AC-120-76D and Private Checkride

Here's another one for ya

Said iPad reliant student, now PPL, takes a crew car into some small town, he leaves his iToys, spare iPad and spare skinny jeans in the back seat as he goes into the local coffee shop to try to get a soy latte, when he comes out surprised that they don't know what soy is or how one would milk a almond, he is even more surprised to find that the power locks on that old crown Vic didn't work and someone stole his iPads (but not the skinny jeans).

So pop quiz hot shot, as it's probably obvious that this town doesn't have a apple store, what does the pilot do if he can't navigate with paper charts, as that's all he will be able to get?

Does he call the FBO and tell them he needs to be rescued as he cant make it back home with his app?

This one just made the top of the list of my all time James331 posts.

And I agree with what your saying. If I make it to being a CFI, I sorta want to hold off EFB use until after the student has earned his PPL. First make sure he can fly like folks did before everyone was an armchair techno-geek and still make the FAA happy. Then after PPL sign him up for a few hours of instruction for improving skills like crosswinds, emergencies, EFB use, and more complicated avionics (aka buttonology on a 430 and how the autopilot can help, save, and kill you)
 
For my ppl I was prepared for him to fail my pen! This was before iPads! I think it’s safe to say that if it’s electronic it can and you should be prepared to see it go down. Is the CFI teaching using the iPad for charts or teaching with actual charts?.?
 
Is the CFI teaching using the iPad for charts or teaching with actual charts?.?
This comment had me adding to my "take over the world ideas" notebook to use paper charts when instructing students. Especially one that is well marked up with highlighter and annotations of my own creation.

Even if I am just teaching how to read the chart to figure out the basics of what type of airspace, runway length, and comm frequency and such, student is seeing how I mark waypoints, annotate distance and times, and figure out position based on pilotage and crossing radials.
 
@James331 .... when you send your primary students out for their first solo XC, are they paper/pen/stopwatch only? Or is a few bits of modern tech allowed?
 
@James331 .... when you send your primary students out for their first solo XC, are they paper/pen/stopwatch only? Or is a few bits of modern tech allowed?

Actually I've never sent one for a checkride with a EFB.

But with how the cookie crumbled I've done very little instrument instruction, it's all been PPLs, CPLs and endorsements, BFRs.


I mean you're taking a 1.5hr checkride that starts and ends at the same point, and that point is probably ether the place you trained out of, or near it, in a plane that goes like a buck ten with full rental power, you shouldn't be able to let the DPE get you too lost lol
 
you shouldn't be able to let the DPE get you too lost lol
Yeah, if you let the DPE scramble your compass that bad....

As much as I wasn't happy with my first instructor, he did something that I really liked and will replicate. Each time we headed out to a new area and did the clearing turn, he would have me fly back toward the field for a few minutes and memorize the landmarks I could see between me and home.

That really helped build the mental map in a big arc and distance around KDTO that if I saw a particular landmark, I knew that KDTO was thattaway and so many miles.
 
Yeah, if you let the DPE scramble your compass that bad....

As much as I wasn't happy with my first instructor, he did something that I really liked and will replicate. Each time we headed out to a new area and did the clearing turn, he would have me fly back toward the field for a few minutes and memorize the landmarks I could see between me and home.

That really helped build the mental map in a big arc and distance around KDTO that if I saw a particular landmark, I knew that KDTO was thattaway and so many miles.


For sure!

I always had my guys fly with a sectional partially folded and tucked under their leg, even in the intro flight Id point out landmarks beneath us and show them on the chart, almost like one of those tourist rides where they give you a little map.

Later on I'd always ask stuff like
"hey what is that thing we just flew over"
"What town is that"
"Wonder if you could BASE jump off that tower? Hey Mr pilot, how tall is that thing AGL wise?"
"What airport is that and could you turn he lights on for me, I'm bored, do they have fuel"

I'd just have them use the partially folded sectional under their leg, worked great for them, never had one whine about it and more importantly never had one get legit full on lost.
 
