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No more Solo X-C for IFS students?

TrunkMonkey

TrunkMonkey

Spy Navy
jamnww said:
As for the quality of the instructors in IFS, well mine varied...I had one that was leaving in a month and would regularly talk on the cell while in the air...and another who was just flat out pissed off about having to teach people to fly, he had another job...
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My friend had an instructor who made her do spins in the Trauma-hawk every time she flew during IFS ("Yee-ha!"). The plane is rated for it, but there really isn't any legitimate reason to do them over and over, especially in an a/c that is harder than normal to recover. I had a really awesome instructor, but he was not instrument rated, so let's hope we can maintain VFR... The way things happened in IFS is a different mind-set from everything I've had drilled into my head from API onwards.
 
Steve Wilkins

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
TrunkMonkey said:
I had a really awesome instructor, but he was not instrument rated, so let's hope we can maintain VFR...
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You can have a commercial cert without an instrument rating, but the flight instructor rating does require it. I think what you're referring to is he wasn't a CFII.
 
squeeze

squeeze

Retired Harrier Dude
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
theduke said:
haha, says the guy flying the Carolina Lawn Dart
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Hey smart guy, we both fly Harriers. Only jboomer flies the two seaters while I'm trying not to kill myself in a single seater at the moment.
 
N

NavyLonghorn

Registered User
The cross country solo did seem kinda rediculous to me. 15 hours or so in an airplane, and Im on my way to Andalusa on my own. Talk about no SA skills, no decision making, no real stress in the airplane. Its defenitly a situation dependent on nothing going wrong.
 
Fly Navy

Fly Navy

...Great Job!
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
The solo x-c in IFS is a non-event. You're going 50 miles at most, which is still local area and still within radio range of your base. I was a bit nervous myself doing it, but looking back on it, it really isn't much. I guess hindsight is 20/20 though. Still, it's a confidence booster. Sometimes you have to do scary things to gain confidence. Wait until your IPs let you scare yourself in the plane, it's part of the learning process.

[ahnold]Stop being girly men[/ahnold]

However, looking back on the civilian VFR flying, it IS amazing how little I knew (I still don't know anything) and how little anyone else knows too. There are some real hacks out there.
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
You guys keep looking at this from a military aviation perspective. Hey, that is all most of you know, that is ok. Just step back a minute. Nearly every civ pilot out there has done the same thing you did in IFS. Where are all the smoking holes and weeping mothers? Part 141 programs work. There are years of experience with these programs throughout the nation. This is civilian general avation. It isn't all that complex. Don't make it out to be something it isn't.
 
Punk

Punk

Sky Pig Wrangler
pilot
Unfortunately, Part 141 schools differ in their quality. Some are great, others suck. Could be because of their instructors, others because of management. My local flight school changed hands 4 times. Each time had varying level of competence.

Face it, getting your private license isn't all the encompassing. That's why there are a bunch of follow on certificates and signoffs you can get. I honestly felt like I started learning more after I had my license (at 17, sheesh) than what I ever got with a CFI in my right seat. And the further I went along, the more encompassing it became. You got your license, great, its just a tool to allow you to learn even more. Go get your complex, fly that for awhile, get your multi, your instrument, etc. I've said it once and I'll say it again (and this is why I don't believe in quick, get your certificates and be done, like alot of young CFI's do these days), flying is all about experience. If you don't learn something new every day you fly, you're become complacent or you're not pushing yourself anymore. There's always something new to learn.

Cliffnotes: your private certificate is nothing more than a tool to get more experience in the air, there will always be something new you haven't seen before
 
Steve Wilkins

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Punk said:
Cliffnotes: your private certificate is nothing more than a tool to get more experience in the air, there will always be something new you haven't seen before
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Just so long as you realize that holds true at all levels of the game. I've read far too many accident investigation reports about pilots with 1000+ hours, some in 5000+ range even (not too many of those, but it does happen occasionally). When you get down to it, Murphy doesn't give a sh!t how many hours you have. What separates the 'young' guys from the 'older' is the older guys have made the stupid mistakes but were allowed to live.

Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
 
Punk

Punk

Sky Pig Wrangler
pilot
I remember reading in the safety magazine about who is at the greatest risk for a mishap: it was under 200 or over 1000 hours in type. Both for obvious reasons.
 
skidkid

skidkid

CAS Czar
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
yeah the most dangerous aviator is the 1000-1200 hour guy. I had my mishap at just shy of 1200.
 
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