You can partial a partial exam at TC now

I have been teaching aviation for years now and I can no longer hold my thoughts about this incredible situation. I have witnessed people with the lowest standards getting thru this system effortlessly... The current mentality is: “try until you pass”. You even hear flight instructors telling their students: “no big deal: if you partial you try again, nobody cares about your exam marks!” Aviation is surely the only industry that doesn’t highlight and value intelligence. If you want to be an engineer or a doctor it is all about your exam marks...why not aviation? The problem lies within the business model: schools are seeing their students like customers $$$...

I have seen people failing every single exam they’ve attempted with TC, and yet they are flying big planes today! This whole industry doesn’t seek for the smarts, but rather for the kiss _ _ _.

Isn’t it what we call: “race to the bottom”??? Simply said: YES!

Ok...

First, if people have failed "every single exam they've attempted with TC" then they wouldn't be "flying big planes today" would they? I've known plenty of safe and highly competent pilots who struggle with exams, the two are not entirely dependent on one another.

As for "schools are seeing their students like customers $$$" may be true in many regards, what do you propose when it comes to the exams...? "Hey, so we know that you've spent many tens of thousands of dollars, but if you partial your commercial you're not welcome back here, you big dumb ape!".

So yes, let's shoot down a bunch of aspiring commercial aviators because they might need more than one shot at a TC exam.

dforec wrote: If you want to be an engineer or a doctor it is all about your exam marks...why not aviation?

I don't think you've met many doctors or engineers, have you? I can tell you the only way they differ from a bunch of pilots is better PR.

photofly wrote:

dforec wrote: If you want to be an engineer or a doctor it is all about your exam marks...why not aviation?

I don't think you've met many doctors or engineers, have you? I can tell you the only way they differ from a bunch of pilots is better PR.

Agree with the PR thing - and they don't spend their time on forums fervently bashing their colleagues.

dforec wrote:The problem lies within the business model: schools are seeing their students like customers $$$...

The students *ARE* customers. So yes, of course they see them as customers.


The try untill you pass is very popular with engineers as well by the way. Lots of people (at least in europe) stretch their 5 year degree over 7 or 8 years, while sometimes carrying courses from the first year over to the last year because they haven't passed them yet. Lots of them secure high paying jobs as well.

It all depends on why you fail: no interest, no effort , no intellectual capabilities or no skills.

I also never heard of a partialling a partial, is that something new ?

Telling people that it is no big deal that they fail, is something you should do as an instructor / examiner to lower the stress level. That doesn't mean that you don't expect them to pass, it's just a psychological thing.