AE would be great for me but I don't have the twin time yet (I live close to one of their main base). I am working on it though...

 

BaronRouge

Many here assume the "starving"pilot stereotype and make comments like "try 7-11", but the facts are your job may, after thirty years, prove to be a good outcome and your dream be a nightmare. Have you read thru the many disappointed and disillusioned RJ pilots here, not say nothing about the same category of major airline pilots?

I've been in this business for over thirty years, flown everything from Century-series fighters to the newest business jet, with stops at the airlines, active duty and two-bit charter operators. Airlines, truly are where aviation enthusiasm goes to die. Living out of a suitcase, home half of the month, eating umpteen restaurant meals takes a lot of the glamour away, the rest is worn off by bsnkruptcies, lost pensions, economy downturns that reduce captain upgrades to the distant horizon. I have meet vanishingly few pilots happy with their careers as they turned out. One said, "if I knew then what I know now, I'd walked straight into a Herc prop.". I've had as good and interesting career as possible, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The serious problem with aviation is one is permanently depending on someone with the capital to buy you a toy to earn a living with and the sure knowledge that 50 other folks would love to take your job for a few dollars less. Buy a plane, fix it up as you want and fly for the fun of it. The most fun is simply cruising around watching the Earth unfold underneath your wings.

GF

 

Pearls of wisdom.

After I began flying professionally, I rarely went out and flew for fun. In fact, I haven't taken a joy ride in five years.

Don't forget those fantastic lay overs in Paris, Dublin, and Rome: Paris, Illinois; Dublin, Ohio, and Rome, Indiana that is.

And when you finally get home from a four day trip, and all you want to do is grab a beer and watch the tube, your wife will be there to say, "Why don't we take advantage of those flight benefits you have and go someplace?"

The last thing I will add is regional flying is hard on us old farts. Last month I got a crap schedule: I flew 83 legs and dead headed four more. In one five day stretch, I did 29 legs. In my 20s and 30s, it was work, but now in my late 40s, it is grueling.


If your present work is causing bleeding ulcers and making you take a long hard look at razor blades, fine, make a change. But think long and hard before marrying this psycho woman named aviation.

 

Galaxy_Flyer:
Many thanks for the time you took to write about your experience! And yes, I have heard the negative picture many times far more than the positive one!
The thing is, everytime I put off the idea of flying professionaly, it comes back after some time and stronger than before!
And yes, I do own a little 172, that's how I got most of my time while working my demanding full time engineering job. I couldn't have done it otherwise!
Now, I got to the point where if I do not do it now, it will never happen (because of my 38 years of age) and I do not want to regret it later. I am not looking for glamor (it's long gone) and money, just looking to do something I enjoy doing. I may just try it and come back to my IT engineering field if it doesn't work out and if I am lucky enough.
Again thanks for your perspective, same to you FlyJSH.

 

@Baronrouge

You know, I thought I was the ODD sheep in the Herd & the ODD man out, but the more I read this forums, I find that there are a lot of us who have been bitten with the Flying BUG really Bad.

I totally agree with you & it is exactly the same here with me, I am 38, decently succesful in life & business & feel the same way that if I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it again ever & will most likely regret it.

So what if it doesn't work out, we will still have time to recover in our life & It is better to do it now & regret rather than not do it & then regret it for a lifetime.
That way we will just keep on thinking that it could have worked & we didn't even try..

Owning/Renting a small plane & flying the $100 hamburger, which is $300 hamburger these days, doesn't work for me.....

The Dream is to Earn the 4 stripes & to COMMAND the heavy ultimately in life......

What will you tell your son or daughter or even YOURSELF when U are 60 or 65 or 75... That U had a dream & but didn't have the courage to pursue it because U were worried about the future of your kids....

Go for it Sir, this is one life, live it your way, don't listen to anyone who
says anything negative.....

Galaxyflyer & other have done the duty of advising & warning us of the dangers & difficulties but if U look at his resume, I wish I had that...

I have done a decent amount of research on this topic. The road is VERY tough but I believe that if one plans well & is financially ready & is flexible, then the odds of being successful are high.

If U feel the need, I will be more than happy to compare notes with you..

Most difficult is the getting the 1st regional job, pref at Eagle

This is where exactly we need help.... Getting a job without having a full time flying job & I will thankful to anyone for a lifetime who can help me today....

 

Just the outsider here, but if you have children, the more immediate question is what will you tell them, 7 years from now, as a RJ F/O making 36k that they can't go to college or the prom? There are thousands of guys stuck in FO positions going nowhere! The number of "heavy" captains is in the hundreds--I've known only one or two 747 captains among hundreds of airline captains.

It was easy when I was 23 or 24, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, I owned was transportable in a Ford Pinto. No wife, no kids and I joked that I was the "low cost" pilot. Shift to house, family, middle age and all the risks and downsides become much vaster. Just consider starting an aviation career now, failing even for reasons beyond your control, say another 9/11 blow, and then starting over AGAIN. I, like any good pilot, is seriously conservative with risk.

Don't get me wrong, I love my current position, I have an opportunity to fly new business jets just about everywhere, but starting out is tough. I am, flat-out, lucky to be where I am, every time I needed a job, I had friends, commanders who were ready to lend a hand. I never had a serious resume, just call, " hey, I'm looking for a job, any ideas" type of deal. Damned lucky, get friends and then get some more.

The best deals are situations where you can grasp a chance outside of the regionals. I recently flew with a guy who turned an office position into a pilot position at a charter operator. He was a pilot with limited experience, but worked, insisted and won a chance in a biz jet. That way avoids the logjam of the regionals, gives you a chance to earn reasonable income, no commuting. But those chances are made by luck and hard work.

Everybody is at regionals, get somewhere else, where you might stand out, someplace where flying skills aren't the ONLY criteria to be judged by. Use that "other" life experience to stand out from the crowd.

GF

 

Keep dreaming. In my 10th year at United I made less than $80k. You are in the wrong industry.

 

Yeaaa (ala bill lumbergh), let's compare a punk kid whose daddy has deep pockets with a military cadet who has proven himself (or herself) and gotten numerous recommendations (including congressional), etc etc. and as far as europe goes, look on a map, this ain't EUROPE!

 

Amen to that; I still cannot believe that airways is ACTUALLY able to get ANY (qualified) apps! With the starting pay THAT low, who would go?!(insert the "well, in five years yada yada yada" comment here). My hubbie is on year 21 and I make more than twice him! Btw, girls rock

 

BTW, to baron rouge (me thinks), you mentioned that you want to "live out your dream"(or something like that). My oh my, are you in for a rude awakening! Flying 121 is 180 degrees from getting in your 172. In your 172, you can fly where you want, when you want, with who you want, as low as you want (see FARS), how you want to fly it, you can stop at any airport you want etc etc etc,............etc.
As a 121 pilot, you WORK when THEY want you to work, you fly what they tell you to, how they want you to fly it, where they want you to fly it, and with whom they want you to fly it with! Etc etc etc
I've been both a saab captain and a heavy FO, and it don't matter, they both are WORK. This isn't fun, and anyone who says that it is, is not sure what fun really is.
Oh and what galaxy said about providing for a family. Be responsible. You owe it to your kids. This is not some lifetime movie where a parent pursues their dreams and their kids admire them for it. Get real. Cash is king in this world.