The other day at the club, the duty instructor, a young lady doing her post
graduate work who first appeared at the club for her first lessons when she
was 13 or 14, was debriefing the pilot she'd just done 3 BFR flights with.
That pilot is a retired 767 pilot with a lot of international time. He was
nodding to her comments.

I just thought it was a cool scene and wanted to share it with everyone.

It IS a cool scene. I've seen it before. Also some that aren't so cool.


I've been in soaring for over 40 years with a lot of contests and a
fair number of hours. I still make lots of mistakes and don't have any
illusions about my invincibility but I am aware that
younger/less-experienced instructors might have a few problems giving
me a BFR [biennial flight review, the mandatory every-two-years check,
for you non-U.S. types], manifested in not being critical enough or in
ego/insecurity coming out in inappropriate ways. Yet I've had some
great BFRs--and learned very valuable things--from "less experienced"
instructors. I've also seen high-time ex-military/airline pilots handle
similar situations with aplomb.

It's all part of what makes our more professional (whether they earn a
living doing it or not) pilots so impressive.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"