Why do you 'wannabee'? - what inspires you?

[DarrenMoore]

I was recently looking on airliners.net and thought to myself what actually inspires me to be an airline pilot?
To which I thought well, some of the conversations I see going on in PPRuNe. Most of the photos on airliners.net, particularly ones showing scenery and also watching aircraft fly over and at airports.
My work experience with a small exec. airline at EGCC also inspired me greatly.
Another nice thought is that if I (and I will) become an airline pilot, those people who have doubted me will eat there words.

Ok, well that's me basically covered. what inspires everyone else?

Darren

[Rusty Cessna]

Why Darren my dear freind, i must totally agree with you. I was told for many a year that i would not cut it as a pilot by my carrers teacher, and when she saw me on the news doing my solo flight, she was truly gutted, it was a great feeling to have proved her wrong and i hope you tell your doubters the same!

In response to what makes me wanna fly.
When i am in the air, i look at how tiny everything is and it gives me great satisfaction to know that i have gotten myself from the preverbeal A to B. When i see pictures of the aircraft on stands with the pilots window slightly open and the first oficer clicking away through his checklists, it gives me that felling that, oh **** thats what i was born to do!

I frequently sit in my garden looking up at the skies as the resident DASH flies over, a sureal sense of imagination takes over as i see myself in command, this is what makes me want to fly and especially when i see a picture of the Luton taxiway over the road.

I hope you get there as i hope for myself, and all the other wannabies out there.

Happy flying and i wish all the success

-Rusters

[henri]

'Those people who have doubted me will eat there words' -Yes
She was 'truly gutted' -oh, Yes !
'I look at how tiny everything is'- but mine isn't.
'A picture of the Luton taxiway over the road' oh, Yes, Yeas, Yeaah, Yeaah, Yeeeaaaah.

Thanks, both, for that relief.

[hug a cow]

I bet this thread turns into one of those fire burning folder thingys real quick!
too much to say on this subject, basically: -
passion
determination
love
want
need
oh f u c k me I want to fly jumbos so bad it makes me cry

[HashMo]

i live in ealing, which is practically under the flight path of 747's taking off from heathrow....my walk home from the underground station takes me along the very same line that they use for finals to terminal three....and when i look up at the underside of that plance...the three lights and teh landing gear engaged, it sends a tingle down my spine, and i imagine the view the captain and his first officer must see through their cockpit. and i think to myself "those two little men with their control columns, are guiding that 400 tonne chunk of beoing engineering safely to the ground..its both scary and awe inspiring at the same time..." ha ha do u think i could use those lines to win them over at the final board of BA!

------------------
Intelligent perfectionist who wants it all or nothing....or so I've been told!

[spanky de brest]

I agree with all of the above!!

Awe inspiring.
Having people trust you.
Seeing the parts of this planet I've only dreamed of.
Yes, to fly is a privilage.

COME ON LETS ALL GO FOR IT!!!!

Oh, word of advice:
don't upset the guys on rumours and news!!
I only tried and look what happened to me, I got ripped to shredds!!
(RE:gay pilots(2).)

I AM NOT GAY.(not that it makes any difference)

But .......oh......PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

AHHHH, Henri you are back!!!
Where the f u ck have you been?
Now this is where torment REALLY begins.
Look at the abuse poor old Henri gets!! http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif


------------------
Never let anybody put you down.
Unless they're holding you above their head!!

[henri`s girlfriend]

henri my sweetheart, you poor, poor thing

Where have you been?

[TicTac]

I look upto and in an aircraft and think.... Isnt it just the best office in the world ?, why work on a computer in the office when u can do so above the clouds?
Ok Ok, maybe I am nuts, please do (not) tell me.
cheers
TicTac

[rookie#1]

You know, I often wonder what it is that makes some people want to be footballers, others actors and us pilots. It just seems to be an innate difference that can at times be difficult to put into words, generally during interviews!

To me, flying would be the equivalent of being that famous footballer or actor, it is a chance for me to live my dream, and if I am very lucky, even get paid to do so.

To all those wannabes out there: stick at it, one day you get the break you've been looking for.

rookie#1

P.S. I would politely ask henri's extended family and friends to not turn this thread into a personal communication channel, as it is it stands to be one of the most passionate and encouraging threads I've read in a long time.

