I cannot see how spending a lot of money on PPL and jollies in a Cherokee or Seneca helps.
I found time in the jumpseat of 727/737/767's listening and observing coupled with good classroom instruction on aircraft performance infintely more beneficial.
The reality is as an ATC my job is to keep the targets 5 miles 1000ft or 10 miles in trail in a safe orderly and expeditious manner. That doesn't always fit in with the demands of piloting a jet but as they say you can only please some of the people half of the time.
Personally I like hanging out with pilots, they drink nearly as much as I do and you can usually pick up birds by manner of association
