World's most priviledged pilots.

[unmanned transport]

I'd venture to say that the USA and Canada have the most priviledged private pilots on the planet.

It would be interesting to read threads from other countries, pros and cons.

[DanAir1-11]

IMHO, Any-one who makes a living by flying (anywhere in any equipment) is priviledged. We, as professional aviators have the best jobs on the planet.
How many people these days can profess to acheive job satisfaction?. Flying is King!

[unmanned transport]

Oops, sorry for the bad spelling. (privileged) without the mid 'd'.

Yes, anyone who decides to go aloft when one wishes is sure privileged. Thankfully I have my own Cessna and can levitate when I wish, wx. permitting.

[Bus429]

What are you guys smoking? Read Michael Moore's book "Stupid White Men". Pay particular attention to the chapter concerning pilot pay in the USA. Those pilots flying for feeders don't seem too privileged.:confused:

[Hotel Charlie]

I do not feel very privilaged flying OSL-LPA-OSL in a cramped cockpit for aprox 11 hr flt time 13:20 hr duty time. :yuk: And yes when I was 20 years old I would have thought 11 hrs in the logbook in ONE day was heaven but when you pass 10,000 hr, quality of life is more important. Trust me :ok:

[Ascend Charlie]

Hotel Charlie (not my cousin) wonders where the privilege in an 11-hour flight lies. It lies back in business class, where I can drink good booze, watch a movie, and have a sleep while you are worrying about the next position fix.

As far as pilot enjoyment goes, there is an immense amount in Australia, where the skies are still relatively uncluttered, the beaches are fantastic to fly along, and when you land, the beer is cold.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

and when you land, the beer is cold.

That's so you can't taste it:)

SSD

[big.al]

There's nothing wrong with our warm beer in the UK (except for the temperature, price and taste, of course)....

[Airking]

Quote:
I'd venture to say that the USA and Canada have the most priviledged private pilots on the planet

Hey guys, he´s talking about PRIVATE PILOTS !!!

HC, are you doin´OSL-LPA-OSL in a private MD11 ?

[GARDENER]

When you say "flying for the feeders and not feeling privileged with regard to pay" I would strongly disagree. Come and do my job for a week then spend some time sending x amount of CV's out religiously in anticipation. Believe me any flying job regardless of pay would make me happy.

[Bus429]

Gardener,

Read the book to get the context. Michael Moore's book contains an interview with an American Eagle pilot who claims, at the time, he took home $9000year and was thus eligible for food stamps.

[Flying Bagel]

I'm listening to a program on the radio about stress in the workplace and suicidal tendencies. I think I'm very priveleged.

[fireflybob]

Having done the airline pilot bit (long haul and charter) I can honestly say I feel really priveleged when I am instructing at the local flying club!

It's lots of fun and you meet some very interesting people on the way. There's no jet lag and you are your own boss.

Airline flying is still a great job but it is not what it used to be. The best bit is once the wheels are off the ground but the unstable life style and incompetent person management often associated with the industry do little to help job satisfaction.

[Maxrev]

Come on guys, what else would we do?

I remember 12 years ago sitting in school, looking out of the window on a crisp autumn afternoon at a 747 cruising high above leaving 4 whispy engine trails to slowly vanish as I daydreamed about where it was off to...New York, Washington, Hawaii, LA, Tokyo, Rio, Moscow...

Sitting there in the classroom seemed like being shackled to the ground, whilst I yearned to be up above, shirt sleeved in that 747 cockpit with a pair of sunglasses on.

The reality, like everything else in life, is somewhat different but tell me what beats that feeling of standing up the throttles and blasting off to a faraway destination?

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/187462/M/

[5milesbaby]

why do you think that the USA and Canada have the most priviledged private pilots???? Because of Classes of airspace? Being biased I would say that American airspace classification is crazy with 747's and Cessna's sharing the same plot regularly. But I must agree that the cessna pilots are certainly privaledged. In the UK it is almost impossible to get a civil commercial flight within the same Class of airspace as a PPL at the more major haunts - I for one am glad this is the case.....

[chrisbl]

Having just got my night qualification in the USA, I would say that US private pilots are more priviledged. They do have available better training facilities to become Instrument rated as well as an environment that is encouraging to pilots. This encouragement encourages more flying and increases skill levels to the extent that mixing my PA28 in with a couple of 767s was no big deal.

With Class A airspace beginning at 18000'MSL anything below is for all to share. Even student pilots can fly in Class B with an instructors endorsement.

[unmanned transport]

>why do you think that the USA and Canada have the most priviledged private pilots???? Because of Classes of airspace? <

We are not bogged down with archaic bureaucracy, a socialist system, a class society, crappy weather and small islands such as you have in Britain. Airspace has got very little to do with the mix here in the west. Thank goodness we haven't been forced into farmer's fields to avoid landing fees and have not been reduced in airborne craft to trikes.

