Online applications for anything can be extremely frustrating. I'd guess that not many of us haven't had the experience of filling out an online form only to find its contents have disappeared when you try to submit it, whether it's a 404 error or whatever. Here on Pprune I've often had the frustration of writing a long reply to a thread only to have the system lose the results of my efforts after pressing 'submit reply'. Now, I always copy my musings before I press the button! So, whatever else you feel about Skyman68, I'm sure you can understand his frustrations.
The thing is, it's a waste of time wishing things were different or better; you have to learn to deal with the problems you're presented with. Where possible, save the online form and complete it (and save the completed form) offline. If that's not possible, at least make a note of your answers. Where narrative answers are required, compose and save them in Word or Wordpad, then copy them to the online form. That way, if your completed form does disappear into the ether, you have a backup.
If your target company accepts snail-mail as well as e-mailed applications, do both unless they specifically tell you not to. Often, companies will not acknowledge any applications at all. It's a fact; get used to it. Yes, it's rude and inconsiderate, but the workload of replying to every one of maybe thousands of applications is beyond all but the very largest companies.
Do not 'spam' CVs at lots of companies. You will get found out! You may find your e-mail address is blocked by those companies - not good! Target your CVs by making the covering letter individual to the company you're aiming at. That doesn't mean completely reconstructing the covering letter each time, simply making sure that what you are applying for is actually what they are offering.
Above all, don't get discouraged. Almost every professional pilot out there received several PFOs before landing an interview, and most will have undergone several interviews before landing a job. Keep trying!
Scroggs