As my final post on the matter I wish to clarify one or two points,
1) Yes part of my first post was partially sour grapes, however I still believe this to be with just cause.
2) One of the gentlemen at the academy was exactly that, in ever sense of the word; the other however was most certainly not! I apologise if any offence was taken by the ATP Academy as a whole this was not my intention.
3) My gripes about the sim check was a) The lack of time spent on briefing and familiarisation with the type. b) That after completing an extremely long day it was nearly impossible to then drive a hellish trip around the M25, M3 and cover a brief to learn the profiles etc. (as it was both my colleague and my self had less than six hours sleep before having to report for the sim.)
4) I "accept"(just to please Lab Man) that not all BA pilots are the same, as I have many friends with BA, however my perception of a lot of their more senior Cpts is summed up by the word arrogance. This is why I have not and will not apply to them.
To everyone who has given encouragement many thanks, and if anyone is off to easyland and wants any information about the new format for the sim or interviews I will do my best to oblige.
RR