Originally Posted by
eaglefly
The fact is, that over the last 20 years, most major airline accidents were commanded by those with at least a partial military background. Of course, there probabaly is a higher percentage of pilots at the major airline level WITH military backgrounds.
This ridiculously pointless discussion on who makes a "better" airline pilot will never be agreed upon. Most military pilots are convinced they're the better pilots and most civilian pilots will disagree (at least when it comes to AIRLINE flying, which bears no more resemblance to fighter ops as does night freight in a beat up twin).
There was a post a ways back that spoke to some percentages of military background among the airlines and it was very high - so chances are that a mishap might very well have a pilot with some military flying in his past. Of course another way to look at this is the incredible safety record of our airlines compared to the rest of the world. We do an excellent job! To turn that frown upside down - those who argue that military pilots are causing most the problems [using the same argument] would need to admit that a mjaority of those safely flown flights are performed with pilot who have some military background.
Actually - the statement that started this particular stream of responses had nothing to do - nor does the thread still - have anything to do with "who makes a better airline pilot". The post that started it said that military pilots were not good stick and rudder pilots. That is a pretty banket statement that deserves to be challenged.
Most, if not ALL, of the people that I have seen on this thread who have had both types of training speak to the conviction that MILITARY TRAINING is the best available - not that MILITARY PILOTS are better. Despite all the contention that military pilots (especially tac air pilots) have "outwardly exposed egos" I don't see a single pilot claiming that all civvie pilots have poor stick and rudders skills. Those arguing most vehemently against that are civilian trained pilots who have never been through military training.
USMCFLYR