Flight simulators
Discussion
Could airline pilots be trained entirely on simulators? (legalities apart) As I understand it they tend to clock up over 1000 hours in light aircraft then do most of their type rating on a simulator, and circuit bashing in a C152 doesn't sound very relevant to airliner flying, though I appreciate having some more basic experience might be helpful if things go badly wrong.
It's nowhere near 1000 hours.
Cadet pilots - ie - those recruited to join the airlines after their initial training, typically do somewhere between 200-250 hours in light aircraft before going on to gain their rating on a particular jet, of which the majority is done in the simulator. After which, if they've never flown a similar type before, they must 'base train' which is flying the aircraft empty doing circuits (touch n go) to get used to handle the real thing for take off and landing. After that, they then line train, which is fly with an instructor pilot (normally a Captain in the other seat) with passengers on a normal revenue flight. After completing the requisite amount of sectors, with numerous checks along the way, they then do a line check which is the last flight with a training pilot after which they can then fly as a qualified line pilot.
In the last few years, flight schools have been training for I think what's called an MPL which is a multi-crew pilot's licence, which is training a pilot specifically to fly airliners and specifically for one particular airline. This is a way to reduce the number of hours required further, thus saving cash! No idea how these bods are fairing, but I'd imagine they'd be subject to the same standards and flight tests that the rest of us had to go through. . .
Cadet pilots - ie - those recruited to join the airlines after their initial training, typically do somewhere between 200-250 hours in light aircraft before going on to gain their rating on a particular jet, of which the majority is done in the simulator. After which, if they've never flown a similar type before, they must 'base train' which is flying the aircraft empty doing circuits (touch n go) to get used to handle the real thing for take off and landing. After that, they then line train, which is fly with an instructor pilot (normally a Captain in the other seat) with passengers on a normal revenue flight. After completing the requisite amount of sectors, with numerous checks along the way, they then do a line check which is the last flight with a training pilot after which they can then fly as a qualified line pilot.
In the last few years, flight schools have been training for I think what's called an MPL which is a multi-crew pilot's licence, which is training a pilot specifically to fly airliners and specifically for one particular airline. This is a way to reduce the number of hours required further, thus saving cash! No idea how these bods are fairing, but I'd imagine they'd be subject to the same standards and flight tests that the rest of us had to go through. . .
5150 said:
It's nowhere near 1000 hours.
In the last few years, flight schools have been training for I think what's called an MPL which is a multi-crew pilot's licence, which is training a pilot specifically to fly airliners and specifically for one particular airline. This is a way to reduce the number of hours required further, thus saving cash! No idea how these bods are fairing, but I'd imagine they'd be subject to the same standards and flight tests that the rest of us had to go through. . .
I think easyJet have started this, not too sure. Zero to Hero without ever leaving the ground.In the last few years, flight schools have been training for I think what's called an MPL which is a multi-crew pilot's licence, which is training a pilot specifically to fly airliners and specifically for one particular airline. This is a way to reduce the number of hours required further, thus saving cash! No idea how these bods are fairing, but I'd imagine they'd be subject to the same standards and flight tests that the rest of us had to go through. . .
Utter madness.
"their rating on a particular jet, of which the majority is done in the simulator. After which, if they've never flown a similar type before, they must 'base train' which is flying the aircraft empty doing circuits (touch n go) to get used to handle the real thing for take off and landing."
Unless it's a ZFT sim and therefor the base training can also be done in the sim, the first time you actually fly the aircraft is the start of your line training,
Unless it's a ZFT sim and therefor the base training can also be done in the sim, the first time you actually fly the aircraft is the start of your line training,
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