Thanks fella's I'll start digesting all the gen. The 'alternative' that I mentioned was proposed by Dorothy Pooley and GAPAN. The main thrust of it being that students, with suitable experience, attend a flying instructor school to learn about teaching and carryout an FI's course prior to going out into the big bad world etc. I suppose it harks back to something akin to the old BCPL and would probably work out a lot cheaper. Thanks again.