Insightful thread, and got me thinking about my own back and forth with civilian paid flying after the military...

Are there flying jobs out there that can offer a more homestead friendly lifestyle? Something like out-n-back flying, or no more than 8 RONs a month? Frankly single pilot work appeals more to me, even if it pays less. With a mil retirement in hand I wouldn't mind a paycut from major airline FO pay if it meant less RONs per month. Closest I've seen is fixed wing EMS, but I'm told those jobs are not usually available in cities, and my family is not gonna do rural military crapholes ever again.

Does part 91 or part 135 have jobs with the kind of retirement work schedule I'm looking for? Or does that not exist in the civilian side of things? Maybe I too will give up pro flying post military and go lick stamps at the local post office for pin money until 57

My job has many of the things you are mentioning in your post
Check out that ‘FAA Hiring ASIPs’ thread. You never know.

USMCFLYR...have you heard as to whether or not Air Carrier ASIs still need to have a 2nd Class medical. Rumor is FAA may be dropping that requirement.

It's the only barrier in keeping me from applying.

How about 16 on/14 off home based. Buy you a ticket to your airplane the first day and a ticket home the last. Drop me a PM.

That sounds like the exact opposite of homestead friendly, but PM sent nonetheless.

Late reply, but Allegiant? Got to live in a base, but seems like an ok gig

Sorry all, I broke the links after migrating to a newer site, here's the updated ones:

Leaving the Career:
Why I Left an Airline Pilot Career Worth $8.2 Million

Changing Jobs/Industries:
I Quit My Dream Job After Burning Out and I’ve Never Been Better. This is How I Started Over.

Glad you moved on to happiness. Seriously, tens of thousands of young men and woman get useless degrees every year and are in debt for decades. You single out aviation degrees as basically worthless. Yep, I agree, Got an aerospace engineering degree so if failed or came a downturn, could still be an engineer in many industries. You fail to mention that these tens of thousands of students get degrees that won't even get them a primary career that pays anywhere near the potential of many airline pilots. I also chose to live in domicile and other choices to enhance the success of my career.
Made many weddings, reunions etc. Depend where end up but not all dismal.
Know many burn out and its just a job. Have many non aviation friends equally burnt out and they work 5+ days a week. All perspective. I'm fortunate, but feel in my career am more fortunate than most. In my favor, I still enjoy professional flying, even though many trips are demanding and have less than enjoyable aspects. Just like every other job in the world.
Cheers

Thanks for the good words. You have a fair point that there are many ways to throw money at a university with little to no potential return on investment, a flight-only degree being one of them. There are few lousy degrees, however, that are comparably as expensive. I'd encourage anyone to continue building a marketable skill on the side, even if it's only a hobby they enjoy. I was incredibly restless at the airlines because after upgrading to captain, I was learning at a glacial pace, but working on the finance degree and interning for a commercial real estate firm kept my brain occupied in other ways that I enjoyed. That's not to say flying isn't a worthy challenge, because it's highly regimented nature demands much from the professionals, but it exercises a different part of the mind.

Flying is far less mentally engaging than many other occupations, once you reach your career destination job there's a lot less learning going on, and few things to strive for other than an occasional new type (unless you work for a single-fleet airline) or upgrade.

The trade-off is airlines are more secure and offer a better pay/QOL balance than most other jobs. The striving and intellectual engagement you get in many real jobs is tarnished by the fact that if you fail at whatever you're striving for this week (or the boss needs a scapegoat), your family's financial future and lifestyle are on the line. And if you manage to dodge the bullet this week, there will be another coming next week.