someone who is unhappy and dissatisfied in one career will not find happiness or satisfaction in another. Then again, I've been wrong before...