Done a few flying jobs. Did them in Oz, now waiting to fly in the UK.
Instructor.
Part time on weekends
*check flying for the day v's hours on aircraft.
*answer phones/radio
*check oil/fuel q/tyre pressures and clean the windscreen on the fleet.
*make tea/coffee etc for customers
*advise students what flying is about, next steps etc
*fuel aircraft
*brief students
*fly with students (not many I am afraid)
*keep eye on weather and update.
*ensure the aircraft were tied down before going home.
Charter pilot.
This involved a shift to the bush. (5,000km drive)
*check roster before going home
*get up at 4am
*get to work by 5am
*daily the beast (C207) making sure the windows are spotless.
*drive bus into town and gather pax
*sort out the tickets etc
*brief pax about the flight.
*fly it. 2 hour scenic with commentary.
*return pax to hotels
*get ready for freight flight. Rip out seats, load 500kg of freight into the beast.
*preflight it. (with luck you get the same plane. Therefore only one daily
*fly to an outback aboriginal community
*unload freight, put seats back in and sell tickets.
*fly back to town.
*work in the hangar till 2.30pm. Go home and sleep
*repeat 4-5 days a week.
*if flying the indigenous folk around, waste at least 1 hour trying to find them.
*some days = one flight, other days = up to 4 flights.
*answer phones, clean office, do amendments, work in hangar.
*go to pub and await boss's call
Coastwatch pilot.
*visual task so it was the Islander or the Shrike.
*turn up to work 2 hours prior to sort out the wx/plan/task/fuel for the day.
*drag plane out of hangar and daily it.
*brief the crew.
*fly around the Kimberley archipelago for a few hours hoping you'll land before the bladder bursts. Nice and low, about 500' with 100' phot runs. Fun. Look at mangroves, whales, boats, yachts and crocs.
*land. Wash salt off plane. Detergent wash once a week.
*debrief.
*do usual office stuff but usually land/wash and go home usually about 1 hour to 2 hours after landing.
*hope the roster hasn't changed too much since the morning's departure.....
small regional airline pilot (Bandit/Twotter FO)
*turn up to work about 45 min prior.
*submit the plan, work out the fuel. Hope the captain agrees. (Captain daily's the plane)
*get the pax load from ops and wander out to the plane.
*meet and greet pax.
*brief pax and hand out the chow.
*argue with the captain as to who's leg it is. (weather dependent)
*fly out to somewhere hot.
*land and unload couple hundred kg's of freight and bags. Load more on.
*repeat till thoroughly sick of it and dehaydrated. Land and knock off exactly 15min after engine shut down.
*after filing the trim sheets/plans and entering FD times in the computer as well as checking that the roster hasn't changed.
*run away before ops can assign any more duties.
*if on the twotter, have a Ground Hog day flying to the same place 3 times in one day....
*try to be inventive with the pax briefings to show enthusiasm and still get the point across.
*get roped into office duties.
large regional pilot (FO) (Dash 8)
*bash through peak hour traffic to get to work and fight for car park spot.
*check in with ops.
*grab plan/wx/notams and remember to sign the book with the company standing orders and weekly notams.
*work out who you are flying with. That will determine if it's a good day or a day from hell.
*figure out the fuel and wave it near the captain to see if he (at the time I was there, there were no female capt) agrees with it. Usually does.
*submit the plan and the fuel chit to ops.
*check arrival tv to see where our plane is.
*wander out to tarmac and make sure it has the required number of wings, wheels and the like.
*if it's the first flight of the day, do the external walk around.
*set the fuel bugs
*leap aboard and say g'day to the FA. Sort out the drinks.
*do the preflight and grab the ATIS.
*come together and do the briefing. Once again, sus out where the viscious xwind will be and argue against that leg.
*Start up and taxi off. Have a brief chat to the pax and completely unsettle them as they now realise it's a female flying.
*land and now work like a one armed bandit for the turnaround.
*grab the RTOW book and scribble out the TOLD card.
*run around the plane trying to not let the hat be blown away.
*find the captain and repeat the process.
*refine the TOLD when have the final weight.
*fly away.
*land and either go home after zooming past ops or head to the hotel. Track direct for the free drink
*if the roster has changed, it will cost them. Unions are a good thing.
UK
*Park yourself in Ops and learn a lot.
Hope that was reasonably interesting.
mpala,
Now I'll answer your questions.
Initially, lifestyle just doesn't come into it. You'll have none starting off. After a few years, that becomes more important.
However, you are more or less a slave to the industry. You will go where the work is.
No, I don't think people on the outside really see flying for what it is. They don't see the sacrifices, the poor pay, mercy of the roster and weather. They certainly don't see the medicals and the checks that just NEVER go away. Redundancies and separations from loved ones always happen. It sucks.
Yes the job can get boring. Dangerously so. You have to be extremely vigilant to keep yourself fresh and not become complacent. Fatigue is a genuine problem and it is insidious.
No idea re train/bus drivers. Never been one.
The golden age of aviation is over. The most fun I had was flying a bugsmasher around the Kimberley. It was also the time I worked the hardest and got the least pay. The more money I earnt the less fun I had. Therein lies the rub.
Nowadays, you are expected to be a system manager and be forced to jump through psych tests and the like. Not many people actually "fly" any more. That's a sad thing.
I learnt to fly because I wanted to fly........ not just be an airline pilot.