Fledgling Pilots
Kirt's Cogitations™ #147

RF Cafe University "Factoids," "Kirt's Cogitations," and "Tech Topics Smorgasbord" are all manifestations of my ranting on various subjects relevant (usually) to the overall RF Cafe theme. All may be accessed on these pages:

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Fledgling Pilots

The next time you fly on a U.S. commercial airliner, consider this. Due to the decade-long drawdown on the military, airlines are employing far fewer captains with military flight training and in their place using fast-tracked civilian flight school graduates. In some cases, regional jets are being flown by pilots with only a few hundred hours logged. In 1992, Delta Airlines had 97% military and 3% civilian trained pilots. In 2001 the ratio was 60/40. By 2007 it is expected to be 30% military to 70% civilian. In the view of one veteran flyer, "That doesn't mean the civil pilot is substandard - it just places them far behind the learning curve. Put a civil-trained commuter pilot in a third-tier carrier with a quick upgrade to captain, and you have a very empty suit."

Copper Mountain Technologies Vector Network Analyzers - RF Cafe Website

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...