Good point.
What a great shame the self improver route was taken from the youngsters of today, when the JAR's came into force. Namely abinio instructing.
Unless you come from a privileged and a wealthy background, getting into professional civilian aviation is almost impossible to achieve. Is this the way to go, when selecting people for their abilities they were born with, right across the board? I say no. far from it. You mention football. They nurture God given talent, from a very early age.
I know a person, who was bought up in a very poor family, left school at 15, soloed when he was 16, PPL at 17, CPL and 1st job at 19. Full ATPL 23. Now that to me is a sign of dedication and hard work, against all the odds. Of course this would never be allowed to happen today.
At the inception of the JAA, at least one potential member state wanted a University degree mandatory before one was able to be the holder of a senior professional license. Fortunately the UK CAA and others, slapped them down, for now.
When I started, a degree was looked upon as not all that helpful and was a contributory factor in being a late starter.I.E., Low hours commiserate with age. The best time to learn the trade is when we are young. Younger the better.
Last edited by Don_Apron; 26th October 2013 at 20:28.