I talked to my tailwheel/aerobatic instructor about this idea of career aerobatic flying a while ago. He said he had been very tempted to turn pro, but decided not to.
Basically, the way he got in to aerobatics was as a hobby. He was a successful business owner (read: lots of excess money), had his private pilot certificate, and wanted to try something new. He took a few aerobatic lessons and got hooked.
He bought a share in a Super Decathalon and started competing in IAC competitions. Over time he ended up buying more and more advanced aerobatic aircraft (Pitts S2B, then a Staudacher (sp?)), hiring coaches, and training full time in an effort to move up the IAC competition ranks. At the peak of his flying he'd practice two or three times per day. He won the east coast unlimited category IAC competition in 1998. All of this was on his own dime without sponsors.
Eventually he saw himself getting to the point where he either needed to go all out, full time, no holds barred as a competition/air show pilot, or else cut back and accept the fact that he'd gone as far up as he was willing to go.
He said in order to make a living as a full time aerobatic pilot he'd have to spend a lot of time away from home, hire a full time coach, upgrade his aircraft, move to a sunny place like Florida or Arizona, etc. and he decided it wasn't for him. He thought the lifestyle would be more stressful than that of an airline pilot. He had a family he wanted to stay close to and had invested as much money as he wanted to into his "hobby."
So now he works as a full time freelance instructor. He does mostly tailwheel and aerobatic training, but he's available for anything--primary training, instrument, commercial, CFI, aircraft checkouts for new owners, ferrying aerobatic aircraft (how many pilots have enough Pitts time to meet the open pilot policies for somebody else's new Pitts?), teaching ground schools, whatever comes up. He says he's happy with the way things have gone and doesn't regret getting out of full time aerobatics.
How's that for a secondhand "Perspectives" article for ya?
