Announcement/GUT spilling time LONG READ!

gtlyon

Well-Known Member
I hope I am posting this in the proper section.If not my apologies nd please feel free to move it to the appropriate section.I picked general topics because this is not only an announcement but a little info about myself as well.

So as of 2 weeks and 2 days ago I am a Private Pilot. I am currently attending Career Pilot School aka CPS in Missouri. I finished up my PPL with CPS. I arrived here on June 30th and on July 8th I completed my PPL.Now I am working on my instrument rating,almost done with that.I have actually experienced 1.3 hrs of actual one word WOW. Your mind can play nasty tricks on you when in IMC.I truly have a new respect for clouds LOL. I wont go to far into details,but feel free to PM if you want and I will happily share my experience with you--maybe Ill even post it in another forum. Oh and for the record the fellas here at CPS have more than exceeded what they offer on the website. Great bunch of guys,solid equipment and have gone above and beyond for me so far.

So on to the gut spilling part. I am 34 years old and I guess you could call me a career changer---but I haven't really had a career to change.I am happily married with 2 boys. I started flying about 10 years ago but just recently had the opportunity to fulfill my dreams of being a professional pilot. I intend on becoming a CFI(part-time) and working another part-time job to keep a steady income. We all know that this industry is turbulent to say the least,hence 2 jobs lol.

So heres my thing, the day I left my family to come here( I am from California btw), it was hard to say good bye.Anyone who has a family knows this exact feeling I am talking about. So I am on the flight out here saying to myself "F$%# this I dint want to leave I can't do this!'' I know one of the things that comes with being a pro-pilot is having to say good-bye all the time.Its hard. It hurt me. It was a really eye opener and I am not even to the top of this career ladder yet. I keep asking myself " Is this what I really want? Is this really for me''? I know that most of this is coming form missing home,is a natural feeling.But you really begin to second guess yourself. So far I am doing alright, although there are some tough days. Its not so much the training its the ''other'' stuff that makes it hard.

My current feelings( and this really makes me angry) is I don't like this anymore........but........I know thats not true.It cant be. I know thats not how I really feel. This is my dream and for years I have dreamed of doing this. So why in the hell do I feel like this? Have anyone of you out there felt like this? You may ask--if you don't like it why do it. Good question.When I think about what I want to do with my life...aviation is always at the top..ALWAYS. It gets to the point where it(these feelings) hard for me to even concentrate on my studies.:(

So thats me in a nut shell---its a long read and I thank those who took the time to read it. Feel free to PM to leave comments and advice. I just wanted to vent you all of you out there!

Jeremy
 
Jeremy, we all cycle in life with emotions. It must be hard to be away from home, but you are working on your life long goal. Without sacrifice, no one goes anywhere. It takes many, many hours and lots of compromise to become who we want, especially when it is a professional career that requires a lot of training. When you finally achieve your goal and look back on now, I hope you can look back with pride and feel good about the accomplishment at hand and the sacrifices you made to get there. You are not alone. I wanted to quit my residency a couple of times, but stuck it out and now I have a career I enjoy very much. The time will go quickly in the long run of life, it just is painful minute by minute right now. Good luck to you and be assured the sacrifice is worth the outcome.
 
You have to decide how bad you want it.

You will likely be away from home a lot if you choose aviation as a career. If you have a hard time leaving the family behind, maybe this isn't a good career for you.

And it's better to get out now than go into the field and hate it.
 
Gtylon
I know one of the things that comes with being a pro-pilot is having to say good-bye all the time.
This will never change. This happens everytime I commute to work. You find yourself putting on the uniform, packing the rollerboard and then asking yourself is this worth it on the ride to the airport? If you know now that you don't like this aspect, I would definitely not pursue the professional pilot route any further. Being an airline pilot means living on the road, out of a suitcase and away from your family. And if you don't commute, you never know when your base will close and you'll be forced too...

Toria
The time will go quickly in the long run of life, it just is painful minute by minute right now.
Unfortunately, the time does go quickly when your working 14-16 hr duty days doing a bunch of quick turns! LOL. But, you can't get back those moments with family, friends and loved ones once you've missed them and that is where it hurts in the long run...


