Originally Posted by qaluunat
Hey, thanks for all the experiences so far guys. This is awesome, and I agree with what animals says, please keep them comin'. Just listening to the stories makes me want to do it more. When I fly the 172 I feel like the little kid who wants to be a star basketball player when he grows up. He plays by himself on an empty court, shoots, scores at the buzzer, wins the game, you know. I sit in the 172 and pretend I'm sitting in the captain seat of the 747, blizzard, and coming into land. Probably cheesy, but you got to start somewhere, eh? I also had one more question concerning this. When people ask you what you do for work, how do you feel when you tell them. I try to think of myself as a humble guy, but if someone who works graveyards at Wal-mart asks me, or whatnot, I don't think I could help but answer with a bit of pride that I fly a Boeing 747. How do people respond when you tell them? People think it's cool enough already that I can fly a 172.
While I don't fly a 747 (respect those who do), I can tell you how I feel.
The acceleration and climb of a corp. jet or a King Air is a tremendous rush. It is also a challenge knowing your airplane can accomplish great things, however all depending on your judgement and ability. I also feel a satisfaction when such high performance means I will see the sunshine when most people are in for a gloomy, rainy day.
As far as what others think:
I live in the mid-atlantic area of the country. One Saturday around 1pm, I ran into a friend in town. He asked what I was into and I told him I had been to Florida and back that morning. I said it casualy because it was really routine, but he was astonished. (I don't go around with a pilot-god complex, at least I hope I dont).
Please don't look down on a 172. I learned a lot in one, and have had the honor to fly almost 500 people on their first flight in one (first job was flying sceinc tours). They are great for what they are meant to be.