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That is my POV on the subject. I'd rather be safe than sorry. But my CFI is pushing pretty hard that it's legal and the DPE can't fail it. I was just looking for real world experience since the new AC was put out.
Tell your cfi that’s nice and go buy a sectional without further discussion.
 
For sure!

I always had my guys fly is a sectional partially folded and tucked under their leg, even in the intro flight is point out landmarks beneath us and show them on the chart, also like one of those tourist rides where they give you a little map.

Later on I'd always ask stuff like
"hey what is that thing we just flew over"
"What town is that"
"Wonder if you could BASE jump off that tower? Hey Mr pilot, how tall is that thing AGL wise?"
"What airport is that and could you turn he lights on for me, I'm bored, do they have fuel"

I'd just have them use the partially folded sectional under their leg, worked great for them, never had one whine about it and more importantly never had one get legit full on lost.

LOST 6 C’s of Aviation

Confess

Climb

Conserve

Communicate

Comply

Cash --- you need to purchase yet another GPS device
 
Here's another one for ya

Said iPad reliant student, now PPL, takes a crew car into some small town, he leaves his iToys, spare iPad and spare skinny jeans in the back seat as he goes into the local coffee shop to try to get a soy latte, when he comes out surprised that they don't know what soy is or how one would milk a almond, he is even more surprised to find that the power locks on that old crown Vic didn't work and someone stole his iPads (but not the skinny jeans).

So pop quiz hot shot, as it's probably obvious that this town doesn't have a apple store, what does the pilot do if he can't navigate with paper charts, as that's all he will be able to get?

Does he call the FBO and tell them he needs to be rescued as he cant make it back home with his app?
Awesome example of how you can not plan for everything!

Now I would have taken your jeans but I was too fat. But I got $250 for the iPad :p
 
Here's another one for ya

Said iPad reliant student, now PPL, takes a crew car into some small town, he leaves his iToys, spare iPad and spare skinny jeans in the back seat as he goes into the local coffee shop to try to get a soy latte, when he comes out surprised that they don't know what soy is or how one would milk a almond, he is even more surprised to find that the power locks on that old crown Vic didn't work and someone stole his iPads (but not the skinny jeans).

So pop quiz hot shot, as it's probably obvious that this town doesn't have a apple store, what does the pilot do if he can't navigate with paper charts, as that's all he will be able to get?

Does he call the FBO and tell them he needs to be rescued as he cant make it back home with his app?
I'm not seeing where anyone's advocating not being able to navigate with paper charts. Are you implying that Area VI, Task A, PILOTAGE AND DEAD RECKONING in the ACS is currently optional?
 
I'm not seeing where anyone's advocating not being able to navigate with paper charts. Are you implying that Area VI, Task A, PILOTAGE AND DEAD RECKONING in the ACS is currently optional?


If students are being allowed to constantly reference a iPad with GPS, no, the students are not meeting VI IMO
 
That sounds like an examiner issue, not an instructor or applicant issue.

Not a student problem, you don't know what you don't know.

For sure it's a CFI issue, I mean thats the main person who teaching or reaffirming not using proper VISUAL and mental pilotage and dead reckoning.
 
Of course he can fail it. If it can fail in real life, he can fail it on the checkride.

Tangentially, the Part 91 EFB guidance is AC 91-78, not 120-76D.
 
Here's another one for ya

Said iPad reliant student, now PPL, takes a crew car into some small town, he leaves his iToys, spare iPad and spare skinny jeans in the back seat as he goes into the local coffee shop to try to get a soy latte, when he comes out surprised that they don't know what soy is or how one would milk a almond, he is even more surprised to find that the power locks on that old crown Vic didn't work and someone stole his iPads (but not the skinny jeans).

So pop quiz hot shot, as it's probably obvious that this town doesn't have a apple store, what does the pilot do if he can't navigate with paper charts, as that's all he will be able to get?

Does he call the FBO and tell them he needs to be rescued as he cant make it back home with his app?
C'mon. Let's be realistic.

First of all, I don't see any reason why he would not be able to use the exact same chart he had on his iPad just because happens to be printed on paper.

Second, chances are he won't be able to get paper charts at that small town FBO. Sales are so low, a lot of places simply don't carry them unless they have a flight school.
 
