Yup. N7 was my swans song.

SkyHigh

Thanks iflyjets,

I had a conversation with a guy yesterday who owns his own carpet cleaning van and makes 150K per year. Sure he is very tired by the end of the day, but he is building a business that is making him rich. He told me that he is almost to the point where he can hire workers to do the actual cleaning. Though he was never a pilot this kind of business might be an excellent avenue for those looking for a career change.

SkyHigh

Dreams do come true. Take mine for example. 22 years as a Mechanical Engineer in NYC designing buildings, married, house, etc. Had a PPL, flew for fun on weekends and always aspired to be an airline pilot. Saved my pennies and one day decided to move to South Florida, work part time as a mechanical engineer and pursure my dream of being a professional pilot. Got an instrument rating, then my CPL and finally the CFI. Mixed it up with banner towing over Ft. Lauderdale and Miami Beach. Flew for a local regional for one year as a B-1900 FO while continuing to work the engineer job part time. Decided part 121 wasn't my cup of tea (long hours, LOW pay) but received terrific training and experience. Now I am a Corporate pilot PIC flying well maintained, very sophisticated airplanes in paradise making 3X more salary then as a 121 FO and working fewer hours. Last night I dropped off my boss and his five friends in Nassau, Bahamas and flew back to FXE, single pilot, night IFR, weaving through level 3,4 and 5 cells using my Bendix radar and Garmin Nexrad. I'm very happy now. Dreams do come true if you do your homework first.

I guess one has to be careful on what they dream of. I always dreamed of earning a better than average living and being respected by my peers and management. These days I guess that weaving though thunder storm in a Kingair is enough. Give it a few years and that stuff might wear off a little.

SkyHigh

Skyhigh,

Weaving through T'storms is just a necessary part of the dream. Its all about getting paid for something I love to do...fly.

Flying cool airplanes for terrific people in paradise might get repetitive but I wouldn't trade it for my old job making more money behind a desk. Its probably easy for me to say this because I did the higher paying mainstream job which enabled me to accomplish my dream. I'm a happy camper for now.

X121FO

Thats the beauty of boxes

[QUOTE=ryane946]I don't mean any disrespect, but who here has ever been shot at???


Ive been shot at with small arms, machine gun, rocket propelled grenades, Mortars of all shapes and sizes and hit an improvised explosive device with a humvee....

i take home $52800.00 per year...not bad i think, but alas i am going to attempt the professional pilot career as well. I am currently instrument rated ASEL and when i return to the states i will use my VA benefits to finish my ratings and work the instructor route for the experience and hours to see where it will get me. I am hoping that my saving grace will be my wife being an RN and making around 60k per year and us having enough savings to pay for all flight training in cash without breaking our bank.

Debt is the devil! The last thing i want to do is attempt to get into this industry making 20k as an FO and having 15k in debt to pay back per year.

Anyway i guess i just thought i would chime in...the getting shot at thing kind of perked my interest and this thread is along the lines of what i am looking to try...and yes i do have a backup plan.

Some are here in attempts of earning a living and others are enjoying what really is a working hobby. In my mind it is the diffrence that makes for a professional pilot. Enjoy your pastime.

SkyHigh

As my career progressed in the USAF, there came a time when getting a Master's Degree seemed like the thing to do. I did my work through the USC extension coursee, and got an MS in Systems Management. Meant absolutely zip to me as I knew I was going to remain in a flying job, so I settled in at L/D Max and coasted. Couple of my buddies were ahead of the power curve, completed their MBAs, exited the flying game, and were pulling-in 3 times as much as I made as a legacy line F100 captain...pre 9/11 scales. Now, they're at about 5X my current generous salary...of course they do work a bit harder for it.

Call it a working hobby if you wish, I'm supporting a family and earning a decent living.

anyway, Skyhigh, what working hobby will you take up at age 60? You must understand that anything other than left or right seat 121 will be just that...

I take back that snide remark Sky...I do respect your career path. I'm just doing it in reverse.