OOps.In my previous post change "possible to get Commercial without
Instrument rating" to "Possible to get CFI without Instrument rating". We
actually had a student at SUNY get his CFI before the IFR. The flight
lessons were free in those days, son if they offered you a rating you didn't
argue..........
"tom418" wrote in message
news:MpVfd.12$ep3.7@lakeread02...
BFRs came around in the 70's (~1975 I believe). I took my first BFR in
1976. The FAA re-wrote a lot of part 61 at that time. For example, prior
to 1974?, it was permissable to fly a twin without a multi rating, as long
as you were solo. It was also possible to get your Commercial certificate
before your Instrument rating . (I did mine that way, courtesy of SUNY
Farmingdale ). And, of course, ATPs were known as ATRs.
"Todd Pattist" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I can barely imagine the howls of protest that must have ensued
during and after the creation of a rule that required every pilot to
"prove
himself" with a CFI every 2 years!

First there was major confusion. One early proposal was for
a flight review yearly. Our club felt our instructors would
spend most of their time giving flight reviews. I also
remember the concerns over those who were thought they'd
have to rent a glider, balloon, airplane and seaplane every
year to keep the rating they'd already earned.

(Although, I suspect, CFIs at the time must have thought they had died
and
gone to heaven! Talk about a guaranteed money-maker! :-)

No. I was a CFI then, and it seemed to have good and bad
points. Then as now, we were paid peanuts, so maybe the FBO
liked it more than we did. We'd all run into someone who
hadn't flown in 10-20 years. They'd take a quick refresher
flight, ignore all the regulatory and airspace changes and
talk about buying an aircraft to fly with their family and
friends. There was no way to stop them no matter how bad
they seemed to fly.

Was there a rash of incidents caused by rusty pilots before this rule
was
proposed? What happened to bring about such a radical change?

I personally don't recall anything specific. Most of us
didn't like it much, but recognized the reason for it. It
was touted as something you couldn't "fail" since no logbook
entry was made for failure. The shift to two years and the
confirmation that a review in any cat/class was good for all
made it easier to take.


"It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and
skill."
Wilbur Wright