Interesting point that’s wandered through here: is the iPad being used as an EFB (meaning just to access charts) or as a GPS navigation tool? It can fail either way of course. If you can navigate using charts, whether electronic or paper, you’re meeting the requirements. And switching between should be relatively easy. If you’re only using the tablet as a GPS navigation tool (for situational awareness only, of course :D ) then you need to know how to find yourself if it croaks.
 
C'mon. Let's be realistic.

First of all, I don't see any reason why he would not be able to use the exact same chart he had on his iPad just because happens to be printed on paper.

Second, chances are he won't be able to get paper charts at that small town FBO. Sales are so low, a lot of places simply don't carry them unless they have a flight school.

Depends on if the person was using is as a electronic chart, or leaning on its GPS capabilities to cover for a lack of real visual pilotage and dead reckoning skills.
 
Good morning. It’s amusing, yet still kind of scary, to hear these Luddite opinions so colorfully expressed. As pilots, and particularly as instructors, we should engage in some introspective thought prior to rambling with incoherent war-stories.

What EFB experience do you have to form the basis of your opinion? Do you understand that one’s Ownship position can be disabled? And that the chart displayed on a modern EFB is a duplicate of a paper chart? Arguing that you can’t effectively teach pilotage, chart symbology, or similar skills on an EFB is like arguing that you can’t teach in G1000 equipped trainer because you believe a student isn’t a real pilot if they don’t learn on steam guages - it just doesn’t make sense. Before charts, I believe the story is Mr. Jeppessen kept a notebook to navigate. Were you an intrepid airmen instructing in late 1930s, would you have eschewed the use of charts in favor of having the student keep a notebook with drawings of rivers and diagrams of the water towers in nearby towns?

But before anyone gets their shoes scuffed, I’ll clarify this isn’t a personal attack. Far from it. All I’m saying is that as instructors of any complex craft we should, actually we are OBLIGATED to keep up with technological advances and constantly understand how they influence our operational environment. A Luddite - one that opposes technology, has little place in modern aviation, at least in the role of instructing a student to operate in the real world he/she will face in 2018 and beyond. You CAN teach pilotage, chart reading, and other basic flight skills with a EFB in the cockpit. That is unquestionable- if an instructor can’t figure that out then the instructor needs to do some homework themselves.

The current ACS mandates a HUGE amount of learning. One response to my earlier post poo-pooed teaching an effective understanding of risk management, which is a skill fully embedded in the ACS. If an instructor wants to skip that discussion in training in favor of focusing solely on stick and rudder skills, that instructor is setting the student up to fail not only the checkride, but also to fail in the real world as they exercise their newfound Private Pilot skills to transport family and friends.

Their is a gap in the FAA’s mandated training - in that learning about the tools offered on an EFB is not mandated at any level of certification. One only has to discuss it with the DPE if they bring it to the test, right? Because certainly that would be an off-limits discussion if the student didn’t bring one, right? If you think so, you probably need to reread the ACS.

In my opinion, an instructor that doesn’t prepare a new pilot to effectively use the tools offered in a modern EFB, which include displays of traffic, weather, and a host of other information that can be updated in-flight using ADS-B In, well, that instructor has done a disservice to their student. I’m not advocating that an instructor teaching a Private student exclusively on an iPad, or even that the technology must be used at all. Instead, however, shouldn’t the instructor at least introduce the student to an EFB, discuss the pros and cons, and help the student understand the risks and benefits of using an EFB? Or should we just teach on paper charts, and let that student learn all the lessons presented in this thread regarding dead batteries, overheating, software conflicts, etc, on their own while flying along at 120knots right through the training area (where you are teaching another neophyte to ignore technology)?
 
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Depends on if the person was using is as a electronic chart, or leaning on its GPS capabilities to cover for a lack of real visual pilotage and dead reckoning skills.
That's of course true. But way too many posts start with the assumption that this is going to be the case. A strong argument can be made to the contrary - that the ability to know for sure that the visual checkpoint you are looking at is in fact the one on the chart helps to increase the learned ability to recognize them without the assist.
 
