... about the difference between pilots and aviators; an aviator is an artist in love with his craft, a pilot... is just a technician.
August 7th was my official final day working for an airline. ill not make the mistake of saying "never again" - but it would take a lot to get me back into the airline business.
the past 3 years i have been working as an airline pilot. the work was fun and enjoyable, so were the wonderful professionals i had the opportunity to work with, but for the most part i was very unhappy with my job for a multitude of reasons which i have no doubt discussed here at length before. ::) sometimes no matter what people tell you - you just have to go and see for yourself.
but yesterday i received a phone call from a friend who wanted me to do a scenic tour of the local area for some non-pilot friends of his in a Cessna 182.
I agreed.
I approached the situation as i did my airline job.
in a cold... technical... manner.
this made me dread the thought of hauling these passengers around for an hour over the local countryside. not much to look at except one fair sized town, a bunch of cattle farms and a few area lakes.
once i briefed them on the use of doors and seat belts, told them a little about what to expect during the flight, and started up the engine we were off taxiing to the active runway at the small - almost abandoned - uncontrolled rural airport.
I did a thorough runup, double checked the engine instruments, made sure my lights were all working for the sunset flight, and lined up on runway 14.
as i smoothly advanced the throttle i made one last glance at the engine instruments.
cold... technical... flying
but at some point between rotation and my left turn out something happened.
I looked down and began to notice shadows of the tall pine trees pointing east like long dark fingers.
amongst these shadows in a large field next to a farm house, two running children hopped up on a wooden fence enclosing the field and pointed skyward.
I felt how the airplane was responding to the falling temperature of the smooth evening air.
the coldness had gone.
the technical game which airline pilots play with numbers and performance charts had now been replaced with a hands on, gut feeling... natural aviator instinct.
and at some point in between the split second that elapses between all of these little observations i realized ...
...this is great!!! :D
its wonderful to be back into the general aviation sector... now i need to find a 9 to 5 job that will support my aviator's addiction!
thanks for reading!
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