Squawk87, I wish she could but unfortunately her income wouldn't be able to pay for the house and all our bills! Perhaps later down the road she could, but not right now ...

Can you imagine a better adventure than building and flying your own plane, like an RV-7 or something with some performance and capability? It's fairly economical (less than 100K vs. 400+K for similar performance with a new production aircraft)?

The best part about this is that if you choose the right career path, you can still be neck-deep in aviation and doing fun and interesting stuff. Maybe working in aviation insurance, aviation financing, aviation safety, aviation regulation, aviation and aerospace engineering, aviation and aerospace production, aviation and aerospace testing, aviation maintenance, etc. If not, you can STILL enjoy and be deep-in flying, on the weekends, getting type ratings for fun, instructing, advanced instruction, etc.

Do what you love?
 

Flying, drinking, smoking and drugs are all fun but it does not mean that we should do them. Join a support group, resist the urge and in time those evil thoughts will fade. :)

Skyhigh

Cruel
 

The cruelest thing I have seen is when the lust for aviation abates too late leaving the afflicted alive, well, too old to make a change and having to deal with the realization that they have wasted their lives.

Skyhigh

You must be speaking of yourself.

There are none so blind as those who shall not see, and none nearly so pathetic as those who blame that refusal to see on the industry or the world at large.

Skyhigh your problem is you never made it! I get tired of hearing your posts that are negative. I fly for a 121 operation upgraded in less than 2 years! Problem is people don't realize there are "other 121 ops" that are not pax ops! Oh and btw I was hired in 2010, how you like that Skyhigh?

Making it is a relative term
 

I made it far enough. I could have continued on like my peers to enjoy more lay offs and furloughs. Plenty of my friends upgraded and were then laid off again. Several are onto their fifth job since 9-11. A true success story does not really exist anymore. The best we can hope for is that things will be good for a while.

Skyhigh

Risk
 

John,

A sat to the right of plenty of old men who came to the realization long ago that they had wasted their lives. Not pretty. Some however are lucky enough to be able to perpetuate the self delusion.

I sincerely hope that everyone here is happy but wish to warn of the consequences.

Skyhigh

The good news
 

The good news is if you want to be in the left seat of a 737 you most likely can have it. In trade however aviation usually demands your wife, kids, home, friends, family, hobbies, health and financial security.

Imagine waking up from the trance in your late 50's with only a rusty old corvette and rented two bedroom apartment to show for you efforts as an airline pilot. It happens all the time.

Skyhigh

Success and happiness
 

Pilots often are happy when they go to work. The key however is to be happy to be going home. Build a life not a career. Resit the urge.

Skyhigh