[TPuk]

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's had problems with the career advisers at school. When she looks at me with that patronising look and says;
"So, what do you want to do when you leave school?"
I look staright at her and say;
"I am going to be a pilot"
Every single time we go through the same routine, she rolls her eyes and gives me the same kind of attitude, "come back when you've grown up".
It makes me so angry, to get good advice on this carrer is like trying to get blood out of a stone.
Thats why I bless the day I came across PPRuNe!!!
Keep up the great work!
Right thats my moan over with.
Cheers,
TPuk

[jigsawblue]

All career teachers must have the same training. I had the same problem. But I had decided long before that. I simply wanted to fly, period. Soar the footless halls etc The most practical way was to become a pilot. I don't do it as a way giving the doubters the finger but for myself.
I think my inspiration came from my earliest aviation memory. Watching an SE5 and and a Fokker in a ground hugging low level dogfight. No, I'm not that old but it was during the shooing of a film. This wasn't part of the film though, it looked like an unauthorised private show for someone. No airshow display has surpassed that since.
Ironically the battle took place directly over the spot where the school with the careers teacher was later built. Years later as I drove to the airfield I saw him again, I nearly stopped and showed him my licence.

[Stall Inducer]

My Careers teacher kindly crossed 'Pilot' off the top of my Career list shorltly before my GCSE's - I had him round for dinner the week before my first commercial passenger flight.
:) :) :)I've had the passion to fly for as long as I can remember , if I'd listened to the 'wise ones' I'd be doing a Hotel and catering course in a beautiful stainless steel kitchen at Edinburgh uni with the prospect of working for the scottish tourist board when I would have finished in 2 years time. Thanks but no thanks!

[Twin Peaks]

Boys..........a little attention in your English language lessons might help your prospects.
For Christ's sake, we are supposed to be intelligent people. Re-read your posts.

Rusty Cessna:i.....I
oficer....Officer
felling....Feeling
wannabies....Wannabes
HashMo:Beoing.....Boeing
Spanky http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/tongue.gifrivilage....Privilege


Not normally one to rip others posts to bits, but.......
Get a grip, boys

[TK - 421]

There is no better feeling than loosing the bonds and soaring through the heavens

I live under the Concorde Flightpath

My Dad is an Air Traffic Controller

Its the closest thing to piloting an X-Wing that I am ever going to get

And the Stewardesses are better looking than R2D2

:)

[150Aerobat]

Good on you Darren. Good thread. I also wish I wrote as maturely as you do when I was your age (back then we had to make our own shoes, walk 27 miles to school in the snow except we had to make our own snow ...)

I work for an asset management house and every now and then someone grills me enough over my study weeks off here and there for me to finally tell him or her what I'm up to. Several, and it amazes me how many, then turn from their computer screen and ask "but wouldn't it get boring?". I have to bite my tongue to stop myself thinking "hey, we're not exactly curing cancer right here you know".

With the risk of sounding overly academic for a dodgy AA5B PPL driver, I like each portion of a flight for different reasons:

. Pondering over charts planning the next trip and thinking about the trips I'd like to do when I have more experience (AND MONEY!!!);

. The takeoff; the moment the plan becomes a reality, tower ask me to call approach, my wizz wheel falls under the rudder pedals and my pencil falls between the front seats;

. The cruise when I've positively identified our location, the instruments are all pointing in the right direction, the passenger/s aren't being sick and I get a chance to peek into back yards, admire the landscape, listen out for imaginary engine roughness and airframe structural problems and all the time maintaining a smiling composure for passenger benefit;

. the landing for the final big chance to make a mess of the thus far satisfactory flight;

and

the taxi in and shut down when I get to fill in the boxes, log the time, reflect on what I did OK, what I'll try to do better next time, remind myself that I shouldn't worry so much and why NOT ONCE during the whole flight did I not think about doing anything else but FLYING.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
You'll be pleased to know that this post has been SPELL CHECKED!!! Sheesh!
- - - - - - - - - - - -

[Beaversonic]

Glassy water landing 5 minutes before sunset- gotta be the best feeling in the world!

I LOVE THIS GAME!

[BreakRight]

I used to live in the Highlands, lots of very low flying aircraft got me thinking it might be a good job when I was about five, and it snowballed to the extent that even the sound of an aeroengine, the smell of burnt kerosene or a cockpit photo inspires me to keep aiming up above. No matter what they tell me I will be a pilot. :)

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Go get em Floyd!

