Any Commercial Pilots here?

[Fozzer]

I often wonder how many wannabe, enthusiastic, Microsoft Train Simulator Drivers actually get around to driving a Train?.... ....

.....and finally end up earning precious money laying bricks for a House Builder... ...!

F...G-BPLF... 8-)...!

[RitterKreuz]

probably not as many of them as there are young enthusiastic flight simulator pilots who grow up to realize that an airline job is not all its cracked up to be. (not even close)

I cannot express how glad i am to be out of the airline business and back into part time instruction / corporate stuff.

not only is it grass roots flying... but its fun. - dont get me wrong, the airline thing was fun, for about 3 months.  :D

the money is about the same, but you get to put more emphasis on customer service...  and you are actually treated like a human being instead of a cog in some machine.

everyone i worked with prior to the airline gig told me that the airlines are "dinosaurs" who cater to the "greyhound" class of passengers.

some things you just have to go see for yourself.  ;)

[Fozzer]

probably not as many of them as there are young enthusiastic flight simulator pilots who grow up to realize that an airline job is not all its cracked up to be. (not even close)

I cannot express how glad i am to be out of the airline business and back into part time instruction / corporate stuff.

not only is it grass roots flying... but its fun. - dont get me wrong, the airline thing was fun, for about 3 months.  :D

the money is about the same, but you get to put more emphasis on customer service...  and you are actually treated like a human being instead of a cog in some machine.

everyone i worked with prior to the airline gig told me that the airlines are "dinosaurs" who cater to the "greyhound" class of passengers.

some things you just have to go see for yourself.  ;)

..there you go...

Wise words from an "Ex Commercial Pilot"....

...well worth contemplating.....!...!

F....G-BPLF... 8-)...!

[Brett_Henderson]

[quote][quote][quote]
2) And keep in mind, you may not want to be "Lower Class" (Which is called Enlisted btw), but odds are that there's a 23 year old E-5 out there with no college education that decides if that plane is safe to fly or not, so whether or not your "Upper Class" (AKA Officers), your pretty much dependent on us minion types that fly a ratchet.

[Hagar]

2) And keep in mind, you may not want to be "Lower Class" (Which is called Enlisted btw), but odds are that there's a 23 year old E-5 out there with no college education that decides if that plane is safe to fly or not, so whether or not your "Upper Class" (AKA Officers), your pretty much dependent on us minion types that fly a ratchet.  ;)

Well put!

Welcome

Exactly...............Pilots think they are God, mechanics know they are God 8-)

Matt

And pilots who manage to survive, in spite of the mechanics best efforts, eventually realize there is no god  ;)

I've met some pilots who should never have been allowed within 100 yards of an aeroplane. On second thoughts make that a mile. One of them was our chief pilot for a while. The last I heard of him he was working for a major airline.

[tcco94]

Well you know im only 14 so I havent been able to flown and I cant anyways.
I will be flying before college and if I dont like it I still have a back up plan and either way im going to college so I mean I have a long time to even decide what I wanna do.

Seems like everyone here hates commercial pilots or doesent want me to try  ::).

[RitterKreuz]

if I dont like it

Dont worry... flying is something you will love!  :D

[quote]Seems like everyone here hates commercial pilots or doesent want me to try

[tcco94]

Yeah,
Well thanks  :D,
Yeah well im not the kind of person that lets that stuff get to me anyways  ;)

Well your probally right about all that stuff but if I dont become a pilot I wanna at least be near airplanes or something I still wanna join the Air Force after college or be a Pharmacist.

[Hagar]

Seems like everyone here hates commercial pilots or doesent want me to try  ::).

Please don't think I'm trying to put you off. If you're anything like I was at your age you have a romantic view of flying. Most people replying in this topic have been in your situation themselves & are simply warning you of what they found out through experience. If you want something badly enough you will ignore what others think & go for it. If you don't try to live your dream you will always regret it. Good Luck!

[tcco94]

[quote][quote]Seems like everyone here hates commercial pilots or doesent want me to try

[JBaymore]

Ritterkruz,

Have to say that your long posts were a "revelation" about the inside workings of commercial airlines and their pilots.  Fascinating read.  (Scary read too!)

Like what I think most people's understanding is, I had NO IDEA that was the way things REALLY were.  The "image" is so professional and glamorous, and the airlines revenue flow is so large..... one sort of expects the salary was commensurate.

The pilots need a union with a good PR/Ad firm to get the public to understand when they hear "the pilots have agreed to take a pay cut to help the airline" people don't automatically assume that they've all gone from $200,000 a year to $180,000 a year.

I think the public ASSUMES that airline pilots (including new ones) get paid VERY well.  I know I did.

tcco94, what everyone is trying to do is give you a little perspective from the vantage point of age and experience.  It is called a "reality burger without ketchup".  It is not intended to stop you from doing what you want to, but to give you information so that you have a more realistic set of expectations.

If you are driven to fly......... you'll fly.

best,

.......................john

"Driven to be an artist, even though there are lots of reasons NOT to be an artist.  40 years at it and going strong."

[tcco94]

Yeah,
Im not even sure if I wanna go to an Academy or not. As im learning alot more about it it seems hard to get into. Im going to an Informational Night in Mountain View, October 8th that the Naval Academy send a letter that I should go to for how to get in and etc.

Flying seems so fun to fly for an airline but I had no clue it was as hard and that they had lots to go through. By the time im in College I know what ill want to do but for now its a pilot or something to do with airplanes maybe getting my degree in Aeronatical Engineering and find some job positions from there. I think even if I dont become a commercial pilot ill fly at my local airports. Im sure alot of people do that. For now im just gunna set my goals and dreams .

The only thing that REALLY worries me is the computer technology in this world. Ive heard computers fly airplanes now but I know pilots would have to be in the airplane just in case something goes wrong but if a computer took over a pilot's main dutys that would just be a waste of my life because I would be having no fun. I know the technology now is alot diffrent  from back then but I dont mind what its like now flying on a simulator even though pilots have more to do in the real airplane I dont think its that realistic anyways but still..

[RitterKreuz]

i can promise you that most 767 - 757 etc are hand flown to 6 or 7 thousand feet before any autopilot is turned on.

I have witnessed first hand some of the best autopilot systems in the world do some real head scratching maneuvers  ;D

i think we are a long way from designing out the human side of flying

[C]

[quote]i can promise you that most 767 - 757 etc are hand flown to 6 or 7 thousand feet before any autopilot is turned on.

I have witnessed first hand some of the best autopilot systems in the world do some real head scratching maneuvers

[skysurfer2010]

but if a computer took over a pilot's main dutys that would just be a waste of my life because I would be having no fun.

Well I can tell you right now it'll be a "waste of your life". We rarely hand fly planes other than takeoff and landing. Sometimes we barely do that. Some aircraft have so much automation we're nothing more than a set of eyes.

Cruise? Ha, more like snooze it can get so boring. If I want to go have "fun" i borrow a friends light single to go burn some holes through the sky. My idea of fun isn't exactly the same as my passengers!  :D