Do you really Want to Do This...??
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Something I wished I'd said earlier is troubling me - I mean in terms of getting it over.
Most here, certainly the majority, can drive. Remember when you could only change gear by actually looking down at it? Soon passes and becomes utterly automatic.
Well at some point in your flying career a huge proportion of your everyday routine flight has reached that category. Yup, I know we're always learning but by then such advances are now incremental.
There is a percentage of pilots who develop an itch, a very persistent and definite itch which I can only sum up as a realisation that flying isn't satifying some vital part of their brain, intellect or personality. How they deal with it is entirely different - some climb into management, some start a business, some take up a totally engrossing sport. Whichever way they go they strive to cut down the amount of flying they do so they can satisfy another part of their personal makeup. This desire can become very strong indeed and what I'm trying to describe is in no way a criticism. It seems that over the years most of my true friends in aviation actually need something other than just flying to feel complete.
I'm certain that a proportion of you are actually the same and in terms of an entire career would get more out of life by funding flying through a more stimulating and challenging use of your curiousity and intellect.
Regards
Rob Lloyd
Most here, certainly the majority, can drive. Remember when you could only change gear by actually looking down at it? Soon passes and becomes utterly automatic.
Well at some point in your flying career a huge proportion of your everyday routine flight has reached that category. Yup, I know we're always learning but by then such advances are now incremental.
There is a percentage of pilots who develop an itch, a very persistent and definite itch which I can only sum up as a realisation that flying isn't satifying some vital part of their brain, intellect or personality. How they deal with it is entirely different - some climb into management, some start a business, some take up a totally engrossing sport. Whichever way they go they strive to cut down the amount of flying they do so they can satisfy another part of their personal makeup. This desire can become very strong indeed and what I'm trying to describe is in no way a criticism. It seems that over the years most of my true friends in aviation actually need something other than just flying to feel complete.
I'm certain that a proportion of you are actually the same and in terms of an entire career would get more out of life by funding flying through a more stimulating and challenging use of your curiousity and intellect.
Regards
Rob Lloyd
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I agree but weigh it up
I agree with what has been said 
But you gotta weigh it up, i mean the cost $$ involved etc. I got a question: I've decided to be a pilot but from the posts above it seems it's much more difficult & costly than what I figured. If u had £40,000 would u spend it on pilot training or follow the amusing suggestion of Master Yoda above??
But you gotta weigh it up, i mean the cost $$ involved etc. I got a question: I've decided to be a pilot but from the posts above it seems it's much more difficult & costly than what I figured. If u had £40,000 would u spend it on pilot training or follow the amusing suggestion of Master Yoda above??
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Work to Fly or Fly to work?
This has been a very interesting thread. As someone who came to flying relatively late in life I will never have the option of earning a living by professional flying. But, from where I am working to pay for flying is no bad option. In just over a year since qualifying I have an IMC and night qualification and have the chance to fly two aircraft in which I hold shares, one of which is a tail dragger. I shall shortly be starting on aerobatics in a Chippy! In the near future I will do the CPL, not because I want a career but for the challenge.
My point is that there is more than one way to get to fly. Professional flying is almost unique as a career in terms of the up front financial committment required and the currently very poor prospects of full time employment in the industry. I have never trained as a professional pilot but I know several who have, some of whom have sucessfully obtained jobs and who love every minute, one other at least who now after several years finds the work routine and a little unfulfilling. One of the best pilots and instructors I know (not just my inexperienced opinion) has been unable to find any commercial employment at all after several years. Of course it is the same with many jobs: hours of routine punctuated by prief moments of real excitment and and challenge.
This forum and comments elsewhere suggests that many wannabies will meet years of frustration in finding work and some will never obtain employment. It does no harm to consider whether money may not be better spent.
