opinion: 6 figure desk to 5 figure airplane

  • Thread starter DrKennethNoisewater
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made it to the top of the mountain after years of work, timing and luck.........only to find out that there really isn't a damn thing up there. That it really is just a job at the end of the day, because big blue didn't care one whit about your desire to fly or even be a good combat pilot; that's not their focus. And since you work for them, they make sure to instill in you that its not to be your focus either

Essential truth about flying for the military.

Unfortunately for me, I came to that wonderful realization only when I was actually "in the stuff", getting shot and and doing (what I thought) was the organization's ultimate purpose for existing. It sounds crazy, but that was a serious emotional blow, after having spent decades about being where I actually was. It was a letdown like having your first love break up with you. The combination of the stress/fear/excitement of being in actual combat and learning that essential truth about the military just really screwed with my head. It made me very seriously want to leave the military because of the disillusionment.

For a number of reasons, though, I decided to stay. It was partly thanks to a number of furloughed/reservist airline pilots who listened to my Jack-and-Coke fueled rants afterward, and let me in on the secret that the grass in the airline industry was not any greener...and that most of them were very happy to be on mil leave and back flying for the military. If it hadn't been for them, I'd probably be at the airlines now and wondering how long it was going to be before I got to the top of that mouuntain.

Interestingly, I've found that in the decade since that letdown, my now-cynicism about the org, the mission, etc, allowed me to continue doing my job and enjoy it for what it was. I wasn't wrapping it up in any false notions about what I was doing and who I was doing it for, and even through all of the idiocracy I found lots of enjoyment doing it.

Ultimately, it gets back to the same issue that civilian pilots face: you won't find your life's purpose or personal fulfillment up in that cockpit. Guys chasing being a major airline pilot, and being unhappy with the journey to get there, aren't going to suddenly find happiness up in the front room of that legacy airliner. Chances are, if you weren't happy on the journey you won't be happy at the destination (which isn't really a destination, anyway).

In a way, the letdown when I saw the top of the mountain is one of the best things to ever happen to me. It is very liberating to know that, while I love aviation and flying, I'm not expecting it to make me whole.
 
Yep. Looking at buying a plane next year. I'd like something like a Baron, but with lenders being skittish about multis, I'll probably end up with something like a Cherokee Six.
The first time I read this, I really thought you said "lenders being skittish about MULLETS". Reading it the second time changed everything.

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Essential truth about flying for the military.

Unfortunately for me, I came to that wonderful realization only when I was actually "in the stuff", getting shot and and doing (what I thought) was the organization's ultimate purpose for existing. It sounds crazy, but that was a serious emotional blow, after having spent decades about being where I actually was. It was a letdown like having your first love break up with you. The combination of the stress/fear/excitement of being in actual combat and learning that essential truth about the military just really screwed with my head. It made me very seriously want to leave the military because of the disillusionment.

For a number of reasons, though, I decided to stay. It was partly thanks to a number of furloughed/reservist airline pilots who listened to my Jack-and-Coke fueled rants afterward, and let me in on the secret that the grass in the airline industry was not any greener...and that most of them were very happy to be on mil leave and back flying for the military. If it hadn't been for them, I'd probably be at the airlines now and wondering how long it was going to be before I got to the top of that mouuntain.

Interestingly, I've found that in the decade since that letdown, my now-cynicism about the org, the mission, etc, allowed me to continue doing my job and enjoy it for what it was. I wasn't wrapping it up in any false notions about what I was doing and who I was doing it for, and even through all of the idiocracy I found lots of enjoyment doing it.

Ultimately, it gets back to the same issue that civilian pilots face: you won't find your life's purpose or personal fulfillment up in that cockpit. Guys chasing being a major airline pilot, and being unhappy with the journey to get there, aren't going to suddenly find happiness up in the front room of that legacy airliner. Chances are, if you weren't happy on the journey you won't be happy at the destination (which isn't really a destination, anyway).

In a way, the letdown when I saw the top of the mountain is one of the best things to ever happen to me. It is very liberating to know that, while I love aviation and flying, I'm not expecting it to make me whole.

It's sad that that letdown isn't airframe or community specific. I only know one person from my old squadron (AD) that plans to stay in. 1-to-1 120 day dwells for 4 years will do that.
 
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