PPL to Legacy in under 9 Years...

Crap, I guess the original question was "under 9 years"...
 
Oh hell, I got hired on to fly a 767 at a supplemental operator at 26, and I thought I was kicking ass and taking names. Some of you fools ending up at a Legacy in 7-8 years make me look like a slacker. :)

I'm not at a Legacy, but I made it to what many would consider a career-level job 12 years after getting my PPL. My furlough in 2008 was a bit of a speed bump, and this is my 4th airline.
 
dasleben said:
Oh hell, I got hired on to fly a 767 at a supplemental operator at 26, and I thought I was kicking ass and taking names. Some of you fools ending up at a Legacy in 7-8 years make me look like a slacker. :)

I'm not at a Legacy, but I made it to what many would consider a career-level job 12 years after getting my PPL. My furlough in 2008 was a bit of a speed bump, and this is my 4th airline.
Click to expand...

Just add in a hip replacement, a few ex-wives and a letter of correction and call it a full career!
 
dasleben said:
Oh hell, I got hired on to fly a 767 at a supplemental operator at 26, and I thought I was kicking ass and taking names. Some of you fools ending up at a Legacy in 7-8 years make me look like a slacker. :)

I'm not at a Legacy, but I made it to what many would consider a career-level job 12 years after getting my PPL. My furlough in 2008 was a bit of a speed bump, and this is my 4th airline.
Click to expand...

Not to take away from their accomplishments, but 90% of it is timing.
 
2003(started) got hired in 2011(not a legacy but a major). Hard work, networking, luck and networking.
 
Sigh...this whole thread has left me depressed...I hate regret...I wish I would have pushed harder when I was younger to get the basics out of the way...though I only discovered I wanted to be a pilot when I was 22, here I am looking at my 30th birthday in August with only a PPL/Instrument/ME to show for it. Comm. ME in a few weeks if everything goes well.

At least it's comforting to know people who have made it happen...keeps that little glimmer of hope alive.
 
dasleben said:
No kidding! It hit me during introductions at my new gig that I have more uniforms in my closet than a fair number of the guys in class who are 50+. Good times, good times.
Click to expand...
At 25 and eleven-twelfths, I have two sets. I figure I have room for about three more sets (other than those foisted upon me by mergers, that is) and then, yep, that'll be all, thanks.

ozziecat35 said:
Sigh...this whole thread has left me depressed...I hate regret...I wish I would have pushed harder when I was younger to get the basics out of the way...though I only discovered I wanted to be a pilot when I was 22, here I am looking at my 30th birthday in August with only a PPL/Instrument/ME to show for it. Comm. ME in a few weeks if everything goes well.

At least it's comforting to know people who have made it happen...keeps that little glimmer of hope alive.
Click to expand...
As jtrain609 would put it, if you want to fly airplanes, fly airplanes. :)
 
ozziecat35 said:
Sigh...this whole thread has left me depressed...I hate regret...I wish I would have pushed harder when I was younger to get the basics out of the way...though I only discovered I wanted to be a pilot when I was 22, here I am looking at my 30th birthday in August with only a PPL/Instrument/ME to show for it. Comm. ME in a few weeks if everything goes well.

At least it's comforting to know people who have made it happen...keeps that little glimmer of hope alive.
Click to expand...

Just like me. Most of my flying buddies are now flying for the Blue, Spirit, Airtran etc. I followed another route and never finished the flying race, maybe some day.......
 
ozziecat35 said:
Sigh...this whole thread has left me depressed...I hate regret...I wish I would have pushed harder when I was younger to get the basics out of the way...though I only discovered I wanted to be a pilot when I was 22, here I am looking at my 30th birthday in August with only a PPL/Instrument/ME to show for it. Comm. ME in a few weeks if everything goes well.

At least it's comforting to know people who have made it happen...keeps that little glimmer of hope alive.
Click to expand...

Dood. We're the same age. If you start pushing for it now, you'll have 30+ good years. Moooore than enough, trust me.
 
ozziecat35 said:
I'm working on it. Unfortunately supporting a family requires the process to be a whole lot slower than I'd like...
Click to expand...

So let me broaden what my fellow One Lister is talking about a little bit.

You will die, and soon. It may be tomorrow, it may be 70 years from now, obviously nobody knows.

But I have no intent of living my life where I have to look back and say, "Well...should I have?" So far, I don't have to. Am I saying it's easy? No, but I AM saying it's something I want to do.

So to illustrate this, let me tell two stories. The first one is @Derg's, and the second happened recently.

If I understand the issue properly, and BTW I take this line from Derg, Derg's father died reasonably young, in his 50's or early 60's. His attitude is that you never know when it's going to happen, so live your life as much as you can.

The other story is a friend of mine who recently died in an ice climbing accident. She was living in Utah, where we want to live, living the life we want to live, and pursuing a PhD in water sanitation (public health), helping those that couldn't help themselves. She died young, 30, but she died while LIVING, and it's the life that I want for me, my wife, and my daughter.

HOW you facilitate that is up to you, but don't half ass life, because it never lasts as long as we'd like.
 
Well my time isn't up yet, but if I manage to move out of the CFI thing, get my ATP, get hired into a 121, upgrade to captain, build some hours PIC, and then move over to a legacy all within a year...then I will have done it in 9.
 
I'm at 9 years, 11 months, and 18 days since my PPL checkride. No legacy/major job! No problem! Trying to figure out where in the world to non-rev on Tuesday with 12 days off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top