fergusd, I don't think that it's a question of denial, it was more about how it was presented by the press. All that is being said is that the guy must have had some knowledge to achieve what he did. It may well be that he spent hours on that aircraft in the right hand seat. It may well be that the pilot often let him have a go at basic flying. I have no pilot license but I have over the years handled light aircraft and even a PA-31 Navajo on one occasion. The press initially focused on the passenger as not knowing how to fly. I think that most are saying that he may not have had any formal experience but he must have had some raw basic knowledge to draw from.