In Hindsight, What Would You Change?

[DXLR8R]

So how does everyone else feel ??

As the cliché goes ... If You had have known then, What you know now ????????

Would you be a pilot? Would you do it all over again ????

Bring It on !

Myself, I hear you ask ???? Well I’m poor but very happy .... What about you ?

Later

[Pinky the pilot]

I'd have done it a helluva lot earlier in life! Only gained my CPL when I was 31!:o
Remember 'though....hindsight is 20/20, and telescopic as well!
' Regrets; I've had a few,
But then again
too few to mention...'
F.A.S.

[Wizofoz]

The day I got to command a jet transport again following the AN collapse was like being resurected from the grave.

It's not a question of what I would or wouldn't do differently. I'm a pilot. Now and always.

[shaablamm]

I've been doing this for a long time. Lets say I'm well over the half way mark for middle age.

To this day I cannot remember wanting to do anything else EVER. No matter what you drive it is the best job in the world, to me. There will always be the pitfalls and the low points but you get that in any job, career or position in life.

The strange thing is we all know it but the bitching resounds through these pages continuously.

We are all very lucky.

For those of you who are training or still looking for a job, don't get to frustrated. Work hard at it and your day will come. I and many others understand and have been there. Everyone who is employed in this industry knows someone who should be but isn't. There day will come too. In the mean time enjoy the flying that your doing and for crying out loud look out the bl--dy window and take in the view.

[OzExpat]

Yes, I'm a pilot. That makes me a paid tourist. Life doesn't get any better than that! :)

[Aussiebert]

In hindsight i have no idea.. ask me again in 6 months ;)

I've had a cpl for a couple of months now, haven't started the big job hunt yet. I honestly don't know what to expect.

I probobly would have avoided going to a big flying school (which is still sucking away what little money i have for night, instrument,twin ratings).

Its definitly apparent who is intructing you because they want to sit at the pointy end of anything RPT, and those who are there because they enjoy flying.

Maybe its just me, but it seems that to get through training, you need a real passion for what your doing. Although theres no means for me to know if its a widespread thing, but from what i've seen round where i fly, students are pumped out without the slightest clue what really goes on it the real world.

Regardless of how skilled and determined we all are, some of us will never get a job. Those that do will be paid squat, that is if they get paid at all. Going out at age 20 with a 50 grand debt with little prospect of finding a decent job is not a good thing.

Now that said, the people who do succeed (in theory) are the ones who are realistic and informed. Anyone who makes it through training with the knowledge of what will be faced at the end of it all is obviously motivated. Its a massive gamble so i expect that in hindsight i'll either think 'i've wasted 3,4,5 years of my life with nothing to show for it' or 'it was all worth it in the end'

Its always good to see that there are supportive people out there, and i know its always uplifting to see people here who made it through.

I just hope i never reach the stage where i'm dissappointed to have to fly. I'd love to be flying 206s round tourist spots. Even carting dead bodies round sounds better then paying fo flying!

[PLovett]

Yes, but a hell of a lot earlier. :mad: :mad:

Pinky

You are but a youngster. I got my PPL when I was 18. Didn't get my CPL until 49. Just wish there hadn't been so many other distractions along the way. Although some of them were rather nice.:D :D

[DXLR8R]

I understand what you are all saying .... at the end of the day I'd go mad in an office.

[Towering Q]

I would have begged, borrowed or stolen the required money to get that first charter job. It's only money, you have your whole life to pay it back.

