So what's everyone's story on why you're here and not in a real cockpit?

[G00dnight]

I always wanted to fly aircraft but soon decided that as an absolute idiot it might not be such a good idea.

[LegoHeli]

I tried. And still am trying.

 

I applied for pilot school, talked to my bank and had them say "go", got my medical approval, did my entrance exam to the pilot school and then the back turned around 180 degrees at the last moment, effectively breaking contract with me. So yeah, sue a bank, good luck with that one.

 

I decided that there would be another way to do things since test piloting is really what I am into (more specifically practical R&D of new aerospace technologies and the like), so I applied for college to study aerospace engineering. That's where I am today, changed bank to one that is more positive toward my career goal and am working towards having the necessary engineering degree for test piloting before starting pilot school.

 

DCS, FSX and all the other flying sims I've used are all with "you might be able to use some of this for real" in mind, and knowing quite a few pilots I know that a lot of what you learn here is very useful in real life.

 

Sorta long post. That's why I'm in DCS and not haulin' aircraft IRL.

 

....and I'm not joining the RDAF because there is a contract and I am not down with defining killboxes and just bombing away at what you know is civilians. I think too much for real combat.

[siipperi]

Well thry don't allow you to own fully functional military plane here.. Kinda sucks I know! But some day if A10 happens to land nearby, im taking that badboy on the ride! ;)

[DieHard]

I've been an aviation buff since I was a wee lad, as was my father. He married very early, and never really "got around to it" as far as military aviation, but he'd always wanted to. The most he'd done is fly privately with Cessnas and the like.

 

While it was and really still is the only thing I wanted to pursue in my life, I never really had the drive or motivation to do so. Call me lazy, but the "stuff" required to become a fighter pilot seems beyond my capabilities. I'm a bit of a pessimist most of the time, and tend to go with the "easier" route. I was the guy who just didn't care when I got to high school and did the bare minimum to pass most classes (slept a lot there also). I play a lot of PC games (including DCS, of course) and just like to relax. It's weird, the pilots that I admire and envy and the jobs that they have are/require the exact opposite of what kind of person I am it seems...I'm approaching the age of 26, and while I try not to think about it much, I see F-18s fly over semi-often from the NAS nearby and get that sharp pain in my heart...And I wonder to myself why I couldn't push myself then or now to become the person required.

 

Also, my vision is horrid and the eustachian tubes in my ears are smaller than normal, so ascending and descending in an aircraft hurts like a *****. Those factors also kind of deterred me haha.

 

So what's your sob stories, folks?

 

I like living! I can always fly another day, flying sims.

 

I am color blind bad enough, though I passed the entrance exam to Annapolis, being color blind ended that possibility; I get three of the numbers out of the ten colored poka-dot circles test. I did enlist in the Navy for eight years. My test scores allowed me any skill set except that where color blindness was not an issue. Asthma ended that adventure.

 

Did a cerebral hemorrhage at age fifty, twelve years ago finished me off.

 

I have been up in a small Cessna, top wing and a Cherokee, low wing and it amazes me how not very high up I lose the sensation of not flying very fast, almost still, and why reading the instruments is so important to know what is going on.

 

I have thought about taking lessons, but I will never be allowed to solo.

 

There is a retired Navy pilot to learn from flying the VRS Superbug on FSX. He was not a fighter pilot, and has ten thousand flight hours including training cadets at Pensacola and 2 tours in Viet Nam. Being a fighter pilot is a very limited possibility being it is so demanding. There are other possibilities as a military pilot.

[AlphaOneSix]

I fly every chance I get! :D I have my private pilot's certificate (mostly flying a Piper Archer these days), and I'm working on my instrument rating as well. For work, I fly in an Mi-17 (not as a pilot, I'm a crew chief, although I do get a decent amount of stick time).

[Sharpe]

I suppose I'm one of those people who 'inherited' the love for aviation from a family member.

 

My granddad spent time as a pilot during World war 2 and the start of the Cold war. Although some of his stories were quite chilling, I still was amazed by what he went through, and for some odd unphantomable reason I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

 

Well, as it turned out, I couldn't follow in his footsteps, no head for maths, bad eyes, and since a number of years; autism. Luckily there are plenty of flightsims out there to keep me occupied.

[Agg]

I have always loved aviation, and ever since I was a kid I dreamt of being a fighter pilot. Unfortunately my eye-sight kept me from reaching that goal (I've been wearing glasses since I was four years old). Going for the civilian option really was'nt for me, so I opted for a career in the IT-industry (as technology is my other passion). I am quite happy about the path I chose, but I would trade it in an instant for the opportunity to be a fighter pilot.

[howie87]

Finally found what I wanted do with my life at the age of 25, after failing my A-Levels and working in dead end jobs for a few years.

 

I'm now 27, half way to getting my private pilots licence and still living at home and working the dead end job to pay for it. The dream is to be a commercial pilot but I don't know if I'll ever make it to be honest.

 

Military flying was never an option with my eyesight though. I'm just above the civilian requirements to fly without glasses but nowhere near 20/20.

[Alicatt]

Eye sight problems, I was borderline for a PPL but since then my eye sight has got worse

[NoJoe]

I'm not in a cockpit right now because it's my day off. :D I'll be back up there tomorrow, flying all around the Seattle area.

[eurofor]

I'm one of those odd people here that never had much interest in aviation. Perfect eyesight though. Experience is limited to a few hours in a Socata TB10 with a friend who's got a license but while that was fun I'm just not that fascinated by it.

[Cowboy10uk]

Well born and brought up with the Royal a Air Force, Dad was a loadmaster, had the pleasure of hrs and hrs of jollies and loved every moment. Was fortunate to go solo at 16 in a motorised glider curtesy of the Air Training Corp.

 

Why am I not in a real cockpit, simple. I'm a dum shit, failed all my exams so joined up as an airman instead.

 

Sadly absolutely no chance, to be able to pay for it myself. So get my aviation kicks via flight sims. Do still manage to get the odd jolly, managed to get a flight in a Huey last year, and had a good climb about a B17 the year before at Duxford. Luckily Dad now plans Airshows so has rather a lot of cool contacts.

 

Cowboy10uk

[dumgrunt]

when i finished school despite the fact i had no medical problems, had good marks and no real commitments, I was more interested in digging holes, crawling through the mud then cleaning weapons. then doing that all over again.

 

thought about it seriously since first buying A-10C a couple of years ago, but honestly then main things here are you get bugger all time in the aircraft (fleet being at the end of its life, dwindling budget, F*** only knows when the F-35 will arrive), no prospects of being deployed anytime soon, and most of all, WTF do you do when you get out? I made many serious inquiries with various people in the know about the prospects of the commercial aviation industry and no one (from aviation business specialist to current pilots) had bright hopes for the future.