Originally Posted by surreal1221
Oh don't worry SkyHigh. . . I don't think you're nuts, moreover, I never called you nuts.
I just think you should retreat back to whatever hole you find yourself in and enjoy the rest of your life, rather then spend hours on this (and any other) online professional flying message board. Spend time with your grandkids, kids, etc, go fishing, whatever the hell you do. . . do that instead of wasting your time here.
I appreciate your input, always have, so no, you're not nuts. . . but I, like many others, are getting tired of reading your posts. There's a right way to provide insight, you're doing it the wrong way.
What guys like you don't understand it that this is where I am needed most. The world is full of Flying Magazine and AOPA propaganda. Aviation Universities and fancy flight schools are leading you lambs to slaughter. The odds of you ever being able to repay a KeyBank loan on a pilots salary are wildly slim. Most never make it very far and fade away with a $800 monthy payment as a reminder of a poor choice.
There is a hiring boom in the regionals right now. Much of it is due to growth. Some lose pilots to other companies but a large amount resign and disappear. The have reached the end of the line and realize that it is no fun to be poor, gone all the time and to have little hope for a better life.
I understand that many of the current generation are prepared to be masochists. It is a romantic idea and guys like me are supposed to be greedy money hogs. Someday you might wish to have more. You will realize that to have a home and family it costs money. You might also understand that enjoying family events though faxes and video tape is hollow and hurts even more. There is a price to be paid to fly and it is much higher than most understand until it is way too late.
Writing to you guys is all I have left of a 20 year effort. It is a satisfying hobby. The rest of my former life as a pilot is gone now. Just today I think I sold my plane. It was the last remnant of my dream. I know that I rain on your parade but like it or not you guys need me.
SkyHigh
I will turn 40 later this summer. Four sons 6 months thru 10. No grand kids.