Olympia463
You make some excellent points re the Air Force. I left UGSAS two years ago now, (we are now Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde Air Squadron) and everyone is required to sit the full 8-hour suite of aptitude tests at Cranwell in their first year - although it is not a requirement to pass to join the Sqn.
L3 airline academy? 45 minutes on a computer!
I accrued around 30 hours in the Grob with what I would describe as second to none quality instructors. Each with many years of Nimrod/Lightning/Tornado/Chinook flying under their belts. Day one taught to fly base on “feel” of the aircraft, set the throttle based on the engine noise, being able to tell if you are gaining altitude just by the horizon, etc .No looking at the instrument panel(other than for confirmation, of course!). You are flying an aircraft and using your natural senses to gauge control inputs. I am of course very grateful to start my flying career from the very best and I hope I do not forget all that they taught me!
I am now ending University and a looking for a career in Civilian flying and while I have total trust in the academies (L3 , CAE, FTE) I do think it’s unlikely the instruction will quite match my UGSAS days... but who knows?