I was thinking that by the logic of some posters, we should also outlaw students from knowing what an angle of attack indicator is, right? Same for engine monitors, autopilots, and even VOR receivers. Let’s petition the FAA to mandate all training for the Private Pilot”s License be done in Homebuilt aircraft, too, because the only way you can really understand how a wing works is to build one yourself.
 
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Modern avionics make flying safer. Period. Given the fairly not so spectacular safety record for general aviation historically anything that enhances safety should be embraced. Flying is very complex and requires attention being divided between numerous critical tasks. iPad, GPS, iPhones, etc help lighten the workload. If a DPE fails my GPS system and then my iPad, then my iPhone has some capabilities too to get me where I want to go.

The key is having some redundancy there and for example, bringing a charger. I’m still a student pilot and although I can totally plot a course on a paper chart and use an e-6b for planning and making a NavLog, it is these days unnecessarily time consuming. I’ll never use it again after my checkride. That being said, I don’t think learning how to do it is a waste of time.

My 2 cents!
FWIW
 
Good morning. It’s amusing, yet still kind of scary, to hear these Luddite opinions so colorfully expressed. As pilots, and particularly as instructors, we should engage in some introspective thought prior to rambling with incoherent war-stories.

What EFB experience do you have to form the basis of your opinion? Do you understand that one’s Ownship position can be disabled? And that the chart displayed on a modern EFB is a duplicate of a paper chart? Arguing that you can’t effectively teach pilotage, chart symbology, or similar skills on an EFB is like arguing that you can’t teach in G1000 equipped trainer because you believe a student isn’t a real pilot if they don’t learn on steam guages - it just doesn’t make sense. Before charts, I believe the story is Mr. Jeppessen kept a notebook to navigate. Were you an intrepid airmen instructing in late 1930s, would you have eschewed the use of charts in favor of having the student keep a notebook with drawings of rivers and diagrams of the water towers in nearby towns?

But before anyone gets their shoes scuffed, I’ll clarify this isn’t a personal attack. Far from it. All I’m saying is that as instructors of any complex craft we should, actually we are OBLIGATED to keep up with technological advances and constantly understand how they influence our operational environment. A Luddite - one that opposes technology, has little place in modern aviation, at least in the role of instructing a student to operate in the real world he/she will face in 2018 and beyond. You CAN teach pilotage, chart reading, and other basic flight skills with a EFB in the cockpit. That is unquestionable- if an instructor can’t figure that out then the instructor needs to do some homework themselves.

The current ACS mandates a HUGE amount of learning. One response to my earlier post poo-pooed teaching an effective understanding of risk management, which is a skill fully embedded in the ACS. If an instructor wants to skip that discussion in training in favor of focusing solely on stick and rudder skills, that instructor is setting the student up to fail not only the checkride, but also to fail in the real world as they exercise their newfound Private Pilot skills to transport family and friends.

Their is a gap in the FAA’s mandated training - in that learning about the tools offered on an EFB is not mandated at any level of certification. One only has to discuss it with the DPE if they bring it to the test, right? Because certainly that would be an off-limits discussion if the student didn’t bring one, right? If you think so, you probably need to reread the ACS.

In my opinion, an instructor that doesn’t prepare a new pilot to effectively use the tools offered in a modern EFB, which include displays of traffic, weather, and a host of other information that can be updated in-flight using ADS-B In, well, that instructor has done a disservice to their student. I’m not advocating that an instructor teaching a Private student exclusively on an iPad, or even that the technology must be used at all. Instead, however, shouldn’t the instructor at least introduce the student to an EFB, discuss the pros and cons, and help the student understand the risks and benefits of using an EFB? Or should we just teach on paper charts, and let that student learn all the lessons presented in this thread regarding dead batteries, overheating, software conflicts, etc, on their own while flying along at 120knots right through the training area (where you are teaching another neophyte to ignore technology)?


I operate a rather high tech aircraft, everything from AHARS to AOAs to ADSB, onboard radar etc, I've been around tech my whole life, use a EFB near daily, I'm typing this message actually from my iPad and sending through my DDWRTed router and through OpenVPN, this same iPad both runs my foreflight pro as well as software I use to wirelessly connect to a wifi sounder and make bathymetric charts for seaplane ops in uncharted rivers and ponds, I can speak tech quite well.

