Pilot vs. Doctor Pay

[Beefitarian]

Please go to career day at as many high schools as possible. The reason I never started flight training until I was in my 20s and had a crappier job that didn't allow me to afford steady training yet excluded me from getting student loans. Was a few "Cows" in my high school counseling department telling me, "You can't be a pilot. Your grades are not good enough for College."

[Colonel Sanders]

You can't be a pilot. Your grades are not good enough

My advice to any teenager: You want to be a pilot? Get a dirt bike and
a pair of work gloves, and get a job pumping gas at your local airport.

[Beefitarian]

I had an RM 125.

[Colonel Sanders]

Even though it was a Suzuki (sorry), you were half-way there, because you knew how to operate and maintain motorized equipment.

All you needed to do, was become an airport rat. Hang around an airport long enough, someone will put you to work cutting grass, painting fences, pumping gas, cleaning airplanes, etc. Then sooner or later you will start snivelling flight time. Tried and true path for many aviators who never listened to the fat cows.

[Beefitarian]

I guess better late than never is bogus when it comes to some advice. Ah well, at the time I only wanted to race the silly bike and that never happened either. I don't think who ever was in charge of the chain link at CYYC wanted me to paint it.

[BTyyj]

I don't think who ever was in charge of the chain link at CYYC wanted me to paint it.

Haha. I am in cowtown, so maybe I should ask around YYC . I did spend the summer painting fences, so I would be perfect for the job!

Back to the thread; one thing I can say in all certainty is that doctors are far more welcoming, encouraging, and supportive individuals. Most people on this thread seem to want to turn young pilots away from aviation, by dissing their jobs and everyone else they work with, and comparing this profession to that of bus drivers.

If aviation was really so easy, why doesn't everybody do it? The pay would be easy to get and amazing. You get to travel without haven't to work hard at all. This isn't the case though. There is a reason pilots get respect from the general public, why people watch them walking through the airport, why kids look up to pilots like they are gods, and why people trust them so much. I remember hearing a story from a pilot, and I don't remember the situation, but basically he had to borrow something and the company didn't ask him for any collateral. The reason: they could trust him because he was a pilot.

You may not agree with what I am saying. I have talked to many individuals in non-aviation-related jobs, including doctors, who have a huge respect for pilots. I have also talked face to face with many pilots, all of whom had to work very hard to get where they are, so it's not like what I am saying is uninformed.

To all the young aspiring pilots out there like me: You won't be able to get a job without at least a high school diploma; you won't be able to breeze through flight colleges or university; you won't be getting a job without trying; and finally, you won't be building hours like crazy without putting in any effort and paying your dues.

You pilots on these forums are funny. I still don't understand why you want to disparage your profession so much. You guys deserve the respect.

[Les Habitants]

I don't think who ever was in charge of the chain link at CYYC wanted me to paint it.

You pilots on these forums are funny. I still don't understand why you want to disparage your profession so much. You guys deserve the respect.

tell me about it You'd think a lot of people here are a tad bitter (could be for any number of reasons...didn't make it to the big shows, didn't find fulfillment in the career, didn't get as many girls as you thought it would ). Why not compare doctors to pilots? It has its good comparison points and its bad ones. Good: We are both responsible for a heckuva lot of lives. Bad: Obviously most pilots have it a tad easier. There was a comment made to the effect of saying that to be a bus driver requires the same lack of training as a pilot....give me a break! Anyone can drive a bus (well, almost anyone), but it takes a certain level of intuition to be able to fly an airplane, do it well, be organized, and to make sound decisions under pressure all at the same time. And I've seen people that can't do it, which is not a knock on them, but it's just not their thing. Being a bus driver and flying a plane is not a very good comparison, IMO.

That said, when people ask me what I do, I do like to say I'm a glorified bus driver, but I do mean it as a joke

[Doc]

WOW! A thread comparing apples to oranges (with an "a") runs three pages. Bizarre.

[flyinthebug]

I don't think who ever was in charge of the chain link at CYYC wanted me to paint it.

Haha. I am in cowtown, so maybe I should ask around YYC . I did spend the summer painting fences, so I would be perfect for the job!

