Originally Posted by
andili61
Most "experience" captains at XJT, I may say the top 20%, upgraded 6 months, year or less than 2 years after hired. I even flew with captains that were ATR FO's and went to ERJ jet captain directly. Was that scary back then? Many of them think is scary now that this short upgrades occur. However, many forget this fact. Nonetheless, that was the way many moons ago.
I didn’t forget it at all. I starkly remember it. Upgraded on the ATR in 18 months and I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Fortunately that was just a really big 172 with 2 engines cruising around below the flight levels. Made some mistakes, learned some things. But if you look over accidents you will also see some who paid the ultimate price for their lack of experience. Had an Army buddy killed on his first flight as a airline captain.
Even today I make mistakes. Every. Leg. But I’ve also gotten to the point where I recognize my short comings and continuously try to improve.