Get there as fast as you can or enjoy the ride (and risk ending up behind the curve)?

These threads always amuse me. Why do you have to choose? Go full throttle and appreciate the steps... I didn't take time to smell the roses, but I sure did take a good whiff and made it count. This industry will eat you up and spit you out in a second if you are junior.

Choosing between lineholding narrowbody captain or good schedule holding large widebody FO at 35 doesn't suck, nor will being in the top 10 at a legacy for my last 10 years either.

No ragarts at all!
 
Flyinthrew said:
All the more reason to strike while the iron is hot, though. Make hay while the sun is shining, and whatever other inane yet apt colloquialisms you can think of.
Click to expand...

Maybe - but if you always wanted to fly floatplanes, go do it, if you always wanted to fly "XXX" go do it, if you always wanted to fly in Africa or Alaska, or Puerto Rico, or wherever, go do it. You're not going to do it when your 55 - you're going to look at the dollar signs, and look at the back breaking work, and think, "meh, I could just ride it out here another couple years, drop as many trips as I can and do what I want." That's assuming you aren't furloughed 15 times (I believe that's the @ZapBrannigan) story, or don't have a health issue ground you, or don't get married and discover that you love your wife more than you love airplanes, so you can't justify those things, or have kids and can't justify the risk, etc. etc.

Now, if all you wanted to do in airplanes was to fly for the airlines, then sure - but if you have any inkling you want to do other stuff, go do it before you don't want to any more.
 
ppragman said:
Maybe - but if you always wanted to fly floatplanes, go do it, if you always wanted to fly "XXX" go do it, if you always wanted to fly in Africa or Alaska, or Puerto Rico, or wherever, go do it. You're not going to do it when your 55 - you're going to look at the dollar signs, and look at the back breaking work, and think, "meh, I could just ride it out here another couple years, drop as many trips as I can and do what I want." That's assuming you aren't furloughed 15 times (I believe that's the @ZapBrannigan) story, or don't have a health issue ground you, or don't get married and discover that you love your wife more than you love airplanes, so you can't justify those things, or have kids and can't justify the risk, etc. etc.

Now, if all you wanted to do in airplanes was to fly for the airlines, then sure - but if you have any inkling you want to do other stuff, go do it before you don't want to any more.
Click to expand...
In this conversation, I feel like you're the guy on your death bed and everyone else is still 30. Perspective is interesting.
 
Nothing sucks the love of aviation from your soul like a 3 day trip every week.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If I was single, didn't have mortgages and student loans I would of chosen the fun path. I hope I can do all the fun flying when I'm 65 and retire somewhere tropical.
 
PeanuckleCRJ said:
These threads always amuse me. Why do you have to choose? Go full throttle and appreciate the steps... I didn't take time to smell the roses, but I sure did take a good whiff and made it count. This industry will eat you up and spit you out in a second if you are junior.

Choosing between lineholding narrowbody captain or good schedule holding large widebody FO at 35 doesn't suck, nor will being in the top 10 at a legacy for my last 10 years either.

No ragarts at all!
Click to expand...
No guarantees. Warranty void if seals broken or when DJTrumppe destroys us.
 
It's a more complex decision today. I chose the fun route because it paid double what the regionals were paying FOs at the time, with LONG upgrades. Now, it'seems pretty much the same or similar enough pay.

Only thing I'll add is while caravan flying in the Carribean looks fun, it's not for old people... :) I started to hate flying pressurized turbo-trash in the Carribean at the end. A van would be a living hell. I imagine some other fun jobs aren't all that great when you're old either. So if you have an inkling to do it, I'd do it when you're young(er).
 
Plata said:
Put me in the group who advocate doing all the fun flying before going 121. My observation of 121 pilots is that they don't really enjoy the flying part of their job very much. They like the big paycheck and all the freedom it gives them, but the flying is not especially rewarding. The 121 guys who still have a passion for flying often have a GA plane (or two), and seem far more interested in that sort of flying.
Click to expand...
I can say that this is incorrect for myself and many of those I fly with. We enjoy the flying still. Flying a Cessna around a grass field and flying and so is flying a jetliner into LGA.
Reminds me of the "real America" you hear in politics. Why is an Iowan farmer more of a real American than an American born deli worker in NYC?
 