Oh, and don't go joining any State Police Force with the idea of getting into their AirWing. Great bunch of people but you have to wait many years for a position to come up and when it does you discover that there is an over abundance of CPL holding brothers and sisters in your ranks..:eek:

Besides there's heaps more flying out in the real world.:D

[High Altitude]

I woulda slept with the model while on location instead of having a case of the guilts:mad: :mad: :mad:

But please forgive me as I have never made the same mistake twice:D :D :D

But seriously hindsight is a wonderful thing. I probably would have listened to people more, I would have my ATPL, I would be flying for an airline, I would... hang on no I LOVE WHAT I DO:cool:

[PLovett]

HA

You spoke enough about what you were going to do with that model, both before and after the trip.:D :D

And what did you get? A framed photo of said model lounging all over the port cowling of the aircraft.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Still, you'll just have to be satisfied with the suitcase full of bikinis and thongs.;) ;)

[Java]

In Hindsight not alot, pretty happy where I am. Have worked in the industry, at present I am not working as a pilot, but flying for my own fun and pleasure. I may try and go back to flying in the next few years part-time or full-time, but will have to wait and see. In the mean time don't completely KNOCK working in an office, it isn't that bad. I work in a really interesting field now, IT work in a great team environment, earn more than I ever did in flying, have job stability, know my skills are easily transferable. Can plan my life, weekends etc and still fly for fun.

Eg
went flying last weekend with a mate for 1 hour, Got my fix for the month and he spilt the cost with me.
Can plan for a footy finals weekend in melbourne in a few weeks time.

I know you can plan your life being a pilot too, but I really feel I have much more flexibility with my life now. I know I may never get to fly a jet, but if I can get out and fly the odd 172, life can't be too bad. You may say I am settling, but sometimes you you also have to be practical.

Whatever you do my friends, don't have any regrets. I don't!


Cheers

[U2]

But when you work in an office you get fat and lazy. Whereas an airline pilot stays fit and heal..th..y.....ummmm......I take that back.



Office workers stare at computer screens all day, whereas airline pilots ......ummm...I'll get back to you.

When your an office worker you can go to work with a hangover, but when your a pilot you can't...or atleast most don't.



Maybe they aren't that different!


U2

Keep your nose clean and your chin up.

[1013]

What would I change?...............ZERO.

Had a dream run from scratch.........straight from high school into the air force.
As an 18 year old going to do something with like-minded people your age and doing what you loved was the adventure of a lifetime.
An 18 year old flying a jet up the Avon river in WA was wild indeed and as a kid blows your mind! (who needs drugs anyhow).

Along came the wife and kids, so I decided an airline job was the option for a better lifestyle and to provide for them.

Ended up in Hong Kong eventually for 20+ years, loved every minute of it, the company, the people, the lifestyle.

Sure things change and companies are not as personable as they once were but to go to work each day doing something you love with a huge grin on your face (especially after pulling off a greaser in a x-wind onto runway 13 at the old Kai-Tak airport after the IGS approach) and it just cant be beat!

Show me a doctor,lawyer,businessman that goes to work feeling the same way I did and I'll tell you its damned near a rarity.

My only disappointment is that I'm over 60, cant do it anymore and besides.......let the younger guys have a crack and make a go of it.

[Northern Chique]

My life has certainly been differet from the regarded normal...

Ive set my goals and one by one achieved them. Ive had a few figurative "road works" and "detours" and a few difficult patches on the way but I figure you wont have travel problems if you dont go anywhere... Standing still is not an option.

I have a strong sense of fairness and justice which has been developed with experience, and the word cant is not in the vocab. (sheesh I sound like one of those talk circuit people). But I am achieving the apparently impossible in the eyes of some.

I love my current job and it gets 110%. Regret is not about looking back and wishing, its the feeling of gloom you get when you realise you have stopped moving forward.

Slow periods in careers are a great time to learn something different or invest the spare time in the people who mean the most to you. I know all this sounds philosophical but what I have acheived, and experienced including aviation has made me the person I am today. No regrets. :)

[Pinky the pilot]

Garth; I've been trying to reply to your message but can't get it to go through.:mad: Would you e-mail me please?

[Rich-Fine-Green]

Yes to being a pilot. Now and forever. This life and the next. :)

As for owning an aviation business or being a C.P. or C.F.I.

Never, never, never again. :eek: :eek: :eek:


My aviation life has been a 'Forrest Gump' type adventure. Different places, different faces and getting paid as well. Well, sometimes in the end not getting paid.

As OzExpat said; .....A paid tourist.....

