Some replies mention "clients" , which puzzles me a bit. Aren't we supposed to discuss private flying here? How can there be a client in private flying?
Fine. Replace "
clients" with "
passengers," if it makes you feel better. Perhaps you would be better served putting words in others mouths then, rather than letting them speak for themselves.
Aviation does not exist in a vacuum. General aviation is not merely private pilots flying weekend missions to get a hamburger (or fish and chips, as one might). General aviation encompasses many other aspects of flying, from crop dusting to banner towing to corporate, fractional, charter, photography, and other flying. Is operating a Cessna 172 from A to B with a "
client" passenger any different than flying the same route using the same airplane with a private pilot at the stick and aunt Bessie in back? Not really.
What I do find very interesting in the private pilot world, sometimes, is the assumption that if one flies big airplanes, of flies corporate, or flies for a living, one couldn't possibly understand or have any part in private flying or general aviation as the private pilot sees it. Ironically, there's often a sense that the experienced pilot has no place. More ironic is that the experienced pilot may have ten thousand hours of experience in general aviation, may be an active participant and instructor, may own his own light airplane, may be an aircraft mechanic or engineer, and may have something to say based on a lifetime of experience in general aviation, but isn't welcome.
I've seen it happen right here, time and time again. You said "
clients," that's not part of our world, and doesn't apply. You're discussing a big airplane, it doesn't apply (never mind that the "
big airplane" is single engine, general aviation, tailwheel, and as close to barnstorming as one can get any more). Those procedures don't apply to us, yada, yada.
The private pilot is an interesting animal. Hungry for information, the private pilot in it's student form is the rarest of students in the world of learning. The student pilot really wants to learn, and is paying through the nose to do it. The student pilot hungers to read everything, learn everything, know everything, hear about it all. A change takes place, like an instar or life form of an insect, when the student becomes a private pilot. Many, the great challenge of learning to fly being perceived over, shortly quit thereafter. No longer able to justify the money or time, they fade away. Others, however, continue, taking advantage of their new-found privileges and skills. Some go on to buy airplanes, even, or join with a club.
Somewhere in there, during this metaphorical transformation (for metaphysical tranformation seldom takes place...don't see too many private pilots sprout wings form their back), the private pilot begins to know everything. I see that more in the world of private pilots than in the circles of commercial pilots or ATP's. I don't see it so much in the lower rungs of commercial pilots, the ones doing their first few years of flying (instructors, cargo, banners, etc), and I don't see it so much in the advanced years, either. By and large, of any form, it's nearly always the private pilots who can't be told anything, and have no desire to learn. It's also, ironically, the private pilots who often seem to feel that they've experienced it all. I'm reminded very much of the teenager, of whom is said "
teenagers, now is the time to leave home and pay your own way, while you still know everything."
Lest you think I'm pounding private pilots or hate them, I'm not. I've created many of them as an instructor and teacher, and whereas I once held nothing more than a private pilot certificate, and still hold private privileges concurrent with my ATP, I'm one, too.
Another trait I often see is the locality trait. This isn't endemic to private pilots per se, but it's found in most places by people who don't get out much. It's the "
you couldn't possibly understand us" trait, the one that says "
things are different here. You're not from here, you wouldn't understand." It does somewhat tend to dismiss those who travel the world and have been there, and have done that, and still do that regularly. It's the same trait that laughs at and ridicules experience. I see it here a LOT.
I know many professional pilots who don't want anything to do with aviation when they're done getting paid to fly. They get off their shift, off their flight, off their line, and they're done. They want a different world. That's hard for the aviation enthusiast to understand, sometimes. After all, the private pilot works very hard to get the little bit of flying that he or she does. How could anyone who worked so hard to be where they are in a flying career be so dismissive, as the airline pilot who goes home to golf and doesn't think about an airplane again until it's his turn to go fly? How could he possibly enjoy his work, if he doesn't want any part of it?
I know many professional pilots like that, and while I can share the private pilot sentiment of not fully understanding them, I do understand the mentality of those who want to go home and do something else. After all, if one has flown all one's life, and does it eighty to a hundred twenty hours a month or more (figuring three to four hours involvement for every hour of flying, at a minimum, often with fourteen to eighteen hour duty days on the job), it's no wonder that they want a break.
Conversely, I know many professional pilots who stay very involved in general aviation during their careers, including during their off times. Many of us will jump at the chance to go flying any time. You'll find many of them at the local FBO or flyin club, hanging out, talking flying, living flying, giving instruction, renting, building, teaching, and participating.
The corporate airplane with it's "client" passengers often lands at the same airfields that you do in your Cessna 172 or Cirrus. The corporate or ag or banner airplane uses the same airspace, the same flight rules, the same air traffic control, and makes the same radio calls. The working airplane buys fuel from the same source, uses the same radio. Reads the same charts. Files the same flight plans.
Some private pilots fly single engine Cessnas. Others fly turboprop Pipers. Others fly their own King Air, Citation, or Lear. Some private pilots have their own SNJ or Travel Air. Others a Corsair. Some a pitts. Some land on beaches and mud flats in their Cub, while others use their Bonanza for personal transportation and the occasional pleasure flight. Some private pilots carry clients to look at their building project from the air, or to bring their client to the office from a neighboring city to make a book deal. Some private pilot businessmen make good use of their personal airplane to serve their clients, ranging from the serviceman who flies to client locations to work on their equipment, to the salesman who visits clients in the field, or brings clients to see a product. Even the salesman who's clients are the pilots to whom he is trying to sell the airplane.
Let's not dismiss others who fly, especially if they have something to offer, because you don't prefer the semantics in their choice of words. You might just miss the greater message.