perfeng(at)3rivers.net
Guest
|
 Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:16 am Post subject: Transitioning-Low Time |
 |
|
Hi Guys,
Guess I'll chime in here too. Like some who have posted to this thread I have lots of hours in several different types, spread over many, many years. Have I flown any of these aircraft with any regularity within the past , say 2 years-no! Do I consider myself proficient in any of them right now -no!
Point being - even though your ticket may show you have the rating ask yourself, "Am I really qualified"? Just because I can still rember the pre-flight check list sequence of a C-130 from the 60's and 70's doesn't convience me that I can still be safe doing it.
Experienced, dare I say professional pilots (meaning their attitude, not who signs their paychecks) have always strived to imporve their skills or at least keep them honed. Some, not all, of the newer low time pilots (again attitude) seem to think, "hey I did it once...I'm good to go"! I'm not trying to flame anyone or get anyone mad, this has just been my humble observations. LSA is a great way for folks to get into aviation. Especially where there is wide open airspace but, for many parts of the country that airspace is rapidly shrinking and or gaining more restrictions. It's not the days of Sky King anymore, boys and girls!
The FAA lets us as pilots somewhat self govern ourselves under the Regulations. There isn't some offical standing on the ramp with a clip board making sure I do 3 take-offs and landings to a complete stop. There's no one making sure I do a full pre-flight or pull the check list out each time before I fly. It's that reliance on our professional state of mind I refer to and the FAA relies on. Same reason we get so pissed at a smiley on a rivet that they claim is structurally okay - most of us are annal at being the best we can and do.
It's when I overhear a LSA rep tell a perspective buyer that, "with the LSA all you need is a drivers license...it's just like owning a car...just get in and go" really send shivers down my spine. Or it's when a guy does a missed approach and then signs off as having done 3 full stop landings, you have to ask yourself, who's to blame?
It's frustrating that even the best of us sometimes get caught with our pants down trying to keep up with the many changes, when now there seems to be a growing sense that as long as someone is VFR, low and slow, or in any LSA these professional attitudes are only options to be considered.
So bottom line IMHO I beleive that transition training, or at the very least a well defined, methodical, flight testing and proficiency program should be developed and adhered to no matter what your flight log shows or the type of aircraft you operate.
In the "old days" when our ships were called "home builts" and every phase of construction had to be offically inspected, approved, and signed off before you could move on to the next phase things were a lot different. After completion, and another inspection most DAR's required at least 10 hours of stage 1 taxi testing and ground runs before they would sign off for any flight tests. Initial flight tests were only allowed during daylight hours, had to be in the pattern and in sight of the tower, and generally governed to max of 1000' AGL. Often the first few flight hours were also wittnessed by the DAR. This was long before we considered, or had the ability for transition training in experimentals. Lots more hassle then but, at least you learned your ship.
Jim Duckett
Please Do Not Archive
[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics RV-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List |
|
|
|
Get Email Distribution Too!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