In the end, what is the pilot career worth to you? Being away from the family so you can be "liv'n the dream". Unfortunately, I've found the airline pilots with families that are the most content with the career and are not disgruntled are the ones that can put those thoughts(family, kids, etc) behind them on the road...

But hey it isn't all negative, I get to tell everyone "I fly for a living!"<sarcasm>
 
Gtylon This will never change. This happens everytime I commute to work. You find yourself putting on the uniform, packing the rollerboard and then asking yourself is this worth it on the ride to the airport? If you know now that you don't like this aspect, I would definitely not pursue the professional pilot route any further. Being an airline pilot means living on the road, out of a suitcase and away from your family. And if you don't commute, you never know when your base will close and you'll be forced too...

Toria Unfortunately, the time does go quickly when your working 14-16 hr duty days doing a bunch of quick turns! LOL. But, you can't get back those moments with family, friends and loved ones once you've missed them and that is where it hurts in the long run...


In the end, what is the pilot career worth to you? Being away from the family so you can be "liv'n the dream". Unfortunately, I've found the airline pilots with families that are the most content with the career and are not disgruntled are the ones that can put those thoughts(family, kids, etc) behind them on the road...

But hey it isn't all negative, I get to tell everyone "I fly for a living!"<sarcasm>

Honest post, very true.

It is fun when you're behind the controls, but after awhile its just a job. A job that keeps you away from the important things, long duty days, 4 day trips, staying in hotels half the year etc. And for what? To collect a paycheck easily matched at Home Depot or Lowes? But Home Depot and Lowes will actually put something away for your retirement.

So really when you break it down nice a simple, just exactly WHAT are you getting out of this job?? A chance to fly an airplane 3-4 days a week? Because you certainly aren't working you're way to the big $200k salary...and you definitely aren't putting in your time for a decent retirement.

I don't know...sometimes I love the job, sometimes I really hate it. I leave for a 4 day trip today, to get one day off and then go on a 3 day trip. That 7 days on the friggin road, 6 nights and brief 24hrs at home with my wife. Right now I hate it. I can't imagine having a child with these schedules sometimes.
 
first off, congradulations on your accomplishment.

second, bear in mind that there are plenty of professional flight careers where you can balance work and home life and only need one job.

the good times will come
 
Being away from the family so you can be "liv'n the dream".


I was referring strictly to this training time. The career avenue chosen afterward is something else. There are more aviation opportunities than strictly flying the line on four day trips. There can be some sort of balance, can't there?

Jeremy, I wish you only the best.
 
My advice, is finish your ratings, and see what happens from there, you can always just part time CFI as you mentioned and that may be all you need at present, the regional life is tough, tougher if you commute. I think once you get into the majors things get a little better, but who knows. Hang in there, can't quit half way. I'm 33 and know where you are coming from. I'm not too thrilled with the QOL and everything else, but sitting in that cockpit is the best part of the job..
 
I truly appreciate all of the PM's and posts here. With out trying to sound bad here, its always nice to know you are not alone. The words of encouragement are refreshing.

I will keep my head up and plug away.

Thank you all for your support. I will keep everyone posted about my progress.

Jeremy
 
There are more aviation opportunities than strictly flying the line on four day trips. There can be some sort of balance, can't there?

I wish it were just 4 day trips. "transition" at the beginning of the month is the worse. They had me on 6 days, off 1, and back on for 3. DOH! Too bad the companies don't think like you and believe in some type of balance.

In the end, everyone has to do it to know what its like. Nothing like looking out at FL370 on a sunrise knowing your at the helm. :) Too bad we can't drag our sig. others with us on our trips! that would make it the best job... that and a pay raise!
 
Maybe I missed it. . .or maybe I just didn't read far enough. . .

But what exactly do you not enjoy?

Surely you enjoy SOMETHING about flying. Now, if you honestly don't enjoy anything related. . .then yeah - don't put yourself, and your family, through the misery. Find something else to do.

But surely, you didn't leave your family to find out that there is nothing that you enjoy.