Back to the thread; one thing I can say in all certainty is that doctors are far more welcoming, encouraging, and supportive individuals. Most people on this thread seem to want to turn young pilots away from aviation, by dissing their jobs and everyone else they work with, and comparing this profession to that of bus drivers.

If aviation was really so easy, why doesn't everybody do it? The pay would be easy to get and amazing. You get to travel without haven't to work hard at all. This isn't the case though. There is a reason pilots get respect from the general public, why people watch them walking through the airport, why kids look up to pilots like they are gods, and why people trust them so much. I remember hearing a story from a pilot, and I don't remember the situation, but basically he had to borrow something and the company didn't ask him for any collateral. The reason: they could trust him because he was a pilot.

You may not agree with what I am saying. I have talked to many individuals in non-aviation-related jobs, including doctors, who have a huge respect for pilots. I have also talked face to face with many pilots, all of whom had to work very hard to get where they are, so it's not like what I am saying is uninformed.

To all the young aspiring pilots out there like me: You won't be able to get a job without at least a high school diploma; you won't be able to breeze through flight colleges or university; you won't be getting a job without trying; and finally, you won't be building hours like crazy without putting in any effort and paying your dues.

You pilots on these forums are funny. I still don't understand why you want to disparage your profession so much. You guys deserve the respect.

I have found the same thing. My new doctor loves to talk aviation, and told me that their profession uses the aviation profession as a model. Pilots are respected and they deserve to be. It seems glamerous enough...getting paid to see the world. It has a dark side, but what industry doesnt? Everytime you push the power levers forward, you are taking an educated risk. One that is above the normal daily commuter. You have anywhere from 1 to 300 passengers lives in your hands from take off to landing. It is a heavy load and we should take more pride in the service we provide.

If you think being a pilot is easy... try passing any of the INRAT or ATPL exams...or even the CPL written exam...its not for the simple minded. Flying takes a unique individual. Not because its particularly physically demanding, but it is mentally one of the most difficult jobs to do. When its SKC and everything is pinned where it should be, then our job is a breeze. When were flying an approach to min, at night, in an unfamiliar airport....or running around the coast in 800' and 1 SM vis... thats when we earn our money. I would suggest it is the same for doctors. When the shit hits the fan, they earn their money. When 30 people show up in their emergency room with multiple serious injuries, thats when they earn their money. When the ER is quiet and they get 100$ an hour for drinking coffee and flirting with nurses... well thats just them humming along at 500 mph on a SKC day, enjoying the view.

Its still an apple vs oranges arguement either way.
Fly safe all.

[CpnCrunch]

I think doctors put up with a lot more shit than pilots. Still, I don't think I would want either job.

[teacher]

When a doctor f@#$'s up bad do they die as well? Do they have strict medical requirements that must be met or they lose their license? Do they have to be tested every 6 months or they lose their license? The answer is no to all the above. Sure the comparison might be apples to oranges BUT the differences are not as big as some would like to think.

[culver10]

[pilotwannabe]

Are you fricken kidding me... Pilots to Doctors.... Anyone can be become a pilot... I mean anyone... there are anly a hand select people that can become doctors.... The doctors I know were the smartest of the smartest people... I know high-school drop outs that became pilots... give your head a shake and try comparing another career where you done even need a grade 12 education and start complaining from there!!!! WOW as far as I'm concerned not one pilot would even last a week in med school.... but I'm certain every doctor would have no problem getting a pilots license....

[SAR_YQQ]

If you throw enough money at one person - he will eventually become a pilot. Can the same be said about a prospective medical school candidate - can you buy your way through med school?

I fly planes because:

a) I like it;
b) it's fun;
c) I get paid to have fun; and
d) it's an easy job (even flying down to VV001).

I have seriously thought about becoming a Doctor - and promptly gave up that idea because of all the work required to get there. Flying involves logging time doing repetitive tasks (takeoff, cruise, approach, landing) until a magic number is reached for advancement. Spending 4-7 years in school is not my idea of fun.

