Originally Posted by
Slice
Well, what kind of pilot do you want to be? I feel sorry for guys that went from 0 time to a CRJ in 6-9 months. There's a ton of great flying outside of airline operations. When I look back on my career so far having flown Cessna 150's to F-16's to 747's, my fondest memories are all before I became an airline pilot. Instructing, corporate, single pilot IFR ops, etc. While I love airline flying, it's pretty boring compared to previous jobs. I learned a lot and miss the flying and people I met along the way. That's something you can't put a price on. Enjoy the ride because life's too short!
I haven't made it to airlines for this very reason. Two years ago I was hot on the idea and some of my friends made it to Expressjet while things were still good. But soon thereafter everything went south, and at this point at the forecast looks terrible and I am not sure at this point that I will ever go. The industry turns up and turns down, but fuel costs and the recession are tougher this time than before. In the meantime, it's lots of fun towing gliders, flying skydivers, and flight instructing. I actually fly the airline guys out at the gliderport and skydive outfit sometimes on their days off.