I'm a real PILOT!

Yeah,, this happens..

But the licence plate on my Town Car says "AVIATOR" , so I
guess I am asking for it!

I find they fit into two groups, the ones that think it is
"way cool" or "I would like to do that someday" etc... and the
others, that will never understand why I (we) would climb into that
"little flimsy (it has a propeller! ) airplane just to be closer to
God and to soar with the eagles...

And I don't even try to explain it...

Those who will, understand right away...

I gotta get some cool shades , just in case...

(and ..no.. the plate is not for sale!

Dave



On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 00:24:26 GMT, "Greg Burkhart"
wrote:

I use to have a friend that would call me a 'baby pilot' because he said I
flew 'baby planes'...

"CFLav8r" wrote in message
.com...
I'm a real pilot, am I not?
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
And what if any was your response?
Or do you not consider yourself a real pilot?

Andrew Sarangan wrote:

No, you are not a real pilot unless you fly an airplane that has a
bathroom :-)

Depends on your definition of "bathroom." The aircraft I fly all have
bathrooms, although I would not recommend going "number two" in them.

--
Peter

On 3/31/04 2:26 PM, in article
, "CFLav8r"
wrote:

This isn't the first time that I have had someone not consider me to be a
real pilot.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
And what if any was your response?
Or do you not consider yourself a real pilot?

David (KORL)
PP - ASEL -Instrument student



I've never had anyone question the fact that I'm a pilot anymore than they
question that I'm a cartoonist. In any case, I became a pilot for personal
reasons and none of them were to impress anyone else.

That said, after you get your instrument rating, take him into the clouds,
turn to him and say, "Your plane."
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
www.wizardofdraws.com
www.cartoonclipart.com

if they don't know... and only think of airlines as "real pilots"

they are of the un informed.. and nothing you can do will change their
thinking..

BT

"CFLav8r" wrote in message
. com...
I'm a real pilot, am I not?
I ask this question to the entire aviation NG, to find out if you consider
yourself a real pilot.
The question came as I was returning from my mailbox this morning only to
have my neighbor stop and ask me "why if your always getting aviation
stuff
(EAA magazine came this morning) in the mail do you not become a real
pilot?". And to this I answered "I am a real pilot".
He then said "No your not, you don't fly the big planes".
Well considering the source of the question, I just said just because I
have
a drivers license doesn't mean I want to drive a truck or bus.

This isn't the first time that I have had someone not consider me to be a
real pilot.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
And what if any was your response?
Or do you not consider yourself a real pilot?

David (KORL)
PP - ASEL -Instrument student

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 19:26:03 GMT, "CFLav8r" wrote:

I'm a real pilot, am I not?
I ask this question to the entire aviation NG, to find out if you consider
yourself a real pilot.
The question came as I was returning from my mailbox this morning only to
have my neighbor stop and ask me "why if your always getting aviation stuff
(EAA magazine came this morning) in the mail do you not become a real
pilot?". And to this I answered "I am a real pilot".
He then said "No your not, you don't fly the big planes".
Well considering the source of the question, I just said just because I have
a drivers license doesn't mean I want to drive a truck or bus.

This isn't the first time that I have had someone not consider me to be a
real pilot.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
And what if any was your response?


Well you might relate to him what a friend of mine said. He currently flies for
a "major airline".... worked his way up from 727 Flight Engineer to left seat in
a 747. We were talking one day and the subject of flight skills came up. He
said the best he could do was 30 words a minute on the Flight Director with one
hand. (That's a joke, son.)

Ron Kelley

I think it was in a King video I was watching where I heard John say
something that really speaks to the 'why' I became a pilot and maybe it
indirectly will give you the answer you are seeking. John King said
something to the effect of; being a pilot/learning to fly is a very
ineffective way to impress someone, because the reason that most of us fly
is for the much deeper and profound reason which is, that we are out to
impress ourselves - to stretch ourselves by investing ourselves into a very
challenging/engaging activity like aviation; truly achieving a dream that
most of us have had nearly all of our lives. How many people can say they
achieved some lifelong dream that is on par with learning to fly? So, very
few.... I think I read somewhere that certificated pilots make up less than
one-third of one percent of the adult population - we are truly an 'elite'
group,,, there's not many that can understand the 'why' of 'why we are up
there' - but WE know,,, and that's all that really matters in the end.

To cite a passage which really speaks to the heart of my experience in
having learned to fly, which from the "Because I Fly" prose; "Who else has
seen the unclimbed peaks? The rainbow's secret? The real reason birds sing?
Because I fly,,,, I envy no man on Earth."

--
--
=-----
Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL
Student-IASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the
checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond!
Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

YEPPERS!!! I like this idea ;-)

--
--
=-----
Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL
Student-IASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the
checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond!
Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -

"CFLav8r" wrote in message .com...
I'm a real pilot, am I not?
I ask this question to the entire aviation NG, to find out if you consider
yourself a real pilot.
The question came as I was returning from my mailbox this morning only to
have my neighbor stop and ask me "why if your always getting aviation stuff
(EAA magazine came this morning) in the mail do you not become a real
pilot?". And to this I answered "I am a real pilot".
He then said "No your not, you don't fly the big planes".
Well considering the source of the question, I just said just because I have
a drivers license doesn't mean I want to drive a truck or bus.

This isn't the first time that I have had someone not consider me to be a
real pilot.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
And what if any was your response?
Or do you not consider yourself a real pilot?

David (KORL)
PP - ASEL -Instrument student

Question #1: Are you a real pilot?

David, you will go through this the rest of your life. And you will
wonder if you are a real pilot. It will just never end. Real pilots
fly STOL. Real pilots fly IFR. Real pilots teach other pilots. Real
pilots fly twins. Real pilots fly things that burn kerosine. Real
pilots fly acro. Real pilots fly jets. Real jet pilots fly fighters.
Real fighter pilots are from the Navy/Marines. Real Navy/Marine
pilots flew combat. Real jet pilots are Captains. Real Captains have
political power and get away with not wearing their tie...

As a 747/727/A310/DC10 pilot, people would ask me: "What airline do
you fly for?" I would tell them the name of my obscure freight/mac
charter outfit and then damn near every single one of them would pause
for a second and ask me Question #3: "Don't you want to fly for the
commercial airlines?"

My outfit IS a commercial airline flying under FAR 121 supplemental
rules. Explaning this to them always lead to a look of disbelief.
This goes on to this day and annoys me to no end.

Question #4 is always: Were you in the military?

Question #5 is always: How old were you when started flying?

It's like somebody gave the masses a script to read from or something.
Are you a real pilot David? ****in A' you are. Next time tell them:
Big airplanes are over 100 times safer to fly in than the planes you
fly. You don't have autopilots to bail you out; only your two hands
do the flying. I think all you guys that fly by yourselves are real
pilots. Most of my military co-pilots are terrified of the idea of
setting foot by themselves in a light plane with extreme limitations.
I worked with a few who thought they were up to it and crashed. How
about this: if you make it past 500hrs you will be a bonified real
old-bold pilot. ;-)

Our FBO rented a Cherokee to a "Real Pilot", a 5000-hour airline pilot (OK,
it was a foreign carrier) who promply wheelbarrowed the Cherokee into the
runway and collapsed the nosegear. Even the student pilots were wondering
how he did that.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"pacplyer" wrote in message
om...
"CFLav8r" wrote in message
.com...
I'm a real pilot, am I not?
I ask this question to the entire aviation NG, to find out if you
consider
yourself a real pilot.
The question came as I was returning from my mailbox this morning only
to
have my neighbor stop and ask me "why if your always getting aviation
stuff
(EAA magazine came this morning) in the mail do you not become a real
pilot?". And to this I answered "I am a real pilot".
He then said "No your not, you don't fly the big planes".
Well considering the source of the question, I just said just because I
have
a drivers license doesn't mean I want to drive a truck or bus.

This isn't the first time that I have had someone not consider me to be
a
real pilot.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
And what if any was your response?
Or do you not consider yourself a real pilot?

David (KORL)
PP - ASEL -Instrument student

Question #1: Are you a real pilot?

David, you will go through this the rest of your life. And you will
wonder if you are a real pilot. It will just never end. Real pilots
fly STOL. Real pilots fly IFR. Real pilots teach other pilots. Real
pilots fly twins. Real pilots fly things that burn kerosine. Real
pilots fly acro. Real pilots fly jets. Real jet pilots fly fighters.
Real fighter pilots are from the Navy/Marines. Real Navy/Marine
pilots flew combat. Real jet pilots are Captains. Real Captains have
political power and get away with not wearing their tie...

As a 747/727/A310/DC10 pilot, people would ask me: "What airline do
you fly for?" I would tell them the name of my obscure freight/mac
charter outfit and then damn near every single one of them would pause
for a second and ask me Question #3: "Don't you want to fly for the
commercial airlines?"

My outfit IS a commercial airline flying under FAR 121 supplemental
rules. Explaning this to them always lead to a look of disbelief.
This goes on to this day and annoys me to no end.

Question #4 is always: Were you in the military?

Question #5 is always: How old were you when started flying?

It's like somebody gave the masses a script to read from or something.
Are you a real pilot David? ****in A' you are. Next time tell them:
Big airplanes are over 100 times safer to fly in than the planes you
fly. You don't have autopilots to bail you out; only your two hands
do the flying. I think all you guys that fly by yourselves are real
pilots. Most of my military co-pilots are terrified of the idea of
setting foot by themselves in a light plane with extreme limitations.
I worked with a few who thought they were up to it and crashed. How
about this: if you make it past 500hrs you will be a bonified real
old-bold pilot. ;-)

"CFLav8r" wrote
I'm a real pilot, am I not?

Try being a private pilot with "just" a glider rating. No respect I tell ya.