Analog, For the Right Reason

Sunny times will return to our local grass strip, but this day was clearly not that day. Cold winds, low clouds, and scurfy ice accumulations on the few hangars there indicated that not only would the groundhog see his shadow on his official day, but he would probably find himself frozen with a coating of light rime ice on his fur.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/insider/analog-for-the-right-reason

What a great idea and best wishes to all involved! We’ve managed to beat the fun out of nearly every current educational endeavor. This is refreshing and I hope it catches on in other places, including my own airport. Maybe I can try the same here with our LSA aircraft? Maybe?

My 17 year old niece wants to be an airline pilot and has been accepted to Oklahoma State University’s flight program. I told her that she should get her PPL before she goes there next year. I set her up with a high time highly experienced instructor with a Cessna 140. I told her she will be able to fly an airplane better than any of the instructors she will have.
We have a flight school at my airport and the pilots they they train are mediocre at best. I don’t understand how they pass the checkride.

Is it primarily the aircraft, the instructor, or the student that makes a good pilot? Obviously the instructor plays an important role, but unless the student is willing to put in the effort to become a better pilot, either the instructor nor the aircraft really matters much.

Will this concept lead some pilots to become better pilots? Probably. But then, if this isn’t mandatory training, those pilots probably would have become better pilots anyway since they’re already showing a willingness to go beyond just what is necessary. Or as the saying goes, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink the water”.

I’m not sure exactly when it started, but it seems there has been a trend lately to always blame the CFI for pilot deficiencies. But if all these CFIs are so bad, who trained them and who deemed them to meet the standards? And if the solution to pilot deficiencies is to retrain the pilots but not the instructors, it’s not really a solution at all.

The other “bone” I have to pick with the current trend are things like “if you fly X before Y, you’ll be a better pilot than your instructor”. But the thing is, an instructor doesn’t have to be the world’s greatest pilot to effectively teach. Yes, they have to have a minimum level of skill (which should be to commercial pilot standards), and the judgement to know how far to let a student go before they (the instructor) can’t safely recover, but I’ve also flown with pilots who were great sticks but not so great at ADM or SA, and those are also important concepts to be taught and to learn.

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I think it’s a good idea but why only teach them up to the point of soloing? Why not up to and including the solo, one of the greatest moments of a pilot’s journey? The solo shows they can really do it. The proof is in the pudding.

I am a recently retired United Airlines captain with over 26,000 hours and 38 years with the company. My career began as a flight instructor and I worked my way through the civilian route to gain employment with a major airline. One of my pet peeves as a captain was when younger First Officers constantly had their heads glued to the control display unit, instead of just turning off the automation and hand flying via visual or instruments when things weren’t functioning as planned. I now own and operate my own aircraft out of a 2500’ grass strip with lots of obstacles. This article has further inspired me to get my CFI reinstated and go forward with the same concept as a way of giving back to the profession.

Good on ya, John!

I noticed the same thing when I was a captain and then really noticed it during my second job as an instructor and examiner for another airline. Sometimes, just giving the pilots an analog clearance like Direct Boiler, the Heights, or Victor 7 Beebee Direct (I know those fixes probably don’t exist anymore, but my old ORD-based pilot brain can’t shake it!) would blow their minds to the point of them getting lost and off altitude. Come back to the dark side and instruct – we need you and you will have tons of fun and will be able to relive your misspent “yute.”

Re-read the column. He does have them solo (five full stop landings) then he kicks them loose.

As I mentioned, I have been CF-eying for 50 years, and many of my students, especially my airline’s students trying to get their type rating, were better pilots than me. They were not better teachers, but certainly better pilots.

As an airline captain, I loved the fact that my copilots and engineers were better than me. I always wanted to fly with my betters, and I usually got to!

Also, I would never tell my students they were better pilots than their instructors, even if I thought that was true.

OK, good to know. Earlier in the article, you wrote, “These students will be taught the stick and rudder and taildragger basics but only up to their solo.” That made me think that he was only making them “ready” to solo. Anyway, good article. I learned how to fly in a LSA type airplane.Thanks.

Yeah, I wasn’t clear. kg

Go with the Champ.

If you use a Cub, it’ll be the first time the student looks out the front or, the first time a student sits in the back.

Kevin, I too am a retired airline pilot with over 22,000 hours, and I love your comment about first officers being better in so many ways than I (or any captain) was at so many points in time. I loved my first officers. They usually had a better idea than I did or saw things that I missed, so I always encouraged them to speak up and always thanked them even if I decided to take a different path. They saved my ass many times, and in return I gave away more than my share of legs (because many other captains did not) and tried my best to be an example for them to follow when they upgraded. A little off the main subject, but I love that you also appreciated your partners.

A familiar notion. See also Richard Bach “Found at Pharisee” and “School for Perfection” in his book “A Gift of Wings”.

You guys are right on the money. If you can simplify the basics, pilots will learn to fly. You can learn to operate the silly computers later. The old geezer with a 5 digit CFI # taught me to fly in the late 60s. He said you can stall at any speed but not at “0”Gs and when you have asymetric thrust dont hang out anything you dont need till you need it. My first 10 hours were in a C-140 and C-150 and there was no tower to divert my attention. Stall spin training should be emphasized. After flying bombers and fighters in the USAF I flew for the airlines until it was no longer any fun. Kevin, there is alot of stuff you can teach a kid in a J-3 and you will get to have fun, as well.

Kevin, BVT (Boiler), CGT (Chicago Heights) and BEEBE still exist. You’re not as far gone as you think! I’m right there with you. ZID and FWA for most of my 31 years, I know those navaids almost as well as you.

Spin training was removed from all but the CFI rating because it was killing more people than it was saving. Plus, it’s getting harder to find airplanes for flight training that are approved for spins.

Spin training can be useful, but it should be taught by a competent aerobatic instructor.

Spin demonstrations (all I said I would do in my article) or training can be no more dangerous than teaching students how to taxi. I suspect your stat about spin training deaths is exaggerated.