Originally Posted by Brown Cow
Having completed a course with 100 hours in the sim on a DC-9 will give a pilot a much better perspective on what it takes to fly for an airline.
Seriously? Really? Exactly who is going to programs like these? Newer pilots who need experience. Where does that come from?? It comes from flying yourself & friends on trips, being a CFI, towing banners, dropping jumpers, freight doggin etc. How does 100 hours in a MD-90 simulator help these people? What "perspective" are they really getting? Newer pilots need to develop their aviation & decision making skills. They need to test their boundaries, maybe make a few unwise decisions and learn from them. An occasional scare does more to teach a pilot then repeatedly running approaches in a simulator. Furthermore, there isn't anything they can do in a sim to fake the 5th leg of a 4day trip on day number 3. Passengers in bad moods, awful weather, ground stops, re-routes, physical and mental exhaustion. The list goes on. That "perspective" comes from doing the job.
Originally Posted by Brown Cow
Flying 1-2 years in a Dash 8 does not even remotely afford you the right to be called professional. Being a Captain on that 8 after a few years means you are a professional.
So I guess for those years you're logging SIC time, you should really be called a sandbag? It's a miracle they even let me sit in the seat. Maybe one day, I too will be a jet captain. Then, finally my wife can tell her friends that she's married to a "professional".
It seems like your perspective may be askew.