On Friday, September 7, 2018 at 7:50:18 AM UTC-5, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 7:30:16 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
wrote on 9/6/2018 7:11 AM:
This is a recurring topic since the beginning of aviation. The irony is there is a well known and recognized, fundamental reason for glider (all aviation) accidents.

And that is, a demonstrable lack of knowledge.

It is easy to confirm. Present a group of pilots with a written test of basic, essential knowledge needed to fly safely.

I would include my favorite question:

Why does an aircraft have a rudder?

Some years ago, when I conducted glider CFI revalidation clinics, I presented this question to a group of about 40 glider CFIs. Not a single person got this question correct, and I would bet it is no different today.

It is common for people to avoid obtaining the fundamental knowledge necessary for safe flight.

It's not been obvious to me that the pilot with the best aerodynamic understanding
was the best pilot. I had students with poor math and physics abilities and could
offer only a cobbled explanation of lift, adverse yaw, and angle of attack, but
they knew what view out the canopy should look like, and how to move the controls
to keep the view looking correct. That knowledge enabled them to make the plane go
where they wanted it do. They also got worried about their situation while there
was still time to correct the situation - a major factor in staying alive.

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Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

I suspect that flying is a lot like riding a bike. Most bike riders have no idea of the physics of how a bike stays upright while riding.

Some pilots fly by the numbers. Others seem to have an instinctive connection to the aircraft, where they can feel what it is doing and immediately respond without necessarily understanding what they are doing. I'm not sure you can teach that.

If you fly by the numbers, get in trouble at low altitude and have to think about how to recover, you are probably doomed.

I've successfully avoided helicopters my whole life. Flying a helicopter has got to be like the bike. How could anyone consciously process everything going on in a helicopter and fly by rote? In fact, I think helicopter instructors just keep one alive long enough for one to develop the "muscle memory".