That said for teaching a VFR pilot, letting them build solid foundation on the bare fundamentals is critical, it would be like letting your grade school student use a calculator for all his math work from the start and later scratching your head when he can figure out how much money he's going to be spending for what's in his shopping cart.

Can you disable GPS on a iPad, sure, can you also tell the students that they can have their calculators but you better not turn them on, yeah.

Thing is for the foundation work just giving them a damn $8 sectional chart and bare bones legal panel will make them a better pilot. I trained folks in G1000s, I trained them in 7ECAs with bare bones VFR instruments, one radio and no transponder, the 7ECA guys could jump into a G1000 172, read a manual, play with it on a GPU for a hour or so and be just fine, just as they could learn foreflight easily, coming going from the other side however, and transitioning on over to a basic 7ECA with a folded sectional, for some reason that doesn't seem to be as smooth and effortless.


Modern avionics make flying safer. Period. Given the fairly not so spectacular safety record for general aviation historically anything that enhances safety should be embraced. Flying is very complex and requires attention being divided between numerous critical tasks. iPad, GPS, iPhones, etc help lighten the workload. If a DPE fails my GPS system and then my iPad, then my iPhone has some capabilities too to get me where I want to go.

The key is having some redundancy there and for example, bringing a charger. I’m still a student pilot and although I can totally plot a course on a paper chart and use an e-6b for planning and making a NavLog, it is these days unnecessarily time consuming. I’ll never use it again after my checkride. That being said, I don’t think learning how to do it is a waste of time.

My 2 cents!
FWIW

No.

Pre solo spin training, full stall training, falling leaf stall training, cross wind and tailwind training, makes you a safer pilot
Proper MENTAL situational awareness makes you a safer pilot
Real soft field and short field training makes you a safer pilot
Knowing how to slip and using it makes you a safer pilot
Being able to function with nothing but the bare bones, being able to navigate not only without a app, or a charger but without any electrical power, that makes you a safer pilot

Most of the accidents wouldn't have been prevented with a app or a gizmo, most of them can be tracked down to very old and fundamental screw ups.

The tech is great, but it's only a add on to the above fundamentals, and there is a reason good instructors only introduce that stuff later after they know the student has a rock solid foundation. You should be able to keep peeling back layers and when you come to that core or should be solid.
 
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Rational minds can disagree - I, for one, don't necessarily want to be "safer", I want to enjoy flying. I also think I'd prefer to train with the tools I'd be using for real, like an iPad/EFB. People aren't as stupid as you may think - train 'em that the electrons may fail, and to know how to use alternatives. But if the student will be using an EFB after the PPL checkride, then incorporate it from the beginning - knowing how to use it doesn't preclude knowing how to use the alternatives. I doubt I'd cancel a local VFR flight because my iPad died and I didn't have a chart - I have a panel mount, and I know the DC Class B and FRZ geography very well, as I've been looking out the window for some decades.

I doubt I'm alone in not doing paper flight planning or using an E6B - I'm flying a C-172, not a fast complex machine. I have VORs and comm radios. I imagine I could get lost, but it'd take some real work. . .
 
Rational minds can disagree - I, for one, don't necessarily want to be "safer", I want to enjoy flying. I also think I'd prefer to train with the tools I'd be using for real, like an iPad/EFB. People aren't as stupid as you may think - train 'em that the electrons may fail, and to know how to use alternatives. But if the student will be using an EFB after the PPL checkride, then incorporate it from the beginning - knowing how to use it doesn't preclude knowing how to use the alternatives. I doubt I'd cancel a local VFR flight because my iPad died and I didn't have a chart - I have a panel mount, and I know the DC Class B and FRZ geography very well, as I've been looking out the window for some decades.

I doubt I'm alone in not doing paper flight planning or using an E6B - I'm flying a C-172, not a fast complex machine. I have VORs and comm radios. I imagine I could get lost, but it'd take some real work. . .

Exactly at 110kts what do you need a EFB for?

