Final3greens,
That sounds like a modern psychological version of the following:
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool - shun him.
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child - teach him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep - wake him.
Who who knows, and knows that he knows, is a sage - follow him.
I'm not sure about the relevance of either to aviation or pilot skills, though it's an interesting point.
I started this thread because it was something I'd been wondering about, with different opinions myself as time went on. When I started I thought hours were everything, because that's what everyone else seemed to think. When I looked like claiming the world record for hours spent learning to land I hoped they weren't.
Later on I began to think that what you did with those hours mattered. Logically, it seemed that it must. But in what way? Chilli Monster, it's all very well doing your IMC, Night etc early after gettting your PPL, except you don't get involved in the difficult decision making etc that those of us do who immediately start doing long cross countries (yes, and getting lost in controlled airspace
). On the other hand, being one of those who learned all about new airfields, weather, navigation, getting lost etc, I never did any circuit bashing, never practised manoevres such as stalls and steep turns, and never got round to doing my IMC etc. I learned to fly helicopters instead. Where did that fit in? Anyway, just when I'd begun to think that total hours were practically irrelevant, I went last week for my first f/w flight in 8 months, and found it surprisingly easy. Somewhere along the line I seemed to have picked up some basics about how to fly, even though helicopters are about as different from C152s as you can get. So maybe just being in the air makes a difference, no matter what you do and in what you do it. I don't know, and judging by the number of different opinions expressed, neither does anyone else, for certain. So how come we have all these things depending on hours - for IMC courses, CPLs, instructor courses, jobs, etc etc? Seems to be fairly arbitrary doesn't it? Or am I missing something here.