My point is that there is more than one way to get to fly. Professional flying is almost unique as a career in terms of the up front financial committment required and the currently very poor prospects of full time employment in the industry. I have never trained as a professional pilot but I know several who have, some of whom have sucessfully obtained jobs and who love every minute, one other at least who now after several years finds the work routine and a little unfulfilling. One of the best pilots and instructors I know (not just my inexperienced opinion) has been unable to find any commercial employment at all after several years. Of course it is the same with many jobs: hours of routine punctuated by prief moments of real excitment and and challenge.
This forum and comments elsewhere suggests that many wannabies will meet years of frustration in finding work and some will never obtain employment. It does no harm to consider whether money may not be better spent.
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Just to throw another stone in the pit......Are there any more careers out there where someone with 10 years with a company, a captain ,is made redundant and the best job he can find has him at the bottom of the list again.......to a first officer??????.Lots of companies don’t take direct entry commands. 
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Are there any more careers out there where someone with 10 years with a company, a captain ,is made redundant and the best job he can find has him at the bottom of the list again
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Flying and driving
I wish I’d seen your post earlier Rob, because it really strikes a chord.
I remember my first driving lesson, at the tender age of 17, and having to look where I was going, steer, grapple with the gear lever and work 3 pedals with 2 feet. “Impossible” I thought. “I’ll never be able to do that.” 15 accident-free years and 1 IAM test later, I think I’ve pretty much got the hang of it.
That feeling came back to me the first ever time I turned finals, with a whole hour in my log book. In a healthy crosswind I pointed the nose at the runway, and was somewhat disconcerted to see it slowly drift away from us.
Or the first time I had a go at actually landing the thing. “Impossible” I thought . . .
These days I liken my flying to the early days after I’d passed my driving test. Yes I’m legal and safe enough to go off on my own, but I lack experience and I’m acutely aware that there is no-one watching over me if I get it wrong. In short, I know just enough to be dangerous. That gets the adrenaline going, and the challenge of increasing my experience without killing myself helps to make flying a bit of an obsession.
I take your point that it won’t always be like that, that eventually it will become routine – automatic even - and your comparison with driving is a good one. However, although driving a car is totally routine these days, I still get a kick out of it. I huff and puff about traffic jams / cameras / other drivers / how the roads were much emptier when I were’t lad, but I still take great personal pride in getting from A to B smoothly and safely, in getting passengers to fall asleep when I’m driving, in getting 50,000 miles from a set of brake pads. Silly little things, but they matter to me. Christ, I even do a walkround to make sure the lights work every time it comes out of the garage – how sad is that?
The point is, the challenge of man over machine might have lost its novelty, but I still enjoy it and get just as much satisfaction from doing it well as I did on day one. I accept we’re all different, and I can only speak for myself, but I know I feel the same way about flying.
I’m genuinely grateful for all the advice and the caveats; it’s all valuable information. However, despite all the downsides, in my head and my heart I know where I want to be, and I know exactly why I want to be there. And it aint on a station platform.
I remember my first driving lesson, at the tender age of 17, and having to look where I was going, steer, grapple with the gear lever and work 3 pedals with 2 feet. “Impossible” I thought. “I’ll never be able to do that.” 15 accident-free years and 1 IAM test later, I think I’ve pretty much got the hang of it.
That feeling came back to me the first ever time I turned finals, with a whole hour in my log book. In a healthy crosswind I pointed the nose at the runway, and was somewhat disconcerted to see it slowly drift away from us.
Or the first time I had a go at actually landing the thing. “Impossible” I thought . . .These days I liken my flying to the early days after I’d passed my driving test. Yes I’m legal and safe enough to go off on my own, but I lack experience and I’m acutely aware that there is no-one watching over me if I get it wrong. In short, I know just enough to be dangerous. That gets the adrenaline going, and the challenge of increasing my experience without killing myself helps to make flying a bit of an obsession.
