This is one of my favorite strips! It totally falls into the “It’s funny because it’s true” – category as far as I’m concerned. I know I’m not the only one, of all of us who ended up flying for a living, who had a slightly more romantic view on how aviation will be like than what it eventually ended up being.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still the best job in the world, as far as I’m concerned. But it’s not quite like “Top Gun” sells it on the Silver Screen either. I still remember that first ground lesson after learning all this cool aerodynamic stuff and about the aircraft we were flying, when my CFI whipped out the gigantic FAR book and told me that there are “a few” things in here I will need to know.

It took me forever to get the hang of the FAR 91 regulations and finding my way around in this bullet stopper of a book, and I thought there was way too much paperwork involved in flying. And then I became a commercial pilot. Suddenly FAR 91 alone felt like a walk in the park …

One of my favorite situations always was when I finally landed the helicopter in a parking lot downtown for a construction job after weeks of lift plans, calling authorities, and getting approvals from all kinds of entities. There would always be that one guy who walked up to me saying “Helicopters, huh?! Those things are so cool! You can land just anywhere, huh?”

And in theory, he’s right.

I’m just glad that at least most flight simulators focus on the best part of aviation: THE FLYING! 😉