On Friday, July 18, 2014 3:53:54 PM UTC-6, wrote:
I am curious. How many people in this discussion were hand held every step of the way of starting to fly XC or just went out and tried it for themselves? I wouldn't be surprised if many if not most of us taught ourselves by going a little further each time. For some pilots this is a thrill, for others a fear. Is it possible that XC pilots self-select by just going and trying it and those who wait for dual and a steady hand to help each step of the way might not often turn into life long XC pilots?



Please don't be offended by these questions. I am just asking because at least here in Utah, my observation is that the only XC pilots I know taught themselves. Those who are waiting for someone to take them.......are still waiting.



Bruno - B4

Bruno, I know of successful XC pilots who individually took one or the other of these approaches. It works either way but I tend to believe a few dual XC's is the better approach if that opportunity is available.

Then too, there's more than one way to learn. I listened very carefully to experienced XC pilots and read dozens of books before taking off on my own - less successfully at first and then progressively better with experience..

OTOH, some of those pilots who got dual XC training but spent little time with books or listening to veterans struggled for quite a while before they achieved anything significant. People are different.

As a side comment, almost all the information I came across was rather good at teaching one how to go fast or far in reasonably good conditions but less informative about how to recognize and manage situations that are starting to go bad. Most early XC flights are a series of recoveries from bad situations. I can see a lot of benefit from including this training.