For those suffering from insomnia, the following sermon should help solve that problem.
__________________
Kim's posts about her experiences, mental lapses, mistakes and misadventures with the radio and ATC are illustrative of (some of) the problems faced by new PPL's, as well the non-element of our current system that creates the opportunities for these problems to occur and the odds that they probably will. In spite of the screw-ups in some areas, she seems to be doing reasonably well in others based on her dad's critical assessment of her performance. Maybe she will continue to improve, and based on her willingness to openly admit her problems and seek advice, I think that will be the case. For many other young pilots who assume they have it all figured out and are suddenly experts based on their new wallet-load of FAA plastic, the story will be different.
Kim’s problem pattern isn't unique, and it's not her fault that she's stumbling with some of the things that in theory (at least based on the FAA's licensing process) shouldn't be happening to a well-trained private pilot. So why are these things happening to her? Is she the only one that is struggling with some of these things, or just the only one who is willing to admit them and ask for advice in order to improve? Why are Doc and other new pilots hesitant to fly into Class anything airspace? Why can’t another pilot compose and transmit a non-garble to Unicom? Why won't licensed pilots ever practice stalls or any maneuvers that require more than 20 degrees of bank once they have completed the check ride? Why are low-level cross-control stall-spins such a prominent factor in fatal accidents? Where's the disconnect?
Gruber’s post touched directly on an important aspect of the problem and indirectly referenced another. The first is that instructors don’t have sufficient time to create a perfect (or even polished) pilot, even if they knew how to do so (which could the subject of another long thread) or to correct/refine all of the areas where improvement would be beneficial to the student. As a result, it’s a given that the newly-minted PPL’s will have some rough edges that will hopefully be smoothed up by experience and exposure, because our system does not provide for any further training that could be valuable and/or meaningful during the transition from “a student pilot who just passed the check ride that entitles him/her to fly without supervision while carrying passengers” to a pilot who is actually trying to fly an airplane on their own and without the mother-hen attention and micro-management of a CYA-motivated CFI.
So here’s the disconnect. Our system does not provide for or require any additional training after the ink is dry on the temporary certificate. The DPE and the Newb’s pilot friends all sagely offer the bromide that “now you’ve got a license to learn” but none of them provide any specifics as to how that additional knowledge (whatever it is) should be obtained. Nor does our system require or mandate such, and pilots are not known for their willing acceptance of suggestions or recommendations for improvement, especially if time, effort, money, study or thought is involved.
So in a nutshell everybody who is at a higher level than the Newb is telling them they need to know more than they know now, but nobody will provide a roadmap to do it. So if she’s like most pilots, Kim’s acquisition of this seemingly vital knowledge will be obtained in some helter-skelter hit-or-miss trial-and-error word-of-mouth old-wives-tale fashion that is suspect at best and potentially fatal at worst. Unfortunately, that’s the case with most other young pilots too.
Unlike the military, airlines and most 135 operations, GA does not provide or require any apprenticeship or mentorship opportunities for real-life operations. Instead, the Newb PPL is left to his own devices to analyze his/her weaknesses and seek the solutions. There’s no requirement that they spend any time watching somebody else to it, or to ever spend even a minute in the right seat of their own airplane or any other airplane seeing how it could be done better than they have muddled through developing their own methods. If Kim could ride with Gruber for a few trips, or if she were required to obtain some initial operating experience (IOE) in actual day-to-day flying prior to carrying passengers, she would see and hear enough good stuff to last a lifetime and work off some of the rough edges.
The reason I know this stuff is because I’ve been doing it in one form or another for 50+ years from both sides of the teaching/learning and re-learning spectrum and have seen the results. I’d like to say that I was one of the naturals for whom everything came easy and that my performance set the curve for others, and would do so except that:
1. Nothing could be further from the truth.
2. Somebody who knew me “back when” might see this post and expose the fraud.
Truth is, I had been a PPL for 10+ years and had accumulated a few hundred hours including some long cross-country trips before I was exposed to the invaluable training that showed me how it should be done and has stood me in good stead for the ensuing years. This training wasn’t required, wasn’t part of a plan, and wasn’t something that I felt was particularly needed, since everything had gone pretty well for quite a while and I was comfortable that I was doing it well, based on:
1. My limited knowledge at the time.
2. The fact that I’d never seen anyone else do it.
My first venture into lease/ownership was in a Mooney 20F Executive owned by a young TWA captain. When we made the deal, I had quite a bit of PIC time in both Mooneys and Bonanzas, and met the qualifications of his insurance policy. His opening statement was that “rather than a check-out, I’d like for you to ride right-seat for a few trips with me prior to taking off on your own. The trips will be at my expense and to places I need to go, but I want you to see how I operate the plane and fly the trips, in hopes that you’ll know how I’d like for it to be done.” Based on his demeanor, I didn’t think any other option was available, so we did it.
I’ll never forget my impression of seeing him do things so smoothly and his ability to stay ahead of the airplane, do things on a timely basis (why wait until descent to listen to ATIS) communicate succinctly and smoothly, and the orderly and seemingly effortless methods that he employed to make the flights a “piece of cake.” For the first time, I became aware of the of the value of just sitting and watching things happen, to be able to ask questions about things I didn’t know or couldn’t figure out, and to do all that without having any brain cells tied up with flying the airplane.
Having seen the benefits of such exposure, and having incorporated them into my own routines, and long before I was a CFI, I made a habit of offering the right seat to friends and acquaintances who had become pilots but hadn’t had the opportunity to fly many actual trips as PIC. Many of them had the same reaction that I did when first exposed to a better way to do things, and I wish that all pilots could/would obtain such experience. Needless to say, whenever I check out a pilot in a new-to-him airplane, his first hour is spent in the right seat.
I can log in, see the students I've already mentored, see tips on mentoring, etc. Where do you see an "unavailable" message, because I hope to sign up another student this week, and don't want to send them there if it isn't functioning.