[BTyyj]

Are you fricken kidding me... Pilots to Doctors.... Anyone can be become a pilot... I mean anyone... there are anly a hand select people that can become doctors.... The doctors I know were the smartest of the smartest people... I know high-school drop outs that became pilots... give your head a shake and try comparing another career where you done even need a grade 12 education and start complaining from there!!!! WOW as far as I'm concerned not one pilot would even last a week in med school.... but I'm certain every doctor would have no problem getting a pilots license....

Give your head a shake. "Doctors are the smartest of the smart people." Yes they are intelligent, but having talked to many doctors about this very subject, they all have said the most important things to becoming a doctor are hard work, motivation, and being sociable. If you had done some research before posting uninformed nonsense, you would see these are the assets medical schools look for as well. Every year, there are tons of students with 4.0s and 40 MCATs who gets regrets, while many 3.7s with low MCATS get accepted.

Also, basing intelligences and worth on high school marks is completely ignorant. I know a doctor who got low 60s in high school. So what? High school isn't at all indicative of what a person can do. If a person turns their life around, either by going back and getting a good education, or working hard and getting into a respectable job, then congrats to them.

"Not one pilot would even last a week in med school." If they were motivated to learn the material, I am sure most would do fine. A lot of people can get through medicine, but they only let in a select few, which makes it prestigious. Some students without as good marks who can't get in in Canada go over to Ireland to learn the exact same thing, and in they end, they are just as good of doctors. Going through Medical School is very, very difficult, however, the issue is the volume of information required to learn, not that the actual information is conceptually hard. I am certain most pilots with the motivation can get through a week of medical school, but it'd have to be the first week. I think the fact that there are MDs flying commercially just completely disproves your point.

"But I'm certain every doctor would have no problem getting a pilots license" Not every doctor, but most would be able to get their licence.

I am just going to assume right now that you're not a pilot.

[Cat Driver]

Jackg737:

The bottom line is one can become a very seccusful pilot as long as the person can.

1....Read and write,

2....Can pass the medical standards that T.C. requires.

3.....Has the ability to think clearly enough to make safe decisions based on their experience level.

4.......Builds up a reputation that allows them to progress from one job to another and have a record of performance without wrecking airplanes.

It is that simple Jack.......

Here is a suggestion that will give you an insight to how much fun it is flying a large long haul jet.

Go onto your computer and get flight simulator set up for say a 767 which would be a typical airplane that Air Canada operates.

Set it up for a trip from Vancouver to London Heathroe then sit in a real comfortable chair and fly fly the sim the same as you would a real 767' then about ten or so hours from now get back to me and let me know how much fun it was.

Of course the more education one has the easier it should be in some cases to find employment in your earlier stages of flying for a living.

[BTyyj]

Jackg737:

The bottom line is one can become a very seccusful pilot as long as the person can.

1....Read and write,

2....Can pass the medical standards that T.C. requires.

3.....Has the ability to think clearly enough to make safe decisions based on their experience level.

4.......Builds up a reputation that allows them to progress from one job to another and have a record of performance without wrecking airplanes.

It is that simple Jack.......

Here is a suggestion that will give you an insight to how much fun it is flying a large long haul jet.

Go onto your computer and get flight simulator set up for say a 767 which would be a typical airplane that Air Canada operates.

Set it up for a trip from Vancouver to London Heathroe then sit in a real comfortable chair and fly fly the sim the same as you would a real 767' then about ten or so hours from now get back to me and let me know how much fun it was.

Of course the more education one has the easier it should be in some cases to find employment in your earlier stages of flying for a living.

I agree with you. The base minimums are what you noted. You could do any job with that kind of education, including medicine, but you won't be good at it. I remember a surgeon saying that he could teach anybody the skills, but it takes real motivation to go through and learn all the information.

If it's your guy's goal to make me think hard about aviation; congrats. Because I don't want to read and hear all this bullshit about the profession I am doing for the rest of my life.

[co-joe]

Are you fricken kidding me... Pilots to Doctors.... Anyone can be become a pilot... I mean anyone... there are anly a hand select people that can become doctors.... The doctors I know were the smartest of the smartest people... I know high-school drop outs that became pilots... give your head a shake and try comparing another career where you done even need a grade 12 education and start complaining from there!!!! WOW as far as I'm concerned not one pilot would even last a week in med school.... but I'm certain every doctor would have no problem getting a pilots license....

