Am I strange?????

[KNIEVEL77]

What is it about aviation that we all find so exciting????

From being a kid i've always loved anything to do with aviation?

I can't believe that on New Years Eve i've spent most of the day at Newcastle Airport with my scanner, am I strange?????

[Gulf4uk]

hi

No your perfectly Normal after all you could have spent the day watching
Newcastle united train or worshipping KK
As for Aviation well the BUG Has you there is no cure so Enjoy


Tony

[KNIEVEL77]

Tony,

That was my previous pass time but with Roy Kinnear there's no hope!!!!

Cheers.

[Gulf4uk]

hi

Well having spent afew Frosty days of late On the End of FAB Runway
in the hope somthing might turn up of interest you have be slightly Barking
and i suppose the Same at Newcastle go home and you miss somthing its
not worth the risk but of couse were MAD

Tony:8:confused::sad:

[Romeo India Xray]

What is it about aviation that we all find so exciting????

From being a kid i've always loved anything to do with aviation?

I can't believe that on New Years Eve i've spent most of the day at Newcastle Airport with my scanner, am I strange?????

Ditto for me, except for me it is a job, but more than that, it is my life and I wouldn't want it any other way!

I know there are many people who listen to the airband radio simply for enjoymnet or intrigue. My advice has always been, "why not go to a local flying club and get your radio licence". It amazes me how many people did not know that they could do this - one of the guys who I spoke to when he was a spotter, 12 years ago, is now a captain with a major loco. :ok:. Another guy got his first ever flight at the age of 76, just because we invited him in to speak to the (GA) crews, and someone had a spare seat. He became a regular cockpit assistant :)

RIX

[KNIEVEL77]

RIX,

It's funny you know because i've currently got a lot of peoples dream job, i'm a Television Outside Broadcast Sound Engineer and cover a football match nearly every day of my life BUT i'm seriously thinking of packing it all in for some sort of job in Aviation, the problem is that I have absolutely no experience in that field and most Aviation Companies are cutting jobbs rather than employing people.

I'm just about to embark in earnest to gain my PPL(H) so hopefully may get some contacts that way!

It must be great to do a job you absolutely love!

K77.

[expedite08]

KNIEVEL77,

Crack on and get your PPL, enjoy the flying, its fantastic! I'm going to concentrate on that this year! Enjoying the fact that I have a licence to take an aircraft out for the day and go places and see some fantastic scenery!

Being on the road to becomming a pro pilot has taken some of the love away that I am going to re kindle and find again this year! The constant misery of no jobs and the thought of spending shed loads of cash for a complete gamble ( quite literally really!), and watching T's and C's get erroded away and people be made mugs of, has/had tarnished the aviation world for me in the last 12 months or so.

Im going to get out there this year and just go flying and get to some more airshows too! They say that any job even flying is just a job, and at the end of day it is.

Enjoy! :)

[KNIEVEL77]

Thanks expedite08, i'm not really sure if I will take the flying onto the next level after the PPL(H) but it would be nice to work somewhere in the field of aviation..........I just can't help thinking to myself that gaining the PPL(H) without having a career in Helicopters at the end of it is going to turn out to be a bloody expensive hobby and can I justify it!!!!!

[expedite08]

You could always get a fixed wing PPL! Best thing, is to do as you wish, as far as taking it further goes, just see how it pans out!

As Ive said Im only in the training system and thats opened my eyes more than enough to see that as good as flying is, it is certainly not worth risking everything you have for! Ive seen and heard of many that fall in to the black hole.

[Romeo India Xray]

Sorry it has taken me a day or two to reply to your post.

It's great to hear that you intend to do your PPL. Before I got my first proper job in aviation (which was non flying), I had been a "hangar rat" for about 8 years. What this meant was that I had about 5-7 years more "experience" than most of the people who were taking their CPL exams at that time (back in the days when 700 hours would give you entitlement to take the CPL through the old "self improver" route). This meant that by the time I was doing my own ATPL exams, I was already a ground instructor for same (I had about 15 years experience by this stage).

My advice is to surround yourself by aviation, sure take your PPL although you will probably find fixed wing cheaper than rotor. You could even consider taking an NPPL or microlight licence on a fixed wing (I dont personally get on with flex wing although many do). This would be one way to get flying and allow you to build up to twin engine and IR, or rotor craft, as you please, while not sending you broke from the outset, and giving you a great feeling of the different "flavours" in aviation.

One thing I found out from day one is that aviation is full of people who love it, and are only too willing to pass on their knowledge and experience. Surround yourself with these types and you will quickly learn and undoubtedly find a niche job in aviation that suites you up to the skies (one simply can't say "down to the ground").

As Ive said Im only in the training system and thats opened my eyes more than enough to see that as good as flying is, it is certainly not worth risking everything you have for! Ive seen and heard of many that fall in to the black hole.

Totally agree with you Expedite. There are too many youngsters who roll the dice on a risk that may turn into a liability they are unable to settle on. There was a thread running recently along the lines of "100,000 in debt, 6 months in the job and hate it". Line flying is not something that everyone can do day in, day out, I know I can't which is why I waited for a time when I could get a job which satisfies my thirst for a variation in my flying (line CAT through to piston singles). For those who take an astronomical financial hit without any assurance they will be able to tolerate the job or even get a job at the end of it, i feel sorry. I know of 1 FO here who is elated that 3 years after getting his job he is in a position where his loan has almost stopped increasing through interest. In another 2 years he looks forward to it starting to reduce!!!

Working in aviation is great. Earning a living for those first years is the hard part! If you are able to take your time (as I was), and don't want everything yesterday, then aviation can bring you a career where you don't work a single day of your life - I know I don't, I go and do a professional job of doing my hobby, every single day I go to work :ok:

RIX