Often wondered if flying professionally is fun. There must be something there, because this site, like other aviation sites, is packed with lay persons like myself, who are fascinated to engage in aviation discussions. Other professions, whilst they might have websites, lack the lay presence which aviation attracts. I would not engage enthusiastically in engineering discussions or IT discusssions, not because I lack the professional knowledge to do so (ignorance never stopped me blathering on this site) but because to my mind and clearly to the minds of many others, those sites lack the glamour, adventure and drama of aviation. There is also the perceived (but untrue) dicing-with-death image association - the Biggles factor.
However, over the past few months, I have developed the theory that piloting is as much concerned with Number as, perhaps, accountancy and far from being glamorous adventure, it is largely routine procedure with an overlay of extra watchfulness -maybe like riding a motorcycle requires.
What is it that attracts people into aviation? Is it the good pension and the duty-free booze, the gorgeous uniform, the authority, the effortless control, via state-of-the-art technology, over the destiny and direction of sometimes hundreds of people? Or is it just a job a person gets into like people get into teaching, lorry-driving, medicine, policing, eningineering etc and does it, like all of those, ultimately consist of job-focus and routine? Is there a St Euxpery factor, where sunset over the clouds seeems to hint at something not found in accountancy?
However, over the past few months, I have developed the theory that piloting is as much concerned with Number as, perhaps, accountancy and far from being glamorous adventure, it is largely routine procedure with an overlay of extra watchfulness -maybe like riding a motorcycle requires.
What is it that attracts people into aviation? Is it the good pension and the duty-free booze, the gorgeous uniform, the authority, the effortless control, via state-of-the-art technology, over the destiny and direction of sometimes hundreds of people? Or is it just a job a person gets into like people get into teaching, lorry-driving, medicine, policing, eningineering etc and does it, like all of those, ultimately consist of job-focus and routine? Is there a St Euxpery factor, where sunset over the clouds seeems to hint at something not found in accountancy?
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