WD, I think u didnt get my point… first of all my assumptions are based on my modest experience as GA pilot and above all by the close friendship with many airline and military pilots, I dont get where I did talk myself about false myths..
An airline pilot knows everything about IFR, procedures, airspace regulations etc.. and this is an immense value, no doubt, but when I see someone bragging about it with an AG pilot I go nuts! 😡
My closest friend/partner is a 68 years old retired pilot, just to give u an idea of what his experience is like have a look at this partial list of what he did:

while in the AF he flew with the following planes both as pilot/instructor

T-6 family (almost all subversions): 1.600 hours
F-51: 100 hours
G-59: 300 hours
C-45: 500 hours
C-47: 500 hours
T-33: 15 hours

then he joined the world of civil aviation, where he flew the following planes:

DC-3
DC-6
Caravelle
DC-9 20
727
747
DC-10
A-300
MD-11

I probably have forgotten something, but the point is that he retired as a 16.000+ commander with a priceless epxerience both as commander and instructor, and please forgive me if I give more credit to him than to anybody else..
He explained me with a vivid memory all the aspects of his career and he told me that he missed military aviation not only for the planes themselves, but mainly because while being in the airlines he met so many arrogants, idiots and incompetents that discredited the cathegory and above all had the moral and legal responsability of the passengers behind them..
Airline pilots are professionists, but the qualities of a pilot go well beyond your knowledge of how to set up an inertial platform: if airline pilots are the top notch of civil aviation can u tell me why there are every year accident reports of airline pilots? Usually they achieved thousands of hours but are killed by eccessive self-confidence in flying a small sport plane, and usually leave this world in the most common way: a spin between the base and final legs.. And it’s ironically sad looking at the accident reports and seeing how many pilots fitted the said report..
Before being a pilot we are men(or women), and when a man is an a$$, he’s an a$$ on the ground and at 20.000ft..
My above mentioned friend always tells me this short sentence “Be modest alex, and always respect the aircraft u r sitting in”

Alex

Alex,

Skycruiser is most certainly not the type of guy who looks down on any pilot just because he flys 747s. Quite the reverse in fact, he has been very supportive of me throughout my training and has many times commended my desire to fly anything at all whether it be a Tiger Moth or a A380. I had not wanted to mention this yet, and I will not yet be mentioning it in the Commerical forum, but I have recently secured my first airline job which I will be starting in March. It’s not flying 737s or A320, not even BAe 146s or Jetstreams, but I will be flying an eight seater PA-31-350 Chieftan on regional scheduled services in the UK. As a bus driver as opposed to a sunday flyer I have respect for both parties, but I sometimes feel there is not enough understanding of flying as a profession as opposed to doing it as a hobby. I think far too many people thing of us commercial guys as ‘fly boys’ who just want to be doing it for the money, uniform and women. Inside all over us with only a very few exceptions there is a very deep love of flying and basic aviation and that is what fuels us to go into work each day and fly to a schedule and to a strict code. No one is looking down on anyone else here.

In addition to this I can assure you that you are totally mistaken with my attitude Alex and I must say that your belief that I want to only do the bear minimum to become an FO is unfounded and totally untrue. In fact I have done so many added ratings, extra flying, and additional studying of subjects that are not necessary to gaining an ATPL all out of choice and because I want to be a safe efficient commercial pilot with a total understanding of what I’m doing. I would actually pride myself on my commitment and time spent on my chosen career, and although this may sound somewhat arrogant, this is probably the reason why I have gained a job several months before finishing my training when there are probably 400 or 500 guys in a similar situation in the UK who are out of work because they did the bear minimum or just don’t give it 120%. I have explained my reasoning behind not doing my spin training, I lost a good friend through it and after the event I promised both his brothers, his mother and my own family that I would not do my practical spin training if they did not wish me to and I have kept my word on that whilst practising spin training for probably about 40 hours in the sim (and I wish to add, this is not flight sim as you seem to have suggested here Alex). I feel a prepared as can be to pull myself out of a spin. As a ,aviation is about CRM or team work and that’s something I think we should be concentrating on more in every aspect of flying whether it be PPL standard or flying a 747, so lets all show a bit more respect for each other and get along!

