Are there any happy pilots out there?

[flybyranch]

I don't post very much and didn't read any of the above but I had to chirp in and say Im a VERY happy pilot. 42 days on/off and tax free $$$ makes Jack a happy man!

 

It's like a flying vacation every 42 days, and when it get's boring (day 35'ish) I go home the next week for my 42 days off.

 

Cheers' fellas!

[d10]

abailey, your avatar makes me happy, so add another to the happy pilot column.

[Mad Dog]

Hi. I only recently starting actually working as a helicopter pilot but I am greatly enjoying it.

I am a flight instructor in Korea. Being a flight instructor is very stressful and a lot of responsibility, but I am absolutely delighted that I am doing so! I really enjoy teaching a lot more then I ever thought I would. Seeing students learn is pretty cool.

 

There is always flute music playing and birds chirping, but it is hard to stop and listen to it when one is so focused on making sure the student isn't going to kill us. But it is still a blast. I learn a ton working as a flight instructor. It is amazing how much better of a pilot one becomes from teaching.

 

I changed careers from a fun career as a scientist to a helicopter pilot. The pay and hours are comparatively worse, but that is fine with me and I don't worry or think about it because I love doing what I am doing.

 

I trained at Mauna Loa Helicopters in Hawaii. It is a great school. Very professional, Very good training, very good training environment (valleys, high altitude, flights between islands, class B airspace, and beautiful).

 

Have fun and enjoy school! Training is a blast.

 

Margot

Edited October 12, 2013 by Mad Dog

[Rossco]

Great thread. Like any job it has its ups and downs, the day you don't want to get out of bed because you have to go fly would for me be the day I change careers...

That said I'm still an instructor, have been for about a year and a half. I wouldn't say I love teaching but its something we pretty much all have to do to move on to the next step. It's a great first job, you'll learn more about yourself in that period of having to teach someone and improve on all your skills, just in time for another company to cash in on that and make you the commercial pilot they want you to be so long as you haven't been lazy and picked up all the bad habits under the sun! lol

 

I do have a friend that flies VIP and they aren't loving it so much at the moment which I find hilarious because most of us would love the money associated with that job. but they don't get the hours they want and some times they won't fly for weeks....

In a nut shell you can ALWAYS go back to the real world if this one isn't for you, theres plenty of room. Here however space is limited for those that really want it.

 

Good luck with your training, its a one in a life time thing. Meet as many people as you can during and throughout as they're your in for your next job as well as great mentors.

[Cheeto9]

I don't post very much and didn't read any of the above but I had to chirp in and say Im a VERY happy pilot. 42 days on/off and tax free $$$ makes Jack a happy man!

 

It's like a flying vacation every 42 days, and when it get's boring (day 35'ish) I go home the next week for my 42 days off.

 

Cheers' fellas!

 

What type of flying do you do that you have a 42 on 42 off cycle?

[THE_COYOTE]

The best job I have ever had! Life is what you make of it. If you are naturally a negative person this career will not help that. I tell everyone who asks me that it has to be a passion, otherwise don't waste your money. You can make pretty good money, but it will take a while and you will have to fight for every dime. There are slim profit margins these days and owners are looking to save as much as they can, but that is true in most industries. I will also tell you to have a specific goal early on, meaning not just to fly but what type of flying. Good luck!

[Thumper]

Here is the deal. The flying part is mostly satisfying. But so much of the job is not about flying and it is this part of the job that makes it not so good. Unfortunately when you are new to the industry you are going to get not much flying and lots of the other stuff. You can spend years in that position. Not much money, relationship friction, job insecurity, very little validation. I guess it is called paying your dues, it feels like you are taken advantage of. You are getting older, you are getting no-where, working harder is not working smarter.

There have been several excellent posts above. It is a job.

By itself, something that you can learn in 40 hours or less, the movement of the controls to fly a helicopter, is not something that is going to bring much happiness.

Now for the good part. If you are exceptionally diligent and take great care every time you fly, in time you can come out as a professional pilot, being paid to fly helicopters you cannot afford to own. You will have moments of supreme job satisfaction because you were able to accomplish something at a particular moment that will be accumulation of all your dedication and skill.

But it rarely happens early in a career and it may not happen ever. If it does you will understand why people become helicopter pilots in the first place. If you never have this moment you will be one of the disenchanted. Good luck to you.

[cburg]

I’d go to a Maritime college instead. Get hired on a Drillship as a Dynamic Positioning Operator hovering a drillship in 10,000' of water within a 5’ circle, get paid $130K, work 6 months a year, then get your Master’s rating, make $180 and meantime fly your own helicopter while you are off six months out of the year.

 

Note: my co-worker did all of the above AFTER he graduated from Emery Riddle and realized he was on the wrong track.

[Rotorhead84]

Very happy.

 

Can't beat only working 7-8 months a year.