I take your point that it won’t always be like that, that eventually it will become routine – automatic even - and your comparison with driving is a good one. However, although driving a car is totally routine these days, I still get a kick out of it. I huff and puff about traffic jams / cameras / other drivers / how the roads were much emptier when I were’t lad, but I still take great personal pride in getting from A to B smoothly and safely, in getting passengers to fall asleep when I’m driving, in getting 50,000 miles from a set of brake pads. Silly little things, but they matter to me. Christ, I even do a walkround to make sure the lights work every time it comes out of the garage – how sad is that?
The point is, the challenge of man over machine might have lost its novelty, but I still enjoy it and get just as much satisfaction from doing it well as I did on day one. I accept we’re all different, and I can only speak for myself, but I know I feel the same way about flying.
I’m genuinely grateful for all the advice and the caveats; it’s all valuable information. However, despite all the downsides, in my head and my heart I know where I want to be, and I know exactly why I want to be there. And it aint on a station platform.
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My Dad has just decided to retire early. Why - had enough of the management. He can afford to and he has had his lot. "I want to sail my boat, go fishing, and walk the dog" he says. My brother despises the commute to work in London everyday. My mates from my time in the Navy say things continue to go down the pan with more cutbacks on the way. My eldest cousin works in the civil service sector - hates it but it pays his bills with enough to spare to fund his hobbies. I know not one person who is happy with their lot employment wise, and that includes my friends who fly for a number of airlines.
But I will make it to the flightdeck of a commercial aircraft one day. Whatever I have to do I will do it. Why?
1) I love flying. Flying a C152 from Southend to Le Touquet at the weekend is a long way from the world of the 737s. But flying is flying and its a bug and it has bit me hard.
2) Yes flying as a career will get monotonous at some stage. Most jobs do if done for any length of time. But I would rather have the highlight of my day being the view of the alps, or simply climbing out of the winters clound into clear skies, and not leaving the office at the end of the day to face another hellish commute home.
3) Finally I am a professional. For the very large part, that is the way of us pilots, be it PPL's of 747 pilots. Up there in the sky away from the beancounters and incompetents we are in our element, at home at ease and amongst professionals.
The last time BA got in contact with me it was to tell me my application to the Cadet Scheme had been terminated due to 9/11. Yesterday they e-mailed to say the DEP scheme was beginning once more. I am not going to walk into a job in BA tomorrow by any stretch of the imagination, but it the most positive news for us wannabees for a very long time.
Never let anyone or anything stand in the way of your dreams. For the greater the challenge and the more the hurdles the greater man you will be on realising the dream.
(edited because a post like this is hard to get just how you want it first time...)
But I will make it to the flightdeck of a commercial aircraft one day. Whatever I have to do I will do it. Why?
1) I love flying. Flying a C152 from Southend to Le Touquet at the weekend is a long way from the world of the 737s. But flying is flying and its a bug and it has bit me hard.
2) Yes flying as a career will get monotonous at some stage. Most jobs do if done for any length of time. But I would rather have the highlight of my day being the view of the alps, or simply climbing out of the winters clound into clear skies, and not leaving the office at the end of the day to face another hellish commute home.
3) Finally I am a professional. For the very large part, that is the way of us pilots, be it PPL's of 747 pilots. Up there in the sky away from the beancounters and incompetents we are in our element, at home at ease and amongst professionals.
The last time BA got in contact with me it was to tell me my application to the Cadet Scheme had been terminated due to 9/11. Yesterday they e-mailed to say the DEP scheme was beginning once more. I am not going to walk into a job in BA tomorrow by any stretch of the imagination, but it the most positive news for us wannabees for a very long time.
Never let anyone or anything stand in the way of your dreams. For the greater the challenge and the more the hurdles the greater man you will be on realising the dream.
(edited because a post like this is hard to get just how you want it first time...)
PPRuNe Knight in Shining Armour
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Rob,
Point well made and well taken, but don’t you agree that it’d be the same whatever your job is. Robots can do the same thing over and over again, humans will inevitably get bored and need a release i.e. a hobby or sport or some other way of scratching the itch!
