Why do you 'wannabee'? - what inspires you?
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Thanks Twin Peaks, I thought I'd be in for a roasting when returning to this thread.
I still love my flying, I still fly vintage GA, and yes, opening up 80,000lbs of thrust on two RB211's still gives me a (short) thrill !!.
But at three in the morning, fighting to stay awake, with the latest company memo in my bag that tells me my life will be changed for the worse in some small way this week/month/year, then I wonder what I do it for.
Some years ago, a DanAir 727 Captain and I flew a Navajo as freelancers across the Irish sea on a newspaper run. As we looked at the stars, enjoyed the simplicity of our flying, we both agreed that if we could earn the same money for puddling around in GA, then we'd jack in jet flying tommorrow.
I still love my flying, I still fly vintage GA, and yes, opening up 80,000lbs of thrust on two RB211's still gives me a (short) thrill !!.
But at three in the morning, fighting to stay awake, with the latest company memo in my bag that tells me my life will be changed for the worse in some small way this week/month/year, then I wonder what I do it for.
Some years ago, a DanAir 727 Captain and I flew a Navajo as freelancers across the Irish sea on a newspaper run. As we looked at the stars, enjoyed the simplicity of our flying, we both agreed that if we could earn the same money for puddling around in GA, then we'd jack in jet flying tommorrow.
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Fair points made by both BB & TP. As a slightly more mature wannabe - well if you call 26 mature - I too can appreciate the reality of it all and realise that as you grow older you do get more cynical about things, but will you both tell us exactly how long it took for your thoughts to change?
Surely you must have felt some excitment everytime you took your seat behind the controls when you first started out flying commercially? Has your realism taken time to surface or was it evident after a year or so?
Thanks
Surely you must have felt some excitment everytime you took your seat behind the controls when you first started out flying commercially? Has your realism taken time to surface or was it evident after a year or so?
Thanks
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just thought i should throw in my views to this topic.
most of the reasons i HAVE to fly are listed already but still, i'll add a couple of words.
- i watch a 747 take off and i think 'wow, its a miricle that thing ever got off the ground' i guess i wanna perform that miracle every day - and get paid for it !!!!
- the views you get from the office window are second to none, i remember travelling as a passenger on a 767 and watching the sun rise over the sea of clouds, my god - i wish i was there
and many other reasons including the vast paycheques!!!
but i'd probably, no definately, do the job for next to nothing.
cheers Darren for this thread- some great material here
to the archives please WWW!!!
Rodney
[This message has been edited by Rod Eddington (edited 23 May 2000).]
most of the reasons i HAVE to fly are listed already but still, i'll add a couple of words.
- i watch a 747 take off and i think 'wow, its a miricle that thing ever got off the ground' i guess i wanna perform that miracle every day - and get paid for it !!!!
- the views you get from the office window are second to none, i remember travelling as a passenger on a 767 and watching the sun rise over the sea of clouds, my god - i wish i was there
and many other reasons including the vast paycheques!!!
but i'd probably, no definately, do the job for next to nothing.cheers Darren for this thread- some great material here
to the archives please WWW!!!
Rodney
[This message has been edited by Rod Eddington (edited 23 May 2000).]
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I was motivated by the fact that I had done 160 parachute jumps and it was getting really scary. Each time I flew I wanted to land without jumping out.
Funny thing is, I love the freedom of being able to fly where I like and at any attitude I like. Sure I'd love to fly a 747, but I don't want to be constricted by fixed times and destinations. Fly upside down I say. Pull G.
P.S. As this is my first post, just to let you know, I spend all day at 700 feet overlooking EGLC. If anyone wants a nowcast, I'll be very happy to oblige.
Funny thing is, I love the freedom of being able to fly where I like and at any attitude I like. Sure I'd love to fly a 747, but I don't want to be constricted by fixed times and destinations. Fly upside down I say. Pull G.
P.S. As this is my first post, just to let you know, I spend all day at 700 feet overlooking EGLC. If anyone wants a nowcast, I'll be very happy to oblige.
