A quick observation sees Europeon posts seem more prone to military bashing than US posts. (Gee, what a surprise. /s)
US helo manufacturers actually do employ more test pilots with military backgrounds for a variety of good reasons than civilian pilots with oodles of hours.
It isn't a Us against Them scenerio. Just that military pilots have a lot of stick time, in varied A/C, under varied conditions, lots of training and a regemented , basic manner in approaching whatever the machine can throw at the them. Then throw in the bullets flying all around and into the A/C and this builds pilots who have basically "been there, done that" and able to 'handle' situations in a more casual manner. Most anyone can fly straight and level from point A and B all day and accumulate hours but we're talking about what it takes to control the beast when the chips are down or as they say, when the A/C tries to seperate the men from the boys.
Sorry, former (US) miitary pilots have the edge. IMO
Last edited by Dan Reno; 1st Sep 2010 at 13:47.