A few years back I had been offered a tug pilot position during the summer. Great way to get hours plus the place also offered to pay for my food plus about 300 quids a month. Not great money wise but in that particular country it was near enough minimum wages and a much better way to earn some dosh for the studying year to come
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Having done some gliding there before the Chief Man knew me so when a couple of weeks later he received an enquiry from a prospective tug pilot, he told me about it.
The guy had offered not just to fly for free but also to pay £25 an hour to do the job I was getting paid for
Very politely the Chief Pilot told him to Foff and that he'd rather pay someone he could trust rather than someone who would be looking at this position from a "I pay, I am a customer" point of view.
I was committed to the place and the fact they called me back year after year was a sign. As a matter of fact, as I grew older, they realised that money wise my needs were also on the increase. With a fair amount of imagination and a different social system too, they have always very keen to keep me happy.
Just to say that as much as I wanted to fly, I couldn't do it for free. They knew it and it never happened (please spare me the comments about flight training).