About Acellerated Courses for Private

Dudley Henriques wrote:


The accelerated program at the basic level can do the job, but doing the
job more slowly, allowing the comprehension to advance parallel with the
performance, is a better method for turning out a more finished and more
safe pilot exiting the flight test and entering the self educating phase
of a pilot's career.

I misread this sentence at first, but in an interesting way. These
accelerated courses do not, I fear, actually "do the job" more quickly...
depending upon what the job is.

Sure, perhaps they get one past the checkride more quickly. But do they
actually build a safe pilot more quickly? Given the assumption being made
here by Dudley - and I share it - that there's less depth acquired over the
shorter period, then the missing depth is going to be acquired - if at all
- outside the training environment. That's inefficient, slower, and likely
less safe.

So if the job is to build safe pilots, I think that an accelerated course
might be precisely the wrong approach...again, given the assumption.

There's another aspect: why take an accelerated course? After I finished my
PPL, there was a collection of skills I knew I lacked. I went out and
worked on them (ie. spin/unusual attitude training). I'd have been just as
happy to see these part of a PPL program, but such is not the case around
here.

If someone is in a rush, will they be filling in these missing areas?
Perhaps...perhaps the rush is to get past the "basic" into more advanced
work. But perhaps not.

- Andrew