Originally Posted by
usmc-sgt
1200 hour guy regardless of experience had because even if it is 1200 hours of patrolling a highway or working the pattern in a 152 it is 800 more hours of oppurtunity to use decision making skills and encounter problems that others may have not seen.
Multi is not a designator of pilot skill
1200 hours as a VFR only CFI doing touch and goes for all private pilots, vs a 400 hr pilot that has 200 hrs flying as an SIC on a turbine aircraft can't be compared. A 400 hr UPT candidate is more likely to have a wider variety of experience than a 1200 hr part 91 "podunk" candidate.
While the CFI might have had more opportunity to experience the "unknown", the 400 hr pilot is probably more likely to succeed in a high altitude environment with less supervision.
At the end of the day, 1200 hrs or 400 hrs, they both pass the same checkrides and I'm still the captain. As such, I still anticipate a need (as well as a desire) to mentor/oversee any new first officer. Likewise, I'm not going to shut down an opportunity to learn from another crewmember and utilize the best of their own experiences- regardless of how many hours or the type of experience they may have.