I'm a PPL(H), fly turbines and pistons, doing about 200 piston hours p.a. - a chunk of those purely for pleasure. Like John R81, if I've had a bad day at the office, I'll sometimes go for a fly for the sheer hell of it, do some practice or just go somewhere to escape the day job (last night, I ticked off another of my little goals: seeing my own moonshadow on top of the clouds
). Like JTobias, I'm always hungry to learn more and I look forward to my regular trips with a more experienced pilot - I always pick up some new nugget of info.
I take great pride in my flying and, having been flown by 'professionals' (sic) on several occasions (and at the risk of sounding cocky), I am pleased to confirm my flying skills are at least as good as the vast majority of CPLs! Qualifications mean bugger all when you're in the air if preparation, attitude, conscientiousness, respect, empathy
and professionalism are neglected!
As for IceKid's "there a lot of risk in a heli single engine piston...", what a load of
!! In the event of an engine failure, I'd much rather be in a single engined heli than a single engined plank. I can land just about anywhere in a heli instead of needing a long, thin, unobstructed runway
!