So what exactly is it that the extra 130 hours in a PA28 and PA34 are gonna give our student?
These hours are - largely - worthless. You spend ages and ages training stuff that is type/class-specific, and of little worth when going straight into the RHS of a commercial jet. Actual flying hours spent putting around the flagpole on a doubious syllabus are far less worth than simulated hours spent flying the aircraft that you will eventually operate, according to a comprehensive syllabus
As for decision-making (especially thinking outside the box) - what makes people think that todays cadets with 250 hrs "real" aircraft have skills in this area that you cannot gain in a sim? On a multi-engine "real" aircraft, you generally train 6 failures (engine fire, engine failure, generator failure, loss of one instrument power source, gear will not extend , flaps will not extend) to a high standard. In a simulator you train these, plus many, many more. Have taught engine failure shortly after V1 in both MEPs and simulators... In the "real" aircraft, you could do 4 of these in an hour, still leaving the student with a need to do further training to master the manoeuvre. In the sim, we'd do 10-14 in one hour, and the student would now master the manoeuvre, only needing brush-up-work for the rest of the course. Plus, you can take a break in when the student needs further explainantion or gets tired in the sim, a facility that the "real" aircraft sadly lacks (short of the instructor taking control), and you can simulate ATC, cabin crew, dispatchers and ATC to your hearts content - in the "real" aircraft, any attempt to teach the student any such pitfalls would require a lot of coordination (and the FI owing the guys in the tower a lot of beer - just try doing com-fail into a busy CTR).
Bottom line - the simulator is a much more effective training tool that the "real" aircraft, you can teach the student far more things, teach them quicker and better, and you can let the student commit all the errors that you feel are necessary without having to intervene. After all, it's quite easy to say "Noooo...that's not really what we're looking for" and do a reset. Anyone who prefers "real" aircraft training over simulator training are in urgent need to expand their horizons and get a better feel of the subject before posting.
Wonder how many of the "OMG-brigade" have conducted both basic and airline training and had a chance to evaluate how well these two match? And how easy it is to get your student thinking along the lines of the latter after spending 18 months doing the former?
