SpeedyVagabond

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty." - Theodore Roosevelt

I guess Skyhigh never learned this. It's not that his career didn't pan it. He quit. Of course it didn't "pan out."

Packrat

I have to say one thing. There is a whole panoply of ways to earn a living in aviation. Not everyone can or will be that elusive widebody Captain flying international for $300K a year or a Top Gun fighter pilot.

Its great to have ambition, but there's a lot to be said for life on the lower rungs of flying. Find your niche and make the most of it. Green eyed envy for what other guys have will ruin what you already have accomplished.

atpwannabe

You know, I read through this post and I've got to agree with SkyHigh and his OP...(Don't follow your passion, take it with you)

Most of you guys, if not all of you are living the dream and enjoying a fairly good flying career. I am happy for each and every one of you and hope that you go as far as you desire in being an aviator. As for me though having worked for the airlines (Delta & Comair), in airport management & operations and having NEVER being medically certified after following every directive & suggestion by the FAA, at some point I had to determine if I had reached the point of diminished return in pursuit of a flying career....and I had.

As I posted on FB, that being angry, disappointed, and upset was an understatement; however the good Lord has given me a gift and talent for Sales. I've been blessed with a sales position with a Fortune 100 company making a PHENOMENAL salary and benefits. I've accepted and embraced that gift and talent He has given me. Having shut the door on ever returning to aviation, I've never been more happier, settled and grounded in my life as I am today.

An aviation career just wasn't in the cards for me....and I'm ok with that!



Marcus
(atpwannabe)

Cubdriver

Hi ATP, glad you are prospering these days and doing well.

We all generate dreams to chase and we run a sort of life long campaign to get what we can from our fantastic ideas. Fate decides what we finally get to take home, and fate by no means bound to any standard of fairness or human morality. The best thing is to retain our pragmatic outlook and at the same time prosecute whatever plan we like while applying common sense about its feasibility and cost. Do not get too worked up about anything that does not pan out in the end and always be philosophical about the whole thing. In the meantime, we can discover a deeper meaning to our life experience and decide whether we get there or not, to be enriched by the experience. In my view the only losing position is where we fail to be enriched along the way because many who actually attain their goals are still empty and bereft.

SkyHigh

What I learned was that aviation is nothing but "effort, pain, and difficulty" with few rewards. There are better places to invest ones self.

Skyhigh

SkyHigh

I have seen a lot of people who get stuck along the path in aviation. One of my flight instructor friends will not move on from instructing. He knows that even if he were able to get every student in the county he could not earn enough to adequately support his family, but still he will not move on. I believe that he lacks the confidence to try the regionals and will not go back to his former profession. All the while his family is financially struggling.

Skyhigh

Grumble

Maybe he should've looked at the cost of pursuing the career, WHILE supporting a family. Aviation didn't fail him, he failed to prepare/execute.

Just like you...

USMCFLYR

atp - well many of us have followed your trials and tribulations for quite some time on the forum. I'm sorry that you have not reached whatever pinnacle you had set for yourself, but you certainly have changed a tune with that post where you have agreed with the premise to not follow your passion. You know that you would have to agree with that advice with EVERY path in life if you truly believe that thought process - not just aviation. Matter of fact - now that Sales seems to be your new calling - you'll have to make a decision. Don't put 'one red cent' of passion into your new profession or give it up and move on to to something that you are decidedly NON-passionate about - maybe working fast food?
Personally - I think that this is your "being angry, disappointed, and upset..." looking for a place to lame blame.
I was watching the UFC MMA fights last night. A young up and comer fighter named Miles Jury was decidedly whipped at the hands of an old hand at the game. Great disappointment for him - undefeated record gone, certainly not on the short card for a title shot this year (again). All that hard work, years spent training and I'm sure personal and family sacrifice and for a losing cause. Luckily - even if he never wins a Lightweight Championship - he can certainly have a rewarding career as an MMA fighter.

As for "...[h]aving shut the door on ever returning to aviation", if you are making such a "PHENOMENAL salary" at your present sales job, would you not have the income to enjoy recreational/GA flying - maybe even owning your own airplane? If you think that 'aviation' is only the airline world, then I feel that you didn't learn as much about the joy of flying along your journey as you should have atp

SkyHigh

He had his miscalculations for sure however luck plays a role in life. It is nice to think that we have all the answers and that we are in control. Experience teaches that we can plan but that does not mean that life will follow it. The information we have today is only good for looking into the past. You do not know what changes lie ahead in your path.

Read: China Airborne by James Fallows if you would like to know what your future will be. (Spoiler Alert, not a happy ending)

Skyhigh

SkyHigh

If you care about your finances and life circumstances at all an aviation career takes a lot of faith.

Ultimately we all have little control as to what happens to us as pilots. Crew scheduling dictates our days. Management determines our progression, wages, and if we will be able to retire or not. The industry decides if we were born under a lucky star or are doomed from day one.

If all one cares about is pushing metal then aviation will not disappoint. There will be tin for even the most unlucky or below average aviator. In my case I always wanted to have a life. In order to have a life that usually means access to resources and some control over your destiny.

If fate provides and you are able to get a dream job with your first choice legacy airline while still young enough to be able to build some seniority before the wife and kids come then you most likely are in good shape. If not and find ones self stuck in the right seat at a regional at 30 then it takes an increasing amount of faith as the years roll by.

As unexpected setbacks occur your dreams of a personal life must be discounted as a result in order to keep the aviation dream alive. I know that everyone is different but when evaluated as a career to support a family on it seems incredibly risky and unwise. The amount of faith required swells to momentous levels as one moves into their late 30's and still "paying dues". At that point it requires the addition of self delusion to perpetuate.

Without consciously realizing it your personal life dreams and expectations are slowly diminished one bid at a time on its way towards zero and is replaced by empty faith.

“Staying the course” only makes sense if you’re headed in a sensible direction. Because passion and persistence – while most often associated with success – are also essential ingredients of futility. - Mike Rowe

Skyhigh