Piloting Vs. Skydiving

[JACKO 0]

Any people out there who are pilots and skydivers?
Out of curiousity, which is more fun? meaningful?
I was going to get my pilots license to try and build hours and fly commercially, but one of my buddies (non-skydiver) just quit a job for a commuter airline. He said he felt like a bus driver of the sky. Two take offs and landings a day and the rest of the day watching the instruments go by. He also said it was highly boring and highly stressful. Any mistake will cost you your job. He said he had lost all interest in flying and is going in to business (ironically enough for Boeing). Before this I always figured pilots had fun jobs.
Just wondering whether flying planes or skydiving is more fun in the eyes of those who have been both pilots and skydivers.
Jack

[Dutchboy 0]

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Any people out there who are pilots and skydivers?
Out of curiousity, which is more fun? meaningful?

I have had a pilot's license for nearly 10 years. I haven't been flying for the last 7, however. That will change in a few hours I decided to get current again and have a flight review this afternoon.
For many years I never understood why people skydive. I think in flight school they teach you to think skydiving is stupid and infringes on YOUR airspace. Last year a friend of mine (Broken Eagle) convinced me to try it once. I did and found out just how much fun it is.
I think that skydiving has helped encourage me to get current again with my piloting. I've been building a plane for the last four years and am nearly done. I really want to finish the plane soon. I think that skydiving has gotten me back into aviation again.
As to which is more fun, there is no comparison. Skydiving wins hands down. Why? Because you get to fly your body. You won't find a more complex machine to fly anywhere. You also get to do aerobatics and formation flying. To top it off you get to fly a wing for a couple of minutes at the end. Also, you normally get to land into the wind and don't have to worry about crosswind landings because of where the runway is.
Skydiving is also much cheaper than flying. Just my medical exam cost me $85. I'll probably spend a few hundred today. Getting my license cost me about $4k, and that was ten years ago. My friends doing it now are spending closer to $6k.
Flying is more practical though. It is nice to be able to hop in a plane and be hundreds of miles away in no time at all. I like to fly, but I love to skydive.

[Tee 0]

Hey Jacko. I think it all depends what job you have as a pilot. My dad has been a pilot for 35 years so I basically grew up in a plane, and know how to fly myself. He flies as the lead plane for the waterbombers, scouting the "hot" spots of the fires and letting them know where to "drop". He is required to fly into valleys filled with smoke and analyze the fires...where the fires will go and what is the best plan of attack. His job is FAR more than just flying and can be very exciting at times. Tee

[Aviatrr 0]

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I was going to get my pilots license to try and build hours and fly commercially, but one of my buddies (non-skydiver) just quit a job for a commuter airline. He said he felt like a bus driver of the sky. Two take offs and landings a day and the rest of the day watching the instruments go by. He also said it was highly boring and highly stressful. Any mistake will cost you your job. He said he had lost all interest in flying and is going in to business (ironically enough for Boeing). Before this I always figured pilots had fun jobs.

Damn.. What commuter did your buddy fly for that he had to worry about his job so much? I have been flying for 7 years now, and I still love what I do for a living.. As far as the job being boring and highly stressful, I must disagree.. There's an old joke amongst pilots.. "Flying is hours of sheer boredom punctuated by seconds of absolute terror".. Remember, though..It's a joke.. I get paid (and paid well) to play with multi-million dollar high tech toys.. Yes, as the Captain I am responsible for the lives of all my passengers and crew.. Does it stress me out? Nope - not a bit.. I am totally confident in my flying and decision making abilities.. Yes, it's a lot of responsibility to shoulder, but not excessive.. As far as any mistake costing you your job....well, certain mistakes (read: major mistakes) certainly can, but they can also cost you your life - and the lives of your passengers and crew.. After over 5,000 hours of flight time, I have not made one of those mistakes, and believe I never will.. Don't get me wrong - I screw up as often as the next guy...it's just that those mistakes are minor.. There is no such thing as a perfect pilot, regardless of what some of your jump pilots may say..
Which is better, flying or skydiving? Hmmm.. I would have to say that I'm not the best person to ask.. Flying is what I do for a living - but it is also great fun.. I love it.. Skydiving I do for fun.. I love it as well.. If you ask me what I'd rather spend my weekends doing, well....no contest, skydiving all the way.. I fly every other week - enough for me.. If I flew EVERY day, I'm sure I would burn out.. If I jumped EVERY day professionally (and had an equal amount of experience skydiving as I do flying), I'm sure I would burn out.. The key is moderation..
There are two types of people in aviation.. Those who do it because they love it, and those who do it for another reason.. That other reason may not be totally obvious - it is often masked by the "I like to fly" cover.. Sometimes people are pushed into it by a family member who is a pilot.. Some people heard about the kind of money that pilots can make, and figured they'd get in on that.. Well, don't be fooled....not all of us make the big bucks.. After a few years, most people make more than the average office worker, but certainly not the $200k+ a year that senior airline Captains make.. Your buddy may have been one of those people either pressured into flying(knowingly or not) by a family member or friend, or one of those who got into aviation so he could "make the big bucks".. If he felt like a bus driver at a commuter, there are plenty of other types of flying he could have done.. Firefighting, EMS/Lifeflight, corporate, instructor(even the military uses some civilian jet instructors now), etc... Good luck with your choice..
Mike

