N6724G

What do hours have to do with experience? I constantly here about how 1000hr plus pilots are better sutied for airline jobs than pilots with less than 1000 hrs. I was just curious who set the number at 1000? I mean do you mean to say that the pilot that has 998 hours is a lesser skilled pilot than the one tha thas 1000 hours? Is the pilot who flew straight and level in VFR for 1000 hours to the same location or the CFI who sat in the right seat and "wathced" someone else fly for 1000 hours is a better pilot than the guy who flew 500 hours in hard IMC in multi engine airplanes daily?


I constantly hear "get your time up, get your time up" Just because you have 2000 hours doesnt make you a better pilot than a guy that has 500. I think it depends on the kind of flying you do.

JetPipeOverht

1000 hrs typically is the hr limit to get to a major ( 1000 TPIC ) I would only assume this would be what you are talking about, or 1000TT. Either way, it seems to be just a bragging point mostly as you said, 998 vs 1000 hrs means nothing if you plant one into the ground you're facing the same music

ehaeckercfi

It depends on of you have 1000 hours, or 1 hour 1000 times.

snippercr

I have a feeling that most people use 1000 hours as a general figure, not a cut off for experience. That is to say, the 1000 hour pilot is the same as the 998 hour pilot. Airlines just need to pick SOME hour (as opposed to 957 as the cut off).

You do bring up an interesting point though. While most people say a certain amount of CFIing is useful, after a certain point, how useful is it when you accumulate hours? I've heard people claim here that airlines prefer people who gained their hours by CFIing versus going for 100 dollar hamburgers. To me, the pilot who is flying cross country, in weather that could be IMC (assuming they have their instrument) under less than ideal conditions and flying "In the system" is more valuble than doing 500 hours of steep turns, turns around a point, lazy 8s and power off 180s in the right seat squaking "more right rudder!" The training environment is a bit contrived - generally only going on ideal conditions (more of less) and as a CFI, very little stick and rudder skills. It seems a lot of time building cross countries where go/no-go decisions are made, where hours of bordom can be followed by minutes of terror, and true ADM really tests the pilot. However, those are just my 2 cents and I AM in the most hated group here (Aviation degree, <1000 hour CFI, willing to be hired at any airline).

SaltyDog

Your last line says it all. No one here on APC can really argue differently. It is true you want to get your hours up. <g>. Why? 2 primary business reasons: (1) A way to cull the crowd. (2) Meet insurance requirements.

Hours gives you the opportunity to gain experience. Philosophically, Reason you will find some HR depts may focus on one type of background, or others take a variety, etc. It meets their business needs. What they all share in common?: Hours set at some variable point to meet business needs.
Get the hours any safe way you can<bg>

snippercr,
No one 'hates' you <g>, we all have been in the tumbler, most of us here do want to mentor you to choose wisely though to better all of us. It is a 2 way street. We in the industry need to do a better job to help you get better choices.
Good luck to both of you.

bradeku1008

Do you have a CFI? Because if you dont go get one and see how much "watching" you really do. If you do have a CFI and you are just "watching" then your not doing your job very well.

bryris

Being a CFI is more than just sitting in the right seat squawking "more right rudder". YOU are PIC through and through. If anything were to happen, who is going to get burned? Plus, if you add in the randomity factor of what a student might do or not do, it creates a similar situation to airline flying, where you must be aware of everything that is going on whether you are physically doing it or not.

It is a fact that 16-18 year olds get into more car crashes. Why? Certainly hormones and things are a factor, but experience is the factor as well.

I believe there is a benefit that is hard to quantify from having more experience. This probably goes deeper than you think. Having command over the whole environment is more than just being able to hold 45 degs +/- for a 360 turn.

Now that I have been driving my car for 11 years, its basically automatic. I've seen a lot of things and so the chances of experiencing something new are reduced. Flying is getting this way as I close in on 2,000 hours. There is no doubt that I could fly a visual approach in the RJ to a successful landing without a single instrument available to me. Even airspeed can be judged based on visual and aural queues, sink rate as compared to pitch attitude, etc. That only comes with some experience.

1,000 hours doesn't equal another 1,000 hours. Towing banners up and down the beach on Saturday is a far cry from zooming though the soup with a new instrument student. But that is what interviews are for!

de727ups

"Just because you have 2000 hours doesnt make you a better pilot than a guy that has 500."

Actually, I think it does. Maybe not in all cases. But in general, the guy with 2000 hours has four times the "experience" of the guy with 500 hours. Does that experience make you a better pilot? I'd say how can it not.

I'm sure we can all come up with examples of 500 hour guys that are a better sticks than 2000 hour guys. But I'd say it's not the norm and that the guy with more experience tends to be the better pilot, usually, most of the time.

It's like saying who's a better driver. The 17 year old who's been driving for a year or the 21 year old who's been driving four times as long. I know you can find safe 17 year old drivers and unsafe 21 year old drivers, but, I don't think you can get around the concept that the more experience one has at doing any task, the better he'll be at it.

vtbvtdk

There seems to be a general consensus that doing the same thing over and over, no matter what it is, eventually isn't very helpful in gaining experience (the 1 hour 1000 times comment is right on). I think something else that should be considered is the fact that perhaps a pilot with 1000+ hours has had the opportunity to do a number of different things. One could probably assume that the pilot who has a bunch of time didn't get ALL of it doing the same thing over and over, whether that's 100 dollar burgers, CFIing etc. Perhaps in one's time teaching they had the opportunity to do other flights. I know that when I was CFIing I did a lot of flights for people who owned their own planes and had ratings, but wanted to fly with someone (or wanted to go just one way)...once you get a good reputation chances like that come up. And I think the more time you get, the better the chances of that happening and the better chance of you doing something that might get you some useful experience!

RIGHT RUDDER, RIGHT RUDDER!

USMCFLYR

And which one is better?

USMCFLYR