I’m diabetic type II and I don’t consider HG A1c of 8 or 9 to be good. At least that is what my Dr. tells me.
It isn’t. But it’s in the range the FAA accepts.
What does that button do? What happens if I pull that lever? What does that flashing light mean? Can I talk to the Control Tower? Can we turn the engine off? Argh, there’s something out on the wing!
Thank you again for your questions!
Could be a good idea for some students. Maybe not for others.
I should mention that I was a teacher before going to piloting full-time (a decision that was against the better judgement of almost everyone I know), and I’m a big believer in individualized instruction. At my flight school, I’ve pushed against the idea of standardizing lesson plans.
While we all work from the same syllabus and FAA pilot test standards, the actual lesson plans are left up to the instructor. What works for one CFI may not work well for another, and what works for a certain student may not be best for others. We’re always open to doing things in new ways, as long as safety is assured.
If one of the other CFI’s had this idea of watching a flight I’d say fine, but be aware that some students may be more capable of quickly absorbing concepts and see it as unnecessary. But I have a few students who would greatly benefit from this approach. I sometimes instruct similarly for the purpose of radio communications, which is a subject that bothers a lot of students.
I’ve only rarely had problems, and never a major screwup. The couple of times things did go awry, it was my fault.
Once when teaching stalls I told my student: “Push the nose down to break the stall.” He did - vertically, almost straight down. That was my fault because he did exactly what I told him to do. I took control and recovered the plane, and it was no big deal. But this reminded me to be more precise in my instructions.
When I first started instructing I worried about supervising landings, and later I worried about taking students into IFR conditions (bad weather). Turns out these were non-issues, and both came naturally to me. I’m always paying attention during critical phases of flight, but I’m quite confident I can do what is necessary. Often, it’s nothing more than a quick nudge of the rudder or stick to rescue a borderline landing. I figure I’ve supervised something like 2500 student landings, and perhaps twice the plane come down harder than I would have liked.
I do have quite a few younger students, I think because word got out that I used to be a teacher. My youngest is 13. The thing is, they can’t solo until 16 or take the checkride until 17. So with these kids I used a modified syllabus, and I suggest the parents not get crazy and break the bank just yet (I’m a better pilot than businessman, people tell me).
But I will say I wish someone had taken me for flight lessons when I was young, and I think it’s a great experience for them. I’d suggest you indulge his interest with books, visits to airplane museums, and a couple of rides as a treat. Then when he’s older, start thinking about getting serious about it. I also caution the kids and parents that the book work is significant, so they had better acquire good study habits.
Lastly, I’ll say that I think any physical experiences are good for building stick & rudder skills. I don’t think I would be as confident in the airplane had I not spent my childhood riding bikes, running around, playing video games, and just being physical.
I remember you.
Actually, I have a lot of students like this and I think they’re great. That’s enthusiasm, and it just needs to be channeled.
I’d love to learn how to fly, but two things: #1, I have bad vision, and #2, I am very motion-sickness sensitive. #1 is (correctable with glasses or contacts, but is it possible to do somethiong about motion sickness? I’ve gotten very slightly quesy on a moderately-large ship in open water on a calm day. And the only time I was in a light plane, I did use the airsick bag. Still enjoyed the flight though. Can one get used to motion sicknes? Can it be cured?
Can I weigh in as a student pilot? (Yes, yes, I have my license but I’m still learning, you know?)
By the time I tried flying a complex airplane as the pilot I had spent some time observing other pilots flying them. I do believe that was useful experience. I think sometimes the value of the student simply observing correctly done procedures is undervalued, and I am better at observing when I’m not also trying to fly and aircraft I am unfamiliar with. It can be very frustrating to try to do everything right when you’ve never actually seen it done, when you don’t have a pattern to compare your own fumbling to. My prior observations gave me a reference point, a pattern for how it is done correctly that not only served as a guide but also allowed me some ability to self-evaluate my performance. I believe it made it easier to understand my CFI’s instructions and there were fewer surprises. I was still behind the airplane those first few hours, of course, but probably not as often or as badly as I might have otherwise been.
I also recall a time I flew shotgun with an airline captain in his own airplane. I was simply a passenger, but I found observing his technique to be very educational - when he started thinking about upcoming phases of flight, how he organized the cockpit, various routines… I actually incorporated some of that into my subsequent flying.