Anyone can become a pilot but that's because there's no college of pilots forcing us to have a specific level of education. Do you really think a Doctor NEEDS an undergraduate degree? An I mean really NEEDS? I have no doubt I could become a doctor.

Ask yourself how many requirements of physicians are really a NEED and how many are a money making/time consuming hoops to jump through. I think pilots to doctors is a very good comparison of skill and knowledge levels. How much of med school is nice to know or weeder stuff and how much is really need to know? Virtually all of the CPL course is need to know and could easily be stretched out to 4+years. Throw in the euro ATPL stuff, and it could be a masters degree or more, and make an underwater basket weaving degree a requirement and only allow a max number of applicants and bingo! 9 years and $240 000.

[TheSuit]

The original posting, comparing the salaries and lifestyles was pretty reasonable and well thought out. Many of the subsequent posts, unfortunately, are absurd. These jobs are nothing alike. At all. Not even close.

Alike professions: medical doctor, dentist, veterinarian, optometrist, pharmacist, nurse, chiropractor.

Also alike: pilot, crane operator, bus driver, nuclear reactor operator, railroad engineer.

Notice that in these groups, there are higher-end jobs and lower-end ones, but the groups don't overlap. Notice you are also comparing a field which is almost completely intellectual (MD) to a field which has no intellectual component (Pilot). Knowing how to operate something is not intellectual. In one field, people are sick or injured or dying and you have to figure how to fix them. In the other field, you must follow SOPs and training to avoid injuring or killing people.

Pilots are drivers. They drive planes. They are not doctors. I don't save lives every morning on my way to work just because I avoid driving my car into a bus stop and killing everyone.

[BTyyj]

Are you fricken kidding me... Pilots to Doctors.... Anyone can be become a pilot... I mean anyone... there are anly a hand select people that can become doctors.... The doctors I know were the smartest of the smartest people... I know high-school drop outs that became pilots... give your head a shake and try comparing another career where you done even need a grade 12 education and start complaining from there!!!! WOW as far as I'm concerned not one pilot would even last a week in med school.... but I'm certain every doctor would have no problem getting a pilots license....

Anyone can become a pilot but that's because there's no college of pilots forcing us to have a specific level of education. Do you really think a Doctor NEEDS an undergraduate degree? An I mean really NEEDS? I have no doubt I could become a doctor.

Ask yourself how many requirements of physicians are really a NEED and how many are a money making/time consuming hoops to jump through. I think pilots to doctors is a very good comparison of skill and knowledge levels. How much of med school is nice to know or weeder stuff and how much is really need to know? Virtually all of the CPL course is need to know and could easily be stretched out to 4+years. Throw in the euro ATPL stuff, and it could be a masters degree or more.

1+. Something consider is that Medical School only has 2 years of formal education, then 2 years of internship, then residence. Those 2 years of formal education are equal to flight college, so it's the same as any other professional school. What does that have to say?

[Cat Driver]

I agree with you. The base minimums are what you noted. You could do any job with that kind of education, including medicine, but you won't be good at it. I remember a surgeon saying that he could teach anybody the skills, but it takes real motivation to go through and learn all the information.

Let me get this correct Jack, are you saying that if a pilot starts out as I outlined in my last post that the pilot won't get good at being a pilot and can not become successful at the occupation?

[BTyyj]

I agree with you. The base minimums are what you noted. You could do any job with that kind of education, including medicine, but you won't be good at it. I remember a surgeon saying that he could teach anybody the skills, but it takes real motivation to go through and learn all the information.

Let me get this correct Jack, are you saying that if a pilot starts out as I outlined in my last post that the pilot won't get good at being a pilot and can not become successful at the occupation?

You're right again. I apologize. However, for many airlines, those requirements wouldn't cut it.

[Cat Driver]

You seem to be quite a bright guy Jack, so I am going to suggest that the airlines are not the end all and be all of aviation.

