Does it ever get old?

[AA]

Does anybody that flies professionally ever get sick of it? I am currently a private pilot working on my ratings through college. I also recently went on a fishing trip and our guide said that guiding, since its his job, has taken all of the fun out of fishing that used to be there. I was just curious if flying gets to be like every other job, a hassle, after doing it a while, and for a living.

[DE727UPS]

I'm gonna say yes but, dollar for dollar, I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing.

If it all paid the same, I think teaching kids how to drive a stick would be a kick. I wouldn't mind being a driving instructor or a school counselor. I'm sure I'd be fed up with both in short order, though, and think flying is the greatest way to make a living.

[Cheechako]

It never gets old for me. It's not always ultra-exciting, but I still love looking out the window. I'm an airplane geek, so I love watching other airplanes around the airport. The western states I mostly fly over are fascinating. I love flying over Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, southern Nevada. There's nothing else I'd rather do!

[Bandit_Driver]

The flying never gets old. What does get old is all the airport appreciation time and BS from mgmt. But flying a plane is the best job in the world for me. You get to do something different everyday, heck every leg. No two flights are the same.

[tonyw]

Let's put it this way.

I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than getting paid to chase a little rubber puck around the ice, hitting people who get in my way, and shooting that thing past a goalie (sorry, Emu).

But apparently, for the guys who get paid to do it, it became their job even though they enjoyed it.

I figure that's the way it goes no matter what you do for your paycheck.

[Screaming_Emu]

[ QUOTE ]


I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than getting paid to chase a little rubber puck around the ice, hitting people who get in my way, and shooting that thing past a goalie (sorry, Emu).



[/ QUOTE ]

pfft, not this goalie.

[FlyingNole]

We still need to figure out a network JC for all the pilots who are puck chasers. Who was it that showed us the link to the custom jersey's?

We should definitely get that going.
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Back on topic. I only have about 450tt, but I love it every time I go flying; even when its a "bad" day. However that initial thrill I used to get is gone. I think this happened because it has become kind of routine. But no matter what, when I'm on the ground, I'm pretty much always wishing that I was flying...

[maverick2]

[ QUOTE ]
We still need to figure out a network JC for all the pilots who are puck chasers. Who was it that showed us the link to the custom jersey's?



[/ QUOTE ]

[shooter13]

Hey I was trying to get something set for Vegas later this year but there wasn't any interest.

[joel_MQY]

I would be in line as a spectator. Since we didn't have the NHL this year, I have been looking for good Amatuer hockey.

[SIUav8er]

[ QUOTE ]
Does anybody that flies professionally ever get sick of it? I am currently a private pilot working on my ratings through college. I also recently went on a fishing trip and our guide said that guiding, since its his job, has taken all of the fun out of fishing that used to be there. I was just curious if flying gets to be like every other job, a hassle, after doing it a while, and for a living.

[/ QUOTE ]

I dont think you should ever get sick of flying if you really love it in the first place. I know a reitired airline captain with over 30,000 hours that still hangs out at my local airport constantly, flys his piper cub and mooney at least twice a week, and has built three other airplanes. On top of that, he is a DPE to help fund his hangar rent.

It doesnt sound like he ever got bored of aviation and I know acouple other "airport bums" that are in similiar situations.

[jdflight]

The monotony can get old, but I love airplanes and I love geography/geology. Looking out the window at land formations that I couldn't otherwise see and appreciate will always take the boredom out of it for me.

[tonyw]

[ QUOTE ]
pfft, not this goalie.

[/ QUOTE ]

You throwing down the blocker there, my friend?

We should start a JC hockey team and play in some tourney somewhere. We could get the old Winnipeg Jets unis and call ourselves the Mad Dogs.

[FlyingNole]

A bunch of guys were talkin in the AIM chat a few weeks back about doing a hockey thing, and that there was website where we could get custom jersey's, like a pilots uniform

Anyway, Ive been dying to get back on the ice since FSU got rid of their hockey program, so lets get something going!

I have a buddy whose dad owns an ice arena where I used to play for my highschool down in Ft. Lauderdale. So if anyone wants to play a lil Florida stick and puck, I can find out what kinda deal we can get on the ice time.

[Doug Taylor]

[ QUOTE ]
Does anybody that flies professionally ever get sick of it? I am currently a private pilot working on my ratings through college. I also recently went on a fishing trip and our guide said that guiding, since its his job, has taken all of the fun out of fishing that used to be there. I was just curious if flying gets to be like every other job, a hassle, after doing it a while, and for a living.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to be completely honest and frank.

It really depends.

