I want to be a pilot: please change my mind!

[Gruntilda]

Good evening,

I apologise if this isn't posted in the appropriate section, please move the post if this is the case.

Title says all! But I'm going to get a bit into details. As I'm enjoying the last evening of my summer break and getting ready to go back to work tomorrow...
I'm in my early thirties, born in Europe and moved to Australia ~4 years ago. I work in finance for an amazing company which is doing very well. It's a small business and we all get along, the job itself is the best I've ever had and being a small business I got to help on everything when needed so there's more variety than your typical large company jobs.
I have been treated and rewarded very well. Money is good. But you know, in the end, it's a job. I feel very fortunate.

The thing is: my true passion is aviation. I do plane spotting very often (2-4 times a month). I still feel the same rush and amazement when I hear the ATC say "cleared for takeoff" and few seconds later the roar of the engines... I just wish I was the one in control of the aircraft. It doesn't help that being a female I am also tempted by the sirens of the "diversity" programs at almost every company.

Now back to reality. Honestly, I've done the maths and between the uncertainty and the guaranteed opportunity cost... I know it's not worth it. There's the risk that the novelty wears off and that between rostering and all the issues I've read about, there's only a tiny chance that I end up in a better position that I am at now (if I even get a job in the first place). And it doesn't look to me that the future will be any better.
I've thought about a PPL but in my opinion it would just be setting a foot through the door and I'd be even more tempted to try and change careers. It's also a decent chunk of money for something that would just be a hobby.

Still, even if I reasonably know that it's not worth it, a part of me just cannot let it go.

I guess what I'm looking for is current/former pilots to "talk me out of it". If you had to start over today in your thirties leaving a good career behind, please tell me why you would not recommend it. Or if you've left your pilot career for another one. It would really help.
I wish there were options to travel on the jump seats... But I suppose I was born 20 years too late for this.

Cheers!

[FlightDetent]

As long as you have a career you could return to in case you get cold feet...

If you'd been through enough bad times in life so that you'll be ever aware of the upsides of the piloting job...

The worst case you have a taste and see it was not meant to be your destiny afterall, but gain serenity at heart...

You might be a lost cause, 😉

[AerocatS2A]

The lady who taught me to fly switched from nursing to flying at the age of thirty or so. Ended up instructing, then airline pilot, and now enjoys her life flying a business jet around the world. Does that help talk you out of it?

[Stan Woolley]

If you really want to, nothing will change your mind.

[swh]

First of all, get yourself a CPL initial medical. If that all goes well,, buy yourself a common trainer like a IFR C172. Find a school you feel fits you and pay for the instructors to teach you in your own aircraft. Get your PPL, do your night rating, do your instrument rating. Do some trips away over weekends and holidays touring around. You will end up over two years or so having the experience and exams for a CPL.

You should enjoy your day job better as you will look forward to the flying, you should also enjoy the flying as you don’t have the stress of funding.

You may have a ball, you might not. You will get to see the industry and Australia from a different perspective. You might also hate it as the career brochure you see now may not reflect the reality you experience. Flying is no different from your current industry, a lot of people who start off and get qualified do not end up working in industry.

[OvertHawk]

There are a lot of factors here.

I love aviation, I've been in it since i was 16 and have been a pilot for 20 plus years.

I don't really enjoy my job anymore (and mine is so much better than many)... I still love aviation, but doing it for a living with the increasing administration and politics (and reality) can very quickly blunt that enjoyment.

If you want to be an airline pilot to pursue your love and passion for aviation - then think twice!

Public transport flying is now (probably rightly) a very prescriptive occupation. yes it has many challenges but probably not the ones you're looking for.

If you're imagining golden sunrises, exciting routes and the joy of flight then consider:

Getting up at 04:00; arguing with dispatchers; carrying a five figure debt into the first ten years of your career (at least); having your roster written in pencil and pushed to the limit by software designed to work you to exhaustion; dealing with passengers who are at best indifferent and consider you little more than a bus driver through to at worst aggressive and rude; Getting paid a decidedly average salary for the first decade of your career ( don't forget the debt too!). Getting to "fly" the aeroplane for 5 minutes a sector (if it's your sector)... That's just a few of the issues.

Seriously - I love aviation and i like the money I'm now (after twenty years) getting paid. Would i do it again? - that's an artificial question because no-one has hindsight. I came into it young without a strong career - i had little to lose and much to gain.

If you're asking "should I give up a strong career that I really like, working for a good company in order to start from scratch in aviation?" I would reply - "Are you off your rocker?!?!'

