There is a good chance you will be primarily a weekend operation. Not sure what part of the country you are in weather wise with regard to thunderstorms etc. but you may find a Friday set up and Sunday teardown works well. Also, one of the clubs next big purchases may be a temporary hanger for summer storage if the operation is seasonal. Sometimes hanger storage is more efficient flight time wise than having a second trainer that seldom gets assembled.Originally Posted by Buzz
Yep. I anticipate nearly all the training is going to be done at sunrise and suset starting on Friday nite and going through Sunday. Watching the weather and tearing down during the weekend as necessary.
Not having to trailer and setup will be a huge improvement as the club grows. trailering now got me past the hangar space limitation in my area. And also has let me work on the trainer at home when I have time.[Cleaning it up, pulling off the engine, etc.]
At least the fact that the SSTM can be done in a class format provides the manpower needed to speed up the setup and teardown. 4-5 people unloading and assemblying an MX will make it go pretty fast. Also, if the manpower is students, there is at least some training benefit in that they are getting to know the airplane better they are flying.
Jedi, thanks for both your words of encouragement and your offer of support.
My experience in starting some organizations that were successful "paradigm shifters" is that one has to put their idea other there and invite knowledgeable people to critique it. It is a whole lot cheaper for others to point out what you "don't know you don't know" than finding that out when the idea flops in execution.
So those that have challenged the idea here have made a great contribution already.
As for materials or ideas, I'm thinking the help I need is how to structure a club around fractional ownership. Wonder what experience anyone has?
-Buzz
Last edited by Buzz; 03-17-2013 at 06:58 AM.
Doesn't help when the student's first solo is his first flight, what rating does he have? The early history of ultralights shows this, Quicksilver dealers took lots of parts orders on Monday mornings...
Most PPG instructors require the student to own his own gear prior to solo, or agree to pay for any damages.
Dana- You ask really great questions and bring up key points that need to be discussed.
Re: rating. A "rating" as I am using it is a "training phase". There are prerequisites one has to meet before entering the phase. A particular set of skills are worked on in the phase and there are operation limitations for the training phase.
The operating limitations of the particular training phase ensures the student doesn't get into a situation beyond their current skill level. I can't fly into instrument conditions on my Private license because I'll get behind the airplane in IMC. So there are operating limitations on my rating regarding weather, ceilings, etc. [One of the operating limitations of every phase is that you successfully completed the last one. I can't go from Student Pilot to Instrument Pilot, for example, in GA. I need to complete the Private first.]
There is a certain set of skills required to advance to each level. For instance, in the PPG training I suspect the student has to be able to launch the PPG overhead with consistent skill before they get into the training phase where they learn to run with the PPG for launch. If students are allowed to go into the launch training before they’ve learned to master getting the PPG overhead and controlling it, then I suspect there will be a lot of PPGs wrecked during training.
When I join the club I am in my “penguin” phase. That’s my rating. The prerequisite is I’ve joined the club and bought my share.
During this training phase I never leave the ground. I am working on the skills necessary for me to have so I am always ahead of the MX in my first crow hop.
My [limited] experience with the SSTM is that the “penquin” phase can be several hours of practice taxing and learning throttle control in the MX. Often over several sessions. Also learning preflight, etc. is also done during this training phase.
There is a lot of training that occurs during the “penguin” rating under the SSTM method in an MX. In contrast, my penguin phase when I learned to fly GA, was very short. I was in the airplane 15 minutes before we left the ground the first time. But that’s all the penguin phase needed to be because I was not not the one that needed to be ahead of the airplane at all times. He was.
A training club is going to need a rating system to have established training phases with established operating limitations for the phase. The ratings/operating limits is what will ensure a consistent quality of instruction for each student and ensure each student is not advanced to the next stage util they are ready.
Yep!
Anyone reading this thread that believes they can teach themselves to fly their ultralight needs to keep that in mind. If they try to teach themselves, history has shown they will likely be buying parts for it.
However, those parts orders were not an indictment of the SSTM in the hands of an instructor knowledgeable in the methodology and using the right ultralight.
Instructors like Dan Johnston and Mark Smith at Tri-State Kites who did lots of SSTM will tell you they were not replacing parts on their MXs because their students were damaging them during the training process.
The ultralight community needs to figure out how get non-pilots ultralight training and overcome the loss of 2-place ultralight training exemption. One way is use the training methodology and particular ultralights that very successful instructors like Dan and Mark were using to train before the 2-place ultralights even existed.
I believe PPGs are taught using SSTM in most cases, aren’t they?
None of the instructors I know that taught SSTM in the early days using MXs required the student to own the aircraft or agree to pay for damages. [Which I take as a pretty good indicator of how much easier it is to train someone to fly an MX using SSTM than to train someone to fly a PPG.]
That they did not require that, is also more support for the idea that an ultralight training club involving fractional ownership
Thanks for your thoughts Dana.
-Buzz
Last edited by Buzz; 03-17-2013 at 01:01 PM.
Start with a ground school and get people interested. Also, computer simulation will help a lot without need for aircraft ownership or dammage deposit. Those in the club at that point may be able to help with bylaws and other formal requirements. Once interest is verified it will be much easier to get vollunteers to come forward. Local chamber of commerce, Lyons club, etc. will have experiance helpers.
The USUA has a very good written training guide that can be adapted to the SSTM method. The illustrations even use a “MX” type ultralight. While the course was based on dual, it’s ultralight oriented with respect to weather, flight theory, etc. The sections in the manual just need to be read by the student in a different sequence.
Re: sim. One thing about the SSTM is that it does not lend itself well to simulation because there is a lot more visual reference to the ground in the early training portion. The first accumulated hour of flight time is flown at 1-5ft of altitude using the ground for atltitude/attitude reference. The student is sensing a lot with the peripheral vision both to sides and down. Whereas in dual, they are using mostly horizon reference, which lends itself well to simulation.
If we can have the same success the pioneer UL instructors using SSTM had, we should avoid the need for any damage deposit even without simulation.
All speculation now. 5-10 adults through SSTM will provide more data. That’s the goal
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote