1. What is the best part of your job? Still magical when you pull pitch or rotate and the aircraft rises. When you take off in the dead of night in crappy weather, break out on top with a full moon.
2. What is the worst part of your job? Flying with un-motivated students.
3. Any regrets in choosing your career? Never
4. How long have you been in it? FW in 1973, helos in 82.
5. If someone you knew was considering getting their commercial license, would you recommend it to them? Yes, of course yes.
6. What advice would you give to a multi-talented, low-time pilot with a couple hundred hours under his/her belt and few years' experience in the industry, potential for a family, and considering pursuing some other career instead of the glorified chopper pilot? 1st thing I would say is quit calling them "choppers". Then I would say that is it better to have tried it and for whatever reason stop if unable to pursue your goal then to have never tried and wondered "what if....."
7. Do you consider yourself successful? Why or why not? I suppose success is a relative term however I have 3 ATP's, done everything in a helo except utility (working on that too) to include spec ops, same with FW, still alive and still liking it.