Is being an Airline pilot still a fun job?
Am retired from airline flying now. Generally I thoroughly enjoyed my career but am also relieved to be away from the industry.
I am now doing some light aircraft instructing which I have done on and off for many years. I can honestly say this is some of the most enjoyable flying for me as where I teach is a flying club so subject to some basic rules you can run things the way you want and you meet a lot of interesting people who want to learn to fly. It's also very satisfying when you see students progressing especially those who are not naturals but stick at it.
Given me a half mill map going cross country to a minor airfield on a nice day in a light aircraft and I'm a happy man.
I am now doing some light aircraft instructing which I have done on and off for many years. I can honestly say this is some of the most enjoyable flying for me as where I teach is a flying club so subject to some basic rules you can run things the way you want and you meet a lot of interesting people who want to learn to fly. It's also very satisfying when you see students progressing especially those who are not naturals but stick at it.
Given me a half mill map going cross country to a minor airfield on a nice day in a light aircraft and I'm a happy man.
de minimus non curat lex
Ignore LST COMMENTS. He reminds me of a Second World War pilot I knew who kept on flying (in civilian flying) post 1945.
Those threads after my previous comments, I can fully relate to, and are to my mind, valid.
Yes, landing at LSI RW 33 is a great experience. Eye balling it in, levelling the wings at 100ft with a downward slope is a special experience.
My only advice was to cross abeam the Lighthouse at 600 FT. Do that and you are in the grove.
As a generalisation ~ the bigger the beastie the less fun you will have. Having said that, the learning experience can be very enjoyable. Better than working in an office any day.
Those threads after my previous comments, I can fully relate to, and are to my mind, valid.
Yes, landing at LSI RW 33 is a great experience. Eye balling it in, levelling the wings at 100ft with a downward slope is a special experience.
My only advice was to cross abeam the Lighthouse at 600 FT. Do that and you are in the grove.
As a generalisation ~ the bigger the beastie the less fun you will have. Having said that, the learning experience can be very enjoyable. Better than working in an office any day.
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Please keep in mind this is a highly subjective opinion. In all honesty, I think the majority of people haven't chosen their career paths well. If you have any doubts then simply don't start! Another consideration to keep in mind is family life. If this isn't of paramount importance and your dead set on on being a pilot, go for it!
Also ask yourself what you would do otherwise.
I'm a medical doctor (a miserable profession in the UK with huge rates of dissatisfaction and emigration at the moment) so meet lots of people every day.
A disturbing trend at the moment is that almost everybody hates their jobs. 'I used to love being a postmistress, but these last few years I couldn't wait to retire'; 'The university is utterly toxic'... and so on.
I'm not sure what's behind all this? Perhaps globalisation leading to hypercompetitive 'winner takes all' markets. Perhaps automation meaning that those who have jobs have to work harder to keep them. Perhaps managerialism stifling initiative and autonomy.
It's very hard, given one's inevitably limited experience, to judge where the grass lies greener.
I'm a medical doctor (a miserable profession in the UK with huge rates of dissatisfaction and emigration at the moment) so meet lots of people every day.
A disturbing trend at the moment is that almost everybody hates their jobs. 'I used to love being a postmistress, but these last few years I couldn't wait to retire'; 'The university is utterly toxic'... and so on.
I'm not sure what's behind all this? Perhaps globalisation leading to hypercompetitive 'winner takes all' markets. Perhaps automation meaning that those who have jobs have to work harder to keep them. Perhaps managerialism stifling initiative and autonomy.
It's very hard, given one's inevitably limited experience, to judge where the grass lies greener.
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Do I know you parkfell, what did I ever do to you? Did I say something particularly upsetting to you just there? Did I make you go around in Sumburgh one day or something?
FWIW I agree with the other posters, the most fun flying I ever did was in the Navajo doing single crew air ambulance ops into remote strips in New Zealand, and flying turboprops around the Scottish islands.
Now I'm long haul with an Asian major and yeah it's boring as bat**** by comparison, but your priorities change when you've got a family etc, so you just kind of suck it up and do it and take the money and post on pprune about how much fun you had in the good old days
FWIW I agree with the other posters, the most fun flying I ever did was in the Navajo doing single crew air ambulance ops into remote strips in New Zealand, and flying turboprops around the Scottish islands.
Now I'm long haul with an Asian major and yeah it's boring as bat**** by comparison, but your priorities change when you've got a family etc, so you just kind of suck it up and do it and take the money and post on pprune about how much fun you had in the good old days