My last trip as a working pilot was probably one of the most boring trips I remember, it was watching Europe crawl below us from 41000 feet, the only excitement was a couple of waypoint changes that shaved a few minutes off our arrival in Amsterdam.

Read the following and you will see the type of flying I truly loved.....it was my first job in aviation.

Anyhow take a few minutes and read the following short story I wrote quite a few years ago, then think about both types of flying, airline versus other types.


*********************************************************************

The Tobacco Fields - By . .

For generations the farmers of southern Ontario have planted cared for harvested and cured tobacco in a small area on the northern shores of lake Erie. Our part in this very lucrative cash crop was aerial application of fertilizers and pesticides better known as crop dusting.

At the end of the twentieth century this form of farming is slowly dying due to the ever-increasing movement of the anti-smoking segment of society. Although few would argue the health risks of smoking it is interesting that our government actively supports both sides of this social problem. Several times in the past ten or so years I have rented a car and driven back to the tobacco farming area of Southern Ontario, where over forty years ago I was part of that unique group of pilots who earned their living flying the crop dusting planes.

The narrow old highways are still there, but like the tobacco farms they are slowly fading into history as newer and more modern freeways are built. The easiest way of finding tobacco country is to drive highway 3, during the nineteen forties and early fifties this winding narrow road was the main route from Windsor through the heart of tobacco country and on to the Niagara district. Soon after leaving the modern multi lane 401 to highway 3 you will begin to realize that although it was only a short drive you have drifted back a long way in time. Driving through the small villages and towns very little has changed and life seems to be as it was in the boom days of tobacco farming, when transients came from all over the continent for the harvest. They came by the hundreds to towns like Aylmer, Tillsonberg, Deli and Simcoe, these towns that were synonymous with tobacco have changed so little it is like going back in time.

Several of the airfields we flew our Cubs, Super Cubs and Stearmans out of in the fifties and early sixties are still there. Just outside of Simcoe highway 3 runs right past the airport and even before turning into the driveway to the field I can see that after all these years nothing seems to have changed. I could be in a time warp and can imagine a Stearman or Cub landing and one of my old flying friends getting out of his airplane after another morning killing tobacco horn worms, and saying come on . lets walk down to the restaurant and have breakfast. The tobacco hornworm was a perennial pest and our most important and profitable source of income. Most of my old companion's names have faded from memory as the years have passed and we went our different ways but some of them are easy to recall.

Like Lorne Beacroft a really great cropduster and Stearman pilot. Lorne and I shared many exciting adventures in our airplanes working together from the row crop farms in Southern Ontario to conifer release spraying all over Northern Ontario for the big pulp and paper companies. Little did we know then that many years later I would pick up a newspaper thousands of miles away and read about Lorne being Canadas first successful heart transplant. I wonder where he is today and what he is doing?

There are others, Tom Martindale whom I talked to just last year after over forty years, now retired having flown a long career with Trans Canada Airlines, now named Air Canada. Then there was Howard Zimmerman who went on to run his own helicopter company and still in the aerial applicating business last I heard of him. And who could forget Bud Boughner another character that just disappeared probably still out there somewhere flying for someone.

I have been back to St. Thomas, another tobacco farming town on highway 3 twice in the last several years to pick up airplanes to move for people in my ferry business. The airport has changed very little over the years. The hanger where I first learned to fly cropdusters is still there with the same smell of chemicals that no Ag. Pilot can ever forget. It is now the home of Hicks and Lawrence who were in the business in the fifties and still at it, only the airplanes have changed.

My first flying job started in that hangar, right from a brand new commercial license to the greatest flying job that any pilot could ever want. There were twenty-three of us who started the crop dusting course early that spring, in the end only three were hired and I was fortunate to have been one of them.

With the grand total of 252 hours in my log book I started my training with an old duster pilot named George Walker. Right from the start he let me know that I was either going to fly this damned thing right on its limits and be absolutely perfect in flying crop spraying patterns or the training wouldn't last long. It was fantastic not only to learn how to really fly unusual attitudes but do it right at ground level.