Of course, the problem is that flying at all is expensive, and complex airplanes are even less cheap than what I normally fly. I was fortunate to be able to catch rides with other pilots that cost me nothing. Asking a student to pay to watch you do the flying could be problematic… but that issue I leave entirely to the instructor’s to solve.
For teenagers, you may also want to look into glider training. I’m a powered pilot myself, but recently I’ve been looking into doing a glider rating add-on. It’s a lot of fun, and it looks like it will teach some excellent stick and rudder skills. In the US, you can solo a glider at 14 and get a private pilot certificate with a glider rating at 16. It’s also a lot cheaper than powered flight.
Last I saw they didn’t think icing per se had anything to do with this crash. They had the de-ice equipment on but had bugged non-icing landing and approach speeds. The de-ice equipment automatically adjusts the stall warning devices so they activate about 20 knots faster. They then slowed down as they configured for the approach and the stall shaker activated, at this stage they were a long way from being stalled. For some reason, the pilot’s reaction was to pull back and that lead to the stick pusher activating and an actual stall followed. Also the FO retracted the flaps which made the stall worse.
That seemed like a plausible scenario initially but the more I read about this the less likely it seemed that the pilots had any idea of what they were doing. For one, recovery from a tail-stall should also involve closing the throttles, but the captain applied power.
One possible reason for the bad stall recovery is that it may have been a case of bad muscle memory developed from unrealistic stall exercises. The typical stall exercise is to fly straight and level, close the throttles and hold altitude, some instructors will tell you not to keep trimming. You are also supposed to recover with minimum height loss. What ends up happening is that when you stall, the aircraft is very nose heavy and in order to recover with minimum height loss you need to maintain a certain amount of back pressure on the stick. So rather than pushing forward, you are releasing some back pressure. This training technique may have lead the pilot to apply too much back pressure throughout the recovery because he was so used to doing it in an out of trim aircraft.
This is all informed speculation of course, but either way I think the training and checking system let these pilots and their passengers down. Despite the admiral efforts of instructors like Mach Tuck, sometimes someone gets through the system without having learned adequate skills. Then the airline’s checking system failed to pick it up, even though the captain reportedly struggled through each stage of his training.
Yeah, gliding is a great idea. Much cheaper than powered flying, particularly when you go for longer flights. I did my first solo in a glider and that made learning to fly a powered aircraft pretty painless.
Mach Tuck, I take it you are instructing long term by choice? Mixing an interest in teaching with a love of flying? Experienced instructors are undervalued in my opinion.
Can a student pilot call for (and get) special VFR clearance?
I have an airplane and there have been years where my only flight was to Oshkosh. Do what you feel comfortable with. Bum a ride with a friend for a couple of hours and then get a bi-annual. The recurrency tests are as much instruction as they are test. Go to an FBO and ask for out of date maps to study.
If you’re serious about flying look for people who have a partnership in a plane and see if you can buy into it. You will get a support group and someone to fly with in the process.
In short, you need to establish contacts in the aviation community as a first step.
You don’t exactly get used to motion sickness. You get used to flying, and that prevents motion sickness.
Generally, you get sick because what you expect to happen differs from what actually happens. This is why passengers usually get motion sickness, and not drivers or pilots. The operator of the vehicle KNOWS which way they’re going to move, and their senses don’t usually get confused. When you’re in control of the airplane, I bet you’ll fare much better.
That’s an excellent question - I had to look it up.
Some background: “Special VFR” is a type of clearance that must be requested by the pilot (can’t be offered by ATC). It is basically a dispensation from the normal flight rules for visibility and distance from clouds. Under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) we usually maintain at least 3 miles of visibility, 500’ below clouds, 1000’ above, and 2000’ horizontal separation. Special VFR allows operation with only 1 mile of visibility, and the pilot must simply remain clear of clouds. SVFR can be obtained in most, but not all, controlled airspace. At night, you must be instrument rated and equipped.
My reading of the regulations suggests the answer is no, a student pilot cannot legally obtain this type of clearance *. FAR 61.89(a) says that student pilots cannot operate with less than 3 miles of visibility during the day, and must be able to see the surface. I don’t see any exceptions listed for SVFR. The student’s only (legal) recourse in that situation would be to declare an emergency.
But more to the point, if a student finds him or herself in a situation requiring SVFR, the instructor may have failed to exercise proper supervision. I have to sign off on all solo flights beyond a certain distance, and can only do so if the flight can be completed under VFR. So far, I’ve never had a student get into weather trouble when flying solo.
