The Differences Between PPLicensing And Learning

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:41:49 -0500, WJRFlyBoy
wrote:

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:30:52 GMT, Steve Foley wrote:

There are plenty of examples. The ones that jump out at me
are the landing accidents that often don't hit the headlines,
accidents caused by poor training. Landing fast and flat, running off
the end, ballooning and stalling and landing hard. Accelerated stalls
caused by pulling back hard after a buzz job. (Those are usually fatal
and hit the newspapers.) Failing to understand DA and trying to depart
an inadequate runway. A really common one is carb ice; we hear of
accidents/incidents all the time due to that one. It's not well taught
or understood. And, of course as you mentioned, VFR into IMC.

Dan


If this were truly a lack of training, I would expect to see more of these
types of accidents immediately after getting a certificate.

If you did, you would argue that it was a lack of experience not training
to make it fit your argument.

He's correct. According to the safety literature I've read they figure
those type of accidents would show up soon. BUT OTOH IIRC they figure
the highest accident rate happens somewhere between 300 and 500 hours.

It's a bit more complex figuring out the reasoning though.
There are many reasons for the rate peaking in this range.


When they occur years later, I can't see how they can be attributed to
inadequate training from years ago.

Wouldn't that depend on what was learned in the training, or better yet,
not learned?

Not necessarily. If they made it that far then their training was
most likely adequate. Unfortunately it's more of an individual thing.
One student may solo in 10 hours, pass the PTS in 40 hours and become
an exemplary pilot. Another may take 40 to solo, a 100 for the PTS
and also do great. OTOH you most likely can find examples to the
contrary as well. It depends on the student and the instructor, not
the hours.

That a student can do everything in the minimum of time and hours says
more about their abilities than lack of proper training. Where one
student can handle 3 or 4 hours of flying a week another may not be
able to handle more than a couple before mental overload sets in.
That it takes one three or four times as long to solo or pass the test
than another is no direct indication of how much or how well either
learned the material.

I know of one student who did great, then suffered a brain fart coming
in to land. He got too low, applied full power, nose came up, he
pulled the power and turned it into a lawn dart. Put shoulders in the
wings of that 150. Some more training, he took and passed the PTS
with flying colors (no pun intended). A year later (minus one day),
he suffered another brain fart on short final, applied power, ended up
too fast, and turned that one into a lawn dart as well.

Attitude plays as much a part in this as does training. After flying
for a while we all get used to doing things a particular way. Bad
habits can develop, and so can the attitude that the pilot knows
everything needed. That is why the FAA came up with the biennial
"flight review". It's also why insurance companies give preferential
rates for taking re currency training.

I happen to be one of those who soloed in a short time and got the
license in just a few months, but I am also one who continued to
practice all the maneuvers I had to learn plus those required for the
commercial license. BTW, my ground school was a 4 credit hour college
course. Those were regular credits and not continued learning.
After my initial solo flights I was allowed to practice all maneuvers
and I did instead of just going out sightseeing. To me the maneuvers
were as much fun as playing. They were playing and I enjoyed them.


I think most good pilots agree that a private certificate is really a
license to learn.

The Differences Between PPLicensing And Learning /is/ the Subject of the
thread.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com