Hey guys,
I want to give a little background on myself first:
I am 22 years old. I graduated in May 2015 with my Mechanical Engineering degree - did it in four years and ended with almost a 3.6 GPA. It was a big accomplishment for me. I currently work for a large company that is very involved in the aerospace industry (I don't want to say any names in case someone is watching me
). I am actually a Materials Engineer and work exclusively on space products (satellites, Orion Spacecraft, etc).
Now I haven't even been out of school for a year, but I just don't know that I will ever get used to sitting at a desk staring at a computer for 8 hours a day. I feel bored. Not to mention most the real engineering work is reserved for the guys who are much smarter than I ever will be - this can be a bit discouraging. Anyways...
I started my PPL recently (I have four hours of flight
). What a blast. I absolutely love it - I passed my written with a 97% and have read the PHAK, AIM, AFH, and I am currently reading Stick and Rudder. I have always had the thought of making a career out of flying (in case engineering didn't work out), but since I started my PPL this thought has become more and more serious. Some of you may be saying, "Well you just started your PPL and only have 4 hours of flight! How can you make such conclusions already?!"
Maybe that is a fair statement. I know financially it would be a big sacrifice. I would have to finance this. I have thought about other methods of paying for this (such as continuing my job as an engineer and paying for it that way - and maybe that is feasible up through my Instrument Rating). I can just see myself really enjoying this as a career. I know I would be broke for quite a while - but I would rather be broke and love my job than have money and hate my job.
I will be with this job at least another 6 months (for various reasons) so a career change decision won't be made immediately - but it is something I am going to be thinking about.
Anyways...I thought I would get your guys' thoughts and opinions on this. Any feedback, suggestions, etc are much appreciated.