Flying was all I ever wanted to do.
I remember reading at age eight a proper "grown-up" book on helicopter flying, then for months afterwards sorting out in my head how all the aerodynamics worked. I'd then sit and actually go through a whole flight in my head, moving the collective, throttle, cyclic and pedals in relation to one another, and imagining what the instruments would show. Very sad.
Then we'd go on holiday in a Viscount and I'd be sitting down the back using my armrest to pretend to taxy out, going through all the control inputs, flap settings, etc, for the flight. Very very very sad!!
Somehow I just knew I'd be a pilot. It just seemed natural. When I finally started flying for real, I felt right at home. I'd read and thought so much about it that nothing really came as a surprise. As I say, it just seemed perfectly natural.
Would I do it all again? Well, I'm sure I would, otherwise I wouldn't be the same person. However, if I'm being really honest, if somehow I could have packed all my flying into a couple of years, and got it out of my system as it were, then who knows.
I don't mean to sound jaded - 'cos I'm not actually. But remember, the boyhood dream can feel very different when experienced from the perspective of the man.
Probably one of the biggest frustrations you endure as you get older in this profession is the feeling of having little control over your own life. Seeing talentless managers come and go, while we spend our time in the air, and aren't viewed by management as having a valid input to make. This can lead to a sense of not having a "real" job. Totally untrue, but the feeling can still be there.
Anyway, hope that answers some more questions.