Keep the career stability, get a PPL and go and fly a Tiger Moth at the weekends.

Keep your home life, the potential to have a life outside work that can be predicated beyond 48 hours (and which you will be awake for most of).

It genuinely pains me to write this (and my 26 year old self would be horrified) but you're proposing giving up an awful lot for something which I don't think really exists as you perceive or hope it does.

PM me if you wish to ask more speciifics.

All the best - enjoy your flying!
OH

[felixthecat]

Originally Posted by Gruntilda

Money is good. But you know, in the end, it's a job. I feel very fortunate.

I started late in life, much as you are thinking of doing. I wasn’t in a well paid career previously though so that is a difference. Now ....many years....later, though I do appreciate my lifestyle and the monetary rewards it brings as a long haul widebody captain, I could also say ‘Money is good. But you know, in the end, it's a job. I feel very fortunate.’

The social side of it and the long nights, with associated jet lag does wear very thin. You are always at the mercy of your next sim check and medical. Whilst I wouldn’t say don’t do it, I would have a long think if it really is what you want. There are many many sacrifices in this career, the biggest being your family. There is a huge difference between getting a buzz out of watching a plane takeoff and land, and sitting over the middle of the ocean at 3am on Christmas Day, birthday, anniversary etc etc.

[goose2111]

I think everyone has made valid points. But I think oh has hit the nail here.
if it's your passion get ppl and cpl and fly around but it you do join commercial flying soon enough you will see the novelty wear thin.
I started young with just the love for flying and without another career to fall back on , ask me now and I wont make the route.
I will leave this below msg that was shared In our pilot group this should give you an idea of the life we lead.

*Typical Day of an Airline Pilot* (Captain).

