I was always accepted at par value. I wore the uniform of a Pan Am pilot; therefore, I must be a Pan Am pilot.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
If I had the uniform on, you didn't doubt for a moment I was a pilot. No one ever blinked an eye if I tried to cash a cheque wearing that uniform.
I always wanted to be a pilot.
But when I was selected, after my very first tour of squadron duty, to become one of the youngest candidates for the test pilot school, I began to realize, maybe you are a little bit better.
I was a naval officer and aviator. I tested airplanes and got selected to be an astronaut later on.
Obviously I was challenged by becoming a Naval aviator, by landing aboard aircraft carriers and so on.
I'll admit I wanted to be a pilot, originally.
They wouldn't take me in the navy because of my glass eye. So I joined the merchant navy, who allowed monocular crew if you worked in the kitchens. You're not wanted on deck or in the engine room with one eye, but you're good to fire up the ovens and cook hundreds of chops.
Yes, I am a pilot. I am a flight instructor and a commercial pilot.
I never intended to become a professional pilot. But, as I became more curious about aircraft, and, well, not being John Travolta, I realized that the only way I was ever going to fly a jet is if I got a job.
I wasn't a Pan Am pilot or any other kind of pilot.