Have you given up?

[angelorange]

Its tough out there - who said it would be easy?

Dear PEN

Pl read my comments carefully. Hopefully it'll be clear that I am not against low hour pilots at all. After all most Mil guys have around 400h before they are front line. The original BA scheme was good in that cadets often flew in 3 crew L1011 Tristars or on ATP TPs before going onto SH 2 crew jets. Lufthansa scheme also good.

However, I completely disagree with the idea that the EU is somehow a special case - we have plenty of opportunities to fly but the greed of the integrated only and low hr JAR courses leaves GA in the doldrums - a self fulfilling prophesy.

How on earth did airlines cope in the 1990s? They took Flying instructors and Glider Tow pilots. Have you looked into Fisheries patrol in your search for flying experience? Have you investigated Calibration flying (MoTs for ILS/Radar etc)? Have you spent 6 months in Maun Botswana trying to get Bush Pilot time?

I am against the system that rips young wanabees off, provides minimal training at extortionate prices and at the same time denies careers to experienced pilots in favour of P2F / MPL only or Flexicrew.

I happen to teach military pilots and it is all about aptitude not ability to pay for training. These guys put their lives on the line everyday for your civil safety in the most inhospitible places on the planet. Many of their colleagues (some of them former students I knew) have paid the ultimate price for our democratic freedoms.

If you are resilient you WILL find a way to build flying experience and gain valuable insights into airmanship whether its in a towing a Glider or flying one, or working for a TP airline. Some have taken shares in aircraft to build time. Each and every trip can be useful. So what if it takes you ten years to get 700h.

The fact is there are way too many low houred pilots out there and the numbers produced in the UK alone are around 1000 frozen ATPLs per annum. Someone is lying about the availability of jobs. In a recession, fast courses lead to nowhere fast.

In addition, experienced pilots cannot get a look into airlines like EZY because they only take MPL / Flexicrew or in rare cases those with over 500h on a specific type. With the demise of GA comes the demise of chats with chief pilots over a cuppa/beer and in comes HR, online forms, silly requirements, Compass tests, and fees upon fees.

This means an airline like Flybe has a huge number of pilots who are stuck on a career ladder that has been blocked by the LoCo low hour model.

The Q400 captains can't get a job on a jet because they only take 200h cadet who will pay or catch 22 time on type. Meanwhile the Q400 FO cant become Captains. And just over their shoulders are the MPL FOs who the company bring in as cheaper labour - so I feel for those Flybe FOs right now. Unless the likes of Emirates recognise 1000h heavy TP time there will be no change.

The fact is 1000h heavy TP time in busy EU airspace and bumpier Wx and more levers than any LH jet pilot has to cope with does build valuable airmanship - the rest can be learned on the B777 TR and study of high speed / high alt flight and climatology.

I wish to see a return to an apprenticeship scheme where low zero to hero schemes are replaced with 2+ years on TP then onto A319 etc. Pilots are employed on ability to fly not ability to pay.

The LOC requirement is post AF447 and discussed in Flight Global magazine last year.

Hopefully we are all brave enough to put our lives on the line for our pax - but having 200h and staight into a automated jet that is on fire or a captain that has gone hypoxic - or like the guy next to the RYR Capt who had just lost his son and made an unstable approach into Rome - Without other experiences to fall back on - what would the low hour guy do if fatigue blew the roof off first class?

So many have been poorly instructed or read useless pass the pilot interview crib sheets - just ask about mach buffet or how to recover a JAR25 a/c from a stall.

In some cases it is the young pilot's fault - they should know better, but mostly I blame the system we now have.

Oh and by the way I never set out to become a flying instructor but some studes seem to think in doing so I did them a favour ! So if you really want to know something try teaching it!