I’d still play golf or cricket if I was flying for a living, just as I do know. I just believe that the intervening time between that pint in the 19th and the next tee-off will be more enjoyable at the controls of an aircraft than what I’m doing now.
Cheers
Jools
P.S. What are you flying now?
Point well made and well taken, but don’t you agree that it’d be the same whatever your job is. Robots can do the same thing over and over again, humans will inevitably get bored and need a release i.e. a hobby or sport or some other way of scratching the itch!
I’d still play golf or cricket if I was flying for a living, just as I do know. I just believe that the intervening time between that pint in the 19th and the next tee-off will be more enjoyable at the controls of an aircraft than what I’m doing now.
Cheers
Jools
P.S. What are you flying now?
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Snigs,
Some of us are just plain flyin' fools. I fly something distressingly expensive with a head up display. Far more importantly I've got a share in an elderly but stunning two seater and I'm working hard at going solo in a glider soon. That's after having flown for 28 years now so I think the wannabees can work out which side of the fence I'm on.
However, along with our mods this reinforces the remit we all have to make sure you get genuine information and views from pros and that there is a genuine counterpoint to the industry.
That's not the airline industry by the way - the training industry. Connections between the two are very slim indeed - we're here to make sure none of you dare use the excuse that you were taken in by the brochures
Remember that when you find you've written your first post on Rumours and News regarding the err, 'creative' flight time limitations you're expected to fly to or the total lack of a payrise for years - actually we ought to automate that with a script. Flashing caption and alarm sounding - keen wannabee finally realises 5th morning of the Alps after 3am alarm calls isn't quite what it's cracked up to be
We are your only reality check because it is not in anyone else's interests for you to know there is a downside to the job. You don't pay 30 grand or more to get bored in another career. The cost of an integrated course buys an awful lot of toys and holidays over a very long period while you do another job. As long as we've pointed that out clearly our job is done. As long as we consistently provide an experienced and cynical leavening of the marketeers' stock in trade this forum has served its purpose.
Regards to all
Rob
Some of us are just plain flyin' fools. I fly something distressingly expensive with a head up display. Far more importantly I've got a share in an elderly but stunning two seater and I'm working hard at going solo in a glider soon. That's after having flown for 28 years now so I think the wannabees can work out which side of the fence I'm on.
However, along with our mods this reinforces the remit we all have to make sure you get genuine information and views from pros and that there is a genuine counterpoint to the industry.
That's not the airline industry by the way - the training industry. Connections between the two are very slim indeed - we're here to make sure none of you dare use the excuse that you were taken in by the brochures
Remember that when you find you've written your first post on Rumours and News regarding the err, 'creative' flight time limitations you're expected to fly to or the total lack of a payrise for years - actually we ought to automate that with a script. Flashing caption and alarm sounding - keen wannabee finally realises 5th morning of the Alps after 3am alarm calls isn't quite what it's cracked up to be We are your only reality check because it is not in anyone else's interests for you to know there is a downside to the job. You don't pay 30 grand or more to get bored in another career. The cost of an integrated course buys an awful lot of toys and holidays over a very long period while you do another job. As long as we've pointed that out clearly our job is done. As long as we consistently provide an experienced and cynical leavening of the marketeers' stock in trade this forum has served its purpose.
Regards to all
Rob
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I think what he means is - we won't bullsh*t you 'cos we've got nothing to sell! 
Good point, Rob - 70K (you Oxford peeps) would buy you a healthy share in a very swish private aeroplane while you go and earn the squids in IT, or the City or wherever to pay for flying for FUN! Unfortunately (from the point of view of this scenario), my training was free - though it did involve compulsory attendance at a few wars. So I'm still working towards having the 70k in the first place.
Fortunately, the huge pay deal we recently received here at Pprune (500% increase for Mods) will help.
Scroggs
Good point, Rob - 70K (you Oxford peeps) would buy you a healthy share in a very swish private aeroplane while you go and earn the squids in IT, or the City or wherever to pay for flying for FUN! Unfortunately (from the point of view of this scenario), my training was free - though it did involve compulsory attendance at a few wars. So I'm still working towards having the 70k in the first place.