-Set alarm for 3AM
-Check alarm again to make sure ringer is on
-Make sure you didn't accidentally set to it for PM
-Call hotel lobby to ask for a wake-up call at 3AM
-Pilots believe in redundancy
-Wake up 1.0
-9 minutes later wake up 2.0 (Snooze button is the best)
-Accept your fate that you must get up and get ready
-Crew van pick-up is at 4AM
-Try to remember what city you're in
-Fight the urge to brew coffee in the tiny hotel coffee maker that has a thin layer of dust on it
-Check the weather. Ughhh…it's cold and you left your coat at home .
-Check the airline's phone app to make sure your flight wasn't cancelled or delayed
-Shower. Due to low water pressure, water is trickling out at an agonizingly slow pace
-Brush teeth and hair
-Call front desk for shaving cream as you just ran out as you began to shave
-When hotel representative arrives, open door just enough to receive shaving cream as you're not dressed yet
-Check Iron before ironing your shirt so it doesn't burn it or spew muck onto your shirt
-Put on uniform shirt and pants
-A little more snug than when you were a co-pilot, but still looks good because you have to stay fit as an Officer in the Air Force Reserve
-Socks and shoes on
-Tie on
-Ughhh, forgot to put on deodorant. That could have been bad!
-Take off tie and pull shirt out of your pants
-Apply deodorant, re-tuck shirt, and put tie back on
-Re-check weather, hmmm. It's snowing
-Review company's de-icing procedures
-Try to remember when your next vacation is coming up. Fiji sounds nice
-Gather wallet, ID, pilot hat, passport, etc
-Make sure suitcase and pilot kit bag are packed. It's usually better to pack the night before
-Make sure you have your iPhone, tablet and laptop, and chargers
-Head downstairs for the crew van 10 minutes before pick-up time
-Run into pilots from competitor. Make small talk. How's life at ABC airline?
-Verify with the van driver your Flight number
-Give driver your suitcase and pilot kit bag
-Take a seat and fasten your seat belt
-Van driver worked the overnight shift and just wants to be home, so driving faster than you think he should
-Listen to the Flight Attendants talk about their layover, boyfriends, husbands, kids, etc as you ride to the airport
-Arrive at the airport
-Tip the driver. Co-pilot nudges you to ask for a dollar as he only has a $20 in his wallet
-Driver signals displeasure with your tip by giving you a subtle side-eye
-Next, It's time to go through security
-Get randomly selected for extra screening
-Finally make it through security
-Check the company phone app to figure out which gate the aircraft is parked
-Arrive at the gate. Gate was changed but App wasn't updated. Bummer!
-The need for coffee is Real.
-Too early for breakfast, so stockpile energy bars in my Flight Kit. If not, have to buy a $3 banana at the airport
-Long line at the airport Starbucks, so opt for generic coffee from the Podunk local Grill.
-Finally make it to the aircraft
-Flight Attendants aren't very happy as they had a short layover
-Me…Smile and Nod
-Gate agent has a printer jam, so no flight plan yet
-Co-pilot is a millennial, so already sent the flight plan to my Flight iPad
-Agent eventually gets the printer working and brings you a hard copy of the flight plan
-Now it's time to verify all the items on the flight plan are correct
-Since it's snowing, you let the co-pilot do the exterior inspection
-Co-pilot gets back to the cockpit covered in snow at which point you hand him/her a cup of coffee
-Now you brief the flight attendants about the flight
-Check the weather again, review the airfield diagram
-Identify where the airport conducts de-icing
-Did I leave my iPhone charger at the hotel? Reach into my bag and whew…it's there
-Boarding is complete and you welcome the passengers onboard over the PA
-Taxi out, get de-iced, Take-off and finally you're at cruise altitude
-You finally remember your co-pilot's name: "Bob"
-So Bob, were you Air Force, Navy or civilian?
-If civilian, ask what airlines he flew with
-If Air Force or Navy, ask if he flew Fighters or Heavies
-If Air Force, play the do you know this guy or that gal from such and such Squadron game
-Eventually you'll have something in common and camaraderie ensues
-Land at destination and repeat last 20 steps 2 or 3 more times that day
-When you land, say farewell to the passengers
-Some say thank you, some are too busy to say anything, some give you fist bumps, some want to take pictures with you
-Sometimes you fly movie stars or sports stars and they're usually incognito
-After the last passenger deplanes, load into the hotel van for another overnight layover
-After a long day, it's great to check-in to the hotel
-Ughhh...get to your room and the key isn't working
-Did I put it next to my phone which demagnetized it
-Back to the lobby for another key.
-Try to login to the hotel WIFI. It requires Last name and room number. Last name is pretty easy, but accidentally entered the room number from yesterday's hotel It's Self Critiquing
-Skype with your daughter as it's her birthday and you were too junior to get the day off.
-Tell her to look under her bed and she screams with delight as you left her birthday gift under her bed before you departed on your trip
-Apparently there was a big storm back home and the whole neighborhood doesn't have electricity.
-Big crisis events only seem to happen when I leave for for a trip
-Check out the gym and realize they have one sad looking treadmill, a stationary bike, and some old dumbbells.
-Decide to skip the workout and try to find dinner
-If it's warm, you're in a nice city and have friends or family in town, you can catch up for dinner.
-But today, you're overnighting in Delhi and it's 5 degrees outside, you opt dinner at the hotel
-Finally get to you room, get showered, and in bed
-Just as your head hits the pillow…Knock Knock…House Keeping!
-Ughhh…forgot to put the "Do Not Disturb" Sign out
-Sometimes friends and family find out you were in town and get upset you didn't call. Sometimes, you just wanna get your chill on and rest for the next day.
-I love my friends who ask me what's my route. Just realize, airline pilots don't have a particular route. It's either domestic or international.
-That's mostly it…the glamorous life of an airline pilot

[PoppaJo]

Before starting get the divorce out of the way now.

[Blackfriar]

I agree with some of the above posts. Fly as a hobby Try gliding - real flying, not managing computers - and Australia has great giding conditions and huge amounts of space. Maybe get a job as a part-time ramp agent/dispatcher (weekends?) and get to play with aeroplanes on turn-rounds and stroll around the ramp - although it was more fun when every aeroplane wasn't a 737/320. I got all that aeroplane stuff out of my system with three years despatching in a working museum called Belfast 1980s. Viscount, Vanguard, Herald, F27, F28, DC-9, 737, 747, DC-10, Whistling Wheelbarrow, Bandeirante, Caravelle, CL-44, Belfast (Heavylift) DC-3, 707, 727, HS-748, Heron and even a Bristol Freighter.
But watching stuff coming in on a really bad night, high winds rain, snow etc. I was happier on the ground.

[BluSdUp]

Hi Goose
I love your procedure, mine is much the same, but shorter:
At hotel, after Feet on Deck alarm off at 04:00: S S S Leave!
****
Shave
Shower
Leave ( Nothing Behind)

At Airport:
The 4 Cs:
Crew
Craft
Cerosene ( I know Kerosene , but Kaffi is Coffee were I live , so even steven)
Coffee

Leave ( Nothing behind)

Gertrud
( I need 4 sectors to remember FOs name! Grunthilda?)
Contact MariaThePilot or PilotMaria and they will tell you all about how cool it is.
To sit for 4 to 12 hrs at FL370 and listen to the same old story from old chaps like me that love garlic and coffee.

