Originally Posted by
Hacker15e
For the first time in a long time, I agree wholeheartedly with SkyHigh.
Until someone has been a professional aviator long enough for it to "just be a job", they really don't know the entire depth and breadth of how flying applies to their life.
People differ. I can guarantee you, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I have no capacity to view aviation as "just a job". I know several professional aviators with whom I speak on a regular basis who share my viewpoint completely. One of them is a bush pilot in Alaska, flying beavers--He has been doing it for many years. Another is a flight instructor who's been doing it for a long while himself. Yet another is a friend of mine who left a tech job to do flight instruction full time, long ago. We are all on exactly the same wavelength. I have friends of mine who work for the airlines, and friends of mine who work for fractionals who
do, however, share your viewpoint--so some of it likely depends on the type of flying and how one is treated. Perhaps it's also just the person. None of the people to whom I refer have ever wanted to fly for the airlines. (Well, except the long-time flight instructor, who discovered that he really enjoyed flight instruction)
Younger and less experienced pilots tend to have the romantic view, and older more experienced pilots tend to have the pragmatic view -- that's just how it is because one has to find their own way in life in order to determine what is important to them. I certainly identify with feelings and beliefs like Foxy is talking about, because I used to be that way, too. But, then I grew up. I saw the world. I did a lot of really cool flying. Finally, I realized that flying is just something you do, and it is not the end-all, be-all of the human experience.
I can assure you that I've grown up as much as I ever will. :>
In this day and age, however, it's hard to become an 'experienced' pilot unless one is being paid to do it, or one is independently wealthy; thus you certainly have the advantage of me in experience--All I can guarantee is that I know myself, and I have the experiences of others with similar mindsets to draw on.
For me, it is enough; I cannot speak for others.
To anyone who hasn't gotten to the point yet where the flying they do to put food on the table and a roof over the head (not the flying done for recreation - that's a different story all together), then you are indeed a lucky person. The vast, vast majority of professional pilots feel that way about their avocation at some point.
And some always do, which is the point I'm trying to get at; whether it's nurture or nature.
I love aviation as much as anyone, and it has been a significant part of my life since I was born. It is not, however, definitive of my personal identity, nor is it anything remotely close to a religion.
I am never X. I'm always a pilot who happens to be X.
Definitive of my personal identity. Certainly my religion, or a significant part thereof.
~Fox