Why pilots are so...

[confusedalot]

But I thought anyone can be a pilot with ease? Like driving a truck?

Oh yeah! Just know where 'autopilot' is in case of an emergency...

Planes basically fly themselves, right?

And driving trucks for a living is a walk in the park.

[Cat Driver]

Actually looking back at my experience doing both driving a truck was more demanding than flying an airplane confused.

[confusedalot]

If you are talking about required skills, no problem.

Living the life of a trucker, or living the life of a pilot? Educate me. I've been researching this field and what I am finding out ain't pretty. long hours, low pay, gone from home, living in your cab, on your own in case of a breakdown.

The pilots I know who did it, all say, don't do it.

[Cat Driver]

Either job can involve long absences from home depending on the kind of flying or driving you are doing.

My comment was directed at the physical effort involved in operating them.

I found trucks to be more demanding.

However that is only my personal experience and I am sure many people will disagree with me.

A lot of my flying involved seasonal work such as agricultural flying and fire suppression and I often drove truck in the off seasons.

By the way my employer in the lodge business owns a very large trucking company and the working conditions equipment and pay are awesome.

[confusedalot]

I would agree from what I have learned.

Operating trucks is more demanding at the end of the day. Once again, less knowledge requirement, but for those who have not looked into it, the total effort is very high.

There is a reason for the truckers dearth.

Cheers,

[Cat Driver]

True , flying can require a lot of knowledge but said knowledge is not all that difficult to learn.

We could compare flying to art.

For instance agricultural flying requires real hands and feet skills.

Flying sked airline airline is more like paint by numbers art.

And I personally found it mind numbing boring.

[atphat]

And I personally found it mind numbing boring.

You are of course speaking of your "experience" flying airliners. By which I mean watching airline pilots fly from the jumpseat.

[Cat Driver]

By which I mean watching airline pilots fly from the jumpseat.

I was flying sched airline probably before you were born.

Sked flying is exactly that, scheduled and the type of airplane really makes no real difference except maybe back when we flew the DC6's they were more demanding than a modern computerised airplane.

Would you like to compare our licenses and backgrounds flying aircraft?

I just love you people who make comments based on ignorance of what you are saying.

[confusedalot]

True , flying can require a lot of knowledge but said knowledge is not all that difficult to learn.

We could compare flying to art.

For instance agricultural flying requires real hands and feet skills.

Flying sked airline airline is more like paint by numbers art.

And I personally found it mind numbing boring.

He he he...

Did not do the ag stuff because that was reserved ''for the pros'', but did do low level bird dog, both airspray and fire, and what a blast.

Airline, they don't care about that. Walk in, do your sop, then walk out. Read and do=paint by numbers, yeah, about right.

My biggest surprise came when the recruits only knew how to follow the magenta line.

Yes, airline is all about an sop

[Cat Driver]

It is nice to talk to someone who is experienced and old enough to appreciate and understand the subject of flying for a living Confusedalot.

I find it boring trying to communicate with posters like atphat who make statements based on ignorance.

[Black_Tusk]

I wish you could put someone on ignore, and not have it pop up saying there is a hidden post. Just BOOM, gone. I would enjoy this site a lot more.

[atphat]

Cat equates all flying the same because it has a schedule? All flying is equally boring because it has a scheduled departure time? And I'm the ignorant one? You probably were flying Sched before I was born. Yay for you? That makes your thoughts on the current industry relevant how?

[Black_Tusk]

Cat equates all flying the same because it has a schedule? All flying is equally boring because it has a scheduled departure time? And I'm the ignorant one? You probably were flying Sched before I was born. Yay for you? That makes your thoughts on the current industry relevant how?

Cat thinks aviation these days is not real aviation. Why he sticks around on here then beats me.

[Cat Driver]

Maybe I find it entertaining ?

[confusedalot]

It is nice to talk to someone who is experienced and old enough to appreciate and understand the subject of flying for a living Confusedalot.

I find it boring trying to communicate with posters like atphat who make statements based on ignorance.

I was only gone for an hour talking to a buddy and having a smoke, and all of this?

Feelings are mutual Cat.

As for the rest, man, the venom. I think I will listen to a bit of Cat Stevens for some therapy......

[Cat Driver]

As for the rest, man, the venom. I think I will listen to a bit of Cat Stevens for some therapy......

It would be interesting to know why someone would get so venomous ( good description ) over what others say about aviation confusedalot, especially someone who has only made it to the right seat of a regional.

I guess it must be youth, you can't really know something you have not learned yet.

[Meatservo]

Actually looking back at my experience doing both driving a truck was more demanding than flying an airplane confused.

Yeah, I scanned a couple of truck driving forums and didn't find anyone on there who matched your description talking about his many decades of truck driving, or all the kinds of trucks he drove, or boasting about some old kinds of trucks he drove that were way more hands-on and took more skill than the new modern kinds of trucks, or how he worked as a consultant for some European truck manufacturer, or how he used to perform truck-o-batics at truck shows.

Give me a break. Everybody is familiar with the formula:

1) Boast about all the shit you've done
2) pretend it's no big deal

You can fool the fans, but you can't fool the players.

