I've often been asked if I had considered going to the airlines after I retired from the Air Force. I usually respond by asking the questioner if he ever wondered if Mario Andretti had considered driving for Grayhound when he gave up racing.
I do have a lot of friends who did take up bus driving...I mean airline piloting. They are all incredibly rich, live in houses that resemble Versailles, have their own private aircraft to dash about the country and sport a remarkably endowed trophy wife who is twenty-five years younger and apparently trying to escort them to an accelerated demise.
In conversations they have assured me that nothing like this has ever gone on in their cockpits where the highest levels of professionalism reign:
2 comments:
Ed, though my former brother-in-law, and still good friend, did not fly for the military, I have never seen him more angry than when I told him he was simply a glorified bus driver.
Raz,
The glory days for pilots at major airlines ended some time ago. And the world of the transport pilot covers a lot of territory, including supplemental air carriers, corporate flight ops, not to mention military ops ranging from (e.g.) the C-12 to the KC-10 and the E-3. Now, we all respect tactical aviators, and the imperative of preserving the fighter pilot mystique. But if you love to fly and want to continue, some aspect of transport flying is a transition that you usually have to make. The good news is the modern jet aircraft are in many ways more pilot-friendly than older piston-powered transports. With good instructors and modern simulators, the tactical aviator who wants to move on can usually make the transition and do well. So I always encourage folks to put aside any bad memories and apprehension. If you were good enough to fly fighters and the love of flight is still there, you can make the transition.
Now, with that encouragement, how about some images of Boeing test pilot Tex Thurston’s beautiful 1-g barrel roll of the early B-707 for your loyal readers. It occurred in August, 1955 and was witnessed by over 300,000 visitors to Seattle’s Gold Cup hydroplane racers. Too bad that the FAA was there.
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