Give us a progress report , Airbus ,Cessna or not!

Kind regards
Cpt B

[misd-agin]

Listen to an equal amount of the opposing POV that still enjoy the job after 40 years. No, just like sex, it's not as exciting as it was the first time. But most people still enjoy sex after decades and decades. "What? You want to put what where? I've done that thousands of times and it's not worth it.... says almost no one.

Ask the naysayers what they'd be doing instead? Ask yourself - what are the odds of that happening? How long does their alternative take to happen? At one point I thought being a surgeon would be interesting. Now I'm glad I never had to do that as, at least to me, flying is more interesting. I've talked with my surgeons and my surgeries were 'ho hum' to them. "Any professional interest in the surgery?" "Not really." Maybe life saving to me but 'another day, another dollar' to them after 10-15 years of surgery. They had 20+ years to go to retirement....

Learn to fly and figure out if it really interests you.

[Herod]

Long time pilot.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. But my time was '65 to 04. In today's environment, no.

Stick with your job, get a PPL and fly for fun. Remember, on an exec-jet or long-haul airliner, the best seats are AFT of the cockpit door; and your present job might get you there.

[taxydual]

OK, you want to be talked out of it. Here goes. In the event of a crash, because you sit at the front of the aircraft, you will be the first person to be hurt/killed. Aircraft do not, knowingly, reverse into mountains etc. The other factor is , are you good enough? My posting name on here says it all, dual I was fine, solo I was crap. Sh*t scared, I never got over it. I knew from that first solo that I would be no good at fulfilling my dream. There are an awful lot of people alive today because I realised that I was no good at aviating. I kept my feet on the ground, albeit still in aviation, and after a 45 year career (smelling the Avtur, Avgas fumes), I knew I had made the right choice.

[Uplinker]

Hi Gruntilda.

I was like you. I had a very good job which I really enjoyed. However, I think it is healthy to change career at least once in your life. I voluntarily jumped ship when the opportunity arose and I started the long road to becoming a pilot. I made it.

The PPL side of things is all very well but it might put you off. It is nothing like flying a modern airliner. Training aircraft, such as Cessna 152 or PA28, are very basic and crude, as is the instrumentation. Flying a modern commercial airliner though is fantastic. Airbus for example have really sorted out the flying experience - it is so satisfying to conduct a flight in an A320/321/330. (I would not relish flying a 737, which have a very cramped cockpit and crude automatics).

You need five things to become an airline pilot: Valid Class 1 medical fitness. Ability to fly. A source of lots of money to pay for your training, (and probably, type rating). Ability to pass all the tests and exams. Getting your first commercial flying job.

The money side to becoming a commercial airline pilot is very significant. You need to seriously research this and ask yourself how much private PPL flying or gliding or aerobatic flying or float plane flying you could do for the money.

If you are going to be bothered by working at odd hours, or getting up at 0300 five days in a row, or being jet lagged, or wanting to have a steady home life, or want to play squash every Tuesday, or bothered by working at weekends and National holidays, or being tired, then airline flying is not for you! You will also have to forego evenings at the pub and parties if you are working the next day.

On long-haul, some people complain about being over the ocean at 0300, but that is part of the job, so what you really need is a positive attitude. When I am there, I look at the stars and the planets, watch the International Space Station going over, do some work, look things up in the manuals, write software, wait for the sunrise.....as well as fly. There is plenty to do if you have the right attitude. Having crossed an ocean at night, the sun comes up and you make a really nice approach and a good landing, which is tremendously satisfying.

As others have said, make sure you have a fall-back position in case it doesn't work out, but good luck !

[joblessPilot]

Hi
1 thing finding an aviation job is a struggle. Finding good pay pilot jobs is almost impossible with low hours unless you have a connection in the industry.

I finished my training in the first quarter of last year and to this day I am still looking for a job in aviation.

[blind pew]

Good luck

Been flying for half a century...loads of sickness ..twice malaria..lost my license..rock polishing in the french alps in large span sailplanes..paragliding..whilst the world is changing there are still fabulous jobs out there and money isn't everything..the sights can't be beaten.

[misd-agin]

737 = crude automatics? They’re better than the Airbus’ but the comfort of the 320 is much better than the 737.

[Mach E Avelli]

It is better to go to your grave regretting the things you did, rather than those you did not do.
Do it....

[Auxtank]

Originally Posted by Mach E Avelli

It is better to go to your grave regretting the things you did, rather than those you did not do.
Do it....

Prey allow me to put it more succinctly;
Better to have been a has been than a never was.
Now Fly you ****er....FLY!!!!
X