Flight students: are age and proficiency related?
 

Hi all,
as an older modular student (finally done this year soon) I have at times struggled with especially the "wizz kid" stuff like fast calculations and the likes - it took me a lot of practice to put myself to standard. I also sometimes during new procedures felt I was too slow for the aircraft. On the other hand, this could easily be down to my general level of math talent (mediocre...) and age related self-scrutiny, for I have never actually been criticized by instructors, nor done anything really foolish with an aircraft - while some younger go-getter types DID eff up here and there but never thought of it as relevant for their general pilot aptitude.

So I actually don´t know what my post-30 age has meant for my learning, and my proficiency.

Would you mind telling your story or your experience as an instructor/recruiting captain/training captain or whatever? Do older flight students and older cadets learn and perform differently? Are certain career paths more adviseable for us as a group? Any differences between jet and prop world experience?

People are just different... I've met some 75 year olds who are sharp as a tack and some 20 year olds who are dumb as bricks. I've also met 20 year olds who would give Einstein and Stephen Hawking a run for their money... and some 75 year olds who struggle to remember a password.

I'm 43... There were people on my ground course ranging from the ages of 23-43... I scored the highest on the Ground Course exams. I have my Line Check (Twin Turboprop for a Regional Airline) next week and a lot of the training captains I've flown with over the last month have commented that age isn't really a big factor in their experience (I was curious as a lot of the new hires are in their mid-20's with <1000 hrs and was feeling a bit self-conscious as the "Granddad" of the group :{).

So, I'd agree with Negan that it is more about your own ability than age.


Also, for what it's worth... if you can do simple addition/subtraction and multiply/divide by 2 or 3, chances are you can do the mental math required on a day to day basis :}