[DXLR8R]

Well im at a crossroad ...

Never have i had to make an easy decision but ALLWAYS a choice between two different roads ... which one to take ?? I guess I'll never know until HINDSIGHT !!!!!!!!

Money or Career ??

[Chimbu chuckles]

Well I have had a ball so far...my only regret is not sacking one individual..that moment of hesitation may haunt for a while yet. On the other hand ya never know what's just around the corner:D

Chuck.

[the wizard of auz]

HHHHHMMMMMM, would I change any thing with the benifet of hindsight?. Well I would have made flying training cheaper, the aircraft bigger and put bigger boobs on my instructor :D
Other than that Iam fairly happy with the outcome so far............Oh, I would have said yes a few time when I said no and said no a few times when I said yes.

[Gravox]

Any regrets? Not really! I would agree with Wiz about saying yes a few more times, but never saying no instead of some of yes, it all comes down to a page in the book.

I might have decided to doing my flight training at a different flying establishment, but if i did would I be where i am now? Loving life, and the flying, even though it is only on a casual basis. So many questions still unanswered... what to do next? PNG, Africa, or Airlines..... I'll have to get back to you on that in a few years, I wish I had the vision of hindsight now.

[mikef]

I consider myself as having a great run so far but answering the question...........

The one thing I'd do is pass my ATPL's before setting off to get the infamous first job. One of my instructors told me to always stay one step ahead with my theory and I did that having passed my CPL exams before doing my PPL. I just didn't follow it through to the ATPL's.

It all works out fine in the end but having those subjects would have saved me some minor inconveniences.

A mate of mine told me that ATP subjects are like having an American Express card..........."never leave home without it!!"

[gaunty]

Ahhhhhhh you're a wise old buzzard..........oops I mean't wizard.;)

Me ?
I would have said yes a few time when I said no and said no a few times when I said yes. :D :rolleyes: :cool:

But on the whole wouldn't have have changed it for quids, US dollars maybe but not quids.:p

But just maybe, before I pop my clogs, someone will ring and want me to fly their Global Express and Citation X, 4 days a week, gauranteed home at night and weekends off, 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, 6 monthly recurrency with that blond nymph Co Captain, taking it in turns as to who's on top, I mean whose sector, Ferrari company car and Princess 65 Motor Yacht to potter round in .:eek:

Dreamin' darl!

[Herc Jerk]

Reckon i might have been a pro surfer- trod the long poor road to qualify, travelled the world, meeting characters and collecting stories while killing brain cells and ending up with an over-inflated ego.

But i became a pilot and trod the long poor road to get more and more qualifications, travelled the world, met characters and collected stories while killing brains cells, and ended up with and over inflated ego.

At least this way i get to dream of retiring to a pacific island and surfing:cool:

Regrets? No way, my surfing sucks:D

[Msjj]

I began flying at 14, with dreams of a commerical licence +1000 hours by my 21st Birhtday, and flying for Qantas by 25! I set goals, achieved them but wanted more.

Now I am approaching 30, with only 1100tt, a failed marriage and a Qantas rejection and unemployed.

I have felt a failure for not suceeding in all my dreams for years now - that is my regret.





:(

[Pinky the pilot]

Msjj; Don't give up yet Mate!

[2FarCanard]

I have enjoyed every minute of my career, especially when after 12 years i have ended up where i aimed to be. I would not have it any other way.

However, i would not recommend it to my son. There is a lot of bending over and taking it the 'GA way' and quite frankly in those 12 years i have seen friends of mine do very nicely elsewhere, including people i learnt to fly with.

It has to be a passion. It is with me. If my son wanted to be a career pilot it would have to be a passion as well. You can't **** around for 4,5,6 years after school half heartedly wanting to be a pilot and then deciding its too hard when you can't get a full time job. All of a sudden mates of yours have a uni degree and there first job, as an accountant is paying $50K a year.

I am not a desk person, i love my job/career but you really have to want it to make it work. Otherwise there are plenty of other jobs out there that don't require as much heartache and perseverance.