I know this topic has been discussed many times in the past and everybody will have their opinions. Nevertheless, I think some of the best advice may never be "heard" because for one reason or another some jet newbies take the solid information of experience flyers as a personal challenge regarding their flight skills or threat to their freedom/or "right" to fly turbines. I personally have taken the conventional route, starting with propjets to ducted fans and now to turbines. And although I have crashed my fair share of all of them, I wouldn't change the route I took. The amount of experienced I gained at each level was extremely valuable to my piloting skills, the safety of my spectators and the conservation of my pocketbook. Hey fellas, this is not about egos here. Obtaining an AMA Turbine waiver does not make you a Top Gun graduate. Earning an AMA Turbine waiver is just the beginning and where the real learning begins. Nothing will replace the experience gained by logging those flight hours and it all begins with those high winged trainers. There aren't very many shortcuts in life, nor in full scale jet operation. So why start the short cuts now? The first & only turbine that I lost was in its 44th flight and the impact that it had on me was so emotionally and financially devastating that I had to go back to my warbirds and then to my ducted fans before I was ready to get back into the turbine saddle. Unfortunately for the many in a hurry, the lightbulb doesn't turn on until the first loss and then it's the whole "deer in the headlights.....oh, that is why........."