It's always good to see an old post return from the dead, as it were. Good to see it's diverged in a few directions, too...
SOMAT, BEagle and Allan907;
How true! The Kids today can be quite trying with their "groovy" text. We had a bit of and English language war whilst on pilots course. No sooner had someone written something up on the whiteboard then everyone else would instantly critique the grammar, spelling and punctuation. Sad I know, (actually, very sad) but I guess it shows recruiting was successful when it was looking for "competitive, young people". I once had a discussion with one of the other guys about the importance of good English (I said it was important, he said it was not). My argument was along the lines that people will judge you by your written style if they have not met you. For example, when I see someone who writes "yo dude u r gr8" (etc) I immediately picture a moron with a back to front baseball cap, white tracksuit driving a Hyundai with more bodykit and stereo than engine. I also think "******", but I have been told I am too judgemental...
FTI;
Your story sounds similar to mine. I applied numerous times and was eventually successful. Just keep bashing away at them. Eventually you will annoy enough people and they will let you in just to shut you up. As for the flying experience I'd say, and there is no right answer here, 20-50 hours would be about right. Any less and you'll be like Cougar fighting to catch up, any more and you'll be spending your time eradicating civvy habits. Still, there are exceptions.
I'd also like to know what became of the originator of this thread.