Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/05/18/king-of-netherlands-has-a-doub.html
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I love that there is a country so chill that the Head of State can sneak off on a regular basis to moonlight in a side job. Maybe he’s just keeping his career options open in case the “Monarch” thing doesn’t work out.
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Yeah, the part that makes me really jealous, is I’ll bet he’s actually good at both of his jobs. Unfair. Sad.
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The King of America thinks this is possible. Then again, he also thinks he is King of America.
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Wish i had his lifestyle
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Reminds me of what became of the original guitar player of Queensryche. Quit the band after making his money, and became a pilot. Live your life’s dream, you know!
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Glancing down the page I read that as King of the Neanderthals.
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Assuming that the photo illustrating the article and advertising jingles are accurate, they mus serve breakfast on those flights…
Niki Lauda retired from formula 1 to be a pilot, then he came back out of retirement and won his third F1 world title a few years later.
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This from Wiki. Note ‘revealed’ in the second paragraph:
Willem-Alexander is an avid pilot and has said that if he had not been a royal, he would have liked to be an airline pilot so he could fly big planes such as the Boeing 747.[22] In 1989, Willem-Alexander flew as a volunteer for the African Medical Research and Education Foundation (AMREF) in Kenya, and in 1991 he spent a month flying for the Kenya Wildlife Service.[citation needed] During the reign of his mother, he regularly flew the Dutch royal airplane on trips.[23]
In May 2017, Willem-Alexander revealed that he had served as a co-pilot on KLM flights for 21 years, flying KLM Cityhopper’s Fokker 70s twice a month, even after his ascension to the throne. With KLM’s phased retirement of the Fokker 70, he began training to fly Boeing 737s. Willem-Alexander was rarely recognized while in the KLM uniform and wearing the KLM cap, though a few passengers had recognized his voice, even though he never gave his name and only welcomed passengers on behalf of the captain and crew.[
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Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958), known professionally as Bruce Dickinson, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, airline pilot, author and broadcaster. He is the lead singer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden and is renowned for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage presence.
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His Highness, indeed!
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Once back in the 70s when I caught a taxi to the D.C. airport, my driver was Gerald Ford. True story.
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What? No Flying Dutchman joke yet?
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The story is, of course, delightful. But, one must ask: do you really want to be transported on a commercial jet by someone who is essentially doing it as a hobby?
When the stront hits the ventilator, I want to have Sully flying me, not the King of Netherlands.
Why not? Hobbyists enjoy what they do, relieve stress by doing it, do it with passion and pride, and focus on doing the best they can. Professionals do it for a paycheck, are stressed by their work, focus on doing what won’t get them fired or laid off, and get distracted thinking about the hobbies that they could be doing if they weren’t working. Pros do tend to have more experience, so it’s a bit of a trade-off. But hobbyists aren’t inherently bad, and have some points in their favor.
There is some crossover of course, people who love their jobs and would do it as a hobby if they weren’t getting paid for it.
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I really wanted to see Bruce land Ed Force One when they came to Japan last year
The real life Buckaroo Banzai.
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Also, he needs to fly x hours per year to keep his pilot license.
And it keeps the K in KLM (it stands for koninklijk, literally ‘air force of the king’)
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