I have a UK PPL, was flying in UK during the 90's and two years ago went to SW Florida to take the FAA PPL. After completing it in 4~5 days (incl ground exams) I continued for the IR which took me another 3 weeks.
Of course I did not do the full training course (Part61 using previous experience) but I can attest that the procedures were not sub standard. Perhaps because the school is owned partly by Brit's (
) the training was better quality. The big difference I found from UK was the traffic levels and the intensity of R/T. That alone necessitated more sharpness while airborne. In UK I had never experienced such level of traffic & R/T. Also in the US the ATC
trusts (even VFR's) that you will do what they ask you to and therefore they
dare to do many more things than our conservative European folks.
I had never been in a circuit with 6 light aircaft at the same time while the seventh was a private jet on short finals
This alone increases the workload & sharpness in the US flying pilot and in the end provides a better experience for the PPL returning to Europe. On the other hand in US if you betray this trust and you f*ck up in the air (I & my instructor did as well during a session
) you are prone to get in trouble after landing much more than in Europe.
So to conclude, perhaps its not the training they do that is completelly up to UK standard but flying in US needs more essential skills of situational awareness when you get in busy airspace areas. That alone may, I say again, may, have an end result of a newbie pilot coming out much better in essential flying skills (the absence of which have killed people) than theoretical or "by the book" operations (the absence of which have not killed people but made their life difficult).
I hope you catch my drift