Fortunately, the huge pay deal we recently received here at Pprune (500% increase for Mods) will help.
Scroggs
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Cooooor, a HUD, some guys have all the luck!! I bet that beats plodding the streets of Liverpool
When I started PPRuNe-ing back in '98 it was this very advice from the people from the inside that I found most valuable, which is why I made the decisions that I did about my training and plans for my future. Because of this I have no regrets about my course of action (unfortunately some religious fanatics have made things a little more difficult though!). It's nice to see that the advice is still being given, unfortunately it's not heeded as well as it might be!
We are your only reality check because it is not in anyone else's interests for you to know there is a downside to the job.
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my training was free
Well - as said, the recent 500% PPRuNe Mod payrise has made a substantial difference to all our lifestyles here at PPRuNe HQ...
I spent the first half of my 20's in Uni/deskjob wanting to be a pilot. I spent the second half of my 20's being a pilot.
As I approach my 30th birthday I am able to look back and say quite honestly that the latter years were better than the former. Not that I didn't enjoy either.
Its just, if you KNOW you have to do something, then do it. Elsewise you'll become bitter about not trying and nagged by What Ifs. It will be a risk and a gamble - I was luck at 25 I had no responsibilites and therefore could treat it as a big adventure. I have the uptmost respect for the 30yr old with mortgage and 2 kids who decides to career change.
For the last 3 yearsish I have been saying don't bother trying - the industry has been brutal to Wannabes in this time. Now things ARE changing. Its time to enter the fray.
I love the job. I hate the fact I am working all this bank holiday weekend, that I have gone to bed after Eastenders all this week, that I have to worry about an annual line check v soon, that I can't go to a mates stage debut tomorrow night as I'm somewhere between here and Alicante.
But I wouldn't do anything else because its a real job - moving x100 people from A to B. Because there is very little management bull****e, because there are no meetings no workshops and no politics. You only work with professionals, you get paid OK and every day there is something a little different and you learn something new. You are sometimes a little scared at work instead of always bored. You sometimes see something or do something fairly unusual.
It beats a lot of jobs hands down. It by no means beats them all. I - like most pilots - think a short lucrative career in the City followed by flying some light aircraft for fun would be preferable.
But hey - life is not a dress rehersal nor is it a competition.
Good luck, yes - on balance - it IS worth it (still).
Cheers
WWW
I spent the first half of my 20's in Uni/deskjob wanting to be a pilot. I spent the second half of my 20's being a pilot.
As I approach my 30th birthday I am able to look back and say quite honestly that the latter years were better than the former. Not that I didn't enjoy either.
Its just, if you KNOW you have to do something, then do it. Elsewise you'll become bitter about not trying and nagged by What Ifs. It will be a risk and a gamble - I was luck at 25 I had no responsibilites and therefore could treat it as a big adventure. I have the uptmost respect for the 30yr old with mortgage and 2 kids who decides to career change.
For the last 3 yearsish I have been saying don't bother trying - the industry has been brutal to Wannabes in this time. Now things ARE changing. Its time to enter the fray.
I love the job. I hate the fact I am working all this bank holiday weekend, that I have gone to bed after Eastenders all this week, that I have to worry about an annual line check v soon, that I can't go to a mates stage debut tomorrow night as I'm somewhere between here and Alicante.
But I wouldn't do anything else because its a real job - moving x100 people from A to B. Because there is very little management bull****e, because there are no meetings no workshops and no politics. You only work with professionals, you get paid OK and every day there is something a little different and you learn something new. You are sometimes a little scared at work instead of always bored. You sometimes see something or do something fairly unusual.
It beats a lot of jobs hands down. It by no means beats them all. I - like most pilots - think a short lucrative career in the City followed by flying some light aircraft for fun would be preferable.
But hey - life is not a dress rehersal nor is it a competition.
