*troll title Suri Hati Mr. Pilot.

I once had a chance of having a small talk over coffee during morning break at a working group workshop with the first Malaysian female fighter pilot, Captain Emilia (no, not Earhart). 

She is now retired from Air Force and serving the civil side in DCA. 

I was surprised when she told me she said no when her son wanted to be a pilot. She told him to consider other option. Despite the high-flying very reputable handsomely paid profession,
why would a mother who is a pilot herself would say no to it?

I initially thought she was concerned with the risk
(silly me, she IS the first Malaysian female fighter pilot and her son requested to be the commercial airline pilot - what comparable risk I'm talking about???)

People have the perception of being a pilot as awesome and cool, but just like the rest -
it is just another job (high-paying ones). However, it is not all rainbow coloured unicorns.
She described of being confined in the cockpit hours on end when she finally realized that she didn't want to spare all her working life in that cramped space. Well yes flying is fun and awesome until you have collected thousands of flight hours and the age is catching up,
the control panel is the last thing you would want to face up all day. She even pitied her friends who are aging and still desperately (not passionately) flying.

So, why - I asked.

Because flying is all they know - and the pay has been so good you wouldn't look elsewhere
even if you feel too old for it. It's too late to catch other skills and even if you do have any other special skill, you wouldn't be paid that well. So technically, they are trapped in the cockpit and the profession. (Aren't most of us?)

It reminds me of our cool lecturer Colonel Ramli who taught us Flight Mechanics & Dynamics. We were so impressed with his flying ability but he cut it out by saying as a matter-of-factly
"After some time (when you get used to it), it is similar to driving a lorry!"
- his way of saying it isn't that complicated and he was not boasting even a little bit.

Real pilots don't say things like "I ada lesen kapal terbang, takkan la I takde lesen motosikal"
or "I tak takut tinggi lah, kalau tidak I tak la jadi pilot...  I bawak kapal terbang tu lagi tinggi."

Someone pretty much good at being the flight attendant instead :P
No offense FAndom.
(May be the scriptwriter is the one at fault :P)


#bukanpilot #bukansuriharimrpilot