[Huzzah Barking Hatstand]

It seems that career advisors are all cast from the same mould. Mine told me and I quote " ...I really believe that you ought to have more realistic career expectations."

Since I was about 8, I have had this image in my head of being fully established at 6 miles visual with the lights ahead, I soooo, wanted to see that view, flick switches in an important manner and say cool stuff on the radio like "Callsign 123, Request push back stand 12.

Well I will admit it took a while (16yrs from careers advisor to first flying job) but I did it. Now fly a t/p for a regional and it's even better that I thought it would be. I flew into Paris CDG for the first time last night. Lots of traffic, BIG thunderstorms, interesting French Air Traffic Control, an airport the size of Belgium, ATIS's in French and what sounds like French with an English accent, but when Maurice Chevalier cleared me to line up 09 and contact De Gaulle Tower 119.2 I sat and thought that this job really is the the Dogs.

So keep the faith chaps, persistance pays, and remember when your flying something fast and shiny over head your old school at Flight Level Nose Bleed, there is some sad git on the ground whose life time aspiration took them too the heady heights of a careers advisor!

cheers
H-B-H

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Push the head and pull the tail.

[great expectations]

Well, my human resources interviewer at BA asked me that very question - from someone who had never had any inclination to fly, could I say what drove me?

I answered much the same as the above answers:I just HAVE to! He then said, can you expand on that from a professional point of view?

Of course I could, I want to be a pilot because it's something I see myself as capable of being. I can instil faith in others, remain collected in times of distress and tension, and take a great pride in the service my airline is rendering its customers.

We all love flying, we all feel passion, we all know that about each other - but THEY don't know that...so a word of advice for anyone going for interviews - always take a professional stance. That is the language that will best convey the type of motivation that they're interested in.

[EQUINOX]

"For once you have tasted flight,
You will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward;
For there you have been,
And there you long to return."
-Leonardo da vinci

I can't sleep, I can't concentrate at work. When I see an aircraft flying overhead, I get tingles down my spine and get filled with a combination of awe, frustration, and a jealousy for the lucky bastards who are up there at the controls.

The really hard part is that I work at the airport, in and around the aircraft. I'm going insane.

When no ones around I climb into the left hand seat, and just sit there, imagining.

I just want to fly....I JUST WANT TO ****ing FLY.

**** ..I think I am going insane.

[kalik]

What a good thread - well done that man !

Rusty Cessna , just one thing , why was your first solo on the news ? Did you have a prang or does not much happen in your part of the world ?

[DarrenMoore]

Quite a good response here!
There's certainly something about careers teachers, maybe they're slightly jealous?
When I land my first airline job I'm going to have a great big party (all PPRuNers invited!) and invite everyone who has ever doubted my becoming a pilot and show off!

150Aerobat, thanks for the compliment about my mature writing style.

Happy Landings!
Darren

[TBone]

And, ladies and gents....

Without being smug, let me tell you that the job is exactly what you expect it to be.

Like all professions it has its ups and downs, but firewall those throttles (ermm... as far as the engine management system allows you to !), pull back... end of all that boring, mundane, monotonous routine a fair few FLs below.

Final demand for an electricity bill because I'm up to my neck in debt ? Couldn't care less. Paperwork needs doing ? It can wait. The kitchen and bathroom are probably a health risk ? I'll do it when I get back down. Don't think that flying removes the day-to-day problems.. it doesn't... but it makes it soooo much easier to cope with.

And not that there isn't routine in airline flying, and there have been a fair few threads from very experienced pilots on this topic, some of them wishing they hadn't bothered, but it's a different kind of routine. Sounds complete pants, but I know that you all know what I mean. Geez, I sound 13 again !

150 Aero - no dropping stuff behind the rudder pedals.. it will come back to haunt you on that 20-knots-across day :)

Best of luck to all of you - if you match the percentage of ppruners here who go on to flying commercially, I expect to see you down at the bar in the airline club in the next few years.

P.S. Twin Peaks...ermm... typing a post here is not exactly filling in a BA application form. Most people here are intelligent enough to know that and forgive the odd typo !

[This message has been edited by TBone (edited 11 May 2000).]

