I'm a real PILOT!

"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?".

Why does he know what's in your mailbox?

-cj

I got to thinking and have to agree. I don't have to tell anyone that
I'm a pilot. My wife does for me!

Chris

Andrew Gideon wrote:
CFLav8r wrote:


I'm a real pilot, am I not?


Wrong question.

My wife was chatting with her trainer at the gym, and explained how we'd
taken our son on his first overnight in an airplane. She later explained
that I was flying an airplane that evening as a part of a maintenance
mission for the club.

Apparently, it finally sank into the trainer's mind that I was actually the
holder of a pilot's certificate (as opposed to someone that charters
airplanes in which the family takes trips). She's therefore decided that
I'm a "trophy husband".

Not bad. But I think that, if I could afford to charter planes for family
trips, I'd be fairly trophy-ish too.

So the right question is: are you a trophy?

There might be something to this. I was there when another member of my
flying club intoduced himself to a very attractive female friend of mine.
When she heard that he knew me through aviation, she became that much more
attentive to him.

I think I've a new idea for advertising flight lessons.

- Andrew

You forgot "two feet" unless your flying an ercoup.


"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. ;-)

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


"Jim Buckridge" wrote in message
om...
"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.

At a homeowners association meeting last night I had four people ask me if I
had been circling the development low and slow last weekend. Nobody seemed
accusatory (I've circled a couple of times at 800agl with sightseers). After
responding that I had been in Oregon at the time, I listened to the people;
nobody seemed worried, one person thought the plane was below 500 but I
explained how hard it is to estimate altitude by eye, one person thought it
was a photo shoot.

Those who thought it was me were probably wondering if I was taking one of
their neighbors for a ride.

The point is: I was being treated as the local expert, and nobody seemed to
be trying to pin a noise complaint on me (partly because I try to educate
when possible). So, yeah, I felt like a real pilot.

-- David Brooks

"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

Nice point David.

I let a lot of folks know I fly.

At first it felt like bragging but I do it because people who "know" a pilot, are a lot more likely to be positive or non-combative
towards airplane noise and so forth. It seems to help if you are considered to be responsible also.

Kind of a pilots are people too thing and it helps them realize we are having fun and going places not just up there to torture
them.

Mike Z


"David Brooks" wrote in message ...
At a homeowners association meeting last night I had four people ask me if I
had been circling the development low and slow last weekend. Nobody seemed
accusatory (I've circled a couple of times at 800agl with sightseers). After
responding that I had been in Oregon at the time, I listened to the people;
nobody seemed worried, one person thought the plane was below 500 but I
explained how hard it is to estimate altitude by eye, one person thought it
was a photo shoot.

Those who thought it was me were probably wondering if I was taking one of
their neighbors for a ride.

The point is: I was being treated as the local expert, and nobody seemed to
be trying to pin a noise complaint on me (partly because I try to educate
when possible). So, yeah, I felt like a real pilot.

-- David Brooks

Hi David,

For the past six years or so I have considered myself to be a "real pilot".

Last week that all changed when I attempted my first three landings in a
tailwheel aeroplane (a Jodel). Now I've gone away to re-evaluate my above
statement. ;-)))

Personally I haven't had anyone ask me if I were a real pilot but I have had
an adult ask me when I was going to fly real aeroplanes whilst near enough
pointing at the Airbus glistening in the sun.

My reply was, "I fly real aeroplanes already and operate computers in my day
to day job, but one day I shall probably swap computers that run microsoft
products for those that run an oversized bus with wings. Would you like a
quick jaunt in a real aeroplane?". Then I nodded in the direction of the
groups semi-aerobatic aeroplane whilst grabbing my flight bag... ;-)))

Best wishes,

Richard Thomas
FAA CP-ASEL IA
Student AMEL and Tailwheel

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. ;-)

Wow that makes me a bonified real old-bold pilot at a grand old age of
twenty six, er okay twenty seven in a couple of weeks! ;-))))

So although I'm a real old-bold pilot I'm still sticking to a very good moto
I've learnt from a veteran of a lifetime in aviation... "Cowardice prolongs
active life". (If you're reading this sorry if it is trademarked!).

Mind you there is no such thing as an old bold pilot.

Seriously though I believe you've hit the nail on the head with your post.

cj,

Why does he know what's in your mailbox?

-cj

I am so glad someone has asked the million pound (er oops dollars on this
newsgroup) question!!!

Would have been me asking otherwise....


"cj" wrote in message
s.com...

"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?".

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...

Andrew Gideon wrote:

When she heard that he knew me through aviation, she became that much
more
attentive to him.

Watch out for this. Most cases I've seen, the woman was simply calculating
how well
she could do with all that money the guy was "wasting" on aviation.

There's a reason I'm not married. I can't afford a plane and a wife.

Paul