Is airline flying really for you??
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 776
Likes: 0
From: In my own little world
Daydreamer,
Why not go and try out a REAL flight sim and then see how you like it. It will of course be a lot more expensive than MS FS at home, but will be a damn sight cheaper than doing all the training then finding out you don't like it and will give you a more realistic insight than the ones you have been using.
I'd also suggest to other wannabe's to spend a few hundred quid on a sim session in a full motion sim to see if you really do enjoy it before wasting thousands training to do a job only later to find you don't like it.
I've been in the industry for quite a while now on the ground and have jumpseated alot in the days when it was allowed and still went and had a session in a sim just after my PPL to see if it was worth continuing, and for me I think it was.
Why not go and try out a REAL flight sim and then see how you like it. It will of course be a lot more expensive than MS FS at home, but will be a damn sight cheaper than doing all the training then finding out you don't like it and will give you a more realistic insight than the ones you have been using.
I'd also suggest to other wannabe's to spend a few hundred quid on a sim session in a full motion sim to see if you really do enjoy it before wasting thousands training to do a job only later to find you don't like it.
I've been in the industry for quite a while now on the ground and have jumpseated alot in the days when it was allowed and still went and had a session in a sim just after my PPL to see if it was worth continuing, and for me I think it was.
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 290
From: self isolating
haha, cockpit videos are boring as hell. Even sitting in the jumpseat I pick up a newspaper and start reading.
But holy !!!!, when I am in the right hand seat of an A320, there is NOTHING, NOTHING I would rather be doing. I love the job, I love (most) the people I work with, I love the lifestyle. Sure, maybe I will grow out of it and look for something else later, who knows, but for now, HELL YEAH!
You really need to judge it on something else other than MS Flight Sim and a couple of youtube videos.
But holy !!!!, when I am in the right hand seat of an A320, there is NOTHING, NOTHING I would rather be doing. I love the job, I love (most) the people I work with, I love the lifestyle. Sure, maybe I will grow out of it and look for something else later, who knows, but for now, HELL YEAH!
You really need to judge it on something else other than MS Flight Sim and a couple of youtube videos.
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
From: Tralfamadore
Flying versus office hell?
I spent two years on a scheduled run. I had all the plates memorized, all the frequencies, every day was the same, except for freezing rain days.
It really is soul-sapping to do this.
I work charter now in a jet. Staying awake all night is tough, but I like the work and the pay is liveable. The situation changes every day. I would suggest going for it anyway. You open the door to possibilities you would never have seen.
One final thot: It's work. It's not supposed to be fun all the time. But when I think of that cubicle hellhole I did temp-work in to pay for flying, there is no contest. I'll dig ditches before I do that again. Good luck.
It really is soul-sapping to do this.
I work charter now in a jet. Staying awake all night is tough, but I like the work and the pay is liveable. The situation changes every day. I would suggest going for it anyway. You open the door to possibilities you would never have seen.
One final thot: It's work. It's not supposed to be fun all the time. But when I think of that cubicle hellhole I did temp-work in to pay for flying, there is no contest. I'll dig ditches before I do that again. Good luck.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,122
Likes: 0
From: Neither Here Nor There
I came into commercial aviation to be a FI, which is what I do now, full time.
I have never been interested in airline flying as I also felt I would be bored.
But the other day I was asked to do a freebie favour for a couple of friends of the boss, to give them a lift in one of our Senecas and to take a new CPL/IR student along for the ride.
The timetable was tight as the destination airport closed in 1 hour and the boss turned up late to let me in to the office to get my gear and plan the flight, which meant 75% power at low level to avoid the higher, stronger headwinds and negotiation with ATC for a direct route rather than the prescribed VFR routes in this neck of the woods and subtle positioning for a straight in approach after a max range call to the destination airport so they would know we are coming in and keep the doors open that few minutes longer, should we be delayed beyond 'close o'clock'. In a nutshell, all thinking on my feet to get the job done. The student became a very occupied "FO", assisting with the 'workload' which she loved as it gave the flight a sense of purpose for her. We made it with 2 minutes to spare and on the return leg the student got to fly back for the experience. Results all around!
Okay, so this was not airline flying by any stretch of the imagination but it gave me (and her) a small taste of what corporate flying is all about and there is a lot more to Commercial Air Transport than big shiny jets full of p***ed up
, whining 
, puking 
Brits on their way home from Costa del Pistalot.
2close
I have never been interested in airline flying as I also felt I would be bored.
But the other day I was asked to do a freebie favour for a couple of friends of the boss, to give them a lift in one of our Senecas and to take a new CPL/IR student along for the ride.
The timetable was tight as the destination airport closed in 1 hour and the boss turned up late to let me in to the office to get my gear and plan the flight, which meant 75% power at low level to avoid the higher, stronger headwinds and negotiation with ATC for a direct route rather than the prescribed VFR routes in this neck of the woods and subtle positioning for a straight in approach after a max range call to the destination airport so they would know we are coming in and keep the doors open that few minutes longer, should we be delayed beyond 'close o'clock'. In a nutshell, all thinking on my feet to get the job done. The student became a very occupied "FO", assisting with the 'workload' which she loved as it gave the flight a sense of purpose for her. We made it with 2 minutes to spare and on the return leg the student got to fly back for the experience. Results all around!
Okay, so this was not airline flying by any stretch of the imagination but it gave me (and her) a small taste of what corporate flying is all about and there is a lot more to Commercial Air Transport than big shiny jets full of p***ed up
, whining , puking Brits on their way home from Costa del Pistalot.2close
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
From: Other side of the world.
Hi,
To pursue any career, you need to have the passion, involvement and determination.
If you think MS Flight Simulator made you feel that this isnt the right career option for you, then I am sure once you play some good first person shooter like halo, you would want to be Master Chief. Good Luck with saving the Planet
I have been doing this for 2 years now and Every single day, I step out of the Cockpit, I just wish that it would be tomorrow, so I can get back up there again.
Good Luck and I hope you find something much much more interesting to do but according to me or most of the PPruners here, I am sure Flying is the best thing we have ever done in our lives
FFP
To pursue any career, you need to have the passion, involvement and determination.
If you think MS Flight Simulator made you feel that this isnt the right career option for you, then I am sure once you play some good first person shooter like halo, you would want to be Master Chief. Good Luck with saving the Planet
I have been doing this for 2 years now and Every single day, I step out of the Cockpit, I just wish that it would be tomorrow, so I can get back up there again.
Good Luck and I hope you find something much much more interesting to do but according to me or most of the PPruners here, I am sure Flying is the best thing we have ever done in our lives
FFP
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,420
Likes: 1
From: AEP
Airline flying ok... depends what kind...
Many different kind of airlines...
Quite a difference between commuter flights and long haul international.
With one you would do 15 or 20 landings weekly, with the other 3 or 4 monthly.
Cargo or passengers, you might hate one and love the other.
Would hate to fly a "9 to 5" - 5 days a week roster...
Send me out for 10-15 days, then I can have vacations when home for 10 days.
xxx
Funny is, when I was a teenager, I wanted to be a fighter pilot.
No airline flying interested me... I wanted to be at Mach 2 and 55,000 ft.
I left the military as soon as I could to go with an airline.
Initially, I liked short haul. Got quickly tired of that.
I flew long haul for most of my career. My favorite is cargo.
Did contract 6 month with Cargolux, and 3 month with MK... were the best flying ever.
What you like - and what I like is completely different.
I love Chopin, you like hip-hop and rap...
xxx
Happy contrails
Quite a difference between commuter flights and long haul international.
With one you would do 15 or 20 landings weekly, with the other 3 or 4 monthly.
Cargo or passengers, you might hate one and love the other.
Would hate to fly a "9 to 5" - 5 days a week roster...
Send me out for 10-15 days, then I can have vacations when home for 10 days.
xxx
Funny is, when I was a teenager, I wanted to be a fighter pilot.
No airline flying interested me... I wanted to be at Mach 2 and 55,000 ft.
I left the military as soon as I could to go with an airline.
Initially, I liked short haul. Got quickly tired of that.
I flew long haul for most of my career. My favorite is cargo.
Did contract 6 month with Cargolux, and 3 month with MK... were the best flying ever.
What you like - and what I like is completely different.
