Hey D.C.,
Way to go for throwing a wild cat in with the little birdies. Love a good Friday stir up, and i can only imagine the incident which must have provoked you. Good on you for speaking your mind, and you have my vote!
Half the problem with this industry is the epedemic of narcicism which pervades our workplace. I've lost count of the number of 'best pilot in the world' that i've heard of, or met. And it's a wonder most pilots mirrors aren't worn out from over use.
D.C. - you've obviously done your time and got the t-shirts to prove it, so I don't care how many posts you've had, you seem quite entitled to say your bit. That is the joy of this forum.
To add to your comments - i love the guys who register a business name (about $110, and a signature), then print the business card as "Director" or CEO, or even Chief Pilot! Then they tell all the girls that they own their own helicopter company. As this is an Oz generated thread, i'm only commenting on the indistry here, (I pray it's better for pilots O.S.), but I think our professional pride in who we are and what we do should be a personal thing, do you really need to try and tell the world how good you are? Are people so really self-absorbed that they truely care what anyone else thinks? So long as we do our best professional job and treat those around us with respect, we should sleep well at night, and that should be enough. We will all get our true accountability eventually by the one who really counts. The fact that (the majority of) employers tend to treat us like numbers, and their accountants seem to think we are worth less than the bus drivers, plumbers, firemen etc etc, should be more than enough to temper those egos. Or perhaps the real problem is those who choose to slap titles onto themselves, wear the epaulettes home in the car and the flight suit to buy the groceries, haven't been in the game long enough or traveled with it wide enough to realise just where we rate in the scheme of things.
I wish it were different, but after 20 years it still seems the same ol' ****e, and the current world fur-ball that is being coughed up doesn't seem to be helping.
D.C. - hope we get to have a drink somewhere one day. Hell, it's friday... lets start!
