Is ours such a bad life?

[Big Ron]

Ok, this is not a rumour,nor is it news as the forum was once called so it may be redirected but meanwhile may I respectfully ask you to pause briefly and think about why you became pilots.
So many threads either whinge on about terms and conditions or descend into slanging matches, even scoring points on grammar or spelling, that I feel many of us have forgotten what a privileged position we are in. I realise that there are many problems within the industry and am not trying to suggest that all is rosey merely to inject a shot of positivity.
I can appreciate a 35 year career guy being a little cynical but I also meet 250hr pilots complaining about what a cr&p job they have and I wonder why they don`t leave and work in industry.
We are paid for what we CAN do not what we actually do but isn`t this also part of the satisfaction of being an airline pilot ?.On a good day, say an early Geneva or climbing out of Milan at sunrise we can see all the beauty of Mother Nature from our office window whilst on a bad day we work harder but have the tremendous satisfaction of breaking cloud at minima, laying off the drift just right for that "greaser"(well,in my dreams) or even dealing with the bells and red captions.
We often don`t think about our passengers reasons for travelling but just occasionally see a family reunited as we walk back through the arrivals hall or see a babe in arms boarding and realise what trust these people place in us.
Does "High Flight" or "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" still bring a lump to your throats or is it time to get a real job?
Rant over, now back to join in the "stinking thinking" in the crew room next time I am called out from standby.

[exeng]

You are quite right, ours is not such a bad life I agree.

However this topic should not have been started here in 'reporting points', again I agree.

I'm sure our trusty moderators will move it to somewhere more suitable.

<<So many threads either whinge on about terms and conditions.... >>

Thats because the terms and conditions in so many outfits deserve whinging about. Climbing out of Milan at sunrise does not impress your mortgage lender.

<<or see a babe in arms boarding and realise what trust these people place in us>>

These babies just don't know any better.

Anyway, I wish you all the best in your flying career and I sincerely hope that it meets all your expectations.


Regards
Exeng

[Ref + 10]

Big Ron,

I agree! Whenever the door is shut with engines running it is the best job in the world. It's what happpens outside the plane that detracts from the overall fantasticness of our job.

Ref

[Holer Moler]

Hey Big Ron- You must be a short haul driver, how about the lights of Manhattan at Night or the sight of Table Top Mountain in SA or the Statue in Rio - Yes I agree, the Fun starts when the dorrs are closed.

[Smokie]

Or the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the left turn on the SID.

Or climbing with a rising setting sun.

Or flying though your very own Brockenspectre, with the explosion of colours that fill the flight deck as you burst through the Rainbow.

Or the GREEN FLASH ! Not many of you seen that one I'll wager!:cool:

[ecam dongso]

Smokie,

What's the green flash if I can ask?

is it some kind of lights (green) looking like falling stars?

tell me more
tx

[McD]

Ecam -

Here's a good NASA website regarding the green flash
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000507.html

The page is full of links as well, for more info.

[JJflyer]

I quite agree... Not that bad at all, once you got all turning and burning.

St.Elmos in that dark night with lightning flashes everywhere, quite exiting. Will never forget when I frist saw what I think is called the Corona Streamer, now that was something else.

[Greenfinch]

Big Ron,

I think it depends who you work for. I'm on A320/321's for a BA franchise operator and life could not be better - excellent T&C's good pay, friendly cabin crew etc. However, I previously worked for a small turboprop operator who worked us to death and paid peanuts - not a bunch of fun !

GF

[McD]

Speaking of the Green Flash:

I finally saw one, and WOW was it spectacular!

Early morning of the 11th (two days ago), over the Atlantic eastbound to Madrid. The first light of dawn begins. There is an area of small clouds at the horizon near the impending sunrise, and the Captain and I remark that the clouds are shaping the pre-sunrise light in a strange way. But it's rather interesting, so we're looking right at it. All of a sudden, just as the sun itself begins to emerge .... GREEN ! A distinct, bright, full-bodied green, almost like a Christmas bulb or reflective ornament.

It lasted probably a full second or two; certainly long enough for both of us to make sure each other saw it and to say "Whoa!" or some other appropriate one word comment ;)

Might never see one again, but the memory of that one will last a lifetime!

[Smokie]

EXECELENT ! :) WELCOME TO THE CLUB.:D :D :D

[AA717driver]

At least that's what I say in public:D . Had the old TWA guys tell me about the green flash, haven't seen it.

I'll never forget on my first crossing in the 767 nearing Lisboa, looking down in the darkness and seeing the lights of the fishing boats and thinking--"wow, I actually made it across the whole friggin' ocean!":rolleyes: Never mind the hundreds of thousands of crossings that have come before mine...TC

[DUCKMAN052001]

Yah it aint a bad job. Paid to go on vacation all the time. The bonus is also to only work a few days. Pitty for the guys at UAL. Just think, instead of getting the extra house in Maui, they now have to except something in Florida. Must suck to be them.