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hi there folks. I am new around here. I was just surfing to find out how to become a pilot. I have always dreamed about it but I never tried to find out how to become one untill now.
I read all those posts in chronological order and I must say I was getting a bit worried by all the "flying is the best" "I love flying" posts. I was saying "what is goin on here!" how can any job be soo good. Then I read boeingboys post. And I must say I saw the truth in it. I feel so sad for him because he has lost his dream...or his dream has become a nightmare. How can anyone dislike life so much.
I am still considering flying. But I will be more cautious about entering this profession. Oh by the way were any of the people that posted female. A lot of yee had macho names and I got the feeling that most of you were male.
So concludes my first post.
I will be happy to be contradicted, to be told to shut my big mouth or vice versa.
bye and it was really nice to read about dreams
I read all those posts in chronological order and I must say I was getting a bit worried by all the "flying is the best" "I love flying" posts. I was saying "what is goin on here!" how can any job be soo good. Then I read boeingboys post. And I must say I saw the truth in it. I feel so sad for him because he has lost his dream...or his dream has become a nightmare. How can anyone dislike life so much.
I am still considering flying. But I will be more cautious about entering this profession. Oh by the way were any of the people that posted female. A lot of yee had macho names and I got the feeling that most of you were male.
So concludes my first post.
I will be happy to be contradicted, to be told to shut my big mouth or vice versa.
bye and it was really nice to read about dreams
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Wonderbug - Throw caution to the wind. Go fly. Don't let ANYTHING get in you way. If it turns into a nightmare you would at least have had the best time of your life getting to that point. Or take up aerobatics instead. Then you'll never be sad - except when earthbound.
Yep - there are plenty of women in aviation. Why did you want to know?
Yep - there are plenty of women in aviation. Why did you want to know?
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Thanks BB and TwinPeaks for throwing some reality onto the thread.
I can see how after 30 years the job is not what you once percieved it to be or the most comfortable one either.What I must say is that everywhere in life their is always someone worse off than you and always people with problems in their lives, even the Queen has things in her life that She wishes She hadn't!
It sure is alot of money to spend to get there but for most it's the only job they feel they HAVE to do.I couldn't live with myself if I thought, well sod it I could spend my dosh on lot's more things.If you give it a go at least you can say, well I tried.You will live your life forever thinking, "what if?" if you don't and that must be murder!
Trying to stay awake at 0400hrs stacking shelves in a supermarket on £6 an hour must be alot harder and infinetly more boring!
Sorry if this post sounds like I'm having a go but it upsets me to see someone soooo much better off than myself doing a profession that I'm workin' my ass off to be able to get into, moaning.
Put things into perspective.
There aren't many people around who can say they DON'T regret the career choices they made x years ago, in fact I've never met anyone who says they're happy with their lot.Fact of life you know!We always want things to be better don't we?
Thanks again for your honesty and remember that you are in a very privilaged position, admired by many(still,BB!).
Thanks for the time.
[This message has been edited by spanky de brest (edited 24 May 2000).]
I can see how after 30 years the job is not what you once percieved it to be or the most comfortable one either.What I must say is that everywhere in life their is always someone worse off than you and always people with problems in their lives, even the Queen has things in her life that She wishes She hadn't!
It sure is alot of money to spend to get there but for most it's the only job they feel they HAVE to do.I couldn't live with myself if I thought, well sod it I could spend my dosh on lot's more things.If you give it a go at least you can say, well I tried.You will live your life forever thinking, "what if?" if you don't and that must be murder!
Trying to stay awake at 0400hrs stacking shelves in a supermarket on £6 an hour must be alot harder and infinetly more boring!
Sorry if this post sounds like I'm having a go but it upsets me to see someone soooo much better off than myself doing a profession that I'm workin' my ass off to be able to get into, moaning.
Put things into perspective.
There aren't many people around who can say they DON'T regret the career choices they made x years ago, in fact I've never met anyone who says they're happy with their lot.Fact of life you know!We always want things to be better don't we?
