Pour one out tonight…

Old Pete said:
Serious question, then why do you do it?
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Because people retire from flying fighters? Relatively short shelf life on that career (and that lower back) unless you become Wing Commander and move along to some Flag job with flying also written into the orders (I believe Mike's former peers are general officers at this point). There are some contract red air/adversary/aggressor jobs flying 2nd and 3rd gen "fighters" in various states of disrepair, but to some extent you are taking your life in your own hands in many of those jobs........sometimes the smart move is to just put the g-suit into a love me locker and call it done.
 
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Old Pete said:
Serious question, then why do you do it?
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@///AMG s points are perfectly valid and true. To add to those, and answer your question which is a very legit one. It’s some easy extra cash. I only fly part time at a company that’s based here where I am, 3 or 4 flights a month. Was already typed in the 737 anyway. The flying itself and the airplane arent any challenge to fly….kind of brainless to manage, and the 121 work isn’t all that interesting in the least but that’s 121…..boring is good, as it should be. At the same time, I wouldn’t honestly be able to do 121 as a full time career for the same reasons, so I just dabble in it part time in order to still get some fixed wing flying here and there vice the helos I fly mostly. It’s a 3rd gig to my BP flying and contract fire work, and let’s my type rating earn me some $$. So it has its place.

What’s funny is some of the people I fly with, to where a 737 classic is the top of the mountain to them, where to me it’s kind of some far lower elevation mid point on said mountain, based on tactical jets I’ve flown before and the work I did in combat and such….even the same with helos. One of them who was civvie only background went on and on and on about how great the flying was and awesome the 737 is…..he knew nothing else but the standard dues paying gigs in the civvie world; then got miffed when he asked my opinion on the same, and I explained it as I have here, claiming I’m some uppity jerk, even though I’m both civilian and mil, having gone from 135 cargo to mil fighters. I guess perspective truly is an individual thing…..

Was going to opine that for me, if a junker 737 was the top of my aviation mountain in life, I’d probably just jump off that mountain and kill myself. Can apply to a good few boring planes and operations, really. But I figured that really wouldn’t be productive to say. :)
 
ZapBrannigan said:
I like the 737. But it's the top of the mountain for me.
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it’s a fair airplane. Honest and easy to fly. I have no issue with it as a flying machine. You however, aren’t any kind of jerk who hates mil guys just because, and takes every opportunity to make it known in any passive aggressive way he can. Guy doesn’t realize that jealousy will get him nowhere. Hence why the targets he has on himself, are all ones of his own making. :)
 
MikeD said:
it’s a fair airplane. Honest and easy to fly. I have no issue with it as a flying machine. You however, aren’t any kind of jerk who hates mil guys just because, and takes every opportunity to make it known in any passive aggressive way he can. Guy doesn’t realize that jealousy will get him nowhere. Hence why the targets he has on himself, are all ones of his own making. :)
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That’s oddly specific. Bad co-worker or something?
 
I used to think mil guys had it made when I was working my way up in the career. I didn't know any and just thought they got the top tier jobs handed to them while civil guys follow the "instruction/grand canyon tours/spot fish/135 freight/commuters route" with low the low pay and working conditions. Then I got hired at UPS and worked with a lot of mil guys. Found out most were really nice guys and paid their dues just like I had, only in a different way. Maybe years in places far from home or sometimes living on a boat or in the green zone or whatever. Giving up some of their liberty to preserve mine. We all pay our dues and I think that's an important time. We just do it in different ways.
 
What kind of fire work are you doing MikeD? Helo's? Tankers? I didn't know you were doing that stuff. I found a little 135 close to home that is allowing me to do part time air attack this summer.
 
GypsyPilot said:
That’s oddly specific. Bad co-worker or something?
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its one of the guys yes. I just poke and prod at him for amusement, and I don’t really need the job anyway. It’s more a little extra convenient cash is all. If my services were no longer needed tomorrow, no big deal. More free time. :)

DE727UPS said:
What kind of fire work are you doing MikeD? Helo's? Tankers? I didn't know you were doing that stuff. I found a little 135 close to home that is allowing me to do part time air attack this summer.
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No sir, the fire work and the flying work as I was referring to, are two separate entities :). Flying helos in my normal job with USBP. Have my side contract company where I contract out fire/rescue services mainly for aircraft crash rescue, but also for wild land, structural, and for racetrack and movie set work. Then the third job that allows me to fly fixed wing some, is the part time 737 contract gig here local, namely hauling DoD pax from A to B on singular day trips or some overnights here and there.
 
MikeD said:
its one of the guys yes. I just poke and prod at him for amusement, and I don’t really need the job anyway. It’s more a little extra convenient cash is all. If my services were no longer needed tomorrow, no big deal. More free time. :)



No sir, the fire work and the flying work as I was referring to, are two separate entities :). Flying helos in my normal job with USBP. Have my side contract company where I contract out fire/rescue services mainly for aircraft crash rescue, but also for wild land, structural, and for racetrack and movie set work. Then the third job that allows me to fly fixed wing some, is the part time 737 contract gig here local, namely hauling DoD pax from A to B on singular day trips or some overnights here and there.
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Yeah, that’s too bad. It does happen the other way too, of course it’s always some weirdly insecure guy.

I work with mostly Mil guys, and the vast majority of them are great. As usual, it just comes down to the person.
 
Hah, I'm about to join the 3 job club too Mike :) Kind of like cars.....I get attached to them and keep them even when I get a new one. My wife thinks I'm insane
 
I will pour one out for the freight dog who has gone west. I used to fly for Ram Air Freight when they were still around. I did it for almost 4 years, and I definitely made my guardian angel work overtime during those years. I would not trade the experience for anything, but I would never do it again. Doing that job is what allowed me to go from being just a certificate holder to being a pilot.
 
GypsyPilot said:
I ride mountain bikes and climb mountains in my off time. It provides a fantastic way to push the edge while also having an appropriate (for me) risk management. I think it’s good for pilots to have something like that, and if you get that from airplanes still that’s cool too. I think anything like that is a hell of a lot better than sitting on the couch all day.
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It's one of the few places I can still safety 3rd. Airplanes kill people. Rarely quickly. Always slowly.
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