TheBeak.
I fully agree with just about every single point you have raised there. Very good post.
Particularly the piece about luck and timing playing a far greater role than your choice of training.
The only thing I'd disagree with is that baseless opinion DOES need to be challenged and validated or withdrawn.
PARTICULARLY on this forum - it is VITAL here - for the simple reason that no-one has ever done more than one variety of training. [And actually, as an aside, even if someone did go and train in each location, it would be invalid as you can only ever be a total beginner once.]
This forum exists to help people form [their own] opinion on the training options available and for that reason it's critical that "facts" are indeed the truth, not some half made up 'truth' as perceived by one particular person, based on ??? which is easily disproven.
If opinion masquerading as fact is allowed to go unchecked, then people form dangerous and incorrect opinions of the options open to them.
For example, I personally have seen posts offering the following bits of advice over the time I've been actively registered.
How dangerous would it be if one who was about to spend upwards of £50k listened to these "pearls" and coloured their world view because of them:
- all modular students ONLY go modular because they can't afford integrated
- all modular students ONLY go modular because they couldn't get on to an integrated course
- All integrated students are 18 and are paid for by Mummy and daddy
- BA only ever hire people from an integrated background, so if you have aspirations to work for them you have to go integrated
- Airlines prefer integrated students, so an integrated will always find it easier to get a job.
-....the list goes on and on.
Anyone with even half a brain can see all of the above are absolute garbage. And this is why baseless opinion HAS to be challenged, here of all places.
Opinion is fine and useful, but it has to be tempered with the knowledge that YOUR opinion may not fit for anyone or everyone else. Further, opinion such as "I didn't think OAA was for me, as it was too expensive/not the right training environment" etc is fine -as it IS an opinion, based on whatever reasons that individual found and should be encouraged. Opinion such as "NJE have dropped all their remaining cadets and OAA have refused to help them" are presenting themselves as fact where actually they are ill founded and inaccurate. These posts deserve to be held to account. THIS is what I seek to redress - and any topic involving the words OAA or Ryanair or - worse- both will ALWAYS bring the crap comments out.
If you've been to OAA on Waypoint, then you'll know there's more than enough bad points that one could validly highlight, but there's also an awful lot that's good about the place.
Last edited by clanger32; 10th Jun 2009 at 14:48.