A large majority of us here on JC are flying for 121 Passenger operations - and well honestly - I have little room to talk - but it's really not all that it is cracked up to be. I honestly wish I had gone through things in an extremely different fashion - but I didn't. Nevertheless, I've found certain things that I enjoy about this type of flying, but I've also had a nice dose of reality (before even coming into this game) from those here on JC.

I hope you find what you're looking for - otherwise, you'll really be missing out on a potentially great career. It may not be flying jets with 6-500 people in the back, but I'm sure you'll find something you can enjoy. Take that enjoyment, and find a sub-sector of this industry to enjoy.

Good luck - you sould like you want it; which is extremely refreshing considering the usual cast members.
 
Well, since everyone is being so wishy-washy and reasonable: NO DONT DO IT GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN. I mean, really, do what you like, but what I got from your post is that you're lucky enough to have "early-onset" remission from Aviation Nerd Disease. Which means you can still quit before you rack up enough debt that you're essentially an indentured Aviation Serf.

The thing is, I'll bet you don't quit. I'll bet you decide to soldier on to Live The Dream. And I'll bet we'll get to hear you regret it, sooner or later. Because no one ever, ever listens when it comes to "should I be a pilot!?" posts. Ever. Not once. Which means that I'm wasting my time by typing this. Crap.
 
Well, since everyone is being so wishy-washy and reasonable: NO DONT DO IT GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN. I mean, really, do what you like, but what I got from your post is that you're lucky enough to have "early-onset" remission from Aviation Nerd Disease. Which means you can still quit before you rack up enough debt that you're essentially an indentured Aviation Serf.

The thing is, I'll bet you don't quit. I'll bet you decide to soldier on to Live The Dream. And I'll bet we'll get to hear you regret it, sooner or later. Because no one ever, ever listens when it comes to "should I be a pilot!?" posts. Ever. Not once. Which means that I'm wasting my time by typing this. Crap.


Point taken. No I wont quit because I am not a quitter. Is that a reason to keep going? Nope. I will keep going because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I do love to fly .Good thing is I really wont ''rack up debt'' to do this. I have read many a thread on this forum about ''should I be a pilot''. To clear it up some thats not what I was really askin even though it came of looking that way. Basically I was just looking to see if any shared these feelings I have during their climb to the top.Just looking for some validation. Which I have found from many humble PMs and posts here.

And Boris the ''livin the dream'' part of this is a true eye opener. The majority think that the ''dream'' is being an airline pilot and nothing else.I have never had the opportunity to go for my true dream. I think thats what really got me. Here I am going for what I want and its not easy. I got complacent and took things for granted. I have learned allot about myself just in the last 4 weeks of training and being away form the family.

Again I go back to the validation of my feelings---this whole thing is a great learning experience for me and in return I hope I can guide or offer some advice or help to another person that wants to go for their dreams as well.

Thank you all for your posts---this has really helped!
Jeremy
 
Boris your right, he should get out and people have told him that. Like you said most of us have gotten the same advice at some point in our aviation careers. And what did I do with that advice? I kept going even though I knew it. And now I've ended up at a 121 carrier about to furlough! hahaha... the sweet irony.

Its the "aviation-crack" he's hooked on. Each hit(instructor and aircraft) he/she takes is pricey, the high only last about 2 hours(including preflight/post flight) and it isn't getting any cheaper. Unfortunately, he won't be able to get off it until he hits rock bottom(ie, furlough, jobless, divorce, kids forget who mommy/daddy are, etc)! LOL.

Trust me I know, I'm a recovering aviation-addict :D
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Trust me I know, I'm a recovering aviation-addict :D </div>

There are a few reasons I am not flying the line and have stayed in GA. Scheduling was one of the very big reasons I am not in a full time aviation career. :)

I am very familiar with sacrifice to achieve personal goals and being proud of what has been accomplished. The only way to avoid the "wish I would have" or "what would my life be like if I just stuck it out" questions later in life is to finish the ratings and go from there. If being away from home and family is not what can be handled, pick a different way to feed the aviation need. You cannot be content and happy in life unless you are content and happy with yourself, not filled with self doubt and regret.
 
