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.