"Doug Carter" wrote in message
...
On 2004-03-05, G.R. Patterson III wrote:


"R. Hubbell" wrote:

I'll be happy to be old and flying solo as long as a I can do it
safely. Just not sure if I'll be the best judge of my safe flying
when I'm on the tail end of my years.

That's why they have BFRs.

Puts a lot of pressure on the CFI's. I hope the 20 year old CFI that I
dotter into for my last BFR has the nerve to refuse to sign off.

I was waiting at an FBO one afternoon and happened to overhear a very
grey (I'm *only* 53, just a sprout) pilot chat with a much older CFII
(who hung up his spurs later that year) about his (the pilots) most
recent gear up landing then go on to arrainge for his BFR...

Still, hell of a lot better system than auto licences.

Well, I am a 53 year old CFI and I don't have a problem with telling you
when to hang it up. Neither do the 20 year olds who are my colleagues.

Actually, it isn't really all that difficult. You go out and do the BFR. The
guy can't do the maneuvers to standards, so you schedule additional
training. But he doesn't seem able to improve. Sooner or later the client is
going to tell you that he is quitting. Once your BFR runs over 10 hours and
you still haven't got those steep turns and stalls to private pilot
standards, you will know. You are done flying without an instructor.