Originally Posted by
squawkoff
Here you go again painting with that broad brush. I would hate to be your father or grandfather. Are they just another old fart dumber than a box of rocks? You seem to give older folks no credit for their experience. It just shows a complete lack of respect. Multiple times you have made the "old fart" reference. How do you fly with a captain that has been at Mesa for 20 years? Do you consider them old farts and incompetent because of their age. You almost sound like one of the entitlement generation.
Old Pilot 1: "Old" Airline Captain/military/corporate pilot who has been an airline/military/corporate pilot for a decade and has 8-10,000 hours of experience in a 121/91-k/structured operational environment, operating turbine equipment
Old Pilot 2: "Old" retired insurance/car salesman/lawyer/dr/dentist who accumulated thousands of hours on weekends at podunk airfield, USA, in VMC-conditions in a 172/travel-air/light-sport and goes to Oshkosh with the wife and dog once a year--plays flight sim a bit and says "gee whiz!" when the Mesa recruiter calls them
Yes--it is wrong to generalize all "old" pilots as bumbling, incompetent rednecks who should probably take up golf or go play flight sim instead of coming here. But I think it's assumed among all of us Captains complaining about these "old guys" that we are referring to "Old Pilot 2" above--not "Old Pilot 1"
Neuronal plasticity/"learning curves"/muscle-memory-formation decline with age--you can't possibly disagree with that. UNLESS someone has already developed a majority of the skillset/instincts to fly a jet to 121 standards at some point in their younger days, it IS harder to train and indoctrinate "Old Pilot 2" vs. a young guy fresh out of college/ATP/Riddle.
The majority of "old pilots" coming here are "Old Pilot 2"--that's what people mean when they refer to "old guys" on here.