[Aviatrr 0]

Dutchboy wrote:

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I think that skydiving has helped encourage me to get current again with my piloting. I've been building a plane for the last four years and am nearly done. I really want to finish the plane soon. I think that skydiving has gotten me back into aviation again.

What kind of airplane are you building? I'm planning on buying a kit before long, just haven't decided which airplane yet.. How many hours would you say you put into yours? Quick build kit, or standard? Tell me a bit about yours, maybe it'll help me to lean in one direction or another.. If you want to send it via e-mail, my address is [email protected]..
Mike

[Dutchboy 0]

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What kind of airplane are you building? I'm planning on buying a kit before long, just haven't decided which airplane yet.. How many hours
would you say you put into yours? Quick build kit, or standard? Tell me a bit about yours, maybe it'll help me to lean in one direction or
another..

Real briefly, it is a Zenith Super Zodiac 601HDS. Low wing 2 seater, side-by-side seating, all metal, big bubble canopy. Cruises around 130mph, climbs 1700-2000fpm. Standard kit, about 600 hours into it so far. Just the small stuff left < 200 hours (I hope). Website http://www.zenithair.com. E-mail me if you want more info.

[jtval 0]

to answer the original post.
i don't have my pilots license,yet, but i think your friend was flying under different circumstances that i plan on.
when i get my lisence it'll be for hobby/travel reasons. so i can fly around the country to diff. dz;s and jump. and not have to spend money on commercial tixx etc etc.
i will fly...b/c i want to not b/c the airline says i must if i wanna get paid.
anytime you make your hobby into your job it will lose some of it's appeal.
i play guitar/sing. ive been in a few bands througout my life and have gotten paid a few times. but if i HAD TO play to eat. it wouldnt be as fulfilling. , blah blah blah im sure you got the piont already..
to re-cap:
live by your own rules. or be prepared to be bored/ unfulfilled with the things you "HAVE TO"do
blah blah blah
jt

[flyboy62000 0]

I have been flying for about 10 years, seriously for about 3 years. I am in a collegiate aviation program to get my commercial pilot's license. When I entered the program at the college this fall they had too many students for the number of instructors so I had to hold off on my training for a quarter while those that were just starting got the instructors. I was tired of sitting around and decided to try skydiving. I loved it. I love flying and want to do it for a living because I love it. If I had to choose between flying and skydiving I would keep skydiving. This is only because skydiving is much more exciting and fun. Now if I was flying a fighter it might be a different story, but between the flying I'm doing now and skydiving there is little contest. Also when I'm skydiving I get to fly with other people and be out in the elements, not stuck inside a flying box of metal. As far as the similarites and differences the only real similarities are in canopy flight. The differences are pretty obvious skydiving is much less restrictive as far as rules go, you get to fly your body, and you don't have anything holding you in. Flying is great, but IMHO skydiving is more fun.
Blue Skies,
Adam

[JACKO 0]

