RAT 5 and Olster - excellent posts and I would only add that the problems observed in basic handling and airmanship go deeper than type, line and recurrent training; the basic disciplines that we would have learnt are simply not being taught or examined as comprehensively as they once were - ask an instructor at one of the larger ATO's, training cadet's for low-cost and also EK at the moment in the U.S. to demonstrate proper attitude flying and I think you would be surprised at how basic professional pilot training has been eroded in the interest of cost saving over the past fifteen odd years.