ATP: SWAjet is right on the money...I couldn't have said it better myself. Follow your dreams and dont look back at all the people who pi$$ an moan on this or any other site. (I ignore all those folks)
I too started late and recently had a sim partner in a 121 operation who was 48 and on his second career. The way I look at it is in 10 years do I want to be flying my dream job that I worked hard for or do I want to be sitting at home, posting negative quips on an aviation BB wondering what it would have been like if I put half as much effort into achieving my goals as these folks put into whining?
My 2cents worth: Copy and print what SWAjet said previously and read it everyday! Hope to see ya in the pilot lounge one day! Blue skies!

 

Get those ratings !!

Jump in there and follow your dreams !!! Go for it and don't look back! Family life has been holding you down for too long now. Live the airline life! Just think in 10 to 15 years you could be all alone in a one bedroom apartment as a recently furloughed FO with few options and nothing to fall back on. Come on ! All those naysayers like your wife and common sense are your biggest obstacles. Just remember that you can do it, and like SWAjet said you can work well into your 80's paying it all back. Like student loans, back child support, bloated credit cards and the rest of the blessings that this career has to offer. Just get off your can and follow your midlife crisis unto your glory !!!

Go Man Go !!!

Somewhere out there is a CFI that is waiting for you to walk in the door and add 200 hours to his logbook. This is YOUR time !!

SkyHigh

 

SkyHigh. Chill dude, your killing my buzz. Well, you make me laugh anyway. Sure, pilots are getting hosed right now, but things have a way of working out if you stay positive and keep your eyes open. atpwannabe, just get your private, if you like it, get your intrument, and so on. Baby Steps. You can make a good career flying a cessna, despite what those with shiny jet syndrome will tell you. Will you get rich, no, will you have hard times, yes. But at least you won't get old working in a cubicle while you think what may have been.

 

akpilot,

I am only trying to point out that there is a price for everything. The costs get even higher as we get older and have more responsibilities. Sometimes we have to stay in that cubicle due to choices that have already been made. Its called the opportunity cost and it gets higher with every choice that we make in life. The opportunity cost is the opportunity lost. In this case if he chooses to follow an aviation career at 44 what he will probably loose a lot more than he is willing to.

I have been meaning to ask where you were in AK? I spent 7 years up there in 207's 185's dhc-2 and then I did a couple of years as a state of Alaska forestry contract pilot. All of my time was spent in the main part of the state.


SkyHigh

 

Yeah, life will be tough for him. It all comes down to whether or not he can make the sacrifices. That is why I recommend he just get one rating at a time and see if it is worth it for him. I spend most of my time now flying out of Anchorage, but also have spent time flying in Bristol Bay. If you spent 7 years in the bush, you probably bent some metal somewhere along the way. 7 years will make you crazy, I am only at 4 years, and I already talk to myself way too much. Where did you go from there? I have heard the "big airlines" frown upon bush guys.

 

I walked out of the bush in 1984, so my experience getting the first job "outside" doesn't mean much anymore, but FWIW at two regional interviews and one major interview they always seemed really interested in the bush flying, and I got all three jobs.

 

After the bush I worked my way into a Learjet air ambulance outfit and then into the regionals from there I went to a 757 jet operator called National Airlines. I never bent anything or missed a day of work but a vindictive bristol bay employer that I had in the early 90's trashed my chances with Alaska Air. After three nearly perfect interviews I was told about the black letter from one particular air taxi owner in Alaska that is in my file. Alaska Airlines is the only place I ever really wanted to work so since I was laid off from National Airlines I have been working construction. I think it is tuff for bush guys to make it in the lower 48 anymore. I have been told by more than one that all those hours were wasted. The majors only want youth 121 captain superstars anymore.

SkyHigh

 

Yeah, are those the superstars who fast-tracked with daddy's money, and don't know what the rudder is for. Those guys scare the crap out of me. I guess they are good at what they do, but bush flying should count double. Anyway, I know a guy who bent a little metal in the bush, and Alaska Airlines won't even look at him. Since it is so easy to crack up an airplane in the bush, I think I need to move on as soon as possible. By the way, which bristol bay air taxi blacklisted you? If they are still in business, I probably know them.

 

It's Iliamna Air taxi. I worked for them for over two years. During one of my interviews at Alaska Air the idiot HR interviewer asked me why I didn't stay longer at some of the jobs I had in Alaska. I tried to explain that they are dangerous and the living conditions could be harsh. She didn't get it. Those people are so out of touch. They have never been up there. None of my bush pilot friends made it either. I know more dead guys than ones who fly for the majors.

Skyhigh

 

Hey guys, don't give up on it, though. I work with a dozen or more pilots who spent time flying in the bush. Most of us went through the regionals or low-rent jet carriers as the first step. I was also pretty disappointed with the Alaska selection process. When I was a kid I had no ambition to work for an airline, I just wanted to fly the bush. So I didn't bother to finish college. No degree=no interview. It was poor planning on my part not to get a degree, but I always thought my experience should have counted for a lot more, too. There's so many pilots out there and always have been during my career. In 1986 I was trying to move from Tprops to jets, I was haunting the chief pilot's secretary at a now-defunct DC8 freighter. They were hiring 10 a month and kept filling classes with 10,000+ hour guys with DC8 time. "Where are they all coming from?" I remember thinking. And it doesn't seem much different today, there's no shortage of applicants. But I'm still a firm believer that if you stay in the game and keep knocking on doors one of them will open. Not necesarily your first choice, but some door will open.