Alexander
Perhaps I was overly harsh in order to make the point, but I have met pilots throughout training and professional flying who have overly inflated opinions of their ability. In many cases, including in the sim and during line checks, I have seen these people commended for being 'slick' in circumstances where CRM and teamwork would better resolve a normal or non-normal situation. My point, inelegantly made, is that the loud and brash pilot of average ability will do extraordinarily well in aviation because flying is still overly macho.
Departures131
With respect, you have no idea what kind of pilot or person I am. You have drawn erroneous conclusions, however, like Alexander, it's probably because of my uncompromising outburst in relation to your assertion that a dummy cannot get to the cockpit because of the intense academic training.
But I wasn't suggesting that complete idiots populate the modern cockpit. It's a mixture. Nevertheless, as Despegue points out, standards of theoretical training are lower than ever before, primarily because all the professional examinations use the multiple choice format with easily accessible question banks. Whatever people say about the professional value of A-Levels or a Degree in relation to flying at least those qualifications are handed out following written examinations.
When you combine low levels of theoretical knowledge with low hours in the cockpit, even rigid SOPs can disguise only so much of the inherent danger. As I said before, I come across a lot of pilots whose airmanship isn't up to the standard I believe should be the norm. Yet all these people passed the exams and flight tests. I am no saint, nor am I an excellent pilot. But in my defence, I am conscious of my deficiencies and work hard to rectify them - an attitude I cannot detect in some of my more arrogant colleagues.
Last edited by Mikehotel152; 30th Dec 2013 at 08:21.