Neither did I say that I was rubbish (!),
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No. but you implied that most were!
but I had a fairly broad aviation background prior to instructing - that background was not, however, mandated as a requirement!
And I wasn't suggesting that a fresh faced PPL with no experience should teach. My PPL instructors were vastly experienced and so I question why such PPL's should not be allowed to instruct now?
However, it is indeed difficult to find the relevance of most of the exams to low performance SEP flying!
Well that's where I agree, and that was my point.
Come on guys not all professional instructors are crap and not all PPL Instructors are Gods gift to aviation.
Funny that you should choose to put it that way rather than, say ... "not all professional instructors are Gods gift to aviation and not all PPL instructors are crap" Kind of sums up what most CPL instructors think of anybody who doesn't aspire to CPL/ATPL level.
I've never suggested that the CPL is not a level worth obtaining, or that CPL instructors cannot be very good or dedicated as instructors. However, I do believe that PPL instructors are not to be desmissed as amateurish idiots with nothing worth teaching. It would be nice to see new PPL's come out knowing that the PFA exists, that there is more to flying than club aircraft, big airfields and ratings. This is where experienced PPL instructors can breath life into the rather stale club scene of today. There are good professional instructors and good schools ... but to many just take money and churn out uninspired PPL's who fly for a year and give up, having never attended a fly-in or flown anything other than the aircraft they learnt in. When you say that the CPL insures a level of skill PPL's cannot compare with, I'd question it slightly. You can attain CPL with 200 hours in one summer, having only flown one type in nothing but good weather. Hardly likely I know ... but possible, but most of you seem to like sweeping statements about PPL skill levels too
SS