Livin' the Dream

[LoadMasterC141]

I have not had a day off in a month and my average day is over 10 hours. This is my 15th month flight instructing.

I could use more time off, but still, I love it.

 

[tonyw]

I'm serious when I say, although I was tired broke and had no life outside of work, I really was living the dream.

So, basically, your life consisted of work. Period.

That's your dream life?

Strange type of dream, but whatever floats your boat.

The only way I'd take a job like that is if it had eight digits before the decimal point. Then I'd do that for a year or two, consider that paying my dues, and retire and spend the rest of my days doing whatever the hell I want.

 

[jhugz]

So, basically, your life consisted of work. Period.

That's your dream life?

Strange type of dream, but whatever floats your boat.

The only way I'd take a job like that is if it had eight digits before the decimal point. Then I'd do that for a year or two, consider that paying my dues, and retire and spend the rest of my days doing whatever the hell I want.

Agreed.

Flying is my profession not my hobby.

I can enjoy what I do for a living (anything is better then sitting behind a desk) but that doesn't mean I want to do it every waking second of the day.

 

[mtsu_av8er]

That's good stuff right there. Who motivates the motivator?

He motivates himself.

Here's a screenshot from my schedule some years ago.

Nobody else wanted to put in the time, or the effort. So, I did. I took the calls, I hung out at the flight school, and I flew my butt off. I spent hours and hours and hours in front of a whiteboard. I wrote and re-wrote lesson plans. I dealt with the FAA on a daily basis. I had a 100% FAA pass rate.

Was it hard? heck yeah. I slept many, many, many, many, many nights in the flight school. Lots of late-night cross-country flights, followed by early-morning 0530 lessons with students that couldn't get another instructor to come in that early.

The payoff was magnificent! Client-paid trips to the Bahamas to fly nicely-equipped airplanes for lots of money. A student that paid for my multi-engine rating AND my MEI training . . . just to pay me to fly her airplane. promotions and pay-raises at work. And, a resume that shows performance.

Was it living the dream? Heck yeah, it was. When I was in the training pipeline, I remember saying to myself, "It would be so cool to be able to teach new pilots . . . to help form the future of aviation". So, I had that opportunity. I had the pleasure of being the one that my students would always remember.

The dream isn't always fun. But it sure the hell is worth it. If I had to go back in time and decide whether or not I wanted to do it all over again, I'd be right there.