ryane946

I feel that ALL pilots got into this profession because of a "love for flying." I truly do. I don't think anything started flight training without some sort of passion for flying. I know I have personally never met a student who did not enjoy flying. Have you? If so, why would you endevour down the road of spending tens of thousands of dollars. All that time, all that effort, all that money... for something you don't enjoy!

Go and ask a bunch of six year olds what they want to be when they grow up. I promise you will hear a bunch of them say a pilot. Perhaps it was from when they went to an airshow, perhaps they saw the blue angels fly over, or they stuck their head inside the cockpit of a 747, and said to theirselves, "WOW!" I stuck my head in a doctor's office when I was 6, but I can promise you it was not nearly as awe inspiring as a 747 flight deck!

I have met pilots all up and down the line. Student pilots, private pilots, commercial pilots, CFI's, regional FO's, fractional pilots, corportate pilots, MANY major airline pilots, and even management/training captains. I can honestly say I have never met a pilot who did not have a passion for aviation. They all love to talk about their jobs. They all love teaching others (mentoring). Do you ever notice that pilots love to talk about being pilots??


Let me tell you a little about my passion. After my freshman year in college, I really wanted to get a job on the flight line at SFO. I was told that they only hire long term employees, and I decided to start applying for other jobs. I came in and met with the GM, told him why I wanted to work there (my passion for aviation), and he gave me the job. Next week, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (ya, that's NASA) offered me a summer internship, and I turned it down (given it was somewhat of a paper shuffling job). Turned out to be a good decision. I met a tremendous amount of pilots that I still keep in touch with to this day (4 years later).

Why did I turn down NASA? I have no desire to be an engineer the rest of my life. I don't want to work Monday to Friday, 9-5, sitting in a desk. I would take flying any day of the week. I have many friends that are barely a year out of college, making anywhere from 60-70k a year. But I promise you that none of them enjoy their job nearly as much as me. And I guarentee you they work twice as much as me, and they work more than twice as hard. Money isn't everything. I want to enjoy what I do. Also, when I was working an internship designing VLJ's, I would tell people that I was working on an airplane that would revolutionize aviation as we know it. But no one gave A DAMN! But if I told them I went flying that day, the flood gates were open. Where did u go? How fast? How long did that take? What was it like? WOW!

Ok, I strayed from the topic. My bad. My point is I love aviation. I have met hundreds of pilots in my life; all up and down the latter. I have never met a pilot who did not have a passion for aviation! If you are a pilot, and you don't have a passion for aviation, please post. Tell me. It will be the first I've heard.