Bennyboy320 Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I really dont think it matters how may hours - everyone has a different learning rate. This is a great comment, don't get into a p#ssing competition with others at the flying school etc about when you went solo, the first word in our association is recreational, we fly for fun & have to remember that, so it doesn't matter how long it takes to progress as long as you're enjoying the challenges of flying, you are a self funded aviator, on the other hand if you are sponsored by the tax payer or an airline that's a cut throat & completely different world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Perry Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 My good friend Mike is now well over 40 hours and has not yet gone solo. ( EV97 Eurostar ) He is, however, philosophical about this, and until he can demonstrate consistently reasonable landings, . . . the instructor and aircraft owner is NOT going to take any risks. He is a bit inconsistent, to the extent that, following two virtually perfect arrivals,. . .the following one is all over the place like a starving dog's breakfast . . . Yet he REALLY WANTS to continue until he has it conquered. I'll be watching him again tomorrow morning. . . . . The instructor says that . . ."apart from the bit at the end. . . his flying is exemplary" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Perry Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Whilst we are on this most thought provoking thread, I had ( IMHO ) a VERY GOOD instructor in the very early 1970s, by the name of Alan Basket. The only thing I ever noticed that he did worong, was on my first solo (at Berwick Vic. in a Cessna - I had been uponmeown before in the UK ) he forgot to secure the right hand seat belt and left the buckle dangling outside the door when he shut it. This was exciting, as it made a lot of noise dingle dangling on the fuselage just after rotation. . with not enough room ( I thought ) to abort. I fixed it on landing and then took off again and did another 2 circuits, Alan said later that he had only meant me to do ONE ! . . . This instructor had already "alerted" me that he was happy with my flying and that he would be sending me solo if I was "Happy" to do this, following three perfect circuits. . . . ( I don't remember them being anywhere near "perfect" but he must've thought so ) I was taking a bit of a personal risk here, as neither my work nor Life insurance would cover me should I be killed whilst personally in command of a flying machine of any sort. . .I'm glad that SOME insurance companies have changed their risk perspective on this subject. A member of our Club once took a 5 year old lass up for a flight,. . . he was newly licensed, and during the 45 minutes or so that they were whizzing around the county taking pictures,. . . ( Trike BTW ) the wind had increased markedly, and the end result was that matey stalled his trike on very short final, the aircraft dropped flat onto the runway from around 30 feet, ( 10 m ? ) and the little girl suffered a broken leg, wrist and ankle, + multiple contusions. . .. The aircraft was completely destroyed. There was NO lawsuit and no bad press,. . . ! Lucky as passenger insurance was not mandatory, and he had not got it anyway. Only Third party property liability insurance was required, at a minimum of £150K. The man is VERY lucky he didn't lose his empire over that one. Following this the club had a strict rule that every pilot / owner had to show insurance annually to retain flying membership.. . .good rule that. . . That was in 1994. . . imagine what would have happened in today's litigous society ? As to taking up "Kids" . . . I, and many of my friends have been doing this for many years; as passenger insurance improved a long time ago in the UK, and I never flew with less than £2.5 million cover, even when you could get policies much cheaper for less than £1Mill. Nowadays this wouldn't do a lot of good if you happened to create a paraplegic out of a young professional person, and policies can cost a heck of a lot more now, and even then, it's never enough,. . they take your house away as well usually. We no longer fly ATC cadets, the RAF stopped us doing that, unless they removed their uniforms. . . . and what with all the child protection, anti pedalo legislation which abounds nowadays,. . . .if a young boy or girl ever asks me for directions in the street,. . . I scream and run away immediately. . . Happy days. . . .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billwoodmason Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Who are you DrZoos ? I'm intrigued by your read on issues related to RAA etc. Do you have a vested interest ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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