WOW......Seriously?

Spoken like a guy who has never taken fire. When was the last time time your C-172 or Pa-44 took an RPG shot across your nose and RPD/RPK small arms fire peppered your fuel bladders from 100AGL? Oh, really, never? Nothing is worth that. But yet, we still get up and do it......every damn day.

Don't romanticize getting shot at. That sucking sound you hear when the first ticks hit your aircraft is your ass sucking up the seat cover.

Please, dude, think before speaking.

Ever flown the pattern in California? Several CFIs have taken small arms fire from local wackos.

Granted, it's not the same as an RPG across the nose, but in CA, the wackos seems to be able to hit their targets, not fire warning shots.

Dude chill! OK, so your a BA for getting shot at. There's no need to get all upset and excited about his comment.

It has nothing to do with being BA, DUDE. It has everything to do with putting an arbitrary price on it.

When I "graduated" to the right seat of a Pa28, as you so eloquently say you have, I thought what I was getting paid to teach was fair. When the airframe changed and the bullets started flying and the radio crackled "taking fire, 4 o clock, 6 clock, break left and descend!!!" everyone's thought in the a/c was the same.

The more time you spend in aviation the more you will realize that there are always people who are better and worse than you. I am not saying I am either of the two, but my flight environment demands just a little bit more to stay alive than teaching stalls and short fields, which, the good Lord willing, I can return to shortly.

So for a knee jerk reaction to my comment, I can't fault you for it. But if you take a little time and think about it, saying someone is adequately paid for taking the risk to get shot up every time one pulls pitch is, in my book at least, a little too naive to let go unaddressed.

Trust me, squirters don't fire warning shots. They just miss and lead the target better next time. You don't fire something that big at a n aircraft with an intent on warning them.

So-cal; I believe it. There were people around the local area at flight school that would get so upset at us flying low level across their areas that they would call up and threaten to take pot shots at the student aircraft.

There was subsequently a 1km NFA around that area.

I understand that but could a paid firefighter say I am naive becuse I have risked my life as a voulunteer firefighter for the last five plus years and have been paid nothing for it? I'm certainly not trying to start an online argument ( both u and I know how that ends up in here haha) all I'm saying is any time someone complains about it being too hot I could easily one up them but I don't find it worth the effort.

I don't know much about the firefighting community and what it takes to get street cred. So could he say your naive? I suppose he could, but I don't know what merit that carries in those circles. 5 years of doing something seems like more than enough to establish yourself to me.

However, where aviation is concerned we both know what it takes to get credibility. If we were managers looking at hiring equal pilots of equal time, there are certain discriminators that stand out. Can I say military time is more valuable? Perhaps in some situations, but definitely not in others. So, if this guy is a new CFI and a lower time pilot can I say he is naive and inexperienced? Yes, I can. If he was a 1500 hour pilot and made that comment then I would say he is being a-hole and should shut his pie-hole until he experiences that situation and can speak to the comparison with some authority and, of course, credibility.

That aside, I am sure we both can agree that combat flying and beating up the pattern are two different divisions of the same sport. I don't even know if I can go back to teaching right away after my next tour is up. I might need to go up solo for a few hours to readjust.

But, for now, I am going to continue operating under the assumption that the OP is a little young and lacks some experience. That's fine. We have all been there and I still make mistakes every now and then. Every time I go up, even on the most routine of flights, I try to learn something new.

If all the OP takes away from reading the posts is to think in a broader perspective before addressing the subject as lightly as they did, then I consider it mission-success and will summarily turn 180 degrees to un-ass the AO and continue the mission.

I'm not a firefighter for "street cred". Sometimes people do things for reasons other than monetary compensation. There are many people who DO think I am naive for doing what I do, but what do you think the family in my F.P. district thought of me when my crew and I saved their house and dog last month?

What it takes for "you" to put "yourself" in a compromising situation (getting shot at) might be more or less than what the next person (OP) believes its worth. That's all I'm saying

Cool, man. We are just going to have to settle with different opinions on this one.

Deal! :)

-Imbroke