Originally Posted by
lolwut
Agreed with the above. And the attitude from those from flying universities that they're better pilots even with half the hours in their logbook than those who went out and flew around is a big part of the reason why they're not that great.
Not to mention with a 4 year flying degree, you get put through a cookie cutter syllabus. At a small part 61 school you get flight training specifically tailored to your needs, abilities, and skill from day 1.
A lot of those classes mean absolutely nothing in the real world... what matters in the real world is knowing how to make really fast really good decisions when something isn't going well and how to do day to day flying stuff.... talk on a radio, manage a descent, etc. Thats stuff you get through flying an airplane and actually doing it, not by sitting in a classroom.
Talking on the radio and managing a descend is easy "monkey see monkey do stuff"
While I agree that there are many useless classes in college there are many useful classes as well.
Have you ever wondered why:
Some airports have different spacing requirements than others and how soon you need to slow behind that heavy for minimum separation?
Why a 75 requires more space than a 76 sometimes?
Why the Jet stream is where it is at a certain time of year?
Why an inverter operates at 400hz?
Knowing whats going on behind the scenes means the difference behind a driver and a pilot.
When **** hits the fan you will need both experience and education. Being a mindless jet jockey with minimal education but tons of non-eventful hours will not help much in a pinch.