[Georgeablelovehowindia]

Yes, Kilimanjaro at sunrise, descending into Mombasa. Comet Hale-Bopp over Northern Canada, shining through the Aurora Borealis. The whole of England spread in front of you on a crystal-clear evening.
On the other hand, descent over Barlu into Gatwick, on a truly filthy night, 4000kg. of cargo crashing around in Hold 1 on an unsecured pallet, a 30kt. crosswind, and the senior cabin crew member sat on the jump seat, griping about her flight allowances.
All part of the rich pantomime of the international jet captain...

[redsnail]

Yep, seen the green flash. Seen it a few times. Indian Ocean, just off the Kimberley coast, Australia.

[Tonic Please]

I am glad that someone, ie; the topic starter, begun such a thread. I wonder to myself if you guys and girls really appreciate the job you do!? I think to myself, when I see pilots walking around at airports, do they really realise what a job they have. I, as most know, am only 18 with TC (Transport Canada) PPL, and going on for CPL/IR and all others...to emmigrate to Canada, and hopefully work into airlines from Instructing which I will love.

I see pictures taken from flight decks, and my own Jump-Seat video taken on the flight deck of an A320 into CYYZ...! I mean, perhpas you all get used to it, but to others, and that being the majority, it is something some could kill for. Me at the top of the list.

I once went to the airport with a friend because his dad is a ground ops Manager at LHR. I got into the right hand seat, with engineers on board, of a Virgin A340 (Diana)...and whilst sitting there, in my favourite plane ever, I was holding the side stick and imagining taking this thing up with 300+ people on board. It is such an overwhelming feeling. And when I take my first Jet Airliner as an FO off the ground (or, to be specific, am involved with making it happen)....I will, without a doubt, make it the most memorable experience in my life.

Pilots who do not have interest in wannabes are in the wrong job. Pilots who want the best for us, and who admire and very much appreciate their position, are those who I look up to, and admire...(one I told to his face ;) ).

Smooth skies, and keep up the job which you have worked so hard for, and retire from to let me take your place :D ;)

Regards and highest repsect to all concerned...

Dan :D

[reverserunlocked]

Interesting reading Tonic's post about sitting in the right hand seat of an empty A340 and holding the stick, imagining what it would be like doing the same thing with 300 people aboard.

I did much the same thing in a Maersk 737 a couple of years back on the ground in Milan whilst tagging along for a j/s ride with a friendly Captain. I too sat there with my feet on the rudder pedals, hands gripped round the yoke trying to compare this beast with the Tomahawk that I'd grown used to. I couldn't even begin to imagine how exhilarating it would be like to speed down the tarmac at the helm of this thing.

But that said, when I was 15 I sat in the corner of a darkened radio studio in Liverpool, watching one of my then idols crafting together a live late night radio show. As a spotty wannabe radio presenter I looked on in amazement as my chap handled it all brilliantly, calmly talking away on air whilst cueing up a CD in his left ear, keeping an eye on the phone switchboard, and linking it all together seamlessly, totally unfazed by the thousands of listeners at the other end of the microphone.

After about hour to my utter delight he went off to the lav and asked me to 'segue' two songs together with a jingle, and disappeared out of the studio door. I nervously slid into 'the seat', surrounded by all these knobs and buttons, not knowing what any of them did, the fate of the radio station in my hands for the next four minutes. As I sat there waiting for the CD to come to an end, as I tried to compare that huge, technically complex studio to the little hospital radio mixer that I normally sat behind every weekend... That precise feeling returned to me totally in the flight deck of a 737 in Milan some 10 years later.

But now I sit in the radio hotseat everyday, and at this moment as I get Will Young's new song on and play some more ads for the Debenhams Sale, having dragged myself out of bed at half five when everyone else is fast asleep I am distinctly unfazed at sitting in the seat. I know what all the buttons do and I've spent many hundreds of hours with the same view of knobs, meters, flashing lights, CD countdowns and the like.

Perhaps being a professional pilot is much like my own job - an old boss once summed it up perfectly....a passion turned into an obligation...

Wise words indeed.

[old-timer]

Interesting thread & replies;

here are my thoughts
life is NOT perfect & flying for a living is not perfect,
BUT - it is a hell of a lot better than doing a lot of
other jobs (in my humble opinion)

at the end of the day - do what YOU enjoy most -
it won't be perfect - nothing is - but do ENJOY
it as much as you can.

I enjoy flying - it's tough & unsocial hours -
but I do ENJOY it still.

Enjoy - whatever :-)