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skydog · May 9th, 2006, 14:20

Flying airplanes is great. Flying airplanes for a living sucks! Oh, you might enjoy it for a year or two, but eventually the realities of the profession will hit you: Long days, short overnights, working nights weekends and holidays, living out of a suitcase 3 or 4 days a week, missing important times with your wife and children, no job security, management constantly trying cut pay and benefits...the list goes on and on.

My advice? Get your private pilot license, join a local flying club, and fly for the sheer pleasure of flying. Fly when and where you like, not at the demands of an employer. Get involved with a local EAA Chapter. Join Civil Air Patrol. Get involved with Young Eagle or Aviation Explorers. Earn your instructor certificate and do some flight instruction in the evenings or weekends. If you really feel the need for speed, then shell out a few hundred bucks to go through one of those Air Combat or Airline Simulator experiences.

To answer your question, you are not too old to pursue this career. But I would say that you are too far along life's path to change your lifestyle now. Your wife may be supportive, but does she REALLY understand what you (and her) will be getting into?

If you were single I might have said different. But you've got a family to take care of. It is the height of selfishness to chuck everything so that you can go and play with the airplanes. Work hard in your present career, do well and maybe you cant retire early. Build your ratings and hours along the way. Maybe in 20 or 25 years when the kids are grown and the mortgage is paid off, you can spend your last few working years flying for an airline. Believe me when I say, a few years will be enough.

May 9th, 2006, 14:20	#5
skydog Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 501	Re: 31 Years too old? Flying airplanes is great. Flying airplanes for a living sucks! Oh, you might enjoy it for a year or two, but eventually the realities of the profession will hit you: Long days, short overnights, working nights weekends and holidays, living out of a suitcase 3 or 4 days a week, missing important times with your wife and children, no job security, management constantly trying cut pay and benefits...the list goes on and on. My advice? Get your private pilot license, join a local flying club, and fly for the sheer pleasure of flying. Fly when and where you like, not at the demands of an employer. Get involved with a local EAA Chapter. Join Civil Air Patrol. Get involved with Young Eagle or Aviation Explorers. Earn your instructor certificate and do some flight instruction in the evenings or weekends. If you really feel the need for speed, then shell out a few hundred bucks to go through one of those Air Combat or Airline Simulator experiences. To answer your question, you are not too old to pursue this career. But I would say that you are too far along life's path to change your lifestyle now. Your wife may be supportive, but does she REALLY understand what you (and her) will be getting into? If you were single I might have said different. But you've got a family to take care of. It is the height of selfishness to chuck everything so that you can go and play with the airplanes. Work hard in your present career, do well and maybe you cant retire early. Build your ratings and hours along the way. Maybe in 20 or 25 years when the kids are grown and the mortgage is paid off, you can spend your last few working years flying for an airline. Believe me when I say, a few years will be enough.