But will the day come when you lean back and say, ahhhhhh, I am finally there?
I never forget speaking to a Captain when I was a younger lad in Air Cadets. I was telling him how my only experience to date was flying gliders. And obviously all I wanted to do was fly something more powerful, with an engine.
He turned to me and told me the following story which I always remembered:
When he was younger, his dream was to fly -anything!
Some time later he found his dream fullfilled getting flying lessons in a glider. He loved it, but then the thought hit him... I would love to fly a POWERED aircraft!
Then he got in some little single engined plane and got what he wanted. Brilliant! After a little while, and through getting licenced, he then thought, hey I wouldn't mind flying something more powerful, with two engines...
Sitting in his twin engined turbo prop sometime later, dream fullfilled, he sat there thinking to himself, you know, I would love to fly a JET! That is when I will be there..
A few years later, on a 737, and being on it for some time, he thought, I will be there when I'm on a big jet like a dc-10, tristar or 747, that is what I want to fly!
So sitting on his 747 sometime later, he thought thats it, surely I must be here, I've reached it!
Then, one day, looking out of his window... he saw gliders flying, catching thermols, enjoying simple flight. And he thought...
You know, that is what I want to fly!
The moral to the story, in terms of passion for flying, not talking money earnt, is the passion it seems is like a cycle, you start off building your dream on a basic aircraft, wanting something better and more powerful. Then when you get to the top one day, a modern jet for example. And you sit there and think, geez, I'd love to do some flying on a chipmunk or cessna!
Good luck to all, although I really hope money is not the driving force of your ambitions to become a pilot.