Originally Posted by
Speed Select
I disagree. I thought the transition felt a lot like a B-course. 3-4 hours of studying a night, including chair flying, an hour in the FTD working flows (100 and 200 blocks), and writing the memory items to drill them in like bold face items. IMO, "gentleman's course" = spoon feeding. I was not spoon fed anything. I was also a one-man class with no sim partner, so that may have been a factor in the perceived intensity, but just about everyone I know who's been through Delta training in the last 2 years has had an experience similar to mine. I doubt any of them would describe the experience as a gentleman's course.
I do agree that having a good attitude and applying what the instructors teach will help, but that's not enough to get you through training.
I know, Delta loves tools like me. And no, there's no DG program. But during that first push of OE, it felt like I brain dumped everything I learned in training. I was happy I had enough muscle memory to not look entirely incapable.
You sound like me when I got hired. Behind from day 1. Back then we had ground school instructors and had real orals. But, the sentiment remains the same. Delta does performance exactly backward from the way the AF did it. The acronyms are all different. The focus items are different. The only thing that's the same is the vanilla part of flying.
I don't care if you're a patch guy, test pilot or space shuttle commander, the first time you push back in ATL you are behind.
My only little tidbit I can add, and it's Boeing related, since I never flew an Airbus, is, if you go to the 737, learn all the sim maneuvers and procedures cold. They more or less are the same for the rest of the boeings.