While we probably have quite different approaches to flying
, I really have to agree with
stik here. This whole FTO business is absurd. Why can't you just do it like in the US, where you can home-study the whole theory, sit the exam, and if you pass - well, you're away! In any case, over there, you then still have the oral exam prior to the checkride (something a lot of people commenting on the 'ease' of an FAA license either don't know or conveniently omit....), so you get quite thoroughly tested, poked and tweaked before being let lose on the unsuspecting public.
Anyway, this gets away from my orginal question - and I'm still waiting for some input from an FAA instructor re the finer points raised in this thread.