To become a good crop duster pilot required that you accurately fly the airplane to evenly apply the chemicals over the field being treated. We really had to be careful with our flying when applying fertilizers in early spring as any error was there for all to see as the crop started growing. This was achieved by starting on one side of the field maintaining a constant height, airspeed and track over the crop. Just prior to reaching the end of your run full power was applied, and at the last moment the spray booms were shut off and at the same time a forty-five degree climb was initiated. As soon as you were clear of obstructions a turn right or left was made using forty five to sixty degrees of bank. After approximately three seconds a very quick turn in the opposite direction was entered until a complete one hundred and eighty degree change of direction had been completed. If done properly you were now lined up exactly forty-five feet right or left of the track you had just flown down the field.

From that point a forty-five degree dive was entered and with the use of power recovery to level flight was made at the exact height above the crop and the exact airspeed required for the next run down the field in the opposite direction to your last pass. Speed was maintained from that point by reducing power.

To finish the course and be one of the three finally hired was really hard to believe. To be paid to do this was beyond belief. When the season began we were each assigned an airplane, a crash helmet, a tent and sleeping bag and sent off to set up what was to be our summer home on some farmers field. Mine was near Langdon just a few miles from lake Erie.

Last year I tried without success to find the field where my Cub and I spent a lot of that first summer. Time and change linked with my memory of its location being from flying into it rather than driving to it worked against me and I was unable to find it. Remembering it however is easy, how could one forget crawling out of my tent just before sunrise to mix the chemicals? Then pump it into the spray tank and hand start the cub. Then to be in the air just as it was getting light enough to see safely and get in as many acres as possible before the wind came up and shut down our flying until evening. Then with luck the wind would go down enough to allow us to resume work before darkness would shut us down for the day. The company had a very good method for assuring we would spray the correct field.

Each new job was given to us by the salesman who after selling the farmer drew a map for the pilots with the location of the farm and each building and its color plus all the different crops were written on the map drawn to scale. As well as the buildings all trees, fences and power lines were drawn to scale. It was very easy for us to find and positively identify our field to be sprayed and I can not remember us making any errors in that regard.

Sadly there were to many flying errors made and during the first three years that I crop-dusted eight pilots died in this very demanding type of flying in our area. Most of the accidents were due to stalling in turns or hitting power lines, fences or trees.

One new pilot who had only been with us for two weeks died while doing a low level stall turn and spinning in, he was just to low to recover from the loss of control. He had been on his way back from a spraying mission when he decided to put on an airshow at the farm of his girlfriend of the moment. This particular accident was to be the last for a long time as those of us who were flying for the different companies in that area had by that time figured out what the limits were that we could not go beyond.

Even though there were a lot of accidents in the early years they at least gave the industry the motivation to keep improving on flying safety, which made a great difference in the frequency of pilot error accidents. Agricultural flying has improved in other areas as well especially in the use of toxic chemicals.

In 1961 Rachel Carson wrote a book called "The silent spring. " This book was the beginning of public awareness to the danger of the wide area spraying of chemicals especially the use of D.D.T. to control Mosquitoes and black flies.

For years all over the world we had been using this chemical not really aware that it had a very long-term residual life. When Rachels book pointed out that D.D.T. had began to build up in the food chain in nature, she also showed that as a result many of the birds and other species were in danger of being wiped out due to D.D.T. Her book became a best seller and we in the aerial application business were worried that it would drastically affect our business, and it did.

The government agency in Ontario that regulated pesticides and their use called a series of meetings with the industry. From these meetings new laws were passed requiring us to attend Guelph agricultural college and receive a diploma in toxicology and entomology. I attended these classes and in the spring of 1962 passed the exams and received Pest Control License Class 3 - Aerial Applicator.

My license number was 001. Now if nothing else I can say that I may not have been the best but I was the first. Without doubt the knowledge and understanding of the relationship of these chemicals to the environment more than made up for all the work that went into getting the license. From that point on the industry went to great length to find and use chemicals less toxic to our animal life and also to humans.

It would be easy to just keep right on writing about aerial application and all the exciting and sometimes boring experiences we had, however I will sum it all up with the observation that crop dusting was not only my first flying job it was without doubt the best. I flew seven seasons' crop dusting and I often think of someday giving it another go, at least for a short time.

