"Those hours flying solo in a single-engine piston airplane, they do us
no good at the airlines, and we can't monitor the pilots," said
Christian Schroeder, an official with the International Air Transport
Association, a trade group that represents airlines. "We are training a
better-qualified and safer pilot this way."

My gut feeling is that piloting time in a small aircraft is invaluable
experience, and serves to connect the driving of those giant aluminum
tubes full of self-loading cargo with the flying of real airplanes
through the air. Of course, I fly small planes, have never flown an
airliner (or a full motion sim) and we all know what the human gut is
full of.

In addition, no one has studied whether simulators can safely replace
early flight experience, said Cass Howell, chairman of the department
of aeronautical science at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in
Florida.

"There is no objective proof that this will be just as safe a method of
training," Howell said. "At this point, nobody knows if this is an
effective training method."

I don't know how one could conduct such a study without trying it. The
proposal seems to be a fair enough way to try it. There will always be
an experienced captain in the cockpit.

We'll see.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
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