[Francis Meyrick]

I AM ABSOLUTELY HACKED OFF AND MISERABLE++++

 

 

(when I can't fly...)

 

 

Is this a good happiness choice?

[cburg]

Bear Claw: You've come far, pilgrim.

Jeremiah Johnson: Feels like far.

Bear Claw: Were it worth the trouble?

Jeremiah Johnson: Ah, what trouble?

[Whistler]

I could not be happier. I only have about 700 hours but I haven't worked a day since I entered flight school. And I don't plan on starting any time soon... don't get me wrong. I put a lot of effort into my job, I earn every cent... but I don't feel like I earned it in a lot of ways. I go to "work" teach people to fly... go home and wish I was back at "work." I hate weekends... Idle hands and all that. I truly have never worked less hard at a job... and that's a great feeling. I repeat, I put in a lot of effort... but it's somehow very very different from work.

 

[Francis Meyrick]

Well, I have to be honest: I have at times willfully contributed to "unhappiness". No denying it. I beat my breast. I remember one of my assistant instructors.. I think he was pretty ticked off with me.

 

Come to think of it, I think he was probably an unhappy pilot that day.

 

here's my honest confession. I hang my head in shame.

 

Humbly yours

 

Moggy

[terminal_velo]

Yipee. More blog spam. Post on your blog, or post here, but if you're going to do both, you should probably be paying VR to be an advertiser.

[aeroscout]

Yipee. More blog spam. Post on your blog, or post here, but if you're going to do both, you should probably be paying VR to be an advertiser.

So, you're unhappy ?

Or are you even a pilot ?

[terminal_velo]

Or are you even a pilot ?

 

I am.

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blogspam

 

Unhappy? Not usually, just not a fan of people using forums for shameless self-promotion. His threads are just an attempt to leech genuine traffic and increase search engine rankings. It's a common way to get free advertising.

[Francis Meyrick]

you are a funny creature. Kind of sour though. Are you really a pilot? If you don't mind, I'll re-christen you "TERMINAL VETO".

 

You remind me of one of my happy old assistant instructors.

 

Here's the link I'm sure you won't follow:

 

Happiness is a cream cracker

 

Ho-hummm...

[Francis Meyrick]

@ aeroscout

 

actually, think about it. Terminal VELO. The French word for bicycle. Velocette. He's one of those guys who sternly rides his bicycle around the place, In-terminally. He's a Greenie. Probably hates the internal combustion engine.

 

Poor fellow. I felt the need to go into poetry to express my sympathies.

 

Terminal Veto

 

Aloof and sour

He’s the hero of the hour

Stern and unyielding

Censure wielding

He patrols the Net

Determined to get

Rid of the Mog

And his scurrilous blog.

 

Great Terminal velo

My Bicycle hero

I salute your austerity

But you can kiss my posterity.

 

 

[avbug]

I don't have a dog in the hunt and don't care much anyway, but if a poster wants to link his blog, why not? Who cares?

 

The thread is about those who are happy with their careers. If one's blog detailing one's day to day thoughts in the business lends insight into one's view on the subject, that's really in keeping with the topic, is it not?

 

I know nothing about post counts or site kudos or whatever one calls it, and don't particularly care. If the poster has something to offer with his site, then that's reason enough to link it. It didn't actually take up any extra bandwidth now, did it? It's a rhetorical question. I don't care about the reply. Neither should anyone else.

 

I'm quite happy with my career. I go back out on fires in two weeks. Happy as a clam, thanks.

[rotornut67]

Yipee. More blog spam. Post on your blog, or post here, but if you're going to do both, you should probably be paying VR to be an advertiser.

 

You don't have to read it, but I would be willing to bet that you have read more than one of them. Although you would probably never admit it.

[Jaybee]

After two unhappy years of leaving my beautiful wife at home I was able to find a job locally and now am very happy, because if the old lady isn't happy NO ONE is happy.

[Whistlerpilot]

Amen to that brother.

[cburg]

After two unhappy years of leaving my beautiful wife at home I was able to find a job locally and now am very happy, because if the old lady isn't happy NO ONE is happy.

Happy wife...happy life!

 

If mama ain't happy...ain't nobody happy!

[cryesis]

Good thing I'm still young!

[WolftalonID]

Today I am not happy. I was not careful when laying my iPad mini down and my rapid motion to set it down was in vane. The momentum of it carried it further off my arm chair where it precisely placed itself glass down on the tile hearth.

 

Then in my frustration of the broken screen, my wife retorted, its about time!!!! You never break your stuff, just me!!! Now you know whats its like!!........

 

Thanks hun....I kinda do now, yes thank you.....

 

So here I sit, tapping away on it hoping I won't need a bandaid or two!!

 

Very sad pilot today..very sad....

Edited March 19, 2014 by WolftalonID