[BTyyj]

Wow ., thanks for taking the time to post this. That was an amazing story, and very well written. To be honest, you should write a book

I definitely should look more into other areas of the industry, and I think you're definitely right. Not too long ago, I had a chat with a Westjet pilot over coffee. He was really nice and extremely helpful. The one thing he said though, which has really stuck me, was that for him, the funnest part of his career was the flying before Westjet.

I should definitely clarify what I said earlier as well. No matter what post-secondary or career I decide to try go into, I will never, ever discriminate against people based on their education level. There are a lot of things I hate about the aviation industry, but the one thing I really like is that most companies aren't so narrow-minded as to base their job requirements on education. Some of the most successful people I have ever met; two separate business owners, both only had a high school diploma. Despite this, their personality and character has left a lasting impression on me, and I hope that one day I can become as good of a person as they are. Like many industries, using education in aviation as a foundation for a career is a good idea, but it matters a hell of a lot more what you do afterwards.

[Meatservo]

I always have trouble starting these posts, because I'm never sure, after three pages of nonsense, which issue it is that I really want to comment on, so forgive me if if I go all stream-of-consciousness in this post.

One thing, as long as we are carrying on with the inept analogy, that is different between medical men and airmen, is that in the medical profession it seems as though there is an ongoing quest for knowledge, and our understanding of the body and biological and chemical systems continues to grow. Doctors are able to keep their fingers on the pulse of new advances and discoveries in almost any branch of science they care to: there are medical applications for particle physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, psychology, social sciences, &c. I suppose there might be "lazy" doctors who don't keep abreast of new stuff, but, well, they still get to be doctors.

What do we get to keep abreast of? Meteorology? there are very few new kinds of weather being invented. Safety? Give me a break. True, it's a growing industry, but I don't think keeping abreast of which thickness of reflective tape on your orange wanker-vest is better able to repel imaginary dangers is making anyone any smarter. Geography? Very little new there. Navigation? Here is an area pilots actually HAVE been completely replaced by computers. The art of flying an aeroplane? Let guys like Cat Driver tell you what they think of what they've been seeing lately, compared to how it was in the old days. I'm staying out of it, even though I have an opinion, and it isn't a good one.

The fact is, in the old days, (by this I mean before automation and also maybe before the current breed of entitled, nearly illiterate (some people here can't even spell "doctor") crybabies who don't care how easy it is to get three gold stripes on their shoulders as long as they can get them and ride the coattails of those who actually lived in a world where they had to EARN them), we had guys who, despite only having a formal education up to grade eight, were able to learn things like astronomy, and meteorology, and knew how radios worked, how to handle a big radial engine (or eight), had some idea how to command a crew of four or more people.

Most of the young pilots I know these days don't even have a desire to know anything about this stuff. It's not that you NEED to, in order to be a pilot, and I think that's the point. You don't need to be as smart anymore. The desire for professional knowledge is gone, because the consequences of the lack of it are not easy to see. People talk about what they don't NEED to know as a stupid hindrance rather than an opportunity to keep up professional standards. The fact is, there are a lot of people out there making that $1XX XXX a year who are simply too stupid to have been able to do it thirty years ago. And there is a multitude of gormless under-achievers lined up behind them, wearing white shirts with gold epaulettes ready to move into their positions and enjoy the respect that was earned years ago by people who, like doctors, had a desire and a need to continue learning in order to stay current and stay alive.

Furthermore, there are still those guys around, with that vast amount of knowledge rotting inside their heads, that no-one listens to, and they have to listen to kids with little work ethic themselves, telling them that they are ruining the profession by refusing to stop working. What's really happening is that the old guys are holding the line, in the sense that the minute they stop working, someone who isn't as good at it will be taking over.

If there is any comparison to be made between doctor's wages and pilot's wages, it's due to the hard work of people a generation ago who were hard-working enough to make aviation viable until technology became advanced enough that people nowadays could relax, look out the window, send text messages, glance at a GPS now and then, and compare ourselves to doctors. To the guy who said several posts ago "anyone, and I mean anyone can be a pilot"... I guess you're right. I hope you're getting paid what you deserve.