Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
Absolutely they don't expect you to come to training with 1500 total time. Matter of fact many of those very pilots have problems. It is certainly a different type of flying than they are use to. There is a benefit to prior experience - - to a point.
You are making comparisons that don't exist. At least have the common decency to try and argue points that have meaning. Maybe you should stick with the 'Doom and Gloom' thread.
Absolutely I will share how many hours a person has before soloing in an F-18. The syllabus calls for four (4) flights and approximately 6.0 hours!
Amazing isn't it? Of course that is basically taking it off, able to fly out to a working area and back, do some aerobatics and be able to handle any emergencies that might surface, and being able to land on an 8,000 runway (at least). We won't go into the next 8-12 months of intensive training to be able to employ that weapons system - that is where the REAL training lies and then of course they get to chance to concentrate A LOT more on the landing aspect near the end of training.
Again - what comparison are you trying to make? Try to actually answer the question this time. Is it your contention that they have been "turned loose" at this point? The Hornet is a very easy airplane to fly from point A to point B - takeoff and land. Do you think that they are ready to be turned loose then? Not quite.
USMCFLYR
USMCFLYR,
Few professional pilots are ever truly "turned loose" but to be the sole manipulator of the controls after 6 hours is amazing. My point is that other areas of aviation feel comfortable placing aircraft into the care of pilots who have very little experience.
It seems unnecessary to make a regional pilot have 1500 hours when most other areas of aviation do not. Do you know anything about transport pilots in the military? How much experience do they have prior to being released as a passenger carrying crewman?
I had a co-worker once who was a KC-135 captain (aircraft commander?) in the AF with only 600 hours of total flight experience. Is that common? In Europe and Asia cadet programs commonly place individuals in the right seat of transport category passenger carrying planes with only a few hundred hours.
My position is that these agencies can do that because they use a highly focussed program of learning. The military does not force a fighter pilot to do 250 hours in a single engine piston plane prior to entering fighter school. What would be the point? Why does a fighter pilot need to know about VFR procedures, single engine piston operations, dead reckoning and the like.
They don't and neither do regional airline pilots. I believe that in the near future American regional airline pilots will be given concentrated training with the sole focus of making them into RJ first officers. It is not about the amount of flight experience but the concentration of training for a specific purpose.
Skyhigh