History of the BFR?

Mary is off doing her BFR as I write this, which got me to wondering about
the history of the biennial flight review.

As I understand it, BFRs were not required until fairly recently (like, in
the last 30 years?). Given the current uproar over the creation of
relatively simple new requirements (like foreign pilots having to register,
etc.), I can barely imagine the howls of protest that must have ensued
during and after the creation of a rule that required every pilot to "prove
himself" with a CFI every 2 years!

(Although, I suspect, CFIs at the time must have thought they had died and
gone to heaven! Talk about a guaranteed money-maker! :-)

Was there a rash of incidents caused by rusty pilots before this rule was
proposed? What happened to bring about such a radical change?

For those who were flying back then, can you give us a brief history of what
happened?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I logged my first biennial in 1981. That was just after I sold the
tail-less Stinson to an IA as a project (internal corrosion in the
horizontal stab.), and the previous flight in the logbook was in the
Stinson in '79. So the requirement came up circa 1980.

From the dejanews records on Google, it appears that net.aviation was
only chartered in late 1981, so there wasnt the same kind of forum for
flogging a topic like biennials that we have here -- just the letters
columns in the magazines.

My recollection was that pretty much everybody but dyed-in-the-wool
libertarians thought it was a pretty good idea.

Don

The requirement must have started sometime around 1972. I got my licnese in
1970, and shortly thereafter I had to go take the BFR. I still remember the
instructor that gave it to me. I do remember there was some outcry. Just about
the same time transponders were mandated.

Ross

Jay Honeck wrote:

Mary is off doing her BFR as I write this, which got me to wondering about
the history of the biennial flight review.

As I understand it, BFRs were not required until fairly recently (like, in
the last 30 years?). Given the current uproar over the creation of
relatively simple new requirements (like foreign pilots having to register,
etc.), I can barely imagine the howls of protest that must have ensued
during and after the creation of a rule that required every pilot to "prove
himself" with a CFI every 2 years!

(Although, I suspect, CFIs at the time must have thought they had died and
gone to heaven! Talk about a guaranteed money-maker! :-)

Was there a rash of incidents caused by rusty pilots before this rule was
proposed? What happened to bring about such a radical change?

For those who were flying back then, can you give us a brief history of what
happened?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Mary is off doing her BFR as I write this, which got me to wondering about
the history of the biennial flight review.

The measure was put into place in the late 70s. The first issue of the advisory
circular (61-98A) was dated 1976. It was revised in 1987 and 1991.

As I understand it, BFRs were not required until fairly recently (like, in
the last 30 years?). Given the current uproar over the creation of
relatively simple new requirements (like foreign pilots having to register,
etc.), I can barely imagine the howls of protest that must have ensued
during and after the creation of a rule that required every pilot to "prove
himself" with a CFI every 2 years!

According to Bill Cox (writing for Plane&Pilot), "There was a certain contingent of
pilots who objected vehemently to the new requirement."

(Although, I suspect, CFIs at the time must have thought they had died and
gone to heaven! Talk about a guaranteed money-maker! :-)

According to Howard Fried, the FAA tried to sell it to CFIs on those grounds, but it
has not proven to be a big moneymaker.

Was there a rash of incidents caused by rusty pilots before this rule was
proposed? What happened to bring about such a radical change?

I haven't seen anything in print to indicate that, but Rod Machado states that the
FAA hasn’t been able to quantify any direct safety benefits from the BFR. There’s
been no dramatic reduction of accidents attributable to the flight reviews.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

Ross Richardson wrote:
The requirement must have started sometime around 1972. I got my licnese in
1970, and shortly thereafter I had to go take the BFR. I still remember the
instructor that gave it to me. I do remember there was some outcry. Just about
the same time transponders were mandated.

There was also an attempt to make it annual for low experience pilots.
This came in with the addition of the Recreational Pilot certificate
as (oddly enough) a bone thrown to the flight instructor lobby over
the lost revenue. They kept rolling forward the effective date until
they finally ditched the concept in the 95 FAR rewrite.

BFRs came around in the 70's (~1975 I believe). I took my first BFR in
1976. The FAA re-wrote a lot of part 61 at that time. For example, prior
to 1974?, it was permissable to fly a twin without a multi rating, as long
as you were solo. It was also possible to get your Commercial certificate
before your Instrument rating . (I did mine that way, courtesy of SUNY
Farmingdale ). And, of course, ATPs were known as ATRs.
"Todd Pattist" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I can barely imagine the howls of protest that must have ensued
during and after the creation of a rule that required every pilot to
"prove
himself" with a CFI every 2 years!