Good luck, yes - on balance - it IS worth it (still).
Cheers
WWW
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Scroggs, from where you are now in your Airbus/Boeing, if you didn't get your training paid for you, would you still be prepared to go back and splash out £50-£70k on licences for your current lifestyle??
If I didn't have a family that will need financial support until I'm around 65, I would have stayed in the military - and continued to really enjoy my flying!
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This undermines Pprune
I haven't read all eight pages of this thread, and you can call me naive, but for those of us who use Pprune openly and honestly to help our fellow aviators and wannabes, the potential that this is all a hoax to sway opinion for politics or entertainment really undermines the positives of Pprune. I don't know how you resolve it, but the feeling it leaves me with is that I want to get back to the good old days when I ignored the site completely and trusted no-one!
Think I might get back to the ATC boards where everything is perfect!
Think I might get back to the ATC boards where everything is perfect!
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Ye gods ..........here we are professional guys with quite a number of years of experience in this business and still people don't believe what we are telling them. Well of course that is your right I guess. Incidently hanging about in traffic jams is not confined just to desk bound workers. It takes me one and half hours motorway driving each day to get to the airport. Can't keep moving house each time I am allocated a new base. It appears the company I work for doesn't feel it necessary to even pay reasonable re-location costs. I won't mention what they offer here as you wouldn't believe it. But I see the rose-coloured spectacles are still very much in evidence. This isn't a wind-up guys this is the real world.
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Straightandlevel80kts wrote:
What planet are you on? 'A hoax to sway opinion for politics or entertainment'? Do you really think that people like Rob, WWW and I (not to mention deathcruzer) would waste our time posting here to give you guys a heads up on the real for entertainment? Whose, exactly?
If you want sweetness and light, and nice stories to send you to sleep at night with your Air2000 teddy bear, stick to the FTO's or the airlines' websites. If you want the truth, you'll only get it here. Now go back and read all eight (six on my computer) pages of this thread, and don't make any further comment until you have.
Scroggs
I haven't read all eight pages of this thread, and you can call me naive, but for those of us who use Pprune openly and honestly to help our fellow aviators and wannabes, the potential that this is all a hoax to sway opinion for politics or entertainment really undermines the positives of Pprune. I don't know how you resolve it, but the feeling it leaves me with is that I want to get back to the good old days when I ignored the site completely and trusted no-one!
If you want sweetness and light, and nice stories to send you to sleep at night with your Air2000 teddy bear, stick to the FTO's or the airlines' websites. If you want the truth, you'll only get it here. Now go back and read all eight (six on my computer) pages of this thread, and don't make any further comment until you have.
Scroggs
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you are right !
I think most of us (wannabes) are so sure of what they know about the aeronautical world that just don't even consider to be wrong .
I whant to really thank Rob, WWW, scroggs and deathcruzer for spending their time trying to open our eyes .
pls keep posting !!
I whant to really thank Rob, WWW, scroggs and deathcruzer for spending their time trying to open our eyes .
pls keep posting !!
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Deathcruzer.. just coz it doesn't suit you , doesn't mean it doesn't suit anyone.
Thanks for your insight, but i don't think (most) people are ignoring the wise words that you and others are providing.
And if peeps don't believe you...?... then there is no help for them...
Thanks for your insight, but i don't think (most) people are ignoring the wise words that you and others are providing.
And if peeps don't believe you...?... then there is no help for them...
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Wow, it took me a while to get through all the reactions in this thread and I have to say I didn't get out of it what I hoped I would. It felt like I was experiencing a tug-of-war between wannabees and those who have experience.
I am a wannabe, turning 39 this year and just finished my CPL and CMEIR in New Zealand. After having been in a succesfull career for a long time making good money I decided if I wanted to do this I need to do it now. It has been a dream for a long time and I have thought about it for a long time (too long). Many people have told me they respect me for doing it and that they would love to something similar but don't have the guts but I know they secretly thought I was absolutely crazy.
