Originally Posted by
SD3FR8DOG
Back when i was in school there was a study i read that pilots with 800 - 1000 hrs were considerably more dangerous than other groups. Trying to dig it up but i'm on the road. I think it was relating to getting a lil experience and then over confidence sets in. If i remember correctly it was in relation to single pilot operations (not entirely valid here because of 135 IFR PIC req.) but nonetheless....
That's why the 800hr comment.
Oh and Dashdriver, Glad your keeping track! Its all a bit of a mess.
That's true, It was somewhere around 500-800 hours. That's why a lot of us prefer 1500.
But the context is very important, and the context is general aviation...
ASSUMING that the pilot is doing typical GA (ie flight instruction)...
He starts out nervous. After 100 hours or so he starts to feel like he's getting a handle on things. After a few students pass their checkrides, he feels pretty kick back.
By 600 hours, he's starting to get bored...he's done most or all ratings more than once and it's turning into groundhog day.
But after another 800 hours odds are good that he will have seriously scared himself (or been scared by a student) more than once.
Or he will know someone who died...I think essentially all of us who instructed to 1500+ hours can say that. I still have a copy of the local newspaper...the entire front page is taken up by a photo of an airplane falling out of the sky in flames. That N-number is in my logbook.
But an 800 hour pilot who transitions to airlines should get his complacency clock reset, at least for a while, as he drinks from the 121 firehouse.
Actually those OTHER requirements (icing, etc) will probably mean that most pilots will need 135 time...so they will get 1200 hours in GA, then another 300+ in 135 before they can even apply to 121. Effectively, it might as well be an ATP requirement. Might even be better...a 135 pilot is going to better prepared than a 1500 hour CFI.