On 19/08/2010, at 20:40, Stuart & Kerri FERGUSON <[email protected]> wrote:
> Al
> While I realise your questions are serious, they really fall into the
> category of how long is a piece of string. So many variables, from aptitude
> to frequency of flying lessons; it's a very personal thing and differs from
> one person to another.
I can speak for the alternative.
As a glider pilot of about ten years, last year I commenced training for a PPL.
I completed it in May, so I can attest to having been trained under both
systems.
Was the CASA system "better"? I don't think so. It had some different emphasis
(e.g., dead-reckoning navigation, tighter radio discipline) and some different
limitations, but at the end of the day the airmanship skills it was trying to
impart are the same as the GFA system's, and I find it difficult to conclude
that either system does it better than the other. The differences between them
come down to "horses for courses," explainable by reference to the slightly
different skill sets required for success in each discipline.
Was GA more convenient? Definitely not. As someone who already knew how to fly
and went through the CASA syllabus in half as many hours as a typical ab-initio
student, with no practical financial limitations, with a enough time reserves
to do a lesson at least once per fortnight, it took almost a year to get my
license.
Lessons were cancelled at the last minute because it was too hot, too windy,
aircraft unavailable due to 100-hourly, last minute instructor unavailability,
double-booking, you name it.
During the year it took, I basically halved the days I made available to
gliding and STILL accumulated gliding hours faster than GA hours.
It was very frustrating. So frustrating that if I wasn't already an aviation
addict with the patience of a deity I'm sure I'd have given up. I have no idea
how someone with more limited time and budget could hope to gain a PPL without
giving up in despair.
So while I know that Mike Borgelt is sincere in his beliefs, I'm also certain
that there's a strong element of "grass is always greener" syndrome at work in
what he's saying. I'm also not sure if he has recent experience of what it's
like to be a GA or ultralight trainee these days.
Is the GFA system perfect? Nope. Immensely frustrating in a great many ways,
and I can see why Mike has formed some of the opinions he espouses.
But the other systems are crap too, and I don't think the differences between
their respective training regimes adequately explain the malaise gliding has
managed to work itself in to.
- mark
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