Do you still enjoy flying?

[martine]

I'm a mere PPL and are curious as to whether ATPLs with many 1000s hours still enjoy flying or does it disolve into just another (well paid) job?

Martin - Bristol, UK

[Herod]

By co-incidence, today I logged two years in the air (17,520 hours) and yes, I still enjoy going to work. Sure it has its bad points, but the plusses are so enormous that I can't think of another job I'd rather do.

[fireflybob]

If I did not enjoy flying then I would have even more difficulty putting up with all the ramifications of the job!

The best bit is once the wheels are off the ground!

[mustafagander]

The short answer is YES

After over 20,000 hours and 32 years in a variety of seats in big jets I'm still happy to put on the uniform and go flying.

The job and the lifestyle (long haul) could be better in some areas, but I wouldn't do anything else.

I hope you get to find out, Martine!!! :)

[soggyboxers]

37 years and I still love it. Just hope I can go on beyond 65 doing something non public transport.:)

[weedflier]

YES!

[international hog driver]

Every day I go to work I wonder how the other half live.

150 mile wide office, a view to behold, ever seen the sunrise from flight levels, or chased the sunset over Africa or the ME.

A now retired mentor, once said that a cold cockpit can be more inviting than a warm bed. (with someone in it). I never believed him until I had experienced it.

Many older guys are still in the industry and hate it, they lost the love years ago they only do it to pay off the second wife, buy the third car or plasma TV.

These guys should get out and let those that have the passion progress.

The other day I had to do a raw data offset NDB, right down minimas, driving rain, turbulence the lot. Followed by an ILS in anger on the way home.

It made me work, but made me feel great, remembering the techniques that I learnt years ago doing something that I rarely ever do except in a lurching cave or on rare occasion.

Still enjoy it? , Like the air we breathe.......

[martine]

Thanks guys - it's nice to know you still have the passion for flying itself. It's a shame that the sheer joy doesn't come across to the public - I reckon they think in general you're v. proffesional, v. clever and super cool - they just don't appreciate that flying is fun, spectacular, beautiful, awe-inspiring.

With everyone so concerned about security and safety (rightly of course) it would be nice to get some passion back.

Martin - Bristol, UK

[Max Angle]

The shorts answer is yes.

The long answer is yes, but, I have to do too much of it and often at the wrong time of the day. At the end of the 5/6th day on, or at 06:00am having been up all night I can think of a large number of things I would rather be doing than sitting in the flightdeck.

Would I give it up if I won £5 million on the lottery next Saturday?. Yes, like a shot. Would I miss it?. almost certainly.

[Earthmover]

Sorry if we give that impression - but 'being professional' does not equal 'no fun'. I absolutely adore it for all the very good reasons that my colleagues have , most eloquently, given above. I do not look forward to hanging my headset up for the last time one little bit.

And many of us are 'Sunday pilots' too you know - matter of fact I spent this Sunday floating around in a vintage taildragger.

Thanks for a good question which gives those of us who love it (most of us, I suspect) to express our feelings about it.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Mostly. There are certainly flights I don't enjoy.

What I really enjoy is either flying from A to B, in my own aircraft, on a nice flying day - or wrestling with the flight testing of something that has a difficult to pin down and difficult to solve handling problem, that needs all of my concentration and ability to get to the bottom of.

Odd days where I'm just trying to get somewhere, the weather's mediocre, the view is mediocre, and the aircraft is nothing special, I wonder why I bother.

But only odd days.

G

[hptaccv]

...thats just the kind of post that I needed 4 weeks before sitting for my atpl exams..!
:)

...did Leonardo ever actually leave the ground??
:confused:

[Genghis the Engineer]

Hard to tell with certainty. There was no aviation authority in medieval Italy, which was certainly in his favour. However, when researching something about him a few years ago I found a quote about him from a family friend "Da Vinci tried, but he failed", which suggests not - sadly. It would be nice to think he had.

G