Originally Posted by STR8NLVL

So are you telling me that you didn't fly on instruments until after you got your cert? Certainly all your licenses are licenses to learn, but the skills you had to demostrate to meet the mins for the PTS satisfy the FAA that you have enough skills to be safe, and for the most part, I have to agree.



Well, he's still not a decision maker, he's an F/O. I'm not saying this is the best pilot in the world, or that he's gonna have all the experience one would ever need, but you can't lump all guys into a basket as bad, simply based on the number of hours they have. Hours of total time are a very poor indicator of pilot skill, that's all I'm saying.



Stop the bus, cause this is where I get off. While I'm not 19, I did attend ATP and can attest that upon finishing that program, you can fly a plane straight and level. Furthermore, you'll have a lot more instrument skills than most "seasoned" CFI's who trained at an FBO and then spent their CFI career flying mid-lifers in the pattern doing touch and go's. Contrast that to a guy who did all his training in a multi and spent hour after hour in a sim practicing every concievable failure in situations that you could not duplicate in an actual plane (much like 121 training), and tell me who's more ready?

I'm not saying that everyone is ready for an airline straight out of ATP, or any other school. Being an instructor gave me the opportunity to learn an immense amount. But total hours doesn't reflect pilot skill. Quality of training and natural ability do.