Fascinating Thread which I have followed with great interest
I would like to add my little bit as I am pretty much at the opposite end of the scale. I am relatively low houred compared to most of you on here (just over 1200) A while back I was desperately sending out CV's looking for that 1st jet job with no luck. I was one of those guys sitting in a Seneca below FL100 in all sorts of weather dreaming of flying something faster and higher. This to me meant either a business jet or an airliner.
One day I was introduced to a guy who owned a helicopter and he said that he was buying a light turboprop as he was fed up with airport delays and would I be interested in coming to work for him. I looked at it as a step up and accepted straight away. He then called me and invited me to dinner to discuss salary etc. I worked all sorts of scenarios of what I wanted etc and off I went. He straight away said "right, I'm not sure what figure you had in your head but the way I see it is that you will be responsible for mine and my families safety. You are the only pilot hence you should be on a captains salary. At this point I was just nodding like an idiot with possibly a dribble of saliva coming out of the corner of my mouth. To cut a long story short, I now work for this guy full time. I fly maybe 3 days a week, no sector is over 2.5 hrs I get treated like a friend and a member of the family to the point where if the other half wants to come for the weekend to the yacht in Cannes she can and to top all that off I get a salary and benefits which rivals a senior Captain at most airlines. I can hand fly or let the automatics take the load, I can fly at 2000ft or FL300 the choice is mine.
Now. My point is. There are too many people out there that think a career in aviation has to be in heavy metal or something that flys at warp speed.(Although I do realise that a lot of the time that is where the high salaries are) Flying is flying and although I know I was very lucky to end up as I am, there are more enjoyable careers out there where the lifestyle of you, Mary Lou and the kids doesn't have to change. I got an invitation from a bizjet operator last month to go and fly a hawker, which was what I thought my dream was. In fact I was considering other ratings up until a short time ago, but I turned it down as I realised I'm already living the dream.
Please don't think that I'm boasting or knocking any other kind of career choice in aviation. Its just that there is life outside the airlines and the other AOC operators and you don't have to travel to the other side of the world to find it. Granted the people like my boss are few and far between, but they are out there and can be found. Remember what it was like when we were all trying to find that first job flying? Its no harder.
Just to finish, life is way too short to be spending time doing something that is not all that appealing and I for one do not want to be the richest man in the graveyard.
Good Luck to all