GA vs. JC

uglysolutions

uglysolutions

New Member
Being an impetuous newbie here, allow me to throw out the following flame bait:

It seems to me that the General Aviation crowd is markedly different than the people found here on JetCareers. To wit: I'm currently reading Fate Is the Hunter, and, generally speaking, Mr. Gann seems like a fairly jaded, miserable old coot. This gels well with my encounters with "professional" pilots, generally. Juxtaposed with most of the people I've met at the local FBOs, the differences are stark. In my short time on the scene, GA folks tend to be far less dogmatic than their "professional" (perhaps "career driven"?) counterparts. They seem to be easily excited, proud of their kitplanes con cannards, and revel in a kind of slow-paced, almost bass-fishing kind of meditative state found with GA planes.

For example: Last week, I was talking to the main feller at St. Charles Flying Service, and he excitedly and proudly showed me their new C172. After he opened the door, four or five people crowded around, ooohing and aaahing about how pretty it was. It seems that this kind of roots level appreciation of the simplest of machinery is all but lacking in this group. By comparison, many of the posts that I've come upon here are hostile, puerile, sterile, and lackluster. Where's the sense of adventure? The joy for joy's sake?

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but your comments on the situation would be most appreciated. Does this disparity exist in your experience, and if so, what are the causes?
 
Interesting post.

I know I get listed as one of the "jaded" pilots but really, I am more of your GA type. I love airplanes, I love flying as a hobby and I love to hang around GA airports.

Now on the flip side, I would not enjoy being a line pilot again, having to deal with Crew Scheduling, labor/mgt/union fights, etc.

I think you have identified what happens to senior airline people - they get tired of the crap. I know I did.

Flying is a blast. Flying where I want to go when I want to go there is even more of a blast.

Some people look forward to being paid to fly. I used to. Now I see flying as an exciting hobby and a useful tool of business.

Of course, I still take checks
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You're looking at the difference in a group that, for the most part, views flying as a hobby, or possibly as a adjunct to their real profession, and those who fly professionally, ie. that is their main job. The "joy" of flying, while still there, gets overshadowed by the "business" of flying for this second group.

Some would argue, perhaps successfully, that the "hobby" group continue to enjoy flying long after the "professional" group tires of the job.
 
I don't know...I think I'd get quite a few ooh's and ahh's if I showed you my 757. I've also seen more than a few old coot types at FBO's that are less than welcoming to the new guy.

I'll agree that airline flying has a greater share of those that don't really love it than general aviation. With GA, you have to pay for it so you gotta love it to be involved. With airline flying, it's a job. It's called wooooork....

As such, you are going to find guys who got into it for the money or guys like JT, for whom the politics and negatives outweigh the benefits.

For me, I can put up with a lot of crap and still deal with the job. I'll always enjoy and be involved with GA as well...I like giving rides to kids in my Cessna and doing the occasional CFI thing.
 
Considering I'm embroiled in a battle over essentially this same topic on another board ...

I think GA types forget what everyone else here has posted thus far – flying professionaly is a job. It's not a hobby. It's not charity work. And, like any job, there are things that you'll hate about it and things you'll like about it. But to expect "professional pilots" to be happy-happy, joy-joy about their job 100% of the time is unrealistic and naive. Now, take "pro" and put him in a 172, or a 7AC or a Extra 300 simply for the fun of flying it and I'll bet the majority of "pros" would be just as enthuisastic and welcoming as anyone in the GA arena.

Eh ... but what do I know. I'm trying to line up my first job so take this for what it's worth – not much.
 
I love to fly and I love airplanes.

However, as an airline pilot, I'd say that about 10% of my job actually deals with flying. You'll spend a lot more time dealing with psychological assaults from accountants that think they can run an airline, passenger issues, inter-employee situations and jumping thru the hoops of "rule by memo".

By the time you get strapped in the seat, cockpit door closed and the final items of the "Before Takeoff Checklist", it really feels like break time. I guess the majority of my job doesn't deal with flying an airplane.

