murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
I had an interesting Saturday. Four of us in 2 aircraft decided to visit Goodland for lunch (FTG-GLD is about 140 nm). Got there, had a great lunch, and watched a C172 land. And then sit on the taxiway for quite a long time. A very long time.
Decided against the apple pie and walked back to the office to check weather and such and encountered a 20ish student pilot. Turns out the right main tire blew as it landed. The plane veered to the right and fortunately, the right main went into the mud but the other 2 wheels remained on the concrete. It was the student's long cross-country, by the way.
Needless to say student was very distraught, shaken up, really at a loss what to do. Numerous phone calls between the student and the CFI/school. Since I was not privy to those calls, I don't know either side of the discussion.
Since none of us had a compelling reason to return to Denver, we stayed to provide moral support and just because we were curious.
Upon observation of the tire in question, the center was slick, the hole was the size of a half-dollar, and was in both the tire and the tube. Three hours later a new tire & tube replaced, and we decided we'd fly back with the student. So the other aircraft & I flew back with the C172 in between (single file, about 2-3 miles between each of us).
Everyone got home safely, albeit much later than expected.
Observations --
1. the school/CFI allowed this C172 to fly with what was clearly an unacceptable tire
2. the student did not perform an acceptable pre-flight or they would have noticed the tire
3. while flying, the student did not understand how to tune a VOR and determine what radial they was on
4. When we suggested the most practical route home (it was hazy, flying into the sun so follow I-70 to a known location, turn south to the reservoir, then turn west which is direct line to KAPA) the student wanted a different route that took us south away from known landmarks.
5. Not familiar with the geography (which tells me they forgot to read the map) because we had to remind them a couple times about altitude.
This got me thinking. One thing I noticed was the shoes. Lightweight sneakers, hence the title of this missive.
Q1. You're lucky, you landed on pavement at an airport with a shop that could replace the tire. What if you had to land off-field? What are you gonna do?
A. I'd get out my cell phone and call XXX
Q2. No cell phone service, what are you gonna do?
A. Uhhhh
Q3. Are you going to walk in those shoes?
A. Uhhhh
This is a complaint against the way new students are trained. Yes, they train us (poorly) for emergencies. Ok, so I've got an emergency and managed to land the plane in some manner that lets me live. But what now? There's no training or even a conversation about what to do when it really happens!
Decided against the apple pie and walked back to the office to check weather and such and encountered a 20ish student pilot. Turns out the right main tire blew as it landed. The plane veered to the right and fortunately, the right main went into the mud but the other 2 wheels remained on the concrete. It was the student's long cross-country, by the way.
Needless to say student was very distraught, shaken up, really at a loss what to do. Numerous phone calls between the student and the CFI/school. Since I was not privy to those calls, I don't know either side of the discussion.
Since none of us had a compelling reason to return to Denver, we stayed to provide moral support and just because we were curious.
Upon observation of the tire in question, the center was slick, the hole was the size of a half-dollar, and was in both the tire and the tube. Three hours later a new tire & tube replaced, and we decided we'd fly back with the student. So the other aircraft & I flew back with the C172 in between (single file, about 2-3 miles between each of us).
Everyone got home safely, albeit much later than expected.
Observations --
1. the school/CFI allowed this C172 to fly with what was clearly an unacceptable tire
2. the student did not perform an acceptable pre-flight or they would have noticed the tire
3. while flying, the student did not understand how to tune a VOR and determine what radial they was on
4. When we suggested the most practical route home (it was hazy, flying into the sun so follow I-70 to a known location, turn south to the reservoir, then turn west which is direct line to KAPA) the student wanted a different route that took us south away from known landmarks.
5. Not familiar with the geography (which tells me they forgot to read the map) because we had to remind them a couple times about altitude.
This got me thinking. One thing I noticed was the shoes. Lightweight sneakers, hence the title of this missive.
Q1. You're lucky, you landed on pavement at an airport with a shop that could replace the tire. What if you had to land off-field? What are you gonna do?
A. I'd get out my cell phone and call XXX
Q2. No cell phone service, what are you gonna do?
A. Uhhhh
Q3. Are you going to walk in those shoes?
A. Uhhhh
This is a complaint against the way new students are trained. Yes, they train us (poorly) for emergencies. Ok, so I've got an emergency and managed to land the plane in some manner that lets me live. But what now? There's no training or even a conversation about what to do when it really happens!