Thanks again for your honesty and remember that you are in a very privilaged position, admired by many(still,BB!).
Thanks for the time.
[This message has been edited by spanky de brest (edited 24 May 2000).]
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Wonderbug & Spanky.
Thanks for your comments, but before the world writes me down as a manic depressive I wish to assure you that I lead a very happy existance in many ways.
A couple of points, firstly I came up the self improver route, washed airplanes, answered phones, anyjob, anywhere to get my licences. I quickly found out that even in instructing slavery was alive and well. (I'm sure it still is.) I found that commercial pressure in flying air taxi and turbo props in the seventies could not only increase your stress level, it could kill you.! When I started jet flying in the early eighties things were better, but CRM had yet to be invented, and to be physically hit by a training captain for a minor mistake was accepted behaviour. Since then I have seen CRM make our world a much better place, but alongside it has evolved a world where the pilot is slowly going the way of the train driver. More automation, more boredom for ever longer periods and consequently less respect for his professional skills. All I am pointing out is that the novelty of seeing dawn break over the Alps at three in the morning wears off. The flying becomes incidental to your quality of life. Put a group of airline pilots together and what do we talk about first?, Pay, conditions, financial security. The actual act of flying never comes up!. Honest!
Secondly, I do know I am in a privileged position. I have a lovely home, my wife and I drive new cars, we holiday often etc. etc.
(My wife dishes out unemployment benefit and constantly see's the real world.) But at the end of the day we all want to feel that our alloted or chosen task in life is appreciated. Sadly in the case of the Pilot that is increasingly less and less the case each year. My company is probably better than many at recognising the human element and trying to keep in touch with it's human side. But many don't, and some are so far removed from this ethic that their crews become nothing more than replaceable nuisances to be tolerated at best and dictated to at worst.
You all have your dreams, I know from my own that giving up is not an option and I applaud you all for that. But one day soon you may be sitting alongside me. I know that we will have a pleasant and happy day out with no complaints or moaning from me, but by the time we meet you will have experienced many aspects of your chosen career that I am afraid will dissapoint you and dissolution you from the ideal you have in your mind today. Still, I look forward to flying with you.
Now if you don't mind I am writing this after a twelve hour night duty....and I'm off to bed!..
Thanks for your comments, but before the world writes me down as a manic depressive I wish to assure you that I lead a very happy existance in many ways.
A couple of points, firstly I came up the self improver route, washed airplanes, answered phones, anyjob, anywhere to get my licences. I quickly found out that even in instructing slavery was alive and well. (I'm sure it still is.) I found that commercial pressure in flying air taxi and turbo props in the seventies could not only increase your stress level, it could kill you.! When I started jet flying in the early eighties things were better, but CRM had yet to be invented, and to be physically hit by a training captain for a minor mistake was accepted behaviour. Since then I have seen CRM make our world a much better place, but alongside it has evolved a world where the pilot is slowly going the way of the train driver. More automation, more boredom for ever longer periods and consequently less respect for his professional skills. All I am pointing out is that the novelty of seeing dawn break over the Alps at three in the morning wears off. The flying becomes incidental to your quality of life. Put a group of airline pilots together and what do we talk about first?, Pay, conditions, financial security. The actual act of flying never comes up!. Honest!
Secondly, I do know I am in a privileged position. I have a lovely home, my wife and I drive new cars, we holiday often etc. etc.
(My wife dishes out unemployment benefit and constantly see's the real world.) But at the end of the day we all want to feel that our alloted or chosen task in life is appreciated. Sadly in the case of the Pilot that is increasingly less and less the case each year. My company is probably better than many at recognising the human element and trying to keep in touch with it's human side. But many don't, and some are so far removed from this ethic that their crews become nothing more than replaceable nuisances to be tolerated at best and dictated to at worst.
You all have your dreams, I know from my own that giving up is not an option and I applaud you all for that. But one day soon you may be sitting alongside me. I know that we will have a pleasant and happy day out with no complaints or moaning from me, but by the time we meet you will have experienced many aspects of your chosen career that I am afraid will dissapoint you and dissolution you from the ideal you have in your mind today. Still, I look forward to flying with you.
