I'll add that it also led to research into flight control using only the engines, to the point that NASA tested landing without the traditional controls. If memory serves, some modern aircraft now have actual procedural provisions for this kind of emergency control.

Absolutely all true about the risk. Depends a lot on his training. One of my instructors used to do delivery flights. He said he did not very much enjoy being way out over the water, dressed in survival gear. He said that, "Basically you'd zoom your GPS way way out so that it didn't feel like you were so far from…

Couldn't agree more. In Italy it's basically Darwinian selection when it comes to driving. You better develop good situational awareness and reactions or you'll be completely swamped by the rhythm of traffic.

The money isn't the problem. It's the points on your license that get you.

Hong Kong is similar in some ways, though nowhere near as intense. More than 90% of all journeys here are made with public transport, which is superb. Taxis are also cheap. Traffic is intense and parking in the city is expensive. Did I mention there's lots of traffic? And lots of small, bendy roads with blind corners…

The US regionals are already having recruiting issues as I understand it, so that is indeed the big question.

Ooooof indeed. When my friend the check and training captain did his hour building in the late 80s, he chose a 152 over a 172 because it was $14 instead of $17 per hour...

SunState Aviation in Kissimmee does (or at least did last time I checked) a 15k fixed price private in two weeks. This means seven days a week with a dedicated instructor. If you aren't in such a hurry the price goes down quite a bit.

It is a difference of "tradition", if you will. In the US training is cheaper than in, say, Western Europe, so people still go the independent route.

That's a US rule, not an international rule.

500 is certainly not a huge amount. However you have to look beyond mere hours. A lot depends on the training and the flying. I'll take a 500-hour pilot who is serious about flying, has had good instructions and is used to operating in busy airspace over a 5000-hour pilot with an aw-shucks attitude who spends all his…

Meet the "Little John" portable urinal.

It depends what you mean by fully certified. This guy isn't old enough for an Airliner Transport Pilot License, not does he need a type rating for a Bonanza.

Hell yeah we still do web forums. The airliners.net tech_ops forum is basically porn for commercial airliner enthusiasts.

Airliners can maneuver much more aggressively than what most people realize. Sadly, against a Mach 3 missile which doesn't even have to hit directly to be effective, I don't think that would help very much.

Countermeasures are expensive and nowhere near 100% effective.

It may also comfort you to know that pilots, especially airline pilots, tend to be somewhat anal retentive, detail oriented and obsessive-compulsive. It's sort of an occupational hazard and much reinforced in training. Checklists and procedures, done exactly the same way every time, are what keep us alive, even at my…

I'll add system maintenance and pilot training to the cost breakdown.

You said it. I've done FL to MA (and back) with two stops in a Cessna 172. About eleven hours flying time each way. My legs were aching rather badly. Can't imagine sitting in the pilot seat for 14 hours straight.