When All Else Fails: Regulate

[Ira Heilveil]

One of the oldest clichés is that a pilot’s license is a “license to learn.” I deeply appreciate the ongoing training I avail myself of, as well as the early training I received in which certain fundamentals were drilled into my head. One of those was the mantra that, above all else, one must “fly the airplane.” That mantra is there because, when the fit hits the shan, pilots and humans in general forget the basics. Whether panic takes over completely, or one concerns oneself so much with problem-solving that one fails to focus on the simple basics of flying, the failure to self-regulate can have devastating consequences. http://cftblog.com/?p=1017

 

 

[facthunter]

Yes "Never stop learning" is something I believe in. Your initial training is basic and hopefully adequate for someone to start off with. No where near what would be considered complete or even adequate for demanding situations. Nev

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Is it more sensible to spend your time on staying on top of and expanding your skills or keeping up with the ever changing over regulation?

 

 

[Keith Page]

Good one "Regulate" or is this another name for a rule.

 

How often have we seen the fix which is " Fix it with a new rule".

 

I think ---- Good education would be a superior fix and has a better flow on effect.

 

Regards,

 

KP.

 

 

[farri]

More sensible to spend your time on staying on top of and expanding your skills!!!!!

 

Frank.

 

 

[SDQDI]

More sensible to spend your time on staying on top of and expanding your skills!!!!!Frank.

Also it is more fun, more beneficial, more relaxing, more fulfilling ect

 

 

[spacesailor]

Forget about flying!, Without the school work, your not allowed to fly.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[farri]

Education is the key to everything!

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Is it more sensible to spend your time on staying on top of and expanding your skills or keeping up with the ever changing over regulation?

Why can you not do both? Surely that would be the 'sensible' option!

 

 

[facthunter]

Regulation with out skills transfer isn't an answer. Keep it up and people will give up. Ticking boxes looks like "something" has been done, but in reality maybe little has been achieved. Train to pass a requirement only has no depth when done that way. You actually gave to know what you are doing. Nev

 

 

[turboplanner]

Why can you not do both? Surely that would be the 'sensible' option!

What an idea!

 

Of course you can do both, and you need to do both.

 

There are a few strident people on this forum who seem to believe that once you learn to successfully manipulate the controls and do some maintenance, then that's it.

 

This philosophy seems to come from people living out in the country, flying a basic aircraft and only flying on their own patch - the local paddocks or local training area.

 

The inference is they just want to fly, and don't need all the regulation crap.

 

They don't do radio, they don't do P&O, they don't do Navs, and they don't do Met.

 

They more or less approach flying the same as they approach mowing an acre with the lawn tractor.

 

That's fine, but they shouldn't condemn everyone else who may have to fly in some tricky corridors which may require being right on the ball with radio and positioning, or who may do cross-countries, where some of the routes may involve three distinctly different weather patterns, may have to load the aircraft to MTOW, balancing fuel and luggage, may have to plan some routes to meet their obligation not to fly over routes they can't land.

 

As an example that you may need a little more training than you think, I had been flying out of Moorabbin to and around the training area for nearly a decade without taking a map, and without bothering about fuel as long as I had the minimum hour and forty five minutes fuel. During that decade the weather was always flyable around the Moorabbin area even though I had been diverted elsewhere, so the brain more or less was ingrained to expect that if the weather was flyable on takeoff, you could go and do your thing for an hour and it would be flyable when you came home.

 

Then someone flew out of Moorabbin, a front came in behind him, and when he decided to come back the Tower told him the airport was closed. There was a colourful exchange between the two and the Tower told him to find another airfield. He knew of one not too far away, but in the murky conditions he needed a map he didn't have, and as he approached, he realised there wasn't enough visibility to continue to land, and he was well into his fuel reserve. So he turned back to Moorabbin, and now, with virtually no fuel, he was trapped. The Tower told him the airport was still closed and another round of expletives took place between the two ending when he told the Tower Controller to get stuffed, he was coming in, and somehow made it through the low visibility.

