Yes, that is your view.
I don’t think you understand the amount of work that goes into being a professional pilot vs. remaining current as a GA pilot. Off the top of my head I can think of 2 written tests, 3 full days of ground school (that also include testing), 1 oral exam and 1 flight simulator flight test covering just about every emergency out there each year. Captains have to double up on most of those training events. Those are also jeopardy events, if the pilot fails they dequalify on their flying status. Within the commercial environment it’s constant learning and testing. Basically think of taking your PPL/CPL training every 6 or 12 months. That is where a commerical pilots knowledge advantage comes from.
I also believe that commerical pilot skills are sharper not only because of how often they apply their skills but also because they see quite a bit of training each year.
Experience comes from time spent behind the yoke and commercial pilots log (on average) many times the amount of flight time your typica GA pilot. Sure a GA pilot who practices aerobatics for 100’s of hours a year is going to be an outstanding aerobatic pilot. Similarly, a Commercial pilot who logs 100’s of hours a year is going to be a heck of lot more proficient and have a lot more experiences than a GA pilot who straps in to his PA-28 for about 50 hours a year.
When comparing to groups, no matter what they are, someone is going to come out on top. Professional pilots have a lot higher training behind their certificates, that’s just the nature of the beast.
Perhaps in the UK or other parts of Europe there are “0” time GA pilots flying Commercially as they didn’t need to go that route, that’s beyond my experience. Here in the US the average new airline pilot has 1000-2000 hours of GA experience before setting foot in even the smallest airline aircraft out there. Most of that time comes from instruting others to fly. Personally I have numerous ex-students still flying GA after all these years. Between them and friends I’ve made at our local GA airport I’m still involved in the community. I’ve spent time on both sides of the fence (and still do). What’s so hard to believe that even an airline pilot is still a GA pilot to a certain extent.
WD I dont know if u r an airline pilot, but u definitely talk like on of them.. u seem not to pay attention to what we’re telling u, u just keep on blabbering about the professionality of the cathegory, but once again I have hundreds of examples that show how the skill level of commercial pilots decreased in the last decades. U just replied to flying chick’s provocations, but not to my posts.. oh well… :rolleyes:
Alex
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