[Tally_ho]

Darren

Who did you do your work experience for and
how did you get in ?

You can e-mail me with the details to

[email protected]

Cheers

I.

[P.I.A]

CLOSE your eyes and imagine you are at the controls of a 747..VISUALISE leaving behind the runway and as everything becomes a flicker of light as you climb..and TOWER ask you to contact departure..then welcome back to reality!!!

Yes each and every one of us has the desire to achieve our dream, and every one has our own motivation.

For me, as I live near LHR (London Heathrow)
and as im driving I look ahead as a 747 flies above the roof of my car with its landing gear down and landing lights on.

I so long to be at the controls, and when I get there (which I will), it will wipe the arrogant attitude away from my career teachers face!!

Many of us have motivation from different experiences, and it would not be logical for me to list all of them as i would probably hog the whole thread.

For those of you who live in the UK, last night at 21:30 there was a re-run of the film 'TURBULENCE', where the Flight Attendant hops into the Captain's seat and lands the 747..oh...yeah baby, how I longed for it to be me!! :) :) :)

---------------------------------------------
To all PPRUNERS you are who you want to be, and never give up.

Good luck in your quest.

[JB007]

Trying to explain this level of passion about something to someone who does not understand, well, from my experiance usually results in been called "sad" or "nigel"!!!

Interesting reading as we all try to put it into words - I think i'll print a copy and just show it to the next person who takes the micky !!!!

By the way, did anyone watch that film Turbulance - haven't laughed so much in ages!!!!

007

------------------
"My Name is Pussy Galore"

"I must be dreaming"

[munners]

To all those who live or work under the LHR flight path - I know how you feel, having it rubbed in your face day in day out! I have lost count the amount of times I've been driving along the M4, opened my sunroof to stare upwards then glance down to find the car in front has stopped! Mmmm abs - what a marvelous invention.
I think myself of being very lucky. I go out with one of the 12000 + BA cabin crew. All I can say is I thoroughly recommend you do the same. Not only do you get to go away on long haul trips with them for decent money, but, every flight if you ask nicely, you can get strapped into the cockpit for take-off and/or landing - which as you can imagine is fantastic. On my last flight I was strapped in for take-off from Seattle. As we rotated I recognised something familiar on the screen in front of the FO. For those who have completed the Micropat tests for BA or whoever, the FO was playing the "keep Mr pink dot in the box" game.
I knew this flying milarky was easy!

One more thing. I admit to parking on the grass verge on the A3044 to watch planes landing. Only once though!

[Fill]

You guys are all saying how hard it is to watch a/c flying overhead when you are at work. I'm on the bloody things, but having to talk to the pax. It's bad enough being stuck on the ground, but I'm sat facing the wrong way, the wrong side of the flight deck door, nightmare! From purser to FO, from tea maker to tea drinker is going to cost me alot. But put simply, it just has to be done :)

[pjdj777]

I always wanted to fly, initially with the RAF, though I soon decided the military wasn't for me!

Following from that I became reasonably successful in other parts of my life, without even trying, and with all that going on I felt life had handed me a decent card and perhaps I should be happy with it.

HECK NO! One flight with a friend three years ago showed me what I was missing. Now I'm a BCPL with the ATPLs done and looking to start my FI soon. And I'm loving it.

[Retarded Spark]

Me??

Because it just feels right.

And I know you all know what I mean.

As for the school careers thing, my high school aviation teacher told me I couldn't cut it for the RAAF, particularly not fast jets. I might make it to transports, but I didn't have "the mind like a steel trap" required for jets.

Two years later, who is highly recommended for entry to the RAAF as a pilot, via the Defence Force Academy, and looks to head to fast jets? Only thing ruining this sweetest of sweet poetic justices was being refused at the final medical after all the testing and interviews. So the teacher won out in the end, but he knows it was medical, and that he was wrong.

But whether it is fast jets, transporters, or C207's, it just FEELS RIGHT.

Spark.

[TwoDeadDogs]

Hi lads
Spot on,whoever started this thread.Flying IS the job.I turn spanners for a living on 146s,am studying for my ATPLs and hope and pray that,some day,I'll take off as a Commercial pilot.I don't care if it's a tatty Spamcan or a gorgeous jet,just as long as I'm at the wheel.Flying is the last decent job that doesn't need a degree to get in.I'm fed up to the hilt knobbing about on the ground.
Hands up any of you who still go outside to look up whenever a plane goes overhead,regardless of what kind it is?
Equinox,top words,pal...take a bow.
regards and good flying
TDD

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Drink,gurls,****,arse...

