Quote:
Originally Posted by PotatoChip
From my experience... friendly, great guys to grab a beverage with, but once the cockpit door closes no one is more anal. I've been quoted the book by Aussies more than anyone else (without asking what the book says).
I have worked with pilots from pretty much every major country. The problem with generalizations is that, well, they're generalizations. My first instructor on the B777 (sim and line training) was an Australian. Great guy who I learned a lot from.
If you ask pilots not from America for a generalization of American pilots it will likely be that they are cowboys who don't follow SOPs and can't use standard phraseology on the radio.
In the case of Australians the anal retentive or pedantic tag comes up quite often, just as the cowboy tag comes up quite often when speaking about Americans. So there must be some element of truth to these stereotypes, and in my experience there is. As with all pilot groups there are the 10%ers. In the case of the Australians, the worst 10%ers are anal retentive/pedantic pricks, but the vast majority are fine. Just like with Americans the 10%ers are cowboys who don't follow SOPs and wouldn't know a standard radio call if it bit them in the behind, but again the vast majority are fine.
That's my two cents. Now someone please direct me to Kitty Hawk, NC