However, it is possible a student could go to practice solo without my signoff (except the general endorsement for solo flight). This is why I require all of my students, even those with their own airplanes, to notify me before practicing solo.
- My answer should not be construed as definitive - I’m not the FAA. There are also message boards devoted to these sorts of questions, with people who can quote the regulations like a preacher quoting gospel. They can also twist meanings in the same manner at times.
Yes. I’m one of the few pilots, it seems, who enjoys instructing and doesn’t want to fly for an airline. I’ve done some charter operations, but prefer teaching. Trouble is, flight instruction is a tough way to make a living. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to continue, but I’m having a good time.
Also, I feel I’m doing better teaching now that I was ever permitted to do in a school. The FAA doesn’t micromanage as much as schools do, and that’s saying something. Kind of sad, really.
I wonder if this is a change in the regs because I waited 20 minutes for the tower to approve me as a student in 1987. The guys in the tower must have been pouring through books to find an answer. I had a lot of fun as a student. My long cross country flight included Put-in-Bay.
Funny! And it shows how there are things that will stump even very experienced pilots and ATC pros. I had something similar recently.
I was returning to our non-towered airport with an IFR student. The weather was scuddy, but not hard IMC, and the instrument approach was on the opposite side of the airport from our direction of flight. So I thought to myself, these are appropriate conditions to ask for a contact approach. Why not demonstrate that to my student? (A contact approach is like Special VFR for IFR operations - you fly the approach visually, needing only 1 mile of visibility and remain clear of clouds). The conversation with ATC went like this:
Me: Approach, Cherokee 12345. We’d like to request a contact approach into Metro Airport.
ATC: No!
Me: Okaaaay… May I ask why not?
ATC: Uh… hold on a second.
There was a minute or more of silence, after which the controller made me reiterate that I was requesting the contact approach. After reminding me that I was responsible for terrain clearance, he eventually approved it. But you could just tell that he was thinking to himself, “G-damn flight instructors, asking for stupid procedures…”
I found out later nobody had requested that type of approach into our airport in years. They weren’t sure if it was legal at a non-towered field, and had to check with a supervisor.
Hey, I thought of a question!
I learned to fly in the Mojave Desert. I learned Helicopters in the San Fernando Valley. In the desert it was usually CAVU. I only flew the helicopters when the ceilings were high enough (except for Special VFR training after I got my rating). I got impromptu IFR training from my dad (a CFII), but never got the IFR rating. So there is a regime I’m not familiar with.
Can a VFR pilot fly ‘VFR on top’? That is, let’s say I take off from VNY. This is in an area separated from Los Angeles by a small mountain range. I go through the Sepulveda Pass to find that the L.A. Basin is socked in. Could I fly in VFR conditions on top of the clouds? Or would I need an IFR clearance?
Two questions (more on the topic of “Ask the American the pilot”):
-
What’s the lower level of your class E airspace in the vicinity of uncontrolled airfields (I’m assuming you were in Class E)?
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Is a contact approach the same as a circling approach?
In Australia, aside from around busy airports, class E airspace goes down to FL180 with class G sitting below it. In the situation you gave, we’d only need clearance for descent if above FL180, once in the class G we’d maneuver to pick up the approach to the opposite runway down to the circling altitude for that approach, then do a circuit to the required runway. ATC wouldn’t need to clear you for anything and they wouldn’t even know what you were doing down there unless you told them.
The other option available to us in your scenario would be a visual approach but you’d need 3 miles vis for that.
Now that is a most excellent idea I had not even considered.
…Off to check out the local gliding club.
Thanks so much MachTruck, that’s very useful. We’re already working our way through all the museums in the country, and have more airplane books than we know what to do with.
He does tend to prefer couch based activities, so a real flying instructor saying he needs to ride his bike more is priceless! 
You can climb over solid cloud cover if origin and destination are VFR. In my area we get a fair amount of Lake Affect bands of overcast in the 50 to 100 mile range. Nothing worse than flying under a line of clouds that keep getting lower. Best to go over them.
Oh, here’s a question I have for pilots of small planes:
When you see the thousands of extra switches and dials and gauges that are in a 747 or the space shuttle, do you know what all those are for? Or is that an extra year of study before you could fly one?
I can reliably identify some of the gizmachies in those air/spacecraft, but not all of them.