I am not sure I agree that standards are slipping. Flying is more complicated than it used to be and just good stick and rudder skills are not enough anymore, particularly when you have to fly in the same sky as commercial traffic which is just about anywhere near a city these days. The good old days where you you only used the radio to order lunch at the next stop are just about over, pretty much everywhere. I tell all my students that beeing a proffesional pilot is a state of mind. It involves making an effort to sweat the details ,to constantly fly as accurately as you can , to take pride in a well flown manoever, and strive to do better. Some of the best pilots I have seen have been relatively low time private pilots. Conversly some high time big iron drivers I have met are walking aeronutical idiots. It reminds of a great line I overheard at the flying club coffee shop. An obviously newly minted PPL is plainly in awe of his friend the commercial pilot and his often stated claim that he has over a thousand hours. Unfortunately the object of his adulation was widely considered a pratt. Finally. .one of the gentleman at the table, a hugely experienced retired pilot, couldn't stand it any longer. He said " Some pilots have a thousand hours, he has one hour a thousand times " <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" />