My operation threw me out on the street this week. This is the 11th time I have had to move in six years chasing the 'dream'. The 11th time I have to tell my friends and family goodbye and head to the airport with the deepest pit in my stomach knowing I wont be able to share all those little everyday moments with them possible for many months.

I was talking to another pilot yesterday who also landed on the street from the same place. His family decided not to move to the area (thank god) when he got this job so he had to commute. So for twenty days out of the month he was gone from his two young kids trying to 'make it in this industry'. We were discussing how his kids had to go on state aid health care now. Hes no newbie either. In fact has been chasing this thing for about a decade. What makes you so special that this wont happen to you?

Personally, (and remember it doesnt matter what I think) I think you are being very selfish trying to chase some kind of dream that may or may not ever pan out putting those that you really care about through so much hardship. How old are your kids? 8 9 10 years old? How many years of 'paying your dues' do yo think you have to go through? By the time you 'get there' are they gonna know who you are? Maybe by the time you 'get there' they will have grown up and gone off to college.

Congrats on your private, its a big accomplishment but on this journey its more like a wiggling of the toes than a first step. For the most part I dont care if you actually pursue it or not. I think everyone should chase their dreams for awhile. But you decided to have kids.

I say get your ratings fly for fun and pursue something else that will let you raise your children. Like someone else DONT GET INTO DEBT AND BECOME AN AVIATION SLAVE LIKE THE REST OF US! Take a stab at the airline career after those kids walk across the stage at their college graduation.
 
I fly international for "Southernjets," and have for the past 8 years. I've also flown domestic here for 6 years, as well as having flown domestic at another airline for 3 years and a commuter airline for 1 year. I was active duty Navy for 6 & 1/2 years, with 2 West-Pac deployments of 8+ months including both work-up cycles - essentially at sea for 22 months of a 33 month tour.

I've had my share of time away from home...

That being said, other than my Navy sea tour, I believe I've spent more time at home than the average career "professional." I also don't bring the job home with me.

I have several friends who are partners in law firms. One in particular who I went to high school with tells me every time he sees me he envys my time off. He routinely works 60-80 hour weeks, some weekends, home well past 7:00 pm lots of nights. Another who does international law does all that and travels a lot.

Look at the schedule of a doctor - they're never home!

Entrepreneurs, business executives, well-paid sales executives - they all spend a lot of time at work and not a lot of time at home. Even average 40-hour-a-week worker, with commute time etc. is only with the family after 6:00pm every day (OK, he probably gets most weekends off...)

When I'm off, I'm home all day. I get to spend lots of time with the wife & kids. I don't have to answer the phone or pager on my time off.

Now, I'm more senior than most who post here. Lots of guys/gals on commuter schedules or junior don't have as much time off, and throw in a commute and it gets worse.

I'm just saying that it's kinda a mis-conception that people in "airline world" are "never home..."

FWIW, JMHO...



Kevin
 
staplegun said:
Now, I'm more senior than most who post here.

You're also more senior (or at least have a better job) than most of the people who post here will EVER be/have. Which is great, and I'm sure you earned every bit of it, but senior widget captain is probably not who a new guy should be measuring his career expectations against, IMHO.
 
You're also more senior (or at least have a better job) than most of the people who post here will EVER be/have. Which is great, and I'm sure you earned every bit of it, but senior widget captain is probably not who a new guy should be measuring his career expectations against, IMHO.

FWIW, I'm a first officer on the B-777, not captain.

I agree and I'm not trying to say anything about career expectations.

My point was that people talk about being away from home in the flying business without really considering what that means. Many professions entail longer hours than 8/day or 9-to-5, and when you add a daily commute the hours away from home of someone who is "home every day" many times is more than the hours away from home for a flying job.


Kevin
 
Look at the schedule of a doctor - they're never home!


That is absoulutely the truth. I cannot tell you how many 100 hour work weeks I have had over the past 15 years. There are 168 hours in a week. Put commuting into that, errands, grocery, etc, and I am home less than 5 hours a night only to sleep and start again; or I sleep in my office on a portable cot and do not go home.

I do love my job, but have also paid my dues to get where I am today. Not working many 100 hour weeks any more.
 
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