Why Do We Do It?

[g-mady]

I am about to undertake my ATPL(H) exams, am studying to a point that cannot be described but only understood by those who have done it! I continue to pump vast sums of money into this "lifestyle" that i cannot even see the end point of yet!
EG £480 spent on one lot of exams recently!

Then I come onto the terrific forum which is great but scares the h ell out of me when pilots say well never earn much because people are willing for FREE!!!
Some chap posted the other day with a picture "WILL FLY FOR FOOD"!!!

So why do we do it?

I can think of about 4 undescribable moments in a helicopter that even now must be driving me to do what in any other field/career would be mad.

Anybody else know what im on about???

MADY

[Gerhardt]

So you won't be sitting in an office, unmotivated by your work, every day until you're 70 years of age. As much effort as you're exerting and as much money as you are spending I'm still envious.

There are those that do and those that don't. You and most of the other folks here are doers. I'm not, as I'm married with two small children and just fly for fun. But I also enjoy reading the postings here about pilots struggling through their training and other hurdles that arise. If it were easy and cheap you would have a lot more competition, so be glad that it is not. One day you'll look back on your training days with fondness.

[Camp Freddie]

hey g-mady,

I know exactly what you mean.

some years ago I spent a whole winter studying for the navs and techs as they were in them days, having been a PPL instructor for a while it was the next logical step , everyone used to say "when you going to get your commercials?" and the size of the task daunted me.

furthermore the prospects were crap, offshore werent hiring at all for a few years, and onshore charter was sporadic and the company i was with promised me nothing and really had nothing to give.

so I spent vast amounts of money on commercial flight training and kept thinking whats the point nothing will change, then the blasted exams almost killed me and when i finally passed the commercial flight tests, guess what !absolutely nothing changed, i just carried on in my dreadful rut of PPL flight instruction which if done to excess can be soul destroying.

the shiny new licence was much harder to get than anticipated and more expensive and i was sure the whole think was a expensive disaster.

but move forward a few years and now most days I fly an S76, and get paid properly, so it eventually all worked out, I am sure it will for you too.

"all good things to those that wait" (hopefully)

regards

CF

[ascj]

Why indeed, Why would you want to do any thing else? Although we see people winging about pay rates and some consider quitting due to the danger involved. I believe it is only as dangerous as we want to make it (most accidents are pilot error) and believe me there are plenty of industries out there that work much harder than us for a whole lot less money. Is there any other industry that is as well respected from the general population (definitely not plank drivers, trust me i had a bad experience when i was mistaken for one. ) whilst being able to work in as many diferen't environments, countries, industries within the industry (tourism, training, logging, VIP, Medical, Mustering.. the list goes on.) And besides weve got the best office view of them all.

Cheers ascj

[papa68]

G'day all,

I think the actual pros and cons of the job have probably been hammered out on plenty of occasions in this forum. It's true that this game has more than it's fair share of both and I feel very priviledged that the upside has always outweighed the downside in my own personal experience.

What I think is well worth considering is that things easily achieved are rarely valued, either by one's own self or by others.

The fact that not just anyone can step into the role of pilot (in any capacity) gives the position an inherent value that often salaries etc don't reflect. The same goes for any profession that requires hard work and certain skill sets. Within the broader community, doctors, lawyers (well... maybe not lawyers), architects and so on enjoy a certain amount of kudos because of the attributes required to perform those duties. Likewise, pilots enjoy a certain amount of kudos because of the specific skills they bring to their jobs.

Being a well respected member of the community because of the work you do is I feel a very compelling reason for many aspiring pilots, apart from the obvious things mentioned above. If the job was easy, cheap and required very few skill sets outside the norm, everyone would be doing it and very little value would be attached to it.

P68

Please note - no offence was intended to the lawyers out there (oh, who am I kidding?!??)

[NickLappos]

There are countries where there is NO charge for the exam, let alone a userous one like 480 pounds! All that and the need for Morse code, too!

[g-mady]

See,

I was going to post a reply - a thank you to you all for remindning me why we do it, and bringing me down to earth - so thanks anyway



... its just that with a single post NickLappos brings me crashing down to earth with a reminder of the good old CAA!

"Life - Put it in to get it out" i guess...

MADY

[mongoose237]

There are countries where there is NO charge for the exam, let alone a userous one like 480 pounds! All that and the need for Morse code, too!

You're a little bit too cheap for the CAA these days, Nick - try £691
But Morse code is thankfully gone



Camp Freddie sums up a lot of people's experiences in the UK very well.

Stick at it and with a bit of luck you can make it - just remember that those that didn't probably won't be posting their experiences on a professional helicopter pilots' forum, though

[TheFlyingSquirrel]

Nick, Nick ,Nick, Nick ,Nick !! I keep telling you ! They don't do Morse no more !!