[tohellnback]

cat give it a break
OUR Companies future looks good for now we have completed some very difficult survey blocks that in the past other companies tried and failed miserable In Quibdo the capital of Choco we had to fly about 70000 km in the pacific north west of Colombia and this place is full of bandits, FARC ,ELNT, illegal miners , coca plantations and labs and rain thunderstorms that are almost biblical
this place is one of the wettest places on earth! 10 meters averge per annual we were hit twice by gun fire and i had to patch holes in 2 of our aircraft

This shit was phycological hard for the aircrews noing that they could of been shot out of the sky So i consoled with them and told them that I too was a victim of violence in the same region on the coast in 1981 and why am I back? i don't know Mabe it was meant to be .
I told the aircrews that this is probably the beginning or the end of a good book and you are all going to be in it
Wow they all laughed and we went drinking
The aircrews also were payed 100 bucks more a day after our second time we got hit
if you guys think you are driven by ego
you better think of other Aviators in this world and quote: pilots are not Aviators
Pilots they are common individuals that fly airplanes

[tohellnback]

THIS IS ONE OF MY MEMOIRS OF SURVEYING IN COLOMBIA

[teh_flyguy]

,

[Meatservo]

How do you know there's a pilot at your party? He'll tell you.
What do pilots use for birth control? Their personality.

It has nothing to do with social media, pilots are narcissists. Spend near 6 figures to make a Burger King wage for years, and maybe move out of your parents basements by 35. Nobody envies pilots, but pilots think they are the envy of everyone. Way better jobs out there as equipment operators that pay well and provide on the job training. Construction, transport truck, oil sands....the list is endless. No up front cost, and a good wage. Sorry flyboys, not much for bragging rights in this industry and everyone knows it. The pilot shortage is only because the wise got real jobs in other industries. You're the only ones that think what you do is special.

Sounds like you weren't quite able to make the grade. Sorry about that. Try not to feel too bad; I'm sure the world needs one or two of whatever you are, as well. Move along, now.

[GUMPS]

This thread had all the pieces for a great read on a Saturday morning. Cat gets in a pissing match with someone who must be younger then him. Someone chimes in about wages and other industries that pay well. Obviously there is, if you got into avaiation for the pay check you're in for a long sad ride my friend.

Let's be honest, the original poster probably made this post after finding out his girlfriend left him for a pilot

[Black_Tusk]

Let's be honest, the original poster probably made this post after finding out his girlfriend left him for a pilot

And a few posts here probably confirmed his question.

[TG]

Speaking of...

cat give it a break
OUR Companies future looks good for now we have completed some very difficult survey blocks that in the past other companies tried and failed miserable In Quibdo the capital of Choco we had to fly about 70000 km in the pacific north west of Colombia and this place is full of bandits, FARC ,ELNT, illegal miners , coca plantations and labs and rain thunderstorms that are almost biblical
this place is one of the wettest places on earth! 10 meters averge per annual we were hit twice by gun fire and i had to patch holes in 2 of our aircraft

This shit was phycological hard for the aircrews noing that they could of been shot out of the sky So i consoled with them and told them that I too was a victim of violence in the same region on the coast in 1981 and why am I back? i don't know Mabe it was meant to be .
I told the aircrews that this is probably the beginning or the end of a good book and you are all going to be in it
Wow they all laughed and we went drinking
The aircrews also were payed 100 bucks more a day after our second time we got hit
if you guys think you are driven by ego
you better think of other Aviators in this world and quote: pilots are not Aviators
Pilots they are common individuals that fly airplanes

I'm really curious to know where the aircraft took those bullets while flying an offshore survey! Approach? Departure? Over land .. running the weather? A boat? Over land while low flying a survey test line? Etc....

There is some survey companies who actually do safety assessments before sending their crew in the field. And when they screw up their "optimistic" assessment, like for example an aircraft hurrying back with bullets holes while flying a survey line (Colombia comes in mind yes) Company will reassess and, sometime, decide to pull the plug.

I have also seen crew being based out of Air Force bases as compromise with ground safety/ferry lengths to a survey bloc. Or being given (civilian) police escort back and forth an airport, with a big "don't get out of the hotel compound without escort" notice.
And you go there on a voluntary basis when it happen.

Another much more cynical bypass to securities issues would be to just subcontract to locals or else, not related. So if something happen, it does not goes into the company safety stats amongst other things.

[complexintentions]

How do you know there's a pilot at your party? He'll tell you.
What do pilots use for birth control? Their personality.

It has nothing to do with social media, pilots are narcissists. Spend near 6 figures to make a Burger King wage for years, and maybe move out of your parents basements by 35. Nobody envies pilots, but pilots think they are the envy of everyone. Way better jobs out there as equipment operators that pay well and provide on the job training. Construction, transport truck, oil sands....the list is endless. No up front cost, and a good wage. Sorry flyboys, not much for bragging rights in this industry and everyone knows it. The pilot shortage is only because the wise got real jobs in other industries. You're the only ones that think what you do is special.

Here's another one: How do you know when a date with a pilot is half-over? When he says, "Well, enough about me, let's talk about airplanes!"

(Please PM me if you need me to explain it.)

"Nobody envies pilots". Hmmm. Gotta call bs on that one. Sounds like you do, for starters. Frustrated envy is often the motivation for taking shots at others as you do. But I base my opinion more on the hundreds of times over my career - including daily, and recently - people have expressed from admiration to awe at one's being a pilot. I wish I could be paid every time someone says, upon hearing my profession, "oh wow! I always wanted to be a pilot...". I mean zero disrespect for the professions you mention (I was a truck driver in a previous life) but I highly doubt that people are constantly saying the same things to oil sands and construction workers. Perhaps I'm wrong. But no one ever said to me "wow, you drive trucks" and then proceeded to give their life story about how their eyesight wasn't good enough or they lacked the money for lessons or how they regretted giving up on their dream to be a truck driver.

Which of course, in no way implies anyone SHOULD necessarily envy pilots (or look down their noses at other professions). It's a job, after all, not a Mission From God. But stating that "nobody does" is patently false. Search any combination of "most respected professions" for surveys and you'll invariably find "pilot" somewhere high in the list.

Again - I'll try to rephrase for the simple-minded - one may or may not agree that the job is worthy of such high esteem, but to say that it doesn't exist is either ignorant or jealous.

Which one are you, teh_flyguy?