General aviation pilots go to the airport to fly airplanes and get to do so on their own terms.

In the professional aviation world, flying is only about 10 to 15% of the job.

I like analogies, especially ones that hardly make any sense, but here goes.

GA-only pilots live on a lake house, with a boat dock in the back yard. They'll just step outside after they wake up, throw some ice in the cooler, untie the boat and they're on the lake enjoying themselves.

Professional pilots have to drive the pickup down to the dry dock, unhook the boat, trailer it, drive it 3 hours down to the lake, negotiate with the local mechanic to work on the prop, wait in a long line at the boat ramp, and then sail 45 minutes at 5 knots thru the 'no wake' zone, and then when the real fun starts, you're low on fuel so you have to head back to the boat ramp and repeat the process.
 
First of all good on you for reading Fate is the Hunter. I have given away many copies of this book over the years to fellow aviators. I consider it required reading.

Now to your point. The difference is flying for hire. The GA guy goes to the airport when the sky is blue and the winds are calm. When they do let themselves get pressured into flying the results are often bad.

Professional pilots roll out of bed when the alarm goes off. They turn on the TV and tune the Weather Channel in to see if there is anything out there today that's going to try to kill them. They know they have received lots of training, are flying an expensive machine, and after a 30 year career they are expected to be able to count on one hand the number of flights they cancelled for weather.:

It is a whole different point of view.

Personally I find it a very fun game. But having friends and family in GA and having come from those roots I know it is a different way of looking at flying.

Dave
 
I'm going to paraphrase a post that I think I saw here a while ago. Basically it describes one person's perspective on the career of being a pilot. If memory serves, it went something like this:

"The flying I do for free, it's the rest of this cr@p that they pay me for."
 
if you want to make a career out of aviation, you really need to eat, breath, and sleep aviation. this tends to take some of the fun/novelty out it. to a certain extent.i guess we are not as excited to see a new 172 as other GA folks because we see/fly them all the time. BUT, like DE 727 said, show me the cockpit of a 757, and you'll hear all the ooooo's and aaww's you can stand
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one of my favorite hobbies is hunting and fishing. BUT, if i had to hunt and fish to feed my family, i wouldn't get as excited about it. i'd still enjoy it, but i wouldn't be as laid back about it as i am now.
 
and then it goes back to basics... would you rather be in the cockpit of a 747, or the "cockpit" of the 3rd floor in Whitney Financial with an excel spreadsheet in front of your face all day? Remember though, you can't crash a cubicle!
 
Prairie Dogging: the effect when there is an odd sound in an office and cubicle dwelling office people begin poking their heads above the cubicle walls to see what the noise was.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Prairie Dogging: the effect when there is an odd sound in an office and cubicle dwelling office people begin poking their heads above the cubicle walls to see what the noise was.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's not the definition I remember of "Prairie Dogging". If you've ever seen "Rat Race" you know what I'm talkin' about.

"MOM! I'm prairie dogging it here!!!"
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[ QUOTE ]
Remember though, you can't crash a cubicle!

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yeah? You might want to ask Peter Gibbons about that one!
 
Thanks for all of your input on the subject. I've mainly gravitated to the field because my first profession, professing at colleges, is fun, but not quite fun enough. I'm starting at Ari-Ben in a month with the intent of getting my CFI*.* ratings to supplement my professing career. That I hadn't really thought about the paperwork aspect of working at the regionals/majors was, in retrospect, kinda stupid.

My bad.

However, I remember reading a quote of Charles Lindbergh's from the 50s in which he complained of how planes ceased to be much fun; paraphrasing now: "the planes fly you" - Any reaction to this? Do you think, perhaps, the lack of intimacy in a 757 / MD-80, etc., leads to a certain disconnect? Would anyone like to share their thoughts on glass cockpits and vastly more complicated aeroplanes vs. the more simple ones?
 
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However, as an airline pilot, I'd say that about 10% of my job actually deals with flying.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aint that the truth!
 
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