I love Chopin, you like hip-hop and rap...
xxx
Happy contrails
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
From: UK
How about the other way round, what if I find cockpit videos interesting, though mostly as window into what a real cockpit is, what if I do find some aspects of flight sim interesting, does that necessarily mean an Airline job is for me? I'm not sure either, but I'm probably going to go down the same route, uni, then see where I go from there, but if anything, the more I learn about Airline flying the more I love it. Sat in the cruise, yeah, not so much flying to do, but I can get endless fun pocking arround into systems, same thing every day, well, I'd say that flying anyhting is more varied than office work, and god forbid I ever end up in Tescos, that is something that I would call mind-numbing, at least with flying the view out the window changes. Even the few times I've visted a cockpit on the ground, I have loved it, and want nothing more than to return to a cockpit. Yeah, sure, I loved the flying in the trial flight I did, but I loved even more the three or four times I've visted a cockpit, even though the last few times the crew seemed knackered and unhappy (probably cos of me), I still loved just looking at the screens and systems, taking in something so different to a "normal life". No matter what anybody tells me, I know flying an Airliner may not be the wisest choice, may not pay the best, may not give the best life, but dammit, I want to be there, to do something different to an office job, where I rarely venture further than 50 miles from my home, never mind half way across the world. I may be being naive about this, but despite everything I see and hear, despite the negatives that people talk about, I can't help thinking that this really is where I want to go, it just annoys me so much when people who seem to have barely even a fraction of my passion get a leg-up into training by rich relatives, and I can't help thinking that these people are the ones who will be so negative in a few years, and although I can't tell if I will enjoy it, or hate it with a passion, there is no way I can go through life without trying, else I will be for ever haunted by "what if".
Sorry if I rambled on a bit, and if it didn't make any sense, but I felt like I had to comment.
Sorry if I rambled on a bit, and if it didn't make any sense, but I felt like I had to comment.
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 324
Likes: 0
From: UK
Okay, so this was not airline flying by any stretch of the imagination but it gave me (and her) a small taste of what corporate flying is all about and there is a lot more to Commercial Air Transport than big shiny jets full of p***ed up , whining , puking Brits on their way home from Costa del Pistalot.
I've flown for the Coastguard, Air taxi etc but airlines flying isn't easy boring crap that so often gets spouted by those who've never done it. Try it and tell me what you think after you've done it on a Winter's night. Whatever/ whoever you're carrying even if it's Britain's finest bears no relation in how easy it is to the job of bring the ship safely to Earth.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,122
Likes: 0
From: Neither Here Nor There
I agree with you, Wireless, the point about 'big shiny jets... pukin' Brits...yada yada' was that this is the concept that some people do have about CAT, which you allude to yourself. Obviously, my attempt at humour fell short of the mark.............apologies to anyone taking offence - none was meant.
I have flown up front trans-atlantic and into LHR so I am aware that there is a lot more to flying CAT than simply turning up at LGW, picking up the papers and the keys to the A340, jumping in, checking you've got enough motion lotion to get to the sunshine, pressing a few buttons on the FMS, wishing the pax a happy holiday and repeating for the about turn (except informing the pax that it will be cold, cloudy and pi**ing down in the UK on arrival
). No, I do know that there is a hell of a lot more to it than that.
There are many facets to CAT, be it Charter, Schedule, Air Taxi, Cargo, etc., each with its own challenges and rewards and there should always be one to satisfy even the most determined of critics.
One thing in life is an absolute certainty, you never know until you try and sitting, frustrated, on the sidelines doesn't achieve anything.
Remember that reading these pages you are only gaining the opinions of a small sample of the aircrew population. To some it is a joy (me!), to others a privilege (me again!) but to some it is just a job with the routine that goes with any job at some point or other (I challenge even the most starry eyed of airline pilots to state with absolute conviction that every day has been an absolute joy with total job satisfaction - we are all human!).......and when you do read these pages remember it is usually the critics that are more vocal than the content.
So I would say to anyone who hasn't tried it, don't write it off until you have far more idea of what is actually involved (particularly on the basis of a small sample of opinions and a PC based flight sim).
TTFN
2close
I have flown up front trans-atlantic and into LHR so I am aware that there is a lot more to flying CAT than simply turning up at LGW, picking up the papers and the keys to the A340, jumping in, checking you've got enough motion lotion to get to the sunshine, pressing a few buttons on the FMS, wishing the pax a happy holiday and repeating for the about turn (except informing the pax that it will be cold, cloudy and pi**ing down in the UK on arrival
). No, I do know that there is a hell of a lot more to it than that.There are many facets to CAT, be it Charter, Schedule, Air Taxi, Cargo, etc., each with its own challenges and rewards and there should always be one to satisfy even the most determined of critics.
One thing in life is an absolute certainty, you never know until you try and sitting, frustrated, on the sidelines doesn't achieve anything.
