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Well then, what you need is the context:
The context being that most professional pilots are not practicing engineers? Obviously. Engineering is generally project based, and thus not something that can easily be done part time. Can't put the project on hold while you fly a five-day to Norita. We also have airline pilots who are MD's, dentists, lawyers, etc., etc. but that sounds an awfully lot like work. Actually, you don't. What you have is a lot of MD's, dentists, lawyers, etc., etc., who are also airline pilots. There's a difference. I know lots of MD's, JD's, PhD's and such who pick up an ATP certificate in their spare time, just for the hell of it, even though they generally don't have anything like the spare time an airline pilot has. I have yet to meet an airline pilot who has ever picked up an MD, JD, PhD, or even a BE in his copious spare time. The level of achievement involved is dramatically different. I do know several airline pilots who started out in engineering school. Not all flunked out of engineering and had to change majors - one I know actually managed to graduate with a C average. He's a captain at the majors now, twenty years seniority, driving a Boeing around, figuring out how to live on less than an engineer a dedade his junior makes and what to do about his retirement, and wishing he'd developed some actual skills. I suppose with legacy carriers all going bankrupt as the low cost operators eat their lunch, there's a lot of that going around. That's not to say that none of the A students in engineering become professional pilots. Some do. You find them in flight test, the astronaut program, etc. Airlines? Not so much, though every once in a while you will see one doing it as a retirement gig or a diversion from his consulting business. Recreational flying is not in the same league. Recreational flying is what you make it. Of course a pilot with 100 hours can't be in the same league as one with 10,000, but in my experience, a recreational pilot is generally a better pilot than an airline pilot with the same number of hours. Maybe it's because you can't swing a dead cat at the airport without hitting a few engineers. Michael |
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