Now if you don't mind I am writing this after a twelve hour night duty....and I'm off to bed!..
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I saw Turbulence 2 a couple of weeks ago. Sounds as though its the same as Turbulence 1!
My aspirations to become a pilot started at a careers convention when I was 14. I'm now doing a year in industry with an avionics company. Its based at an airport and every time I hear or see an aircraft I want to be flying it! Its very frustrating when you're stuck in an office in front of a computer every day.
We'll all make it one day...
My aspirations to become a pilot started at a careers convention when I was 14. I'm now doing a year in industry with an avionics company. Its based at an airport and every time I hear or see an aircraft I want to be flying it! Its very frustrating when you're stuck in an office in front of a computer every day.
We'll all make it one day...
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Thanks guys this thread has helped me a lot!
I couldn't explain why i want to be a pilot to anyone, not even me! I was born to do it plain and simple. I've always wanted to do it. and I happen to be pretty damn good at it as well!
Unfortunately the above answer was not enough for BA last year! Have to come up with something a bit better in a few months time!
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Don't ever Give Up!
I couldn't explain why i want to be a pilot to anyone, not even me! I was born to do it plain and simple. I've always wanted to do it. and I happen to be pretty damn good at it as well!
Unfortunately the above answer was not enough for BA last year! Have to come up with something a bit better in a few months time!
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Don't ever Give Up!
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We fly as flying is the most incredible feeling in this world. I would even give up sex and sell my long suffering girlfriend into slavery than give up flying!
If this makes me sound very sad then maybe I am.
Come join the sad mans club, its great!!
If this makes me sound very sad then maybe I am.
Come join the sad mans club, its great!!
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Well what gotme interested was the first time I flew was on a 747 from Dub-Snn and back, all in the one day mind you. It was a present given to me for my 10th birthday and the flight crew let me sit in the jump seat on the way back. I must have the same longing as some because when I even hear a murmer of jet engines my head is turned Sky-wards. Im only 17 and really want to get into EI anybody got any tips and does any body know if they will advertise again for trainee pilots in the next 18 months
Great forum.
Great forum.
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I was right seat in an Electra last week from Cork to Dublin. A short flight but a glorious one. The weather was perfect, puffy Cumulus, 50 mile viz etc. Even the training captain (with a zillion hours under his belt) said: 'Ah, yes. This is why we do it'. Dead right. And I greased it on in Dublin too! A perfect day.
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I got the same story from my careers advisor, but I also got fantastic encouragement from my Physics teacher, (microlight flights every weekend). It's all about stretching yourself beyond what is expected. The sense of achievement with every pass of an exam or milestone. The joy and pride of nearest and dearest, the elite socialism of spinning a few at the bar.
The picking yourself up after a knock back and keeping on going.
The picking yourself up after a knock back and keeping on going.
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What got me was sitting in the LHS of an EI 747 during a SNN stopver as a 6 year old, thanks to some kindly captain. I don't remember, but apparently I announced to my Dad that I was going be a pilot as I attempted to haul back on the yoke and push a thottle towards the panel! What sealed it was my 12th birthday present, DUB-SNN and back in the jumpseat of a 73. Nothing like doing your dream job and seeing the sunshine every time you go to work!
To Vmike: Who flies Electra's into DUB and what do they carry? I've never seen one at the airport...
To Jonathon Lynch: First tip for EI: Go anonymous on Pprune! EI management don't like it too much. More recruiting in about 9/10 months I reckon.
To Vmike: Who flies Electra's into DUB and what do they carry? I've never seen one at the airport...
To Jonathon Lynch: First tip for EI: Go anonymous on Pprune! EI management don't like it too much. More recruiting in about 9/10 months I reckon.
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Wonderbug, don't worry, there are lots of us females out there. We have to be twice as good as the men to get any respect, pretend we're deaf half the time when they start getting rude and crude but if you want to fly bad enough it's worth all the hassle.