Remember that reading these pages you are only gaining the opinions of a small sample of the aircrew population. To some it is a joy (me!), to others a privilege (me again!) but to some it is just a job with the routine that goes with any job at some point or other (I challenge even the most starry eyed of airline pilots to state with absolute conviction that every day has been an absolute joy with total job satisfaction - we are all human!).......and when you do read these pages remember it is usually the critics that are more vocal than the content.
So I would say to anyone who hasn't tried it, don't write it off until you have far more idea of what is actually involved (particularly on the basis of a small sample of opinions and a PC based flight sim).
TTFN
2close
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
From: Cloud 9
This has been a very interesting thread. My take is that if you don't find ALL aspects of flying interesting then some parts of it will bore you.
Flying a light aircraft is challenging because you are operating single crew with no automatics or navigation systems to help with your situational awareness. You are more at the mercy of the elements (generally speaking) and any errors that occur will be down to you, with little influence from external factors.
Flying "air taxi" is challenging because, although some of the above factors have been mitigated, commercial demands and increased safety requirements bring more pressure to bear. On top of this you are completely responsible for all aspects of the operation when away from base and this can be demanding and very time consuming.
Flying short haul turboprops is challenging because you are now required to operate to a strict set of standard operating procedures in an aircraft type far more complex than before whilst operating into much busier airspace time and time again in the course of a working day. Being part of a two crew operation may also be a new challenge.
Flying medium haul jets is challenging because you are now operating a very sophisticated aircraft into equally sophisticated airspace and over much greater distances dealing with more extreme weather than ever before. Decision making and problem solving skills become finely honed and you discover that more often than not people present you with the trickiest dilemmas not aeroplanes!
Flying long haul is challenging because these same demands are placed upon you but in situations where tiredness is a real factor. Basic flying skills may be eroded due to lack of "hands on" but you still fight to maintain the standards you know you are capable of. Even in the cruise you are constantly monitoring something, be it aircraft systems, fuel, the airspace you are in, whose airspace you will be in next, terrain awareness and possible emergency scenarios, suitable airfields should you need to divert, the weather at those airfields, en route weather/turbulence, the well being of the crew, of the passengers - then repeat.
In each of these scenarios there is a certain aspect of flying that is either hugely reduced or negated which is why I say if you don't find all aspects interesting then at some stage you will be bored.
These comments are aimed at the original poster in an attempt to demonstrate that if you love it enough then flying will NEVER be boring regardless of what kind of flying you are doing. I hope they achieve their purpose.
I've waffled on for far too long - sorry
Flying a light aircraft is challenging because you are operating single crew with no automatics or navigation systems to help with your situational awareness. You are more at the mercy of the elements (generally speaking) and any errors that occur will be down to you, with little influence from external factors.
Flying "air taxi" is challenging because, although some of the above factors have been mitigated, commercial demands and increased safety requirements bring more pressure to bear. On top of this you are completely responsible for all aspects of the operation when away from base and this can be demanding and very time consuming.
Flying short haul turboprops is challenging because you are now required to operate to a strict set of standard operating procedures in an aircraft type far more complex than before whilst operating into much busier airspace time and time again in the course of a working day. Being part of a two crew operation may also be a new challenge.
Flying medium haul jets is challenging because you are now operating a very sophisticated aircraft into equally sophisticated airspace and over much greater distances dealing with more extreme weather than ever before. Decision making and problem solving skills become finely honed and you discover that more often than not people present you with the trickiest dilemmas not aeroplanes!
Flying long haul is challenging because these same demands are placed upon you but in situations where tiredness is a real factor. Basic flying skills may be eroded due to lack of "hands on" but you still fight to maintain the standards you know you are capable of. Even in the cruise you are constantly monitoring something, be it aircraft systems, fuel, the airspace you are in, whose airspace you will be in next, terrain awareness and possible emergency scenarios, suitable airfields should you need to divert, the weather at those airfields, en route weather/turbulence, the well being of the crew, of the passengers - then repeat.
In each of these scenarios there is a certain aspect of flying that is either hugely reduced or negated which is why I say if you don't find all aspects interesting then at some stage you will be bored.
These comments are aimed at the original poster in an attempt to demonstrate that if you love it enough then flying will NEVER be boring regardless of what kind of flying you are doing. I hope they achieve their purpose.
I've waffled on for far too long - sorry
