Flying and personality changes

[modelman]

Does anybody here think that acquiring a PPL has altered their persona in any way?
For me,I feel it has matured me and improved my decision making and judgement in other, non-aviation related situations and made me more meticulous in the workplace..It has certainly increased my confidence and made me feel more able to contribute to discussions rather than just 'go with the flow'.
When you are P1 with non-aviation orientated passengers there is no hiding place as it is all down to just you-not many other jobs/situations where this is the case.( I'm sure there there are others,but you get my drift).

Anybody else feel this way?

MM

[rusty sparrow]

I did a simulated forced landing a couple of weeks ago and started thinking about the judgement and decision making skills involved after a frustrating time dealing with a large bureaucracy that can't make decisions and spends a lot of the day holding fruitless meetings.

When the engine goes, the pilot has to quickly appraise the situation and select somewhere to land. After a quick check of the engine for any possible restart, he then has to commit to the landing and be in the right position at the 1000 ft mark. If he's flying at about 2000 he'll have 2-3 minutes to do this in and he has to get it right. Clear headed, decisive decision making will probably save his life. Sp, practical appliciation of 'advanced judgement and decision making skills' - wonder if I can get some flying costs justified as a business expense :)

[gcolyer]

Slight tangent on slying costs as a business expense, but sure you can....I do and plenty of others do.

You will rarely find the cost of self flying competes with the airlines, but take in to consideration business/production time lost when using public services, thats how I manage to justify the cost.

[shortstripper]

I started flying when I was 14 ....... it is my persona! :\

SS

[B2N2]

Before I started flying I was a nice person...really.......:E

[stickandrudderman]

Thoroughly agree.
I've always been comfortable with decision making and responsibility, but I was a very poor planner and risk assessor before I did my PPL.
I would never write anything down and was terrible at filing anything.
I would never make any decision until the last minute, although I would always be able to make one, and mostly be happy with it, whereas now I make decisions much sooner and everyday things become much less frantic than they used to be.
I also drink a lot less than I used to as I'm absulutely useless the day after a few beers/wines.
(Although I'm still on the fence as to whether this is a good thing or not!)

[Whirlybird]

Interesting thread - a subject that hasn't been discussed in all the years I've been reading PPRuNe.

Decision-making has never been problem for me, but flying has made me far more patient and less impulsive. I often say that doing a PPL in the UK teaches you more about patience than about flying.

It's also made me a lot more tolerant. Before learning to fly, I'd found most things in life pretty easy. I expected to find learning stuff easy, and I wasn't that nice to people who had a hard time with things. But I struggled with learning to fly! I found out what it was like to feel that a skill you were putting everything into seemed to be impossible. :{ And I eventually learned not to be so hard on myself, and to be a bit kinder to other people.

So I'm possibly a nicer person since learning to fly. OTOH, I'm now a crashing bore who talks aviation far too often, and probably so self-confident that I'm unbearable a lot of the time. :)

[S-Works]

Of course it does, you get a PPL, you discover PPRUNE and you become armchair experts and world class bores...... :p

Normal sane people who would not say boo to a goose become mad loons hell bent on grinding everyone down until they all agree.

As Clarkson points out you become masters of pedantry....

:p:E:)

[rustle]

Of course it does, you get a PPL, you discover PPRUNE and you become armchair experts and world class bores......


Nope - just you I think bose. :p :p:E:)

[IO540]

Does anybody here think that acquiring a PPL has altered their persona in any way?

If you look at the personality of 100 people when they start PPL training, and you look at the personality of 100 people who have been flying for say 10 years, there will be a huge difference.

But that is not due to personality changes in any individual.

It is due to the fact that anybody who is less than really really determined, willing to put up with a huge amount of crap on every front, is well funded, etc, will have dropped out.

Only the most hardened individuals remain in this game long term. It's a very rewarding hobby but the reward to crap ratio is not favourable.

[S-Works]

Rustle, I am struck to the core. It is a good job that flying has turned me into a steely eyed killer able to withstand the hardest of knocks......

:{:{:{:{:{

[High Wing Drifter]

It hasn't escaped my attention how meek and mild Bose-X was a few years ago :\

[sternone]

Does anybody here think that acquiring a PPL has altered their persona in any way?

Yes, before i started flying i tought i had enough money...

[scooter boy]

Now that I spend more time flying than I do driving I am starting to like driving again.

All it will take is a couple of bad drives to work in the winter when the weather is too awful to fly and I'll be wanting to put the car away again though.

SB

[pulse1]

I am not convinced that an experience such as flying as a PPL would have any lasting effect on ones persona. Depending on ones basic personality though, all experiences can have a positive or negative effect.

What intrigues me more is how some pilots seem to change dramatically as soon as they get near an aeroplane. I know a few basically nice people who become boorish and dominating with a tendency to panic. Others who suddenly change from a quiet, uncertain individual to a positive and relaxed pilot who makes his passengers feel safe.

This type of personality change is even more prevalent amongst yachsmen, some of whom can turn into a tyrant as soon as they board their boat. I worked with one individual who was undisciplined and unreliable until he was on his boat. Then he became disciplined and the best seaman I have ever sailed with.

Perhaps we all spend a lot of our time acting anyway.

[maxdrypower]

I was reasonably content with my lot being in a pooh job and always wanted to fly. Now I am a master of the largest medium I am pissed of that I cant do it for a living and resent going to work even more than I ever have . To that end although I am happy I can now fly I am a bloody misery at work . Then again its is a really pants job
Quote perhaps we are all acting
Was it was Wilhelm the shakeyspearest who said The world is just a stage ?
or was it someone else