Flying is great fun.
Just today i helped a buddy reposition a couple of airplanes to the other side of the state of Texas for maintenance.
I enjoyed my airline days, for the most part. but i found the flying to be highly "technical" - perhaps that is not the best way to describe it... i guess what i mean to say is that it is very robotic feeling. Almost as if there was a disconnect with the passion of it i guess. There was a highly regimental procedure for even the most routine of activities in the airplane (with good reason of course)
"There is a difference between a pilot and an aviator; one is a technician... the other is an artist in love with his medium."
there are several variations of that quote but it is very true
it has been 4 years since my last FAR Part 121 airline flight, my full uniform and kit bag still reside in the hall closet almost as if waiting to be called to action again.
i admit that i still occasionally dream of it. Sometimes i am sitting in the pilot's lounge conversing with my old colleagues about the storms and the delays and asking how "the ride" along a certain route is.
other times i just dream that i am up in the flight levels, taking in the view.
I had a lot of positive and negative experiences during my airline stint and i wouldnt trade the memories of those days for the world.
But flying in the airline world helped me realize that even though airline life could sometimes be fun...
i've found that it could never best this...
thanks for sharing the video Jim... it brings me back to some happy days to see that