I'm a real PILOT!

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
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.

Or having a bath?

Paul (who got a serious shower sitting INSIDE my plane
on Sunday)

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
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.

I've got a friend who retired a couple of years ago from BA, flying 747-400s
as his latest and last mount. He bought a Bulldog. He hadn't flown a light
aircraft in a rather large number of years. He wasn't at all confident about
flying it and made sure he got some hours of instruction before even
attempting to solo. Now he's trying to grapple with navigation to be
able to leave the circuit. He's had a good GPS installed! :-)

They say that the most common mistake with airline pilots who
haven't flown a light aircraft in a while is trying to flare at 30ft!

Paul

!jealous people fear to live!
"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

He then said "No your not, you don't fly the big planes".

Those things aren't airplanes. They are apartment buildings with wings on
them.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

I've got a friend who retired a couple of years ago from BA, flying 747-400s
as his latest and last mount. He bought a Bulldog. He hadn't flown a light
aircraft in a rather large number of years. He wasn't at all confident about
flying it and made sure he got some hours of instruction before even
attempting to solo. Now he's trying to grapple with navigation to be
able to leave the circuit. He's had a good GPS installed! :-)

They say that the most common mistake with airline pilots who
haven't flown a light aircraft in a while is trying to flare at 30ft!

Paul

The Air Force Base I am stationed at is one of the few that still has
an Aero Club left. The membership is open to anybody even remotely
connected to the base (active duty, guard, reserve, civilians, family
members. Probably 20,000 people eligible to join, yet the club membership
is just over 100 people with maybe 15-20 flying during any given month.

The thing that I have always found to be strange is that the membership is
mostly enlisted and civilian. The number of active duty pilots can be counted
on one hand. Checking the aircraft registry for the county, I find that very
few military pilots have aircraft at the local airport.

My best guess is that most of the active duty pilots have very little time
in GA aircraft or flying in a non-military environment. A lot of the pilots
enter into pilot training without a PPL and are sent into Initial Flight Training
at a military Aero Club or under a contract with a civilian flight school.
The Air Force pays for 40 hours of training and the students are expected to
be ready for a checkride near the 40 hour point. After completing the private
course they have very little time before they are sent to initial jet training for a year.
I would chance to guess that there are active duty pilots who have a few thousand
hours flying military aircraft, but haven't been near a GA aircraft since their
initial 8 weeks in IFT.

-Mac

MRQB wrote:

I respect glider pilots especially the ones that can stay up for hours with
out an engine or any other power source.

They have a power source. It's called the sun.

--
Chris Woodhouse
Oklahoma City
http://thewishzone.com:8086

"They that can give up essential liberty
to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania