I'm not sure I'd say mundane... Sometimes fighting with scheduling gets old, and 16 hour duty days suck. But breaking out of that cloud deck into the sunset never gets old. (Sometimes, it even makes you put down your newspaper)...

 

U go TBucket!!! I wish my cellphone camera took better pix!!

 

I am a student at the University of Minnesota. I was thinking either going to a local flight school if I can find one and get a four year degree at Minnesota or transfer to UND and double major there.

I have always been interested in flying since I can remember and still am to this day. Even reading about the more pessimistic sides of career flying I am still interested. Obviously flying will get mundane at some point, which is why I acknowledged it was a seemingly pointless question, but I figured I would ask the people who have been down the road long enough.

 

Incus -

I would have to say NO - flying does not get boring. I remember right out of college I visited my mom at work in the OK state capitol building and in her office there were these men and women sitting around in ties and twittling pencils around and around and looking bored. I asked her who they were and she said they were a bunch of accountants there to audit the state social security. If I ever think that flying gets boring I just remember that office scene and thank my lucky stars that I continued with my dream of flying.

USMCFLYR

 

Spot on man! That's my personal favorite. You're on the ground, its 002 OVC, .75 mi and -RA. You tredging in the muck, but at only 500 AGL you come popping out of that layer into the beautiful clear blue sky. Even better when the sun is just rising. It's the better side of mother nature, things that most people NEVER get to experience.

 

The operation is constantly changing. The factors are different EVERY DAY. One day thunderstorms and MX delays, the next SNOW and slippery runways with crosswinds, and the next absolute peace and serenity from the clear blue skies and calm winds. Somedays you get more than one. And that's just the WX. I LOVE IT! Bottom line, you can't do it for the money. You have to do it because you LOVE to FLY, and you LOVE to work with other people.

If you're truly interested, then do it now. Get a degree unrelated to aviation. Something that will give you the option to pursue a different career if you find out it's not for you, or to get you through a furlough. You're better off pursuing now and finding out early if you like it or not.
Otherwise, you may spend the rest of your life wondering how it could have been if you would have.

I deal with a lot of whining and complaining in this job(Half the time it's me!), but I just wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

The flying is what you make it. If you put the auto pilot on at 600 feet and turn it off at 200 feet then yes it may get a little mundane. But turn the damn thing off every once and a while. And no I'm not talking about flying the flight director up to FL360, I'm talking about looking outside the plane and handflying the jet to the pavement.

 

Yeah...I get a kick out of swinging the yoke and looking outside, watching the plane do what I make it - without slaving away at the PFD. Remember, it's an Airplane first...

And I'm torn as to which I prefer - departures or arrivals. The arrivals are great because so much is going on, and to grease on the landing, well 'nuff said! But on takeoff, everything clicking, it's smooth as silk, and you're just sailing through the air...and since you're clean, the plane flies on your fingertips.

 

This is really really good advice for so many reasons. First of all, you never know when you'll lose your medical or you'll get furloughed. You also are going to be spending your life with pilots so the fact that you're a pilot isn't interesting. So many guys who have gone directly from the aviation degree to the airlines are a little boring because they don't really have much to talk about outside of airplanes because it's all they know. Broaden your horizons -- you're young and you've got plenty of time to get into the industry.

 

It sure does right up untill you get a master warning and a few red messages on the EICAS.