Alex, get some more experience of what you are about to do and the world you’re about to enter before criticising others that have dedicated their lives to it.

as I said I didnt mean to offend anybody, and I wish to express my compliments for your brilliant path, if your profile is right u r a 18 years old guy and becoming a F/O at that age is incredibly good (I wish I realised my vocation at your age!!), but I heard so many times airline pilots bragging around and I’m pretty sick n’ tired of it..
My idea about your friend’s tragic loss due to an improper spin (inverted flight spins are not the same thing as a normal spin) is that of course it really had a strong impact on you and your/his relatives, but u can’t live with this terrible shadow on your back, the best way to exorcise(right?) the thing is doing the aerobatic training mate. I have lost two friends for a motorbike accident but this doesnt stop me from using mine..
In the flying school I wish to sign in they recently had a terrible accident: one of their trainees got lost into a cloud and smashed into the alps.. his father is an experienced pilot (he flies with Canadairs now) and apart for the pain of the tragic loss he expressed all his sympathy to his son’s mates and said “dont give up guys, my son’s loss must be an example and a motivation for you all to do finish your course and to remember that we always must be careful of what we do”
Hope u got my point mate..

Alex

In my moderator role.

1) I’ve been around on aviation fora long enough to know there is no resolution to the ‘best kind of flying’ discussion.

Can we all just please assume that the words “for me” are appended whenever the phrase is used?

Flying is a very personal thing. There are those of us who would be gnawing our right legs off out of boredom and frustration flogging a Ryan-Air 737 full of cattle-class passengers backwards and forwards across Europe, whilst there are others who would loathe the thought of stepping out of a bells and whistles flight-deck to navigate a Lycoming-driven single from Old Buckenham to Sibson. Each to their own (Though I have known plenty who swop happily between extremes.)

2) Do bear in mind that some posters do not have English as their first language and could be finding it tricky to express the fine nuances that others of us deal with everyday.

OK guys?

Moggy

Moggy, have I missed something?
Arrogance is a universal attitude, I dont think it’s a matter of language..

Alex

flying an airliner and a small propeller plane are two different worlds, but they both need airmanship, attitude and skill. Anyway if you compare the workload of a 60s airline pilot with yours you will realise how things are way easier today. I’m afraid that aviation is still afflicted by false myths and this is changing things in the wrong way..
I met and heard of many pilots doing their job “cuz dad told me to do so”, and I personally think that their 100hrs as F/O on 737 are not worth 10hrs of my biplane aerobatics.. The art of flying is being able to push an aircraft to its limits, discovering the physics of flight together with the machine (and not in a book or a sim), it’s navigating with a stopwatch and a map, is making a flightplan without a GPS or inertial platform, it’s sharping your sight to spot landmarks.. Needless to say these things are impossible (and would be silly) to apply in modern commercial aviation, that’s nobody’s fault, but as I said going from A to B with a 737 in 4 hours it’s just a job..
It’s a matter of personal tastes I think, I hope u got what I mean, as usual I get lost with examples and never get to the point 😉

Alex

I like the expression he does in the beginning, like “check this out fellas!” 😀

Alex

Seriously? Jeez…although after the tales I have heard from a neighbour of mine who was a boy in blue for 20 years, I am somehow not surprised 🙁

a boy in blue? u mean yr neighbour was a Smurf?? How cool! And I thought it was just a cartoon! 😀 😀 😀

Alex

Ever flown through an orchard? 😮 😮

I say OUCH!!!! 😮 😮
I’m in Rome and know several chaps in Sabaudia, I’ll ask them about it..
But u pranged it or u could save something?

Alex

P.S.
Yes, we’re changing topic again, and one of us is a mod too eheheheh 😀 😀 😀 guess we can keep on PMing about it..

indeed my friend, indeed..

Alex

P.S.
Moggy, if we’ll ever get the chance to meet I’ll be expecting u to look like in yr avatar 😀