With reference to Capt Gordon MacFarlaine's letter (Flight International, 17-23 September), he might be interested in the particulars of my case. I have 14 O-levels, 3 A-levels, a BEng [first degree] in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College and a PhD in unsteady aerodynamics from Bristol.
Also, over the past 10 years I have had an association with NASA and other leading edge research institutions. I have also worked for what is now BAE Systems, The Mathworks UK and Thales Avionics in various capacities.
Despite this plethora of aviation-related experience, it took me six years of trying to obtain a sponsorship from BMI British Midland, such is the competition for these cadetships. Without exception, the experience of my fellow colleagues on the course exceeds the minimum stipulated by a big margin.
Capt MacFarlaine's appraisal of the academic prerequisites for a modern commercial pilot is outdated and prejudicial to those pilots who, in the world of increasing flightdeck complexity, might just be "the right stuff".
One wonders whether the familiar cockpit anecdote "What's it doing now?" is a legacy of the type of recruitment policy he espouses?
Dr Jonathan Peskett
Marlow, UK
Source: Flight International