Originally Posted by
Flex81
Here is an example to answer your question: I went to a university that had a 4 year degree program in aviation. Everyone earned their ratings up to CFII MEI in 2-5 years depending on how hard you had to work. They all have aerobatic training, tailwheel training, and upset recovery training. During my 4 years we watched a lot of examples and read a lot of accident reports about pilots error. Everyone who earned their CFI instructed for 1-3 years depending on how much the regionals were hiring.
The point is: The students where I learned to fly are exposed to a lot more and learn a lot more than a person who completes a program such as Gulfstream, All ATP, etc.. That is a fact without question. Because of this all-inclusive training, the pilots come out more rounded and better prepared to make sound judgement in the cockpit. I would guess they are better pilots as well. There are exceptions to the rule of course.
Flex81, I agree with all but your statement about sound judgment in the cockpit. The program you detail most obviously builds better judgement than does a program like the GulfstreamAcademy, but the real difference is the program you detail actually trains pilots to fly airplanes and allows enough hands on flying for a trainee to build skills past the rote memorization stage. Your program hones the instinctive reflexes that may never be needed, but must be reflexive if they ARE needed.
It is a matter of record that I am not a fan of the Gulfstream Academy, but it is not the problem. It is only a symptom.
I started a thread in the Majors forum a couple of weeks ago titled "the Problem". My point is simple. If a pilot has not become an instinctive pilot before reaching the 121 world, he/she will almost NEVER acquire those skills.
I blame the FAA for allowing this to happen.
To put it bluntly, again, if a pilot has not learned stick and rudder skills at the time he/she enters the 121 world, that pilot will not learn those skills in 121 training. Academies like GIA train pilots to pass the checkride and as soon as the checkride is done, that pilot never gets past 25degrees of band or 15 degrees of pitch.