Still Love It, what there is of it
After 34 years, I still enjoy flying helicopters. Today the overwhelming majority of the job is not flying or related to flying. Tedious paperwork related to training and operations, and as aircraft have gotten more expensive and capable, the irony is that flying hours have gone down. Most big operators have a climate of severity toward the flying help and this does not inspire confidence or loyalty and makes the workplace unpleasant. There is no reason for it to be this way, but it seems that this is what we have now. I would take a pay cut to be able to fly more and have a pleasant workplace. Yes the flying is still as attractive as ever, but the flying environment is sadly not what it was when I began. I am sorry for the young people entering the profession who will not know the joys I experienced starting out and I don't have much hope for the future when I reflect that 30 years from now today's relatively new pilots will also be looking back on these as "the good old days."