"I want to start a flight school that does not care about or teach any rules or FARs," my friend Jeff said as he phlumped down in my favorite chair after taking a bottled water out of my hangar’s fridge.
Training up to solo should be max flying and min regs, especially on a quiet uncontrolled field. Most people can read the regs on their own and will understand them better when they have more experience.
That would shut down all the mega-schools ( oops, sorry “Academies”) that process people into certificated airmen in Florida and Arizona.
Minor correction - Forward slips to a landing is required by the private pilot airplane ACS. This task is not required by the commercial pilot ACS unless the applicant is adding an airplane rating to an existing commercial pilot cert and had not demonstrated this task when earning their private pilot certificate.
In fact, slips to a landing are required for solo in a single-engine airplane, not just the PP-ASEL ACS. See 61.87(d)(14).
Why on earth would you be teaching students to do a cross-control stall? Those are the two necessary ingredients for a spin – stall plus uncoordinated flight. Do you really want to be putting your students, or your plane, through this? How to avoid a cross-control stall? Okay. How to recognize an impending cross-control stall? Fine. Have them do one? No way. Whether you agree or not, we did away with requiring spin training for ASEL students. Doing cross-control stalls is a big step backwards, IMHO.
You are right! My bad. I’ll adjust my brain accordingly. kg
I think it is better for students to see things like cross-controlled stalls than to be made afraid of them with scary stories. Demo them at altitude, and your students will get an education, not a list of things to be frightened about. The same goes for simulated engine outlandings to a full stop on a suitable grass field. There is nothing like experiencing this sort of thing. One real-time demonstration is better than fifty videos or CFIs discussing them. It can all be done safely, and your student will have a shot at survival. If you are uncomfortable doing these things, seek a good (maybe old) instructor and get up to speed.
I’m working on my CFII. I have the FOI written in a week (wish me luck, my fellow pilots). The degree of regulation and the laws is truly staggering. It’s a government job in some respects at some levels. With that said for the most part the rules make sense, and are important to know from more than just a testing point of view.
Icarus learnt that flying too high would cause the wax to melt holding the feathers on his wings. Unco-ordinated turns and crummy speed control can cause a world of hurt. Basic handling is one of the things that might just keep someone alive when things go sideways. Even if every aircraft had no control issues us folks would do our best to mess things up without a thorough understanding of what the machine wants and needs to keep flying. This is called aviating. Next comes not getting too lost. After that we can learn to talk to people who just might make our lives a bit easier (maybe even safer) when we take to the skies. This is the right thread, Captain KG.
Glad forward slips to a landing are still in ACS whew! I had to check :). I am teaching a student that maneuver now. Its one of the most difficult maneuvers to teach properly (although most useful in an emergency) because of rapid decent rate close to the ground. I think next lesson we are going to climb to altitude and practice it slips around 3000’ to give a better feel of the maneuver at a safe altitude. Thanks for your articles Kevin. I enjoy reading them. BW
Great article. It’s a personal standard, but IMO any candidate for the PPL, IA, Commercial, ATP or any other aviation privilege should have the accompanying written test passed and the information firmly within grasp before setting foot in an airplane. Those tests aren’t difficult. Failure to demonstrate a firm grasp of the information should raise concerns about the fitness of the applicant to operate independently in the national air space.
Marc, That is certainly a valid way of doing things and would weed out people who may not have the aptitude for the program. I understand the military does this. From a marketing standpoint, little flight schools like the one I used to run back (way back) in the day were all about getting students and money in the door and our pockets. Our method led to problems because so many non-motivated students dropped out (look at the dismal completion rates for all ratings in all schools), but we got to stay in business. Now that I have the luxury of choosing my students I start them with their pre-solo work and after the first four or five hours of yanking and banking introduce academics – if they haven’t already introduced it to themselves. thanks for reading my stuff. kg
You will find that after years and years (and years) of dealing with the regs and rules it will be baked into you and will become second nature.
Before either the written exam or the solo, students should be required to pass an exam on the Jamco Quest Seat for Elegance. I believe it’s specified in the ACS.
[quote=“mguenin, post:7, topic:42358, full:true”]Do you really want to be putting your students, or your plane, through this?
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What about a cross-controlled stall is so hard on the plane? Also, in my experience, plenty of pre-solo students can grasp and execute a cross-controlled stall and recovery and more. I think its about how and when it is demonstrated.
I’m with Kevin on this. From my small sample size in the midwest, the list of folks getting through training being scared of lots of things and less confident is getting longer than those who have experienced some of the “scary” stuff and are more confident stick and rudder pilots as a result.
I dare say whatever type of teaching is breeding this, the mentality is at pandemic levels, and sadly even trickling into the DPE pool. Folks are starting to think things like stalls are unsafe, and we must never cross-control, or we should never bank steeply in a descending turn in the pattern (my goodness). These are the same people that, as soon as wheels touch on landing, let go of the yolk as if to say “im done, we made it!” Good grief! The list goes on.
We are losing the days of folks who solo in 7 hours and successfully manage an engine failure into a bean field on their first lap in a fabric tailwheel airplane, or who were shown one spin by their CFI and then go up and do them by themselves while soloing because they were curious (probably much to the dismay of their cfi).
Not advocating the latter, just trying to make a point, which is we need more stick and rudder earlier on in primary training, not less.
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