Thank you for your post BelArgUSA,
Well I can't really reply to anything specific form your post because essentially that would defeat the ideas behind what you're saying!
I'd love to have flown for the military, but unfortunately I didn't rank particularly high in the eyesight section of the genetic lottery (fortunately I came pretty damn close in every other area
).
Well I'll tell you what, from my limited experience, worries me most of all. More than this bloody recession, more than redundancies, or abused payscales, or any of that.
What worries me is the future for pilots. And I'm talking two or three generations ahead - it would be an awful shame if the great century of aviation (as it may come to be known) was only that, a century. Summer days at the airfield where prospective pilots digged deep for that first trial lesson, layovers in exotic locations for short/medium haul crew (can't really avoid it if you're long haul), and a general 'family feel' between pilots all over the world.
Yes, I really worry for that, what with the advent of the 'new age', health and safety, advancements in computers, so on so forth.
Perhaps I'd have done better back in your day buddy
Then again, I guess the grass is always greener...