Had good and great times, met a lot o fantastic people, got to go to some awesome places and get paid for it, one awkward flight and had to stand up for myself time and overall mostly fun times..... for many starting out its an industry full of inuendo and rife with rumours.
Its was you make it... If want to be paid award.... find an opertor who pays it. If you want to stay safe and fly well kept equipment... find the operator who keeps their planes as such... the penalties for operating outside the law for the benefit of logbook requirements can be fatal.
Individuals set standards... not much use in killing yourself over a bad operator. The "freeby" guys I knew of have bent airframes and fatals to their credit... An operator isnt worth giving up your life for. To use an example.... a pilot would not take a bullet for a bad opertor if someone was standing there with a gun..... why the hell to they still continue to risk "take bullets" by flying outside regulations and the laws of physics at the operators request??
Due to circumstances surrounding a particular event which no doubt most readers are aware of.... i am no longer in the aviation industry.... I still hold a CPL with some ATPL subjects out of the way and will finish that off. At no time was my licence or the ability to hold that licence ever in any doubt, but I miss the flying sometimes.... There are no aircraft to fly where I am these days and it means going for a 5-6 hour drive to find one. (pretty good indication I need to buy one!)
But apart from that, I thoroughly enjoyed being involved..... and you never know what is around the corner!