Primary training in a Hi Perf complex acft

Kingfish wrote:
Anbody learn to fly in a high performance complex aircraft?

Tho' I was a lot younger, and it was a long time ago, ... I earned my
PPL in a T-34 (paid for it myself: $5.00 wet in the Aero Club at USAFA).
I believe that my flying skills have been better because of it. I had
a few more hours before flying solo (14 hours, as I recall) than if I'd
started out in the Cub. But I learned from the start how to 'get out in
front of the airplane', and to be -further- 'out in front', because
things do happen more quickly.

As a side anecdote, because USAF revoked the waiver for student pilots
to fly T-34s just days before I was scheduled to take the Practical, to
get the 20 minutes of cross country time that I needed, I was checked
out in a C-172 - the checkout took 20 minute: take off, the usual
stalls, steep turns, etc., then landings (we hardly left the pattern) -
the C-172 was -so- easy to fly. The instructor must have been
satisfied; he sent me back up solo for 3 landings and signed me off. I
took the cross country the next day - from AFA to LIC at back for 1:10,
and I passed my check ride a week later with 50 hours in the log book.
(I might have done it with fewer hours but I took a 2 year break after
the initial 18 hours.)

Oh, as a side note: AFA is now AFF; it wasn't called Falcon Field back
then; and the runway was unpaved. To those of you who haven't been
'west of the tree line' (or as Marianna Gosnell would say in her book
"Zero Three Bravo" - west of the 'chain line'), -unpaved- means dirt and
gravel; none of the 'green stuff' we see 'back east'.

Wish I had a T-34 at hand to fly again.

george

On Mar 25, 1:06 pm, gyoung wrote:
Kingfish wrote:
Anbody learn to fly in a high performance complex aircraft?

Tho' I was a lot younger, and it was a long time ago, ... I earned my
PPL in a T-34 (paid for it myself: $5.00 wet in the Aero Club at USAFA).
I believe that my flying skills have been better because of it. I had
a few more hours before flying solo (14 hours, as I recall) than if I'd
started out in the Cub. But I learned from the start how to 'get out in
front of the airplane', and to be -further- 'out in front', because
things do happen more quickly.

As a side anecdote, because USAF revoked the waiver for student pilots
to fly T-34s just days before I was scheduled to take the Practical, to
get the 20 minutes of cross country time that I needed, I was checked
out in a C-172 - the checkout took 20 minute: take off, the usual
stalls, steep turns, etc., then landings (we hardly left the pattern) -
the C-172 was -so- easy to fly. The instructor must have been
satisfied; he sent me back up solo for 3 landings and signed me off. I
took the cross country the next day - from AFA to LIC at back for 1:10,
and I passed my check ride a week later with 50 hours in the log book.
(I might have done it with fewer hours but I took a 2 year break after
the initial 18 hours.)

Oh, as a side note: AFA is now AFF; it wasn't called Falcon Field back
then; and the runway was unpaved. To those of you who haven't been
'west of the tree line' (or as Marianna Gosnell would say in her book
"Zero Three Bravo" - west of the 'chain line'), -unpaved- means dirt and
gravel; none of the 'green stuff' we see 'back east'.

Wish I had a T-34 at hand to fly again.

george

I taught my youngest son to fly in an Apache... He mastered the check
lists, gear, constant speed prop, synchronizing engines, pattern
altitudes and entry, cross country with 3 and 4 hour legs, etc... When
I turned him over to a CFI for formal training and they started flying
in a Warrior, he came back and said it was scary... There was
absolutely nothing to do and he constantly felt like he must have
forgotten something....

denny

Kingfish wrote:
Total stream-of-consciousness post here...

Anbody learn to fly in a high performance complex aircraft? Bonanza,
Saratoga, 182RG and the like? I know it's possible, just wonder how
much longer it'd take for a student to master something with
significant power and prop & gear controls. (I did all my instructing
in 172s and PA28s)

Anythings possible, as you said. I would venture to say the problem
isn't with the complexity (gear, props), but rather the speeds at which
something happens.

Cruising at 90 - 100 kts in a 150 is a lot different than in a Bo at 160
kts (or higher). Things happen quicker, more ground is covered. Landing
is faster... A slower plane allows you to develop and hone your skills
as things happen. You dont have to think as far ahead than in a fast mover.

Just my 2 cents.
Dave