First there was major confusion. One early proposal was for
a flight review yearly. Our club felt our instructors would
spend most of their time giving flight reviews. I also
remember the concerns over those who were thought they'd
have to rent a glider, balloon, airplane and seaplane every
year to keep the rating they'd already earned.

(Although, I suspect, CFIs at the time must have thought they had died
and
gone to heaven! Talk about a guaranteed money-maker! :-)

No. I was a CFI then, and it seemed to have good and bad
points. Then as now, we were paid peanuts, so maybe the FBO
liked it more than we did. We'd all run into someone who
hadn't flown in 10-20 years. They'd take a quick refresher
flight, ignore all the regulatory and airspace changes and
talk about buying an aircraft to fly with their family and
friends. There was no way to stop them no matter how bad
they seemed to fly.

Was there a rash of incidents caused by rusty pilots before this rule was
proposed? What happened to bring about such a radical change?

I personally don't recall anything specific. Most of us
didn't like it much, but recognized the reason for it. It
was touted as something you couldn't "fail" since no logbook
entry was made for failure. The shift to two years and the
confirmation that a review in any cat/class was good for all
made it easier to take.


"It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and
skill."
Wilbur Wright

OOps.In my previous post change "possible to get Commercial without
Instrument rating" to "Possible to get CFI without Instrument rating". We
actually had a student at SUNY get his CFI before the IFR. The flight
lessons were free in those days, son if they offered you a rating you didn't
argue..........
"tom418" wrote in message
news:MpVfd.12$ep3.7@lakeread02...
BFRs came around in the 70's (~1975 I believe). I took my first BFR in
1976. The FAA re-wrote a lot of part 61 at that time. For example, prior
to 1974?, it was permissable to fly a twin without a multi rating, as long
as you were solo. It was also possible to get your Commercial certificate
before your Instrument rating . (I did mine that way, courtesy of SUNY
Farmingdale ). And, of course, ATPs were known as ATRs.
"Todd Pattist" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I can barely imagine the howls of protest that must have ensued
during and after the creation of a rule that required every pilot to
"prove
himself" with a CFI every 2 years!

First there was major confusion. One early proposal was for
a flight review yearly. Our club felt our instructors would
spend most of their time giving flight reviews. I also
remember the concerns over those who were thought they'd
have to rent a glider, balloon, airplane and seaplane every
year to keep the rating they'd already earned.

(Although, I suspect, CFIs at the time must have thought they had died
and
gone to heaven! Talk about a guaranteed money-maker! :-)

No. I was a CFI then, and it seemed to have good and bad
points. Then as now, we were paid peanuts, so maybe the FBO
liked it more than we did. We'd all run into someone who
hadn't flown in 10-20 years. They'd take a quick refresher
flight, ignore all the regulatory and airspace changes and
talk about buying an aircraft to fly with their family and
friends. There was no way to stop them no matter how bad
they seemed to fly.

Was there a rash of incidents caused by rusty pilots before this rule
was
proposed? What happened to bring about such a radical change?

I personally don't recall anything specific. Most of us
didn't like it much, but recognized the reason for it. It
was touted as something you couldn't "fail" since no logbook
entry was made for failure. The shift to two years and the
confirmation that a review in any cat/class was good for all
made it easier to take.


"It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and
skill."
Wilbur Wright

OOps.In my previous post change "possible to get Commercial without
Instrument rating" to "Possible to get CFI without Instrument rating". We
actually had a student at SUNY get his CFI before the IFR. The flight
lessons were free in those days, son if they offered you a rating you
didn't
argue..........

"Flight lessons were free..."????

What paradise are you describing here?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay, they WERE free, as long as you were enrolled as a full time student and
were an Air Operations (Aviation) major. I paid a grand total of $600/
semester for this. You received around 1-2 hours each week,( in your choice
of Cessna 172, or Cherokee 140) per semester. SUNY students could also
participate in the "Air Meets", a flying competition activity . This was
back in 1974.

Today, there is a fee for flight training.
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:KTVfd.259368$wV.155655@attbi_s54...
OOps.In my previous post change "possible to get Commercial without
Instrument rating" to "Possible to get CFI without Instrument rating".
We
actually had a student at SUNY get his CFI before the IFR. The flight
lessons were free in those days, son if they offered you a rating you
didn't
argue..........

"Flight lessons were free..."????

What paradise are you describing here?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I was a CFII circa 1970-1975 and I think it started in that time frame. I
never had a BFR before 1975 so maybe it was after 1973. I didn't fly from
1975 to 1998. Sold my Arrow and moved to Southern California. I don't
recall any rash of accidents calling for the change and there was no
significant improvement in accident rate after implementation.

Rod

"