I mean wouldn't it take you a day to even travel from the front to the back of a sectional ;)
 
I operate a rather high tech aircraft, everything from AHARS to AOAs to ADSB, onboard radar etc, I've been around tech my whole life, use a EFB near daily, I'm typing this message actually from my iPad and sending through my DDWRTed router and through OpenVPN, this same iPad both runs my foreflight pro as well as software I use to wirelessly connect to a wifi sounder and make bathymetric charts for seaplane ops in uncharted rivers and ponds, I can speak tech quite well.

That said for teaching a VFR pilot, letting them build solid foundation on the bare fundamentals is critical, it would be like letting your grade school student use a calculator for all his math work from the start and later scratching your head when he can figure out how much money he's going to be spending for what's in his shopping cart.

Can you disable GPS on a iPad, sure, can you also tell the students that they can have their calculators but you better not turn them on, yeah.

Thing is for the foundation work just giving them a damn $8 sectional chart and bare bones legal panel will make them a better pilot. I trained folks in G1000s, I trained them in 7ECAs with bare bones VFR instruments, one radio and no transponder, the 7ECA guys could jump into a G1000 172, read a manual, play with it on a GPU for a hour or so and be just fine, just as they could learn foreflight easily, coming going from the other side however, and transitioning on over to a basic 7ECA with a folded sectional, for some reason that doesn't seem to be as smooth and effortless.




No.

Pre solo spin training, full stall training, falling leaf stall training, cross wind and tailwind training, makes you a safer pilot
Proper MENTAL situational awareness makes you a safer pilot
Real soft field and short field training makes you a safer pilot
Knowing how to slip and using it makes you a safer pilot
Being able to function with nothing but the bare bones, being able to navigate not only without a app, or a charger but without any electrical power, that makes you a safer pilot

Most of the accidents wouldn't have been prevented with a app or a gizmo, most of them can be tracked down to very old and fundamental screw ups.

The tech is great, but it's only a add on to the above fundamentals, and there is a reason good instructors only introduce that stuff later after they know the student has a rock solid foundation. You should be able to keep peeling back layers and when you come to that core or should be solid.


Practicing those things makes one a safer pilot, no disagreement there. As does having modern avionics. I didn’t say anything about ignoring the piloting skills.
 
Exactly at 110kts what do you need a EFB for?

I mean wouldn't it take you a day to even travel from the front to the back of a sectional ;)
True, true. . .it's mostly a chart, except when x-ctry; then I usually file, and then it's an IFR crutch/convenience - love those geo-referenced approach plates!
 
Exactly at 110kts what do you need a EFB for?

I mean wouldn't it take you a day to even travel from the front to the back of a sectional ;)

James, I have to take issue with your statements cited above. You are a prolific poster on this forum, and you often make cogent observations that are interesting and insightful. (I looked through your threads for a bit). And indeed you may be technologically proficient, and you may be a great pilot with solid stick and rudder skills. You may event be a great instructor for the basic skills of flight.

But I take issue with how you seem to have chosen to dig in your heels in this discussion, expressing your disdain for any other viewpoint than your own. Sundancer is 100% correct - technology can make us "safer" (I'll keep the quotes because we could debate what safer means but that is a different topic). I have no idea where you live or fly, but it must be a wonderful place, full of courteous aviators that move out of your way, tremble in fear, and bow to show their respect as you approach. Perhaps you fly in some lightly populated airspace where the nearest control tower is two states away. Good for you! Wherever you are based, I'm guessing it isn't the type of environments found in Southern California, Florida, in the NorthEast near the SFRA around DC, or any other heavily populated airspace, because if you did, you'd have read the posts in this thread and thought about what capabilities EFBs and other aviation technology can actually offer to improve the safety of flight. It's abundantly clear you have not.

