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Old 30th November 2016 | 14:59
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Genghis the Engineer
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Joined: Feb 2000
: CPL
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From: UK
A friend of mine once was pursuing a PhD in jazz music, on the grounds that he was pretty certain that it would let him prescribe at least certain classes of drugs.


More seriously - I think that people should be able to put anything they like on a flying suit, so long as it's true. Wings do matter in certain quarters, but there are also generic PPL wings you can buy. But if you have RAF wings or an F16 badge on there - it would seem reasonable to me that you earned that right. Should we criminalise people who didn't? Frankly not unless they are using the lie to gain some advantage. But public scorn is entirely legitimate.

I've largely given up on most attempts to protect the word "Engineer ", but it does need a qualifier to be meaningful. Chartered, Licenced, Incorporate, ing Technician, Aeronautical - all serve to make it meaningful. That said, yes - seeing the term used to describe somebody who has done a 3 week course on photocopier repair is galling when you spent 7 years becoming Chartered.

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