His reasons for starting flying 6 years ago were mostly to make money and avoid working in the "real world", not necessarily a love of flying, though initially he claimed it was the greatest job in the world. He wasn't making that much at the commuter airline. Maybe 40k, but maybe not even that. He was not a captain, I think he was First Officer (3rd seat?), whatever that is.
IMHO any job gets boring if you do it forever. That's why you have to find ways to make your job fun by modifying it a little, or just switch jobs. I don't have the cash right now to start flying, plus I wear glasses, so I could never get a job with the big airlines. I hear they need 20/20 vision and I don't have that.
My friend who is quitting flying also is being semi encouraged to leave since his recent medical revealed his eye sight to be 20/30 or something very minor off of 20/20. It sucks for him too, because he just got out of the debt from his flight training (35,000 for his CFI).
Oh well, different strokes for different folks and such is life and all that stuff.
Jack

[Dirtsucks 0]

I gave up flying for skydiving, so I guess that answers the question pretty well. I would love to return to flying planes, however I can’t even seem to save up enough my to restart my AFF (I made it to level 4 two summers ago). I’m determined to jump this spring, however, whatever it takes. I think choosing which one is better is really personal preference. Sure, flying is way more practical - you can only do a cross country skydive wearing a bird man suit in a hurricane, but I started flying just for fun, and only after spending about 5 grand did a I discover that jumping from airplanes is even more fun than flying them, at least for me!

[Dutchboy 0]

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I hear they need 20/20 vision and I don't have that.

At least in the US this is not true. I think this is a myth the stems from military pilots that must have 20/20 in both eyes when they start. I know I couldn't do it because I had 20/25 in one eye.
According to my airmen medical I had yesterday I have 20/25 near and far vision. I actually wear glasses when I'm working since I have astigmatism (sp?) and the UV from staring at a monitor all day is bad for my eyes. I know your vision can be as bad as 20/40 (corrected or not) to get a 2nd class medical for a comercial pilots license. Not sure what the exact numbers are for 1st class (ATP license).

[Dirtsucks 0]

Just pulled this out of the 2000 FAR/AIM (2001 is probably the same) – 3rd class requires 20/40, 2nd and 3rd class requires 20/20 distant vision and 20/40 near.

[Dutchboy 0]

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Just pulled this out of the 2000 FAR/AIM (2001 is probably the same) – 3rd class requires 20/40, 2nd and 3rd class requires 20/20 distant vision and 20/40 near.

You don't have to have that vision, just be correctable to it. If you aren't already within the limits you will be required to wear corrective lenses while flying.

[Dirtsucks 0]

Oops, that’s what I meant. FAR’s always screw with my head. I did find it pretty funny when I went to get my second class medical when I couldn’t even see the chart without my glasses. After I put my glasses on I had to squint really hard and bend foreword to read it – I must have looked pretty ridiculous, but I got my medical anyways.

[JACKO 0]

From what I understand after looking it up at faa.gov . You need 20/40 vision or better, without correction, to pass a class one medical.
In my friends case, the eyesight requirment but him at 20/30. So he was still technically eligible to fly with corrective lenses. When he started wearing contacts to work and people noticed this, his supervisors were none too happy. If given the choice, airlines like South Worst would rather have the pilot with no blemishes on the medical report. In case they should ever be sued, it would hurt their case.
Jack

[Aviatrr 0]

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From what I understand after looking it up at faa.gov . You need 20/40 vision or better, without correction, to pass a class one medical.

Not true. First class requires vision CORRECTED to 20/20 - that's it. It USED to be 20/100 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20, but that was dropped a couple years back. I have had a first class medical for the past 5 years, and before having LASIK, I had 20/400 uncorrected, but corrected to 20/20. I had a waiver that allowed that vision with a first class medical. Waivers were very common before the 20/100 thing was dropped.
Mike

[miked10270 0]

Hi there,
Just to get this back onto the "Skydiving Vs Piloting" thing, I seem to remember it beng summed up very well with the following saying:
"If sitting in a 'plane is flying... Is sitting in a boat swimming?"
Mike D10270.

[Dutchboy 0]

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"If sitting in a 'plane is flying... Is sitting in a boat swimming?"

True, but which is a more practical means of travel?
I had an interesting experience Friday. I have started flying again after 7 years off. I was doing the first part of my flight review when the instructor had me fly over another small airport nearby. There was a nice 2000 Cessna 172 Millenium Edition that had crashed in some trees next to the runway. It was really sad to see the wings bent back on this new airplane. So I called up a buddy of mine tonight to see if he passed his pilot checkride scheduled for today. Yep, you guessed it, he was the one that crashed the new $180k plane. He wasn't injured, except his pride. Definitely gives you some perspective.