In this instance - TRAFFIC comes to mind. Where I live, when I depart from my Class D airfield on a nice, sunny VFR day, I don't get to wander off and comfortably count on "see and avoid" out the window while using a paper chart to keep me safe. My home field is surrounded by Class B, a permanent TFR, restricted areas, MOAs, three training areas, and 6 other airfields all within 30 NM. It isn't unusual to be "Number 5" or even "Number 7" in the traffic pattern, or to have 15+ ADS-B targets painted on the EFB chart in my cockpit, even when the 15 NM / 3000 foot vertical filter is engaged. So yes, I can legally fly with a paper chart and little else, but in my view that isn't a bright thing to do given the amount of traffic transiting the area. The ADS-B traffic display on my EFB helps me know where to look, and allows me to initiate subtle clearance maneuvers to avoid traffic that I can't see out the window despite looking as diligently as I can.

A student here on his first solo can be expected to make that wonderful first flight in airspace shared with business jets, helicopters, P-51 Mustangs and T-6 warbirds doing overhead approaches, instrument students flying the ILS, and a myriad of other challenging situations. But certainly, let's not confuse that poor student pilot by providing them with a tool that helps them visualize what's going on around them.

Your posts makes it appear that while you probably are aware that other pilots operate in a huge variety of environments, you know better, and you pronounce that one doesn't need an EFB at 110kts. Were you kidding? If you meant to amuse - it isn't really amusing. It's just pedantic, and perfectly exemplifies the Anti-Authority attitude taught in the FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (page 2-5). The EFB business is growing to become a $5.6 billion dollar industry by 2020, and the $$ spent on other technologies dwarfs that amount, but I guess there are a lot of dumb aviators out there writing those checks. The trend to adopt technology into aviation be damned - James knows better. I hear the FAA is looking for a new permanant Administrator - perhaps you should apply.

For clarity, I agree with your point that a pilot needs to be proficient in the basics, and how to navigate without electronic devices. In fact, it appears that Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's flight department does too. I went to their website and found that while the use of EFBs is strongly encouraged and embedded into their Part 141 training syllabus, students are mandated to also carry a paper chart with them. So if you are an instructor that makes certain your students have rock-solid skills for aircraft control - good on you! However, your posts are concerning, as they seem to make it clear little interest in preparing your students for the real world of aviation they'll experience after they come out from under your wing. Do you teach them how to use the tools they almost certainly acquire the week after their Private checkride?

In the same line of thought, and responsive to your posts above, did you ever think there might be a reason that "Pre solo spin training, full stall training, falling leaf stall training" isn't in the ACS? The reason is simple - instructors and students tend to die when those training operations don't go exactly as planned. So in a careful analysis of risk versus benefit, those requirements were modified or removed. But sure, if you are a super-pilot, you certainly can teach your student to do full stalls. I did them, and found that to be a useful experience. But that isn't the ruleset we operate under these days. A major point of training is to keep pilots and passengers alive, and the reason the PTS was modified during the development of the Private Pilot ACS so the student begins recovery at the stall horn is because THAT IS EXACTLY what the FAA wants a pilot to do when flying normal operations. I think few seasoned pilots would argue that a new pilot with 40-60 hours of experience is just beginning to learn. The contents of a training program mandated across the country must balance many factors, and I think the ACS will continue to be adapted as we learn more and more. But it is the "law of the land" that we all live under at present, so in my view it is better to embrace it and improve it than it is to simply reject it in favor of some notion of one lone instructor who's got a better plan... Your posts lately make it seem that you are striving to be that argumentative contrarian that has it all figured out, waiting for the rest of us to catch up with you.

Best wishes and safe flying.
 
Bubba G well said
 
Great post Bubba.

As the OP, I feel like I need to reiterate and clarify some things. I did say, first and foremost, I do not rely on the iPad, but it's obviously a nice to have. I was mainly looking for anyone's recent experience when specifically talking about a checkride. Also looking for a good backup plan. A few people have made great recommendations, thanks.

Now when it comes to flying with an iPad, I resisted it for the longest time. It wasn't until my second dual cross country where my CFI dropped his iPad on lap and said, "keep an eye out for LAX bravo airspace" where I realized how much easier it is to visualize airspace with that simple tool. It relived some stress of drifting into bravo & ATC giving constant instructions and allowed me to focus on flying and navigating. It gave me ATIS frequencies as I approached airports. The littlest things helped me manage my workload and let me focus on flying, which made me alot safer. As I became more comfortable with flying I relied less and less on it. If it failed, could I get myself home/to the next stop? Absolutely. There are a lot of tools available to me, following the coastline, VORs, GPS, asking ATC for some help.

