some kind of public shame and significant punishment is surely called for to stop “minor” crimes which are rife.

I think research indicates that the probability or risk of being caught and convicted has a bigger impact than the degree of punishment.

Could always do Aviation Management at London Met Uni – you can do it via pilots pathway as well.

Aren’t there any options for civilian training funded by the government or e.g. airlines in the UK?

AFAIK, there are a few such FTOs in some other European countries.

Gripen N (NG) for Norway
1. NOK 24 billion (or US$ 58 million for one Gripen NG)
2. all-in weapon system price and LCCoffered 30 years and 95% guaranteed of around 55 Billion NOK (= US$ 8 billion/58=128million USD per plane for its lifespan).

Does this come from an offer still standing after the decision to go for the F-35? :confused:

I have just been looking at the stats which show 46 fatal Cirrus crashes with 99 total deaths. There is an interesting article here re how this compares with other planes:

http://diamondpilots.blogspot.com/2009/07/perhaps-its-like-falling-in-love-with.html

It would seem the Cirrus is comparable. As for people whose lives have been saved by the famous parachutes I am not sure but an article i read suggested it is 4 but this may be pessimistic.

http://www.cirruspilots.org/Content/CAPSHistory.aspx

http://www.whycirrus.com/safety/2008-ga-safety-record.aspx

Yeah and right now the majority of Afghans would rather be with the Taliban than have foriegn troops there.

Are you able to support that claim with facts?

Channel 4 FactCheck

I don’t know how credible this source is, though.

Iraq was worth it anyway, Saddam needed to go, there were proven human rights issues there. Gassing the Kurds ain’t a sport.

I agree that Saddam Hussein was an important issue. From what I know today I think Operation Desert Storm was just, but I’m not sure what to say about Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I don’t intend to start any “U.S. bashing” which is known to take place in these forums from time to time. To me the USA is an important world player, ally and largely a source of admiration and respect. Like many other countries in the world today, the U.S. doesn’t have a clean record. This doesn’t astonish me given the country’s role in the world during the last 60-70 years, shifting interests etc. Has there ever been a great power with a clean record?
To the issue: Have U.S. authorities been entirely honest regarding the Halabja gas attack? Could it be that it has somehow been used to fit with the shifting (?) goals of American foreign policy in the area (Iraq, Iran) from 1988 and up to 2003?

Wikipedia article

Again I can’t really say much about source credibility.

And Afghanistan really was important

It still is and will continue to be so for years ahead, I think.

I do feel thie little nation embraced Western Democracy whole heartedly, it put one of the largest forces into Iraq to help and in the end the west dumped on them…

I don’t remember many details about this conflict, but, given some of the decisions made by Georgia, do you think that e.g. NATO had a sound reason to do anything?

Wasn’t there a report from somewhere within the U.S. intelligence community that put a great deal of the responsibility for the war on Georgia?

Sorry for going OT.

(and seeing as how there are NO pilot jobs at the moment or for the foreseeable future

Is that so?

I cited NATO’s experience during Allied Force merely as an attempt to help some people – who seem to think war from the air is an infallible form of warfare – to get some perspective.

I see. I hope NATO’s current civilian decision-makers are more conscious about the use and limitations of air power than their predecessors were a little over ten years ago. The lessons learned from Afghanistan so far should also help form a more realistic image of air power.