For the most part, I enjoy it. However, other days I feel like pulling a "Peter Gibbons" from Office Space.

Sometimes, leaving the house to start a trip is rough because I tend to get home sick when I'm on the road too much. I'm only leaving behind a wife and three cats, but I really couldn't imagine leaving Cletus, Bocephus and little Jethro junior behind if I had them.

Plus, this is going to sounds nuts because me hosting an aviation website, but I keep a fairly good "firewall" of sorts between the airline business and my personal life. When I'm the road, that firewall between personal life and job (it is a job after all) is permeated and it gets a little weird.

If it's a good trip working with good people, it's an enjoyable way to earn a living. However, if I've got a rotten captain and working with a bunch of cranky flight attendants, it gets old very quickly. Nothing tops it off like a 0530 20-minute ride to the airport with three ladies nearly my mom's age loudly cackling about how the paparazzi is out of control as they excitedly flip thru a fresh People magazine and complain about why their husbands expect them to occasionally check their own oil.

Gah!

A lot of it has to do with being ATL-based. Every other leg is into ATL, and on the MD-88 it's a tour of the 'burgs and 'villes where flying west of Houston, hell, even flying TO Houston can be a rare treat. If I didn't work for a carrier where I could at least change theaters of operation (737, 767, 777, etc) and have the option of flying to Europe, I'd certainly be voraciously looking for one with that option.

As a profession, there's nothing else I'd rather do, but it certainly isn't the brightly sunny, birds chirping in the trees, busty flight attendants offering 'coffee, tea, or me, tee hee!' aero-utopia the general public thinks it is.

In my perfect world, I'd fly 777's to Europe and Asia most of the year, take a few months of leave every summer and to fly turbine beavers and Eurocopters in Alaska for flightseeing tours and run a successful online business building online communities.

[ERfly]

[ QUOTE ]
but I really couldn't imagine leaving Cletus, Bocephus and little Jethro junior behind if I had them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doug,

You really need to get out of Atlanta....

[Doug Taylor]

Ya don't say!

[FlyChicaga]

Doug just summed it up PERFECTLY for how I feel as well.

I am probably 10 times more enthusiastic about my career than most, but even though I love it so much it does wear on me sometimes. I'd say the best thing, and the worst thing, about this job is the people.

[Texguy]

Here's a similar thread from March on this topic:

Greatest JC thread ever

[Maximillian_Jenius]

[quote
A lot of it has to do with being ATL-based. Every other leg is into ATL, and on the MD-88 it's a tour of the 'burgs and 'villes where flying west of Houston, hell, even flying TO Houston can be a rare treat. If I didn't work for a carrier where I could at least change theaters of operation (737, 767, 777, etc) and have the option of flying to Europe, I'd certainly be voraciously looking for one with that option.


[/ QUOTE ]

See no matter what their stock price and their years of profitablity Southwest flying isn't for everyone. Variety is still the spice of life!

-Matthew

[scoobs]

You need to fly international you will get to see something new.Also Southwest flying wouldn't be bad if you were in the reserves/guard and could fly to Europe and Aisa.Theres not much difference between Alaska and SWA.

[Doug Taylor]

Have you taken a peek at Alaska Air's route map north of Seattle?

[typhoonpilot]

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In my perfect world, I'd fly 777's to Europe and Asia most of the year,

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[QXDVR]

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If it's a good trip working with good people, it's an enjoyable way to earn a living. However, if I've got a rotten captain and working with a bunch of cranky flight attendants, it gets old very quickly. [ QUOTE ]


Yeah, try flying a bid with a captain who's idea of a good time is highlighting enroute charts and picking apart how you read checklists, do flows, tie your shoes, iron your shirts..etc. I know, I just did it and I dreaded every trip I flew. Not quite what I signed up for but I guess its the law of averages that a certain % of people are just plain rotten. Other than that I'm super excited every day

Okay that looks like a flightinfo post. I'm really not that bitter! I Love the flying but everyone has days (or weeks) that this job is just like any other job where you would do anything to get off early and go sit on the deck sippin a cold one and watch planes fly over

[ERfly]

I flew with a guy recently that had made cheat sheets of every route the company flies. He had ATC frequencies, all the navaids, courses, etc. If it was a new route for him, he was making up a sheet during the trip. If you would change the frequency after a hand off, he was already dialing a new frequency into the stand-by. What if I was given the wrong freq or dialed it in wrong? That last freq is gone. If we hit a burble of air, we were in "Moderate Turbulence!!!" and slow it to 210. Plus, he was dating the flight attendant. It made for a fun for day.