I fly out of a Class Charlie that overlaps with LAX Bravo, tons of traffic, TFRs, and other overlapping airspace. Hell, on my last solo XC a 737 took off as I was joining downwind, and as I turned base a 757 was cleared to land behind me, all while I was asked to do a short approach and the parallel runway had 5-6 GA guys doing laps. I do not want to be reliant on my iPad as much as the next guy, but I'll use every tool at my disposal to manage my workload and be a safer pilot. I'm at 43 hrs and ready to take my checkride, hopefully taking it by the end of the month.
 
Sparse airspace as well as places like NYC and BOS, and at work people do actually get out of my way half the time lol

But you misunderstand I'm all for tech and EFBs, just not until the person builds a solid foundation without it first.

I'm not digging my heels in, you just haven't convinced me of your point.

Ether way, blue skies
 
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This has to be a generational thing. I imagine that when paper charts first came out, the old timers must have expressed alarm over what would happen if the chart flew out the window. How would anyone navigate then?

I have been a pilot for 20+ years, and while I do love the tremendous advancement in cockpit technology during that time, I have also noticed an increasing rate of head down time in the cockpit. I have to often remind myself why I fly. I like to look down and watch the world from above. Its just not the same thing looking at a screen. I could do that while sitting at my home computer for a tiny fraction of the cost.
 
Good point about "heads down" time. I think that is a very valid concern, and one that a CFI should discuss not only with new student pilots, but at BFRs and other opportunities with those of us already holding a certificate.

One would think that age is a huge factor in how we each choose to adopt new technology. In some cases, research has shown that it does. But in the general aviation pilot population, not so much. There is research that shows age has surprising little effect on pilot decisions regarding voluntary-use technologies like EFBs. That research is not comprehensive, but interesting.

However, while it hasn't been studied specifically in the context of aviation (to my knowledge), there is a thing called resistance to change that may be helpful in understanding why some pilots get into new technology, and others do not. Resistance to change is conceptualized as an enduring psychological trait that transcends situational antecedents - that is it is a part of the makeup of our personality and affects our behavior in many of the situations and activities we do. According to theory***, each individual has some level of resistance to change, and that resistance derives from the individual's levels on at least six sub-traits: a) reluctance to lose control; b) cognitive rigidity; c) lack of psychological resilience; d) intolerance to the adjustment period involved in change; e) preference for low levels of stimulation and novelty; and f) reluctance to give up old habits.

Now THAT describes some of the pilots we've all met that naysay anything that forces them to change their habits, doesn't it? In my personal experience, while I've met a few "well-seasoned" pilots that aren't supportive of new technology, it has actually been quite refreshing to be at a pancake breakfast and sit with pilots in their 70s and 80s that have their iPhones and iPads out checking weather and debating the advantages of various bits of gear for their airplanes to enable safer flight. So I think what we see in these discussions isn't so much a function of age, but more a function of how each of us has a different comfort zone for adapting to changes, whether those changes are in the weather we face while flying, the changes in technology, or changes in the rules we have to follow as we pursue aviation.

(***For those that are interested - a good read on the theory of resistance to change is "Resistance to Change: Developing an Individual Differences Measure" by Shaul Oreg. He published it in 2003 in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Volume 88, Number 4, on pages 680-693.)
 
Has there been an uptick in accidents due to EFB use, or distracted “heads down” flying?
 
I haven't seen any data with definitive conclusions for either "heads down" time in general, or specifically EFB use. Establishing causation is tricky business due to the huge number of factors that lead to an accident or incident, and those factors act as confounding variables in any quantitative analysis, and it's difficult to gather qualitative data that would support such a conclusion on a topic like this. But that doesn't mean that increased "heads down" time isn't occurring, and in the "see and avoid" environment of VFR flight - that isn't a trend we ought to encourage. That's why I think it is a worthy topic for discussion in recurrent training as part of a prudent pilot's risk management planning.
 
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