Dani,
No i am not "anti ab-initio". All of the last 4 major carriers that i have flown for have had ab-initio pilots and i have found little difference between them in the cockpit.
What i do not accept is a pilot training program that reduces actual flying from 230 hours (which though barely minimal, is just about sufficient) to something of the order of 50 hours in an actual airplane (which by the way is the criteria for PPL) while doing the rest in a flight simulator. You will not convince me that 50 hours in a light airplane is anything adequate; for all the "differences" between single-engine pistons & 2-crew jets, there are some constants that are always the same - you pull n the houses get smaller; push n they get bigger... etc. And those goats who are now big-time management pilots talking b-s like "unlearning things" have themselves forgotten that they learned to fly from EXACTLY these same "light airplanes". Very likely, those early habits & lessons that they learned from there has kept them alive until today, to enable them to get to this podium from which they are now talking such crap. But back to the original point - even more so you will not convince me that flying more in the sim will take care of the deficit (of actual flying). Simulators - even the latest Level D ones - do not handle precisely as the real thing does (80-90% is not sufficient fidelity). Simulators all have an element of lag. The feel is not the same as the airplane. Simulators are fine for training a guy to learn his scans, do his procedures & read checklists - not teach flying. We all benefited from simulators during type conversions not because we learned flying from it, but BECAUSE WE ALREADY KNEW HOW TO FLY. The simulators just gave us the chance to practice new procedures in that new airplane type that we were transitioning to.
To tailor a program - and package it up with a nice sounding name - while at the same time severely curtailing a pilot in the development of his flying is IMHO a pathetic failure on the part of people who should know better. First and foremost, Pilots FLY. Things like crew co-ordination & teamwork matters are easily dealt with at the 2nd stage of training. All of a pilot's advance training is built on the premise of a strong & firm foundation in flying. Don't get the cart before the horse. And don't even try to convince me that "oh never mind, if these guys can't handle the airplane properly we'll just train them to push the Autopilot Command button because we've now got Fly-By-Wire". This is a disgraceful cop-out. Pilots FLY, pilots MAKE REAL TIME IN-FLIGHT DECISIONS. It is one thing for the newspapers to try to reduce us to some button-pushing lathe machine operators in the eyes of an unknowing public; it is quite something else for PILOTS & people in the aviation fraternity to try to do it.
Simulators COMPLIMENT experience gained from real airplanes; they do not REPLACE the airplane. If you (or any other MPL believer) truly believe that a simulator is equal or better for experience than the real world - be it the first 200+ hours in light airplanes - then let's see you give your 15-yr old 10 days of intensive training in driving a go-cart and then handing him/her the keys to your Porche 911 Carerra for a spin on the freeway. With you in the passenger seat.
Yes, PM is a demanding task in high density environments. But that's about all they'll get out of the sim really well - learning to scan the overhead panels, read the Normal checklists, recall actions, read & do the QRH Non Normal checklist, do a RECALL check, checking EICAS synoptic pages and selecting gear & flaps. And maybe, calculating RTOW & corrected V-speeds for 1-brake de-activated.
Ab-initio is fine. Qualifying pilots who can't actually fly an airplane is not. That is my contention. And if my company puts one of these half-baked graduates next to me, they are in effect making it a one-man operation for me. OK, 1 1/2 men operation.
Last edited by gengis; 27th Aug 2009 at 07:26.