Outnabout, you could be right, but when I was a boy my instructor wouldn't let me get away with diddly squat and said the standards are set in black and white always aim to make these standards your minim you will accept.
As a professional it is up to all of us in this industry to strive for the safest we can be. It's called pride. It's starts at the bottom and goes all the way to highest level of management. I don't want to sound like CASA but I do think standards are slipping, and by the way they can take a bit of the blame here.
I started this link to open a discussion that unless we start looking at fixing a decline in quality of training, that bad habits will get worse and safety will decline. The amount of agreement in just the few short posts here shows that it isn't just me or a dozen other operators that I talk to. It is real and is a big worry.
Discussions with CASA over the past couple of years on this point, they acknowledge to me that they are concerned. But in typical CASA form increased the funding to the safety advisers and produced a DVD on hints in flying outback. No talk of increasing audits, or inspections on training orgs or those that sign these newbies off, well not to my knowledge.
Don't get me wrong when I was a boy, I did make my fair share mistakes, and had a fair few butt pucker moments. Under that all it was thanks to my instructor for giving me basic good stick and rudder and navigation skills that got me home safe and sound and no one ever knew there was a problem.
30 odd years later when ever I fly his voice is still in my head running through stuff. I am sure any pilot of an older vintage knows what I am talking about. I am not sure this is happening now as generally they all seem to sitting there fat , dumb and happy. As when we put some simulated pressure on newbies in ICUS generally the first thing that fails is aviate.
I urge all newbies to question the quality of their training, talk to other higher timed pilots, ask advice. You are spending your money with these people ask them, what they have to offer you, don't just accept they know it all. As with any purchase make sure you are getting what you pay for. Ask how much experience the instructor has and ask to see his/her logbook.
On a personal improvement note, be familiar with the minim standards you must meet to become a CPL, and make them your personal minimums. Push your comfort zone occasionally switch off the GPS,IPAD Oz runways and navigate like your flight test, it's not that hard VFR. It only becomes hard if you let those skills erode. Remember always keep a plan B ticking over, just in case.
MS