pilotmyf

By 1500 hrs, you most likely will have lost the kneeboard......

DirectTo

When I was in SEA for sims, someone from another company (no idea who it was, they were in the Q400s) came out of the sim, not only with a kneeboard...but with it still attached to his leg.

jeff122670

Military trained pilots are a 10000000 times better than the BEST civilian trained pilots coming right out.

Also, you cant replace experience. A 1500 hour guy has just "seen it more...and seen more" than a 200 hour CFI.

When you are hauling customers around, getting them there safely is really all anyone cares about....especially the customer.

Would you, as a passenger, prefer to have a 1500+ hour guy up front or an ERAU special up front?????

f16jetmech

Its not that easy. There are even military pilots that are idiots. A previous poster said it best. There are 250 hour wonders that can fly the wings off a plane better than anyone, and there are 10,000+ hour pilots who couldn't perform the same. The hours and type of training don't matter, to an extent. Its the individual. I don't entirely believe that you can "train" someone to be a good pilot. I think good decision making and sound judgement is a God given ability, you either can multi task and stay calm or you cant. Although we do teach to make good decisions, at the end of the day.... its a subjective ability IMHO.

contrails

I disagree with this part.

One of THE worst pilots I have ever flown with in fact, was an instructor in various fighter jets.

Overall, former military pilots are good airline pilots, just like civilian background pilots can.

But there are no guarantees.

Attitude and aptitude play a big part, which your assertion completely ignores.

Duksrule

That is just a plain false statement. After 23 years in Naval Aviation I have flown with super pilots and I have flown with pilots that shouldn't even be driving a car. Just like everywhere else you have good and bad. I have seen more than one pilot transfered to a different platform rather than having their wings clipped which would have probably been the safest thing for everyone. Then there are the ones that have a Rabbi with some rank that makes a less than stellar pilot more accepted.

johnso29

Wow. You lost ALL credibility with your 1st sentence. I guarantee there are plenty of military guys who disagree with you.

kc135driver

Actually, if what he is saying is that SUPT produces far superior pilots than any part 141 school (including Riddle, SIU, etc.), I would agree. Before this turns into a test of ego's, I orginally got all my ratings via Riddle and years later went to AF SUPT. There is a reason the military has been able to produce fighter pilots with 200-300 hours and civilian pilots with hundreds of hours often struggle in UPT. It is much harder.

Now what I am not saying is that each and every military pilot is better than each and every civilian pilot. I'm talking coming right out of the pipeline, after that mileage will vary and anybody can become a mediocre pilot at anytime any career if they choose to let their skills deplete. Also, there are some things civilian pilots do better than military pilots, and vice-versa. But overall, unless you have more any more anecdotal evidence then "I flew with this military/civilian pilot and they sucked", you really should keep your opinion to yourself.

KC

BoilerUP

I don't think its unreasonable to think a SUPT graduate is sharper than any Part 61/141 trainee...as a citizen you should kind of expect (and demand) that after a million-dollar investment in a warfighter's training.

Elvis90

I disagree with him too. Training of military pilots is generally more standardized than civilian training, plus they do some unique things that civilian counterparts don't do...low level, formation, aerobatics, basic fighter maneuvers, bomb-dropping, etc... But in terms of getting passengers safely from A to B it's the same.

CAPT Al Haynes of UA 232, the Sioux City DC-10 mishap, had 8 years in the Marine Corps; CAPT Sully Sullenberger of USAir 1549 in the Hudson had 7 years military experience in the Air Force...both of these had some military experience, but the vast majority of their flying careers were as civilians before these major mishaps occurred that they successfully faced.

The more time I spend with Delta (and former NWA) Captains, the more I benefit from their advice & experience, whether they come civilian or military backgrounds.