Over here, when a homebuilder can assemble a pressurized turboprop aircraft, that says something for private aviation.

I feel sorry for you wannabe avaitors over there.

[GARDENER]

Ditto bus429 - read my post and get the context:O

[turbynetrip]

Being able to fly a light plane into LAX or any large airport is one of the most wonderful things about aviation in the US. It's not something that's done very often, but it's nice to know you can if you need to...and one doesn't even need to file a flight plan (though it sure speeds things up if you do, in addition to being a good practice). In this respect, I feel very privileged indeed. Even hang gliders are welcome in Class 'C' airspace, with notification. What fun!

One of the very worst things about the post-9/11 fallout is that for the first time, access to a U.S. civil airport (namely, DCA-Washington National) has been restricted only to airlines and government planes.

If light planes had anything to do with 9/11, I could see the logic...but it seems the 'logic' is the same that gives me a deadly crash axe close at hand in the cockpit, but takes away my Swiss Army knife in the terminal.

In this respect, the terrorists are winning...what freedoms we had are gradually being eroded away in the name of the 'war on terror'; this is particularly evident in our hobby/profession.

Hopefully this situation will reverse, we'll say, 'what the hell were we thinking?' but given the apathy of a cowed electorate here, I'm not too optimistic.

'They that can give up essential liberty in exchange for a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.'

-Benjamin Franklin

TT

[unmanned transport]

With triple or quadruple parallel runways as in the USA, it's much easier for ATC to slot the little guy in rather than at an airport with only one runway. Plus, the little guy has to learn if he/she has aspirations of driving a heavy some day.

Four heavies on the glideslope at DEN or DFW is impressive to see.

I don't know of any triple parallel rwys. in England but correct me if I'm wrong. I find LHR backward in that it has only 2 parallel rwys. and many times traffic has to be stacked aloft and slotted in when time permits.

[ITCZ]

Americans :hmm:

A culture that accepts failure as success and exalts ignorance as patriotism.

Nice anthem though.

[PPRuNe Towers]

This is not a piggy back to the post above but fact.

The comments above are from active and, in the main, desperately dedicated pilots using the GA system in the States. It is biased, partial and flies in the face of facts.

GA in America is in desperate straits in its hinterland away from cities and overseas student areas. The small fields I love and spend my time visiting are the ghostly, barren haunts of increasingly elderly men pottering in their T-hangars. For every Chino, Flabob, Apple Valley or other hive of activity there are 500 ghost fields.
Has been the case for years and the paucity of students, lack of retention and increasing age of the equipment and pilots has been a staple of editorial pages in American magazines for 10 years or more.

Yep, huge freedom but only in contrast to other places and, even worse, now unable to sustain its own significant pilot base. Americans increasingly ingnore air sports and activities and spend the same or greater amounts of after tax income on every conceivable alternative activity.

Rebuttals please but you'll have to suffer 10 years of respected US editorial thrown back in your faces.

Regards
Rob

PS: If Unmanned Transport really is discussing GA standby for the moderator of this forum to move it somewhere more suitable. This is most definitely not the place for it.

[V1 Rotate]

Anybody who takes Michael Moore seriously has SH1T for brains.
V1:8 :8

[wondering]

@ V1 Rotate,

does that mean you trust your government?

[lostav8r]

Wow, way to revive a long dead thread. Bush, Moore....ahh, who cares, Nothing is ever as it seems anyways...

As for the original point of post. I've spent the last two year logging roughly 1000 hours in Northern Manitoba. It's been pretty neat, lots of cool stuff to see. I would say that I'm priviliged to see some of the things I've seen.

i'm about to start flying around the coast of BC. I can hardly wait...

Cheers

[fleigle]

Dep Chief Pprune Pilot

Why on earth do you take that stance over what Unmanned Transport said?, sure there are GA fields over here that are run down but the majority that I see (albeit mostly here in N. California) are doing well and are busy, maybe its the weather.
As to your threat to move his post, that seems like childish bullying to me IMHO, jeez, lighten up! :*

[PorcoRosso]

I agree that the GA fleet in US is a bit rusty and old fashioned, but it is still a great place to fly .
In 99 , I needed to build up 200 hrs before starting my CPL training in UK (the 700 Hrs business ... )
I went in California to rent the cheapest C152 in the world ! and I had great fun all around the west coast . IFR, Night Flying, great landscapes ... no or few landing fees (and very affordable ! )
Here in Europe, I can only fly to live, since it became unaffordable to fly for fun ...
I still have in mind to buy a nice plane over there, and to fly it during vacations across US .
GA in Europe is dying under bureaucracy, even flying gliders is turning expensive and complicated .
It's really sad .