Over the past 12 months have been heavily involved in simulator training of pilots going into the majors. The majority of these pilots have flown Metros or are currently on them. It might be sheer coincidence but the stories they tell of Metro unserviceabilities is alarming. Most have not reported these defects for fear of being labelled trouble maker. A few of the pilots simply refused to fly and walked off the job to unemployment rather than risk their necks. A common complaint is the repeated unserviceability of radar leading to thunderstorm encounters. Damaged radomes, water entering the radar through crook seals or cracks in the radome reveal a sad state of maintenance compounded by reluctance to report things. This indicates the scheduled maintenance is being short cut or avoided and bugger the consequences for the flight crew. It is all anecdotal but there are too many of these stories to be lies. I am sure similar stories are available from those that fly other freight dog types but one hears very little of active CASA interest or airworthiness investigation in Metro ops.