[henri]

Magnificent topic, Darren.
They're coming, from all directions.
Yes, Yeas, Yeeaah!
Merde, more laundry.

[spanky de brest]

I saw Turbulance.

[DarrenMoore]

Yeah that was a great film, do you think you could have handled it?

Anyone else willing to say why they 'wannabee' and/or what inspires them to fly?

Darren

[DASHER]

Hi

I was intreged by the title of this thread and it got me thinking. Why did I become an airline pilot? To answer this, I really must travel back in time to by childhood (gees...all those years ago!). My father, a pilot in the RAF, used to take me and a friend to our local airfield. We would stand around watching the comings and goings for hours. It was fasinating. My passion for aviation, and, in particular, flying, began. As I grew up, my passion grew too. I started to ask questions on how 'planes actually fly. The answers were, unsurprisingly, obtained from both my father and reference books. As the years past, I came more interested in flying. While I was at school, I had a week end 'job' at a local airfield where I would clean 'planes. In return, I would often receieve a free flight. At the age of 15, I joined the RAF Cadets. In doing so, it allowed me to fly the glider and thus get a real 'hands-on' approach. I was hooked. Once I was 17, I began for my PPL. I completed this while studying for my 'A' Levels and would often give myself a wee break by going flying. Anyhow, to cut and long (and possibly boring) bibliography short, when I was in the process of finishing University, I applied for a sponsorship, got accepted, and, in-turn, became an airline pilot.

To round up, becoming an airline pilot is the BEST THING ANYONE WITH A SERIOUS INTEREST IN FLYING could do. I still find flying fastinating.

Cheers.

Dash.

[This message has been edited by DASHER (edited 21 May 2000).]

[This message has been edited by DASHER (edited 21 May 2000).]

[hug a cow]

WHEN FINISHED, THIS THREAD DEFINATELY DESERVES ARCHIVING WWW!

[Ceppo]

Tpuk

I completely agree with what you said about the career advisers. What a bunch of losers they can be, unless you want to work as a manager for a company or be doing some crappy office job they're useless.

1st answer to their questions is always NO i don't want to go into management consultancy.

2nd thing i say is yes i will close the door on the way out.


In response to this thread though..(SUPERB ONE AT THAT)

it still really (pardon the expression) turns my crank watching an aircraft take off or land, it's not a machine, it's a work of art...an aeroplane could stand next to the Venus de milo.....the Mona Lisa....and Sunflowers.

Flying one gives a total sense of happiness and fulfilment and if anyone ever asked me Why do i want to be a pilot, i could bore them to tears with my answer.

GOD I WANT TO FLY

[spider_monkey]

Top thread Darren

It brings tears to my eyes when I hear stories of sunsets and greasy landings

[BoeingBoy]

I'm sorry to dissapoint you all, but as a 757 Captain that told his father at four years old that he would be a pilot then I can assure you all that most of you are 'Wannabe's' due to a psychological desire to prove something to someone close to you in your personal life.

It could have been your doubting parents, sceptical careers teacher, or even the bullying kids in the playground, but actual love of flying has very little to do with your desires. It's the accomplishment that you seek.

If I had put as much effort into becoming rich as I put into being a pilot, then I woudn't be writing this tonight.

What awaits you all is a miserable industry with the role and respect that is afforded the pilot decreasing by the year, a lifestyle that even factory workers would not swop for, no social life, and unless you have a gem of a partner, probable home life problems aswell.

Sorry to say this, but it's people like you who the management of the airlines pray on to keep their cost base low. After all, in this industry, there is always someone willing to do your job at half the price because he thinks it will give him leverage up the ladder later. I objected to an old Captain telling me that years ago, but he was right.

I know how you all feel, I was there too. I'm sorry but thirty year's from now you too will know what awaits you, and I defy you then not to feel sceptical.

It would be futile to tell you to give up, but if you are able to separate your inner motivation from your love of flying, then one or two of you might save a great deal of money...... to the rest of you....good luck.

