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So I got a real job. Now I just want to fly.

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So I got a real job. Now I just want to fly.

Old 06-18-2010, 10:20 PM
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Default So I got a real job. Now I just want to fly.

So I got a real job (as in a non-flying job), one with reasonable pay where I'm home every night with my family and I even get to spend my days outside doing something I don't hate. Unfortunately, all day long I'm thinking, "Damn, I wish I was flying right now."

Every time an airplane flies overhead, be some tiny single engine, a twin turboprop, a passenger jet, or a helicopter coming into the local hospital, I wish I was up there flying it (not that I'm rated to fly helicopters, but I always wanted to be). I suppose it might help if I had more than one day off in a week, or if I actually had some time for my part-time flight instructor position (which I haven't done any flying for since I started work a little over a month ago), but now here I am looking to find a flying job again. ***sigh***
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Old 06-19-2010, 03:33 AM
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I would personally stay the course and either rent or if you had the means put some money into a well run 1/4 share of an airplane.

Everytime I leave my home for 4-5 days and I am flying I look down on final and see some guy in the yard with his kids and sigh.
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Old 06-21-2010, 09:41 PM
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Yeah, I've got a 3 year old and a 2 month old. Whatever I might be looking for, I don't think it would be an airline position right now. I'd want something where I'm at least home most nights. Maybe 135 freight. Maybe flight instruction. Maybe part time flying with a part time non-flying job. I don't know.

At least I have a job while I try to figure out what it is I'm looking for.
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Old 06-22-2010, 07:08 AM
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Default In time

In time the pain will diminish but will most likely never go away completely. Try to notice planes overhead late at night and say to yourself " thank goodness that is not me up there tonight" or on holidays when you are home and hear the sound of a regional flying by.

Of course it also helps to buy your own plane if you can.

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Old 06-22-2010, 09:22 AM
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Default .

Sheesh, I guess the grass will always be greener on the other side, no matter what side of the fence you are on.

You said you started this new job about a month and a half ago? You gotta give it some time, man.

I quit instructing because I thought I found something better/more stable in my old career. When that didn't pan out, I went back to the flight school, only to find out that they had no more instructor positions open. So I became their janitor/line service guy for 3 months, so I can keep paying my bills. Let me tell you, scrubbing toilets and cleaning up trash while your old students look at you with pity, really makes you take a second look at the poor and snap decisions you have made up to this point. The final straw was finding out that the flight school had hired new instructors, so what they really meant is that they had no CFI positions open for ME.

Anyway, after I had enough, I made the decision to quit pursuing a flying career for the next few years and just focus on making money with my old career. I started from the ground all over again, and now, a year later, am doing well and even just interviewed for a supervisory position within the same company. Going to pay off my school debts, saving up for a house, and actually going on a real vacation next year.

This last year has been tough though I won't lie about that. I basically had to re-start my old career all over again, and it's gotten so competitive since the economy slowed down. I keep my head down though, and am just happy for the second chance again. There is also some light at the end of the tunnel: I am also doing the part-time instruction thing to satisfy my flying cravings. Sometimes I have the time to do it, sometimes I don't. But I manage to bill a few hours per month. It took some time to get to this point though and get the kinks in the schedules figured out. It's not perfect, and it's tough having 2 jobs, when the wife also works and a 17 month old who is constantly seeking attention, but it's do-able.

Hang in there. It WILL get better.
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Old 06-22-2010, 05:07 PM
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I do notice one thing about switching careers. Most pilots will put up with low pay, crappy treatment, and hell to fly for a living(as pilot 1278 said). But when it comes to another career we don't put up with much and want to switch back. Strange what we will do for flying. But what about finding happiness no matter what we do. Flying is great fun, and anyone who says it is lying. Its just the 80% of the other stuff no one talks about that blows.

Some people will believe they reached the pinnacle of their aviation careers when they got their pvt, others it will be one their cruising at FL390. I guess what I'm trying to say is be content with what you have. As some post here some hated their time flying others just couldn't get it to coincide with their lifestyle desires and left. Everyone has reasons for starting and then stopping flying. I will not say I don't appreciate my time in the sky. It took alot of work and was very fun. But with that said, try and find that same pleasure in no matter what you do with your life whether its flying or another career. life's too short to be bitter.
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Old 06-22-2010, 08:21 PM
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Very true...I typically enjoy every minute I am flying.

As a side note, I do not count sitting in cruise with the AP on as flying.
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Old 06-23-2010, 05:56 AM
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As a side note, I do not count sitting in cruise with the AP on as flying.
I agree, that's more like babysitting. Everyone always talks about the "best office view" in the world as one of their big justifications for staying in aviation. Ironically, when we are in the cockpit we spend our time looking down and outside, when we are on the ground we are busy looking up... Just can't win
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Old 08-07-2010, 06:04 AM
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And old friend said it best and then i heard it again in a magazine article. Pilots are not training for a job/career. They are pursing dreams, they chasing their passion. Thats why we put up with the BS involved, are willing to take crappy paying jobs just to feel you self seperate from gravity and defy physics. To see the sun a little bit longer then those below you.

No matter what your doing once you have the bug you have it for life
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Old 08-07-2010, 08:16 AM
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I consider myself very blessed because I am one of the "lucky" ones flying for a very stable major carrier. With that being said, this job is just that - it is a job. It is neither a good thing nor a bad thing, it just is.

True, pilots tend to be more passionate about their work than many other people do in their respective professions. However, the "new car smell" does go away sooner than later. Passion about your work is certainly important, but it should not trump your ability to support your family - and by that I mean financially and in terms of quality of life.

Pursue a career, not an idol.
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