Am entering this topic to perhaps stop the nagging reminder to me with “no postings”
A little about myself
At 16 I had an ambition to enter the RAF. A flying or non flying role was not important but my academic achievements to date seemed to impress someone and was selected to go to Cranwell for flight crew selection. Medical was the first and the last of my dreams. Failed the colour blindness test.
My future eventually took me through an IT career which was financially rewarding but the yearning for the skies never left me. OK I got a PPL followed by a simple aircraft eventually moving into aerobatics but still look up at those big shiny things and think “if only”.
I have 2 commercial pilot friends who like to join me occasionally and throw it around a bit so I get first hand earache at times regarding their lives but what impresses me most is their dedication to the job. They both seem to still regard it as a great privilege despite both having gone through divorce
I try to understand the auto vs. manual arguments but obviously not qualified to make a judgment but as a passenger my vote would be in favour of the pilot who could ultimately bring this heavy lump of metal safely onto terra firma when the “chips” are down.