Well now my bank account looks a lot unhealthier than it did 18 months back and my partner has followed me to NZ and is not happy here so we are going to leave preferably to a place where there might be better prospects for a flying career. Her feelings about the future are pretty much the same as mine: very very very very unsure but we are both commited to make this (and our relationship) work. I guess I'll try and get a job in my old profession to get the financial situation back on track and in the meantime look around for a flying job to get those hours up to a level at which my chances of getting a reasonable job are realistic.
Yep, it's all true. It has been hard work, frustrating, demoralizing, finacially draining, relationship destructing, depressing and the future seems bleak.........but I am glad I did it!! I will never have to look back and wish I had and I will always be able to fly and I love to do that, even if it will only be as a hobby.
Nope, I DO NOT romanticise being a pilot. I think it will appeal to me (no I don't know for sure because I haven't had the chance to be one yet) simply because I love flying. Sure, I know every job has it's ups and downs and everything can become a rut if you let it. I think you have to look at the total package (money, future career, fringe benefits etc.) and try to work out if it is what you want and if it can keep you satisfied without blinding yourself by one or two aspects like money or status.
Now to get to the point I realy wanted to make.
I think I am a little dissapointed that after reading the whole tread I am not much wiser. I started reading this thread in the hope I would find some information on how to proceed. After all you are giving information about reasons for "doing or not doing". I have read reasons for "not doing" but not many reasons for "doing" and if you decide "to do" what is the best way to go about it.
It seems there is a lot of experience out there. I understand that the guys from the start were in a similar situation to me and I would realy love to learn from their experiences.
Maybe this is the wrong thread for my trail of thought, I'm not sure. And please don't shoot me for making mistakes in English because it's not my first language.
I think this site is a fantastic idea and I hope people will continue to share their insights in the industry and their experience.
I am a wannabe, turning 39 this year and just finished my CPL and CMEIR in New Zealand. After having been in a succesfull career for a long time making good money I decided if I wanted to do this I need to do it now. It has been a dream for a long time and I have thought about it for a long time (too long). Many people have told me they respect me for doing it and that they would love to something similar but don't have the guts but I know they secretly thought I was absolutely crazy.
Well now my bank account looks a lot unhealthier than it did 18 months back and my partner has followed me to NZ and is not happy here so we are going to leave preferably to a place where there might be better prospects for a flying career. Her feelings about the future are pretty much the same as mine: very very very very unsure but we are both commited to make this (and our relationship) work. I guess I'll try and get a job in my old profession to get the financial situation back on track and in the meantime look around for a flying job to get those hours up to a level at which my chances of getting a reasonable job are realistic.
Yep, it's all true. It has been hard work, frustrating, demoralizing, finacially draining, relationship destructing, depressing and the future seems bleak.........but I am glad I did it!! I will never have to look back and wish I had and I will always be able to fly and I love to do that, even if it will only be as a hobby.
Nope, I DO NOT romanticise being a pilot. I think it will appeal to me (no I don't know for sure because I haven't had the chance to be one yet) simply because I love flying. Sure, I know every job has it's ups and downs and everything can become a rut if you let it. I think you have to look at the total package (money, future career, fringe benefits etc.) and try to work out if it is what you want and if it can keep you satisfied without blinding yourself by one or two aspects like money or status.
Now to get to the point I realy wanted to make.
I think I am a little dissapointed that after reading the whole tread I am not much wiser. I started reading this thread in the hope I would find some information on how to proceed. After all you are giving information about reasons for "doing or not doing". I have read reasons for "not doing" but not many reasons for "doing" and if you decide "to do" what is the best way to go about it.
It seems there is a lot of experience out there. I understand that the guys from the start were in a similar situation to me and I would realy love to learn from their experiences.
Maybe this is the wrong thread for my trail of thought, I'm not sure. And please don't shoot me for making mistakes in English because it's not my first language.
I think this site is a fantastic idea and I hope people will continue to share their insights in the industry and their experience.