Big Bad Wolf,
I looked back and sure enough I did say JAR175. It is JAR 147 of course, how silly of me. Who the hell is (or was) Wilbur Wright? I must have been demobbed before he joined.
As you say, there are indeed a wonderfully keen, energetic and dedicated bunch of young men and women arriving in the industry every year. There always has been and I always enjoy being around them, it keeps you on your toes. In case you never noticed there are many fewer of them than there used to be. I may be a boring old fart but I do remember a time when LAEs got paid more than the average engineering technician's wage for for their efforts. They no longer do. Our working conditions have never changed but everyone else's have. Mostly for the better. (For those that work round the clock in foul weather and dirty conditions, think about how the oil industry compensates their workers.) This makes our industry less attractive to many of the brightest school-leavers and graduates. To compensate for the shortage in supply, JAR66 represents yet another reduction in the standards that will in future be applied to certification staff. I can't help noting that and its not just because I'm a boring old fart. Its a fact that the experience requirements are lower than previously. Yet the CAA have the temerity to charge ever more money for their ever less useful licences.
The industry is letting those bright keen young school leavers down and I consider that people who share your attitude are responsible. I don't need to worry, I'll retire soon and spend my days in the corner of the Rose and Crown, dribbling down my moleskin waistcoat and reciting war stories.
But its a sorry state that we are passing on to the next generation of aviation professionals.
**********************************
Through difficulties to the cinema