For all of our complaining about the FAA, the above makes you appreciate the study and training required for the Private Pilot Certificate.
Fly safe,
Wes
N78PS
For all of our complaining about the FAA, the above makes you appreciate the study and training required for the Private Pilot Certificate.
Fly safe,
Wes
N78PS
I hold a LSA Student Certificate.Originally Posted by Flyfalcons
Its the fool whom keeps doing the same thing but expects different results.
We talk saftey....Want better saftey...But just go about doing the same thing.
Just trying to state maybe just maybe if we change something we will not be loosing good people as we do.
If I error in the name of safety I will live with that.
H.A.S.
I will suggest that your LSA Student Pilot Certificate puts you on the road towards becoming a competent aviator. It may not be obvious to you today, but if you keep studying, you questions and concerns will be answered. You do not need to fret about the level of competency required to carry passengers, or the margins of safety. Simply studying, doing a lot of listening, and practice will get you where you want to go. Unlike many aspects of life today, it is not instant gratification. And Mother Nature will not be hurried.
Patience grasshopper.
Wes
N78PS
Being a Student I read everything I can. I will look at the NTSB reports and try to understand what happened and not repete it. I am sure most everyone does this.
A friend tells me I read to much. I just want to have fun and be safe.
H.A.S.
A student certificate represents the bare minimum to solo an airplane. It is a far cry from completing the private pilot training. If you want to err in the name of safety, then the best way to do that is to get more training with a competent instructor. It'll go a long way for your confidence and skill.
Last edited by Flyfalcons; 12-31-2012 at 09:19 AM.
Ryan Winslow
EAA 525529
Stinson 108-1 "Big Red", RV-7 under construction
Aviation is learned by doing, much more than by reading. Reading gives you background and theory. Doing lets you see how theory relates to the real world and where theory falls short. Mother Nature does not respect the internet or folks who write a lot and fly little. One of the things that you learn when you fly a lot is what really works vs what is good for hangar conversation or internet posting.
Go fly.
Wes
I disagree with some of what Wes is saying, that doing and not reading about flying teaches you as a pilot, particularly a new pilot.
Doing, can give you certain skills, like hand and eye coordination, but it can also be just repeating the same mistakes or improper procedure again over and over.
Reading, if it is the right sources, gives you the experience and learning of those who have gone before.
When I was a student pilot, I had the time and interest to read much about flying, and I still do a lot.
I also have spent a lot of time at airports or airstrips watching others fly and learning from that, both the good and what not to do.
And being able to talk to others about flying is a big part of it also.
You are welcome to disagree. In the last 25 or so years of aviating one thing that Mother Nature has taught me is that you don't know what you don't know. Reading about density altitude, or hearing someone talk about density altitude, is not the same as launching from Sheridan Wyoming on a warm day at gross weight with the DA at maybe 6,000'. And reading about orographic lifting only partly prepares you for picking your way around tall rocks on a marginal weather day. Study is important. Listening to the older heads is important. But flying is real life, to paraphrase Steve McQueen.
Go fly.
Happy New Year.
Wes
N78PS
Last edited by WLIU; 12-31-2012 at 08:26 PM.
Hmmm, may I suggest a middle proposition for the study vs. experience debate?
I'd say it depends on what one is reading and how one is flying that makes the difference on whether or not either is going forward in helping the pilot become an aviator.
I'm a Sport Pilot with low hours - around 50 or so - and am very, very aware that my ignorance far outweighs my knowledge/experience base. Not to say I'm not competent within the personal minimums I've set for myself, mind you - I've brought along some really Ace guys with me that have a lifetime of flying in all sorts of aircraft including Champs that say I'm "pretty good." And in our circles that's as high a praise as I can think of.
Knowing about density altitude and gross weight on a hot day by reading or talking through it with an experienced pilot gives one a heads-up on what to expect....which translates to better performance in the aircraft, as one knows that it will take more of that strip to take off and a longer climb time.
One of things I do is have a point to every flight (I fly mostly local) and tie it to something I've read or heard. Sometimes it's ground reference manuevers, others it's compass navigation, occasionally slow flight, etc.
As part of the low and slow association, a big part of my flying is ensuring that there's a decent place to land if the Big Fan goes quiet. Last time up I decided to put my judgement to the test and pull carb heat, idle down, and see if I could make my designated spots. Not too bad, but then I cross-checked with some older hands and found out that while some of my places were better than trees or the river, the ground was actually more marsh than field and I'd of most likely flipped it. The river had been up - minor flooding - and had just gone down to bring the fields back to the sunlight; picking a place another 500 feet from where I'd selected from the river would have been much, much firmer ground.
Factoid to put in my head - translate recent past weather into how it will effect the fields along watersheds. Maybe it might save my life some day.
I also read that power lines are often invisible over roads. Hmmm, maybe little ones, but the big, thick black powerlines? So I took her down to 200 feet AGL along a road (in a rural area with no structures or people around) and flew alongside a road I thought was clear of lines and looked. Yep, they're invisible....until it would be too late to do anything but shout an obscenity.
So it's a mix.
If all one ever does is read but doesn't tie it to actually flying, it's just academic and as important to flying as is good penmanship.
If one never reads or seeks counsel from others and learns only by trial and error, it's unnecessarily risky.
With a few exceptions. Nothing can really prepare a pilot for a spin but actual spin training, IMHO; talk it though with an instructor and then go do it. And wake turbulence? One can do everything to avoid it and it can still grab one...and it really has to be dealt with in order to know how to deal with it.
Last edited by Frank Giger; 01-03-2013 at 08:45 AM.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Frank, what you say is so true. A person has to be able to apply what he's read to make the reading worth while. I own a tennis shop and have been stringing racquets for quite a while. I've actually strung a bit on the ATP/WTA tour. I consider myself a professional with about 18,000+ racquets strung. I was able to apply all that I read about stringing and it is a big help. However, my proficiency took a while to get to the point that I can do a racquet in about 15 minutes at cruise speed (pardon the analogy) by doing. I can speed up if needed, but it's not as comfortable. The reading was a basis, the doing made it what it is.
So...it just adds to the argument that what is read is useless if it's not applied properly.
David
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