That's a very valid point...BUT:

I can understand why some here have concerns. The average Purdue/ERAU/UND/EIEIO graduate with only "glass cockpit" experience will be near-useless as a flight instructor to FBO Joe's Flight School which only operates C150s & 172Ms, an Arrow 180 and an old Piper Geronimo.

Individuals will have to make a concerted effort to hone their skills in non-EFIS airplanes if they want to be successful finding entry-level employment outside of a sheltered university/academy environment. Those who do won't have any problem applying what they've learned to older airplanes...those who don't will struggle.

I don't think all-glass training is going to be a handicap (far from it...some colleges have been doing it for 3 or more years now) but it will be just one more thing for pilots to look down upon because they "didn't do it that way".

Erau
 

Those ERAU guys are all destined for SWA anyway. :p It seems to me that most colleges and aviation universities are more interested in selling the dream rather than the reality. Once graduates hit the door and the checks have all cleared who cares what happens to them after that?

If a university program was really interested in their students well being they would teach a class on how to beg for a job and the many ways to prepare top ramen. Instead they are filling heads with delusions of grandeur and the magic of moving map technology.

Skyhigh

Whew, then I am glad my school has a fleet of Archers and only half have GPS and in our ENTIRE fleet of archers, arrows, Seminoles and cessnas, we have only ONE glass cockpit aircraft. We also have an entire course dedicated to finding jobs: covers 121/135/91K regs, interviews, applications, waiting games, networking, etc.

You make another great point about Joe's FBO flight school. Before I went to my 141 school, I trained out of a local FBO. All steam gauges and usually 1 or 2 VOR needles (if we were lucky). DME was considered "Advanced Navigation" and only 1 airplane occasionally had it working :)

Obviously Purdue needs a "Rans" type again to give career counseling.

I was in Rans' very last class...talk about somebody not giving two shizzles about the semester...

I used to sit in the front row, and some reason I never brought an umbrella.

I'd love to speak to the active student base to maybe "broaden" their knowledge base of what's out there. Looking back, I don't even feel that the staff at the time really had a true grasp on what was outside the university. I think so many are focused on the airline route that they forget that you need to do something first to get that job, or even multiple jobs!!! Oh yeah, and fly steam-gauges with a single Nav/Com or fixed card ADF's(I used to love those!)

We should fly together sometime . . . I'll do my best to undo this notion ;)

Uh oh to what?

My wife, colleague and I spoke to 2 classes in fall 2008 and went to the pancake breakfast in spring 2009; hopefully we'll make it up there again this spring. We should coordinate...

Agreed...Prof. Suckow (who championed this fleet) is about the only FLT professor with recent industry experience, and from what I understand the entire department had to be brought kicking & screaming into the 21st century with this airplane order & associated curriculum change.

Agree with the direction or not, I certainly commend him for FINALLY being progressive with the direction of the department - after all I'm still waiting on the Do328 simulator. Or the 737NG simulator. Or the E145 simulator.

Sounds like a plan.........and yeah the 737 sim.......hrm, I remember that was suppposed to show up in 03':rolleyes:

I did like Suckow, but only had the one class with him and my first King-Air trip with him. I love a lot of the other prof's, but their industry experience is 20yrs ago at the minimum.

I'm sad to say this is probably the ugliest Cirrus paint scheme I've ever seen...

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs439...._5727622_n.jpg