[Twin Peaks]

I have got to agree with BoeingBoy I'm afraid.
I've not been in the game quite as long as BB, but I share the same sentiments.
Flying is always perceived to be both macho and romantic. It is important to try and remember this at 4am, half way home from some grubby holiday destination.
Please don't think that I dislike the job, as that is not the case, but it is frustrating to see 'outsiders' looking in through rose-tinted spectacles.

[BoeingBoy]

Thanks Twin Peaks, I thought I'd be in for a roasting when returning to this thread.

I still love my flying, I still fly vintage GA, and yes, opening up 80,000lbs of thrust on two RB211's still gives me a (short) thrill !!.

But at three in the morning, fighting to stay awake, with the latest company memo in my bag that tells me my life will be changed for the worse in some small way this week/month/year, then I wonder what I do it for.

Some years ago, a DanAir 727 Captain and I flew a Navajo as freelancers across the Irish sea on a newspaper run. As we looked at the stars, enjoyed the simplicity of our flying, we both agreed that if we could earn the same money for puddling around in GA, then we'd jack in jet flying tommorrow.

[monkeyboy]

Fair points made by both BB & TP. As a slightly more mature wannabe - well if you call 26 mature - I too can appreciate the reality of it all and realise that as you grow older you do get more cynical about things, but will you both tell us exactly how long it took for your thoughts to change?

Surely you must have felt some excitment everytime you took your seat behind the controls when you first started out flying commercially? Has your realism taken time to surface or was it evident after a year or so?

Thanks

[Rod Eddington]

just thought i should throw in my views to this topic.
most of the reasons i HAVE to fly are listed already but still, i'll add a couple of words.

- i watch a 747 take off and i think 'wow, its a miricle that thing ever got off the ground' i guess i wanna perform that miracle every day - and get paid for it !!!!

- the views you get from the office window are second to none, i remember travelling as a passenger on a 767 and watching the sun rise over the sea of clouds, my god - i wish i was there

and many other reasons including the vast paycheques!!! :) but i'd probably, no definately, do the job for next to nothing.

cheers Darren for this thread- some great material here

to the archives please WWW!!!

Rodney

[This message has been edited by Rod Eddington (edited 23 May 2000).]

[CityFlyer]

I was motivated by the fact that I had done 160 parachute jumps and it was getting really scary. Each time I flew I wanted to land without jumping out.

Funny thing is, I love the freedom of being able to fly where I like and at any attitude I like. Sure I'd love to fly a 747, but I don't want to be constricted by fixed times and destinations. Fly upside down I say. Pull G.

P.S. As this is my first post, just to let you know, I spend all day at 700 feet overlooking EGLC. If anyone wants a nowcast, I'll be very happy to oblige.

[wonderbug]

hi there folks. I am new around here. I was just surfing to find out how to become a pilot. I have always dreamed about it but I never tried to find out how to become one untill now.
I read all those posts in chronological order and I must say I was getting a bit worried by all the "flying is the best" "I love flying" posts. I was saying "what is goin on here!" how can any job be soo good. Then I read boeingboys post. And I must say I saw the truth in it. I feel so sad for him because he has lost his dream...or his dream has become a nightmare. How can anyone dislike life so much.
I am still considering flying. But I will be more cautious about entering this profession. Oh by the way were any of the people that posted female. A lot of yee had macho names and I got the feeling that most of you were male.
So concludes my first post.
I will be happy to be contradicted, to be told to shut my big mouth or vice versa.
bye and it was really nice to read about dreams

[CityFlyer]

Wonderbug - Throw caution to the wind. Go fly. Don't let ANYTHING get in you way. If it turns into a nightmare you would at least have had the best time of your life getting to that point. Or take up aerobatics instead. Then you'll never be sad - except when earthbound.

Yep - there are plenty of women in aviation. Why did you want to know?