 

This example shows that even if you are taking off from your won paddock, you need to plan for and be able to get to at least one Alternate, and should carry a map. Hopefully, as has happened to me, you will get through a lifetime of flying without even needing it.

 

 

[facthunter]

Not a bad example of a "situation".. An aerodrome can always close, but IF there is nowhere else???? It still may be the BEST there is available to you. IF that's the case "require " it and argue later. Heated exchanges are not on either, so keep your cool.

 

I don't know what reserves other U/L or GA people use but I try to have over an hour's fuel in the tanks as a minimum unless there are many diversion options, one reason being you don't know if all the fuel is available unless you have done the check or you have a really good fuel system with a gascolator of reasonable size and design that guarantees you get the last drop. The best engine in the world performs no better than the worst when out of fuel.. Nev

 

 

[turboplanner]

Yes, it was resolved there was no need for the arguments, the pilot wasn't up to standard on the radio and could have solved the problem with a Mayday call (remember he had no map, and only a memory of where the other airfield was). Without that the Tower Operator was attempting to protect the pilot from the substantially lowered visibility around the airport.

 

 

[farri]

There are a few strident people on this forum who seem to believe that once you learn to successfully manipulate the controls and do some maintenance, then that's it.This philosophy seems to come from people living out in the country, flying a basic aircraft and only flying on their own patch - the local paddocks or local training area.

The inference is they just want to fly, and don't need all the regulation crap.

 

They don't do radio, they don't do P&O, they don't do Navs and , they don't do Met.

 

They more or less approach flying the same as they approach mowing an acre with the lawn tractor.

There may be some truth in your statement, but for now, I`ll just take it as your opinion!

 

Too many people, here and elsewhere, simply won`t accept, that those of us who started flying in the early days of the AUF, did so, to create a safe and affordable way of flying.... The flying everyone is enjoying today is due to those of us who got it all going, in the early days and are still helping to kept it going!.....There are those who would be more than happy to start a new organisation and get back to what it was, that a lot of us worked so hard to achieve.

 

"They don't do radio, they don't do P&O, they don't do Navs and, they don't do Met."

 

When are you and other like minded people going to get it, that there are those who don`t want to do all of that and they fly accordingly.

 

 

"They more or less approach flying the same as they approach mowing an acre with the lawn tractor."

 

That may be so, but, "they," may be better pilots than some others!

 

 

 

Before I stopped farming, I would go to farmers meetings and I`d look around the room and what I saw was a lot of guys, well past retirement age, and the only young ones there were those fresh out of Uni, working for some government department and telling the old farmers how to do it.

 

 

 

Has anyone bothered to look around at a gathering of RA-Aus pilots, lately?...Well I can assure you that there are mostly, guys who are coming up to their twilight years and I`m one of them.

 

 

 

In another thread I was told, " Rag and tube as it was 30 years ago is gone in this country forever be grateful (I am) that we are still allowed to fly the same types today."........ Does anyone really believe that there will be enough young people out there, who can afford to pay the ever increasing cost of obtaining an RA-Aus pilot certificate then buy one of the modern LSA, when the price for most new ones is closer to $200,000.00 than $100,000.00.

 

 

 

I was also told, "It is time to move on" ...... If it`s time to move on, how about some guidance as to where we`re moving to! If we don`t know where we are moving to, than I say, we are lost.

 

 

Frank. Edit: I`m satisfied with what I have and the way I do it! I`m not moving on to anything else....Never once have I tried to stop any regulation or the ever increasing demands from those who choose to fly LSA... I`ve always understood that anyone flying from public aerodromes, needs to adhere to the regulations governing those areas, All I`ve ever said and will continue to say, " Don`t expect everyone to accept an endless stream of demands, that don`t apply to them."

 

 

 

[TAA up-into-the-air]

Yep, just reminded of the AVMED effect, CVD and the pilot:

 

http://vocasupport.com/2015-changes-to-dame-handbook/