Heliport, thanks for the email allerting me to this thread.... OK I know it was ages ago, but I'd just got in from the pub, and you know how it is.....
Apologies if I go over anything said before, but I have skipped through the whole thread in the last 15 minutes, and at my age, can't keep all that stuff in my head at once. Anyway, I've just got in from the pub again.
I went helicopter flying in the RN because that's what they did. I loved almost every minute of my career and looked forward to a second career in police flying. That turned out to be 1% unforgettable, fantastic flying and 99% staring at each other in the crew room, or hovering over a long cold crime scene. The slack time allowed study for the fixed wing licence, and simply because it was different, and a new challenge, that was next.
Someone had said that helicopter pilots will always
work for a living, where planks just sit and bank the dosh.
Right to a degree. Freighters were a good intro, but the anti social hours were draining. Finally got into a proper airline and, to be frank, I enjoy the job. Doing
anything right is an ongoing challenge.
Just now, I'm (courtesy of Osama) back in the right hand seat, and my take home pay is about £300 a month more than it was with the Navy in 1994. (A pay cut in real terms). But as someone else pointed out, money (beyond providing for family) isn't everything. (And ethereal is welcome to his Porsche. A bit of humility is worth ten of them).
Would I do it again? I'd love to do a bit of both. I don't need that bum clenching thrill of military flying any more, but just to hover again would be nice (tried it in the jet the other night and it didn't work
)
It's horses for courses. We are all so lucky to make a living at what we love to do, and would (do) pay for if we weren't paid to do it.
So I guess I score for both sides, Heliport.
Now... If I could go back to bus driving.......