I don't know Glendale...how much general aviation goes on compared to the airlines? Worldwide, I mean.
When I first hired on to a turboprop regional the cover charge was 3,000 hrs twin. My 24 year old contemporaries all had at least that much time. Is that even achievable anymore?
Since the early 70's I think the airlines have quadrupled their fleets while GA has shrunk to almost nothing. My hometown, back in the day, had 13 piston twins, three PA-3Ts and two C-500, almost all crewed by eventual airline pilots. Now there are exactly two private twins.
I wonder how large most Air Forces are now compared to previous decades?
Also, Mr. Snuggles... I suggest you have not tried to pick a way through a North American cold front in the spring/summer. Anywhere in the prairies into Canada you get monster cells.
I find tropical thunderstorms much less daunting than their temperate zone cousins. For one thing the air is close to saturated in those latitudes, giving less change of state to amplify the vertical wind shear. Landing three miles away from a cell at the equator? No problem. In Kansas City? Not so much.
On the light aircraft training...it is a different animal to high altitude, high speed flight. Better would be theoretical training followed by mishandling into incipient stalls at altitude. I don't think that the average SOP monkey has an appreciation of just how fragile a 1.3 G buffet margin is.
Last edited by Australopithecus; 16th Jan 2015 at 00:29.