[spanky de brest]

Thanks BB and TwinPeaks for throwing some reality onto the thread.
I can see how after 30 years the job is not what you once percieved it to be or the most comfortable one either.What I must say is that everywhere in life their is always someone worse off than you and always people with problems in their lives, even the Queen has things in her life that She wishes She hadn't!
It sure is alot of money to spend to get there but for most it's the only job they feel they HAVE to do.I couldn't live with myself if I thought, well sod it I could spend my dosh on lot's more things.If you give it a go at least you can say, well I tried.You will live your life forever thinking, "what if?" if you don't and that must be murder!
Trying to stay awake at 0400hrs stacking shelves in a supermarket on £6 an hour must be alot harder and infinetly more boring!
Sorry if this post sounds like I'm having a go but it upsets me to see someone soooo much better off than myself doing a profession that I'm workin' my ass off to be able to get into, moaning.
Put things into perspective.
There aren't many people around who can say they DON'T regret the career choices they made x years ago, in fact I've never met anyone who says they're happy with their lot.Fact of life you know!We always want things to be better don't we?

Thanks again for your honesty and remember that you are in a very privilaged position, admired by many(still,BB!).
Thanks for the time.

[This message has been edited by spanky de brest (edited 24 May 2000).]

[BoeingBoy]

Wonderbug & Spanky.

Thanks for your comments, but before the world writes me down as a manic depressive I wish to assure you that I lead a very happy existance in many ways.

A couple of points, firstly I came up the self improver route, washed airplanes, answered phones, anyjob, anywhere to get my licences. I quickly found out that even in instructing slavery was alive and well. (I'm sure it still is.) I found that commercial pressure in flying air taxi and turbo props in the seventies could not only increase your stress level, it could kill you.! When I started jet flying in the early eighties things were better, but CRM had yet to be invented, and to be physically hit by a training captain for a minor mistake was accepted behaviour. Since then I have seen CRM make our world a much better place, but alongside it has evolved a world where the pilot is slowly going the way of the train driver. More automation, more boredom for ever longer periods and consequently less respect for his professional skills. All I am pointing out is that the novelty of seeing dawn break over the Alps at three in the morning wears off. The flying becomes incidental to your quality of life. Put a group of airline pilots together and what do we talk about first?, Pay, conditions, financial security. The actual act of flying never comes up!. Honest!

Secondly, I do know I am in a privileged position. I have a lovely home, my wife and I drive new cars, we holiday often etc. etc.
(My wife dishes out unemployment benefit and constantly see's the real world.) But at the end of the day we all want to feel that our alloted or chosen task in life is appreciated. Sadly in the case of the Pilot that is increasingly less and less the case each year. My company is probably better than many at recognising the human element and trying to keep in touch with it's human side. But many don't, and some are so far removed from this ethic that their crews become nothing more than replaceable nuisances to be tolerated at best and dictated to at worst.

You all have your dreams, I know from my own that giving up is not an option and I applaud you all for that. But one day soon you may be sitting alongside me. I know that we will have a pleasant and happy day out with no complaints or moaning from me, but by the time we meet you will have experienced many aspects of your chosen career that I am afraid will dissapoint you and dissolution you from the ideal you have in your mind today. Still, I look forward to flying with you.

Now if you don't mind I am writing this after a twelve hour night duty....and I'm off to bed!.. ;)

[wonderbug]

I was asking because I am female.

[Buggs]

I saw Turbulence 2 a couple of weeks ago. Sounds as though its the same as Turbulence 1!

My aspirations to become a pilot started at a careers convention when I was 14. I'm now doing a year in industry with an avionics company. Its based at an airport and every time I hear or see an aircraft I want to be flying it! Its very frustrating when you're stuck in an office in front of a computer every day.

We'll all make it one day...

[Crash_and_Burn]

Thanks guys this thread has helped me a lot!

I couldn't explain why i want to be a pilot to anyone, not even me! I was born to do it plain and simple. I've always wanted to do it. and I happen to be pretty damn good at it as well!

Unfortunately the above answer was not enough for BA last year! Have to come up with something a bit better in a few months time!

------------------


Don't ever Give Up!

[ATPLstylee]

We fly as flying is the most incredible feeling in this world. I would even give up sex and sell my long suffering girlfriend into slavery than give up flying!

If this makes me sound very sad then maybe I am.

Come join the sad mans club, its great!! :) :)

[Jonathan Lynch]

Well what gotme interested was the first time I flew was on a 747 from Dub-Snn and back, all in the one day mind you. It was a present given to me for my 10th birthday and the flight crew let me sit in the jump seat on the way back. I must have the same longing as some because when I even hear a murmer of jet engines my head is turned Sky-wards. Im only 17 and really want to get into EI anybody got any tips and does any body know if they will advertise again for trainee pilots in the next 18 months
Great forum.

