I don't really know that much about flying planes or learning to fly them, but I'm pretty sure that learning to fly planes involves lots of hands-on trial and e

I don't really know that much about flying planes or learning to fly them, but I'm pretty sure that learning to fly planes involves lots of hands-on trial and error, mostly in small planes with an instructor next to them with another set of controls, and in simulators, in addition to reading about and listening to lectures on the theory of flight and past mistakes that have been made. They're still learning by doing, just in a structured environment where their mistakes don't actually lead to real disasters. I don't think anybody would want to fly on a big passenger jet piloted by somebody who had never actually touched flight controls, just read books and listened to talks.