Kingairer said:
I can say that this is incorrect for myself and many of those I fly with. We enjoy the flying still. Flying a Cessna around a grass field and flying and so is flying a jetliner into LGA.
Reminds me of the "real America" you hear in politics. Why is an Iowan farmer more of a real American than an American born deli worker in NYC?
Click to expand...
The CRJ is still an airplane, and it's actually fun to fly. The difference is I don't hands-on fly it as much as I hands-on flew the 206 taking pictures (or the Brasilia hauling San Diegans, for that matter). But I still hands-on fly it.

Airliners are still airplanes. They're special kinds of airplanes built to be somewhat "boring," but they mostly come equipped with the stuff that you need to fly them.
 
Flyinthrew said:
I'll go the other way as a bit of a thought experiment. Secure your financial freedom now. Then retire from 121 early and fly a Van on floats into the sunset. Better to be a 55yo with a huge nest egg flying whatever the hell you want in your flip-flops and not caring if your 1st class medical gets sniped, than living with your parents when you're thirty while you're trying to 'find yourself' followed by slaving until mando retirement.
Click to expand...

This is great..in theory...but I got hired in 2001 and I still don't have a huge nest egg (or any) and at this rate I will be living in my parents basement. Until Recently my wife made more than I did. Honestly I would say do what you want now, because there's no guarantee you'll be able to retire at 55.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Kingairer said:
I can say that this is incorrect for myself and many of those I fly with. We enjoy the flying still. Flying a Cessna around a grass field and flying and so is flying a jetliner into LGA.
Reminds me of the "real America" you hear in politics. Why is an Iowan farmer more of a real American than an American born deli worker in NYC?
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just because I'm new to it, but I find flying the Dash 8 more fun than most general aviation flying I did.

I don't get the "Real America" thing either, and I'm from Wisconsin. The ironic part is the same people who say they're the real Americans usually say it's people from big cities/ the East coast who are snobs...
 
Autothrust Blue said:
No guarantees. Warranty void if seals broken or when DJTrumppe destroys us.
Click to expand...

Troof! Should have put in that caveat. The best you can do is put yourself in the position to be lucky.

I've found the larger planes to be more enjoyable to fly... you're comfy, lots of power, plus good support staff that make it where your job is generally just being a pilot (yeah, there is crap to deal with, but compare that to a small flight department with low functioning stuff, and yeah...). The CRJ was fun to hand fly, but doing the same mission into the same airports, the little bus was much moreso fun. I didn't particularly enjoy the 737... even started doing some GA flying here and there during my stint on it... once I checked out on the bus, I found that filled in the satisfaction with flying bug again.
 
My suspicion is that more than any other question, the answers are going to reflect the experiences (or more to the point, lack thereof) of the respondent. I took the scenic route, for sure (wasn't really a choice when I was a pup), and so I'm going to be disposed to answer that the experiences that I had are worth more than being on 5th year C/A pay at a major right now. Thing is, I've never been on 5th year C/A pay at a major. I admit it sounds pretty nice.

Point being, I'm obviously pro-advice. We should all listen to it, and we should all give it (if requested), but the specific question you're asking is more easily answered by you than by us.
 
z987k said:
In this conversation, I feel like you're the guy on your death bed and everyone else is still 30. Perspective is interesting.
Click to expand...

Right? Honestly, if there's ever stuff you wanted to do, go freaking do it. If you always dreamed of being an airline pilot, then sure do that - but if flying for you was about flying as much cool stuff as possible, don't let fear of missing out on your career stop you. Your career will be there when you're done sowing your wild oats, when you get burned out on the crappy aspects of the adventure stuff, and you're ready for a normal life. Flight time never hurt anyone - and if you're getting some of your flight time blasting around the back country or hauling ad hoc freight at 4am, or island hopping, or whatever you'll be able to use it later.

Just my $1.05. If I had it to do all over, there's not much I would change - I mean, I have said before, "I shoulda gone to a regional." But without the adventures I had, I wouldn't be the man I am today.
 
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