[Vmike]

I was right seat in an Electra last week from Cork to Dublin. A short flight but a glorious one. The weather was perfect, puffy Cumulus, 50 mile viz etc. Even the training captain (with a zillion hours under his belt) said: 'Ah, yes. This is why we do it'. Dead right. And I greased it on in Dublin too! A perfect day.

[Iolar]

Vmike, if you're such a hot shot electra pilot then what happened you guys at Shannon a while back?.

[Artificials Wife]

I got the same story from my careers advisor, but I also got fantastic encouragement from my Physics teacher, (microlight flights every weekend). It's all about stretching yourself beyond what is expected. The sense of achievement with every pass of an exam or milestone. The joy and pride of nearest and dearest, the elite socialism of spinning a few at the bar.
The picking yourself up after a knock back and keeping on going.

[Vmike]

Iolar, that wasn't me, mate. Besides, where did I claim to a 'hot shot'? All I said was it was a nice flight, which is what I thought this thread was supposed to be about. You wouldn't be just the teensiest bit jealous, would you?

[Wanderer]

What got me was sitting in the LHS of an EI 747 during a SNN stopver as a 6 year old, thanks to some kindly captain. I don't remember, but apparently I announced to my Dad that I was going be a pilot as I attempted to haul back on the yoke and push a thottle towards the panel! What sealed it was my 12th birthday present, DUB-SNN and back in the jumpseat of a 73. Nothing like doing your dream job and seeing the sunshine every time you go to work!

To Vmike: Who flies Electra's into DUB and what do they carry? I've never seen one at the airport...

To Jonathon Lynch: First tip for EI: Go anonymous on Pprune! EI management don't like it too much. More recruiting in about 9/10 months I reckon.

[Vmike]

Wanderer
Channel Express have two Electras into Dublin Monday to Friday for UPS. We get in from Cologne at about 0300Z, then fly on to Cork. On the way back we get into Dublin at about 1930Z. Give us a wave.

[Echo Echo]

Wonderbug, don't worry, there are lots of us females out there. We have to be twice as good as the men to get any respect, pretend we're deaf half the time when they start getting rude and crude but if you want to fly bad enough it's worth all the hassle.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

My careers advisor thought the idea of me being a pilot was a damn good one. To that end they organised me work experience at an airport and an interview at the RAF careers office. They gave me some BALPA stuff and told me about the BA cadetship. At the time the careers advisor told me that it was difficult to get much information about pilot careers... if only there was a website somewhere...

Something I am working on is talking to the national Careers Service in the UK about what info they give. I think it will soon be their policy to guide youngsters to these pages.

On the subject of the airline career. Sure the golden age has gone. Its the same in most professions these days I am afraid. We´ve still got the best office window though.

I will archive this one when its run its course.

WWW

[Iolar]

Vmike,

Of course I'm jealous, You have something I've prayed for all my life...listen I was only messing with the earlier post. Forgive and forget!

Since I'm here I'd like to give tuppence worth...I live very near DUB and the main landing corridor, its fantastic, I love it.
I watch everything that goes overhead even though I've seen it thousands and thousands of times before. So far the A330's and dare I say the Electra's are the highlights so far and the odd Singapore Airlines 744(Cargo). Those three because of their size and that beautiful deep hum of the Electra at T/O power.

My father is a shipping manager so I guess he gave me the bug without knowing it. Well my own experience's with Career's Teachers, well I was changing school's once and had to go up and give an account of myself in front of an interview board of about 4 people. All very senior and powerful within the school. They asked me what I wanted to do when I left the college, and I said without hesitation and without even the words entering my head that "I want to become a pilot". They looked at me a while and repeated the question thinking that I didn't understand the question, and I gave the exact same answer but with more feeling.........They started laughing, 3 out of 4 just started laughing. My Parents were there and my Mum sounded the charge. It was a blood bath. She had heard me mention piloting to her but had never believed my conviction until that day.

I got into the college but I reaked havok with them at every turn, being a scorpio vengence is sweet. I have always and will always love aviation, but setbacks like people trying to talk you out of the DREAM will always be there. You just gotta' keep on moving. You're doing this for you and no one else, just for you!

To all those who have achieved this well done, to those who still wait for the call....I'm with you, I know its worth it.