Why Captain?
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 4
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From: Bankstown
Why Captain?
I cannot help but notice the jerks in our small industry that call themselves "Captain". I've seen it on letters, business cards, you name it. Whatever happened to Mr?
I have flown in the military and have various civil ratings, including 412 and 332, but I wouldn't dream of using such a title.
Whilst most of us act in a professional manner and have huge amounts of responsibility, pilots in general are uneducated, usually without tertiary qualifications and have rarely finished secondary school.
For the jerks out there that feel that they need to hide behind a title, I bet you couldn't captain a girls netball team! Remember, a bus driver also wears 4 stripes! But then again, we are just glorified bus drivers!
Comments invited
Croppet
I have flown in the military and have various civil ratings, including 412 and 332, but I wouldn't dream of using such a title.
Whilst most of us act in a professional manner and have huge amounts of responsibility, pilots in general are uneducated, usually without tertiary qualifications and have rarely finished secondary school.
For the jerks out there that feel that they need to hide behind a title, I bet you couldn't captain a girls netball team! Remember, a bus driver also wears 4 stripes! But then again, we are just glorified bus drivers!
Comments invited
Croppet
Hovering AND talking
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,711
Likes: 1
From: Propping up bars in the Lands of D H Lawrence and Bishop Bonner
Inverted snobbery is just as bad. 
A lot of pilots, helicopter or otherwise, DO have tertiary edication; in some cases
quatenary (?) education.
And others are well-balanced with a chip in both shoulders.
Cheers
Whirls
A lot of pilots, helicopter or otherwise, DO have tertiary edication; in some cases
quatenary (?) education. And others are well-balanced with a chip in both shoulders.
Cheers
Whirls
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 336
Likes: 0
From: USA
For someone who is a probationary pruner with just three posts under your belt since joining this forum this month, you certainly have cojones to bad mouth the very group you want to be a part of. So, in your exalted opinion, someone with more "education" can call themselves captain but not otherwise? Oh yes, since when did training for, and receiving, a professional license and maintaining it for years and years not count as education? No wonder helicopter pilots are under compensated throughout the world. It is because of opinions like yours.
I know what everyone wants to say to you and are keeping quiet because they are professionals.But I will show no such restraint.
You are a
!!
BTW, I do not call myself Captain ,since I am in a single pilot operation and it would be pompous to do so. But I do have a couple of degrees and what's more, respect for people regardless of their education. That's a whole lot more than what you have.
Alt3
I know what everyone wants to say to you and are keeping quiet because they are professionals.But I will show no such restraint.
You are a
!!BTW, I do not call myself Captain ,since I am in a single pilot operation and it would be pompous to do so. But I do have a couple of degrees and what's more, respect for people regardless of their education. That's a whole lot more than what you have.
Alt3
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 318
Likes: 1
From: On top of the Longline
Why port & starboard instead of left & right?
Why fore & aft instead of front & back?
Why engineer instead of mechanic?
Why do we board an aircraft but get into a car?
Why use Nautical miles?
An educated aviator would have made the connection to the marine days of the past which were carried over to aviation. Personally I agree that people who drive helicopters shouldn't be called Captains, as extrapolating the old marine terminology the captain doesn't drive the ship does he? He just tells everyone else what to do. I suppose they figured if the mechanics can call themselves engineers then dammit I want to be called a Captain!!!
Why fore & aft instead of front & back?
Why engineer instead of mechanic?
Why do we board an aircraft but get into a car?
Why use Nautical miles?
An educated aviator would have made the connection to the marine days of the past which were carried over to aviation. Personally I agree that people who drive helicopters shouldn't be called Captains, as extrapolating the old marine terminology the captain doesn't drive the ship does he? He just tells everyone else what to do. I suppose they figured if the mechanics can call themselves engineers then dammit I want to be called a Captain!!!
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,913
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From: London
Davey Croppet
I don't know about Australia but in many parts of the world, including the UK, that is the proper title.
Using Captain in a social context would be OTT but in a professional/business context it is absolutely correct.
Unnecessary (or false) modesty plays into their hands of employers who, for their own financial motives, try to diminish the status of professional pilots. If professional pilots describe themselves as "just glorified bus drivers", that's how they will be treated. That attitude may well be part of the reason why many pilots are underpaid.
Professional pilots are entitled to be proud of the qualification they have achieved and IMHO should be proud of it.
That's your choice; it doesn't mean professional pilots who take a different view are "jerks."
Your criticism of, and offensive comments about, those who are proud of their profession says more about you than them.
Since you ask (and to use an expression of yours) -
When I read your post, my immediate reaction was: What a jerk.
Then, on reflection, I thought perhaps you're not really a jerk and either you'd had too much too drink before posting or were simply trying to provoke a reaction.
.
Why Captain?
Using Captain in a social context would be OTT but in a professional/business context it is absolutely correct.
Unnecessary (or false) modesty plays into their hands of employers who, for their own financial motives, try to diminish the status of professional pilots. If professional pilots describe themselves as "just glorified bus drivers", that's how they will be treated. That attitude may well be part of the reason why many pilots are underpaid.
Professional pilots are entitled to be proud of the qualification they have achieved and IMHO should be proud of it.
I wouldn't dream of using such a title
Your criticism of, and offensive comments about, those who are proud of their profession says more about you than them.
Comments invited
When I read your post, my immediate reaction was: What a jerk.
Then, on reflection, I thought perhaps you're not really a jerk and either you'd had too much too drink before posting or were simply trying to provoke a reaction.
.
Joined: May 2002
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 18,633
Likes: 1,072
From: Downeast
FL,
When does one become able to use the term "Captain"....upon obtaining a Commericial License, ATPL, command of a crew served aircraft? Does one ever lose the claim to the use of "Captain" once gained....say if one returns to flying single pilot....or losing one's medical certification?
I never did grasp the finer points of "rank" as used in the British Social Structure....something about Men wearing Garters gave cause for thought while trying to figger this out. Seemed an odd thing for grown men to hope for....remembering my humble American heritage which handicaps my understanding of such things.
It seems in the US of A....one has to be an Airline Pilot-in-Command before being crowned a Captain....or having a USCG comericial license or being in command of your own vessel....something bigger than a "boat".
When does one become able to use the term "Captain"....upon obtaining a Commericial License, ATPL, command of a crew served aircraft? Does one ever lose the claim to the use of "Captain" once gained....say if one returns to flying single pilot....or losing one's medical certification?
I never did grasp the finer points of "rank" as used in the British Social Structure....something about Men wearing Garters gave cause for thought while trying to figger this out. Seemed an odd thing for grown men to hope for....remembering my humble American heritage which handicaps my understanding of such things.
It seems in the US of A....one has to be an Airline Pilot-in-Command before being crowned a Captain....or having a USCG comericial license or being in command of your own vessel....something bigger than a "boat".
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 4
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From: normanhurst
It sounds like Captain "Alou..tte 3" keeps a log book of his posts on this site! More posts than hours?
As for you Davey Croppet, you could at least show some respect to your fellow pilots and use the term "coach driver" :-)
Captain Banger!
As for you Davey Croppet, you could at least show some respect to your fellow pilots and use the term "coach driver" :-)
Captain Banger!
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 3,931
Likes: 142
From: Warrington, UK
(I never did grasp the finer points of "rank" as used in the British Social Structure....something about Men wearing Garters gave cause for thought )
LOL
LOL
Troll.
