Bandit12

Boingk, I get a sense from your rather evident sarcasm and somewhat morbid scenario that you are unwilling to allow for any grey, preferring a black or white approach. That's all well and good in theory, but doesn't happen to fit well with reality. So we have established that you will never allow yourself to get into a sticky situation, particularly when it comes to control failures or bad weather. Great work, but I'm afraid that I'm not at your level of competence, and I am sure that there are many others (not just me) who are happy to admit that they also have gone up (after getting a properly considered wx report), only to find that things are a bit more marginal than expected. When it comes to stalling in a turn, it would be great if we could all avoid it as you plan to do. But flying isn't black and white. I've said it before, all that is needed is one distraction or preoccupation (I know, I know, you don't get them because you planned ahead better), or heaven forbid, encountering windshear turning final which may cause you to get uncomfortably close to a stall at less than 30 degrees AOB (I know, I know, you would have been aware of the wind conditions and carried an extra 20 knots to cover that). Please excuse my sarcasm in return, but this is the Student Learning area and not everyone reading this has necessarily got a really good grasp of what is happening in a turn. All this thread has really highlighted is that there is a lot of confusion about flight at the lower end of the envelope, especially regarding stall speeds and turns and "unloading". I suspect that a number reading may not even quite get what unloading is, or why it affects stalling. Perhaps one of our more experienced members like Nev may like to start a new thread on unloading, or DJP from an aerobatics instructor perspective may be able to explain it better.

I've got a very similar photo from my trip to the Boneyard last year. One day I will get around to putting some pictures up!

Interesting choice of language. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have never heard that phrase spoken in Australian aviation circles. I have, howver, seen it written many times in books written by American test pilots and military pilots from the 50s through to the 70s. So perhaps the guy has gleaned some of his "knowledge" from old autobiographies. The rest of it reads like your typical conspiracy theorist.

That's a bit raw, Turbo.....

Right on the money Phil - we use words like "stupid" to describe people who have been "smart" enough to earn the money to pay for lessons, have picked up the physical skills while doing so, and demonstrated an adequate knowledge of the theory to pass a test (in most countries I guess) before getting a licence or certificate to fly. So they aren't "stupid". If you can answer the questions of why some people choose to use recreational drugs, why others choose to drink alcohol and drive, and others choose to smoke, then maybe we will get a little closer to answering why some pilots will take risks like these. Tunnel vision is definately a contributor - with a little outside pressure it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. "It won't happen to me" seems to be a fundamental human condition that affects most of us to some extent, at least in some areas of our lives. My lovely wife and I have a little sideline business in the motorcycle apparel game, and some people were generally concerned when I said that if you ride long enough, you will probably have an "off" at some time. Acknowledging that it can in fact happen to you is an important mindset to have. Some people fly along without a care in the world, and others are scanning for places for an emergency landing all the time. One will be a lot less shocked and probably more likely to have a good result than the other.

You just KNOW you're only a weekend pilot when. . . . . Lack of currency (at least three $s and three 00s spent in the last 90 days) keeps you grounded

I'm going to have to disagree with you boingk - you can avoid things all you like, take no unnecessary risks and demonstrate good airmanship, and still get caught out. Just because you are a "good pilot" doesn't mean you will do it right every time, won't ever get distracted or stressed, won't experience target fixation, won't lose situational awareness....... I'm no expert and no instructor, but I know how much better I felt from the day I started to learn about unusual attitudes.

I wonder sometimes whether some of the problems come from the lack of unusual attitudes recovery, as well as spin training. Not just your average stall training either, with the nose raised, power off and hold smoothly, but stalls in a descending turn, with the aircraft out of balance and a more sudden control movement (just like someone who quickly pulled a turn tighter to prevent an overshoot on finals). I know that I didn't learn these from the standard PPL curriculum, and I also question the value of an EMR course 10 years later if you haven't been practicing in the interim. I don't think it is as much a problem that people can get into a bad situation - you can't train people to be able to avoid all possibly bad situations all of the time. But when it happens and you don't have the skills to recognise what is happening and how to get out of it, your odds aren't going to look good.

So they blackmailed the poor bloke away from his right to take legal action against the local law enforcement for not having a clue what they were doing, and for subjecting him to unlawful detainment? Talk about scum. Perhaps someone more legally knowledgeable can set me straight here, but if the FAA couldn't find any fault with what he did, how can he be charged with anything? Especially breaching the peace in a glider!!! I know that things are a little jumpy since 9/11, but surely this could have been handled so much better.

One day Nev, you really have to share your aviation history with us all in a more complete sense. It really deserves it's own thread.

Been there and done that, hence my distaste for their ability to make what should be straightforward an absolute mess....I'm a big fan of the Visual Flight Guide, at least that is readable.

The 2 page pamphlet is fine - sending someone to the original documentation like CAAPs is just plain mean

Whatever you meant, that is a very attractive little aircraft

Yep, if you really don't like someone, point them in the direction of our official aviation governance documents.......

Best of luck with the campaign

You might need to get a wiggle on before Miss 9 has a growth spurt and can't fit

They do have a much smaller engine, but also are very light in comparison to an original Spit, and then scaled down. No armour or weapons also reduces the weight drastically. I haven't heard of any structural failures. About the only thing they really have in common with a Spit is appearance, underneath it is a totally redesigned aircraft. Condolences to the family and friends, as well as those who sadly had to witness it. Sounds like the classic stall/spin, but we may learn more in time.

....the macarena with other forum celebrities such as Andysodandy, Rodentus Maximus, and.....

And that is why I asked the question - what are the attributes of a good instructor? You could probably ask the same question of attributes of school teachers, scout leaders, sports coaches, driving instructors, and university lecturers, and end up with many of the same attributes.

You just know you're only a weekend pilot when...... in the last year, you put 10 hours in your logbook, 100 hours talking about flying to your mates, and 1000 hours on recreationalflying.com

Do you have blue eyes? Blue eyes are certainly much more photosensitive than brown, and I also get quite a shock of pain from bright lights on dark nights.

As the title says - let us hear it. This is not a whinge thread for all of the bad instructors, or even one to plug your favourite instructor. Tell us about what it is that you like to see in an instructor, or what it is that they do that really has helped you to learn. GAA/RAA/GFA/HGFA - it doesn't really matter what type of aircraft. I'll start with one point - my best instructors never told me about every mistake that I made, but helped me to learn to recognise and start to correct them myself.

....razzle dazzle of Turbsie's mardi gras platform shoes, which looked like......

Why expect more from a flying instructor? Be practical about just how much training they have in how to teach. Becoming a school teacher takes several years, becoming a university lecturer can take a few more years, and how much time is devoted to teaching instructors to teach? I know there is a "Principle Methods of Instruction" course, but just how far does it go towards developing the skills for teaching? And that is without even considering that some have very different motives for wanting to teach, and are more than happy to look at a student as a number of hours in their own logbook towards their next employment opportunity. Across 3 states and over about 15 years, I have had one awful instructor, a couple of low average ones, and the rest were outstanding. The absolute worst one was a former SAAF Mirage pilot - his attitude and the way he heaped abuse on students was terrible. I have had brand new Grade 3s who were really helpful and committed to teaching, as well as CFIs with over 20000 hours who had so much wisdom to share about the finer points. Just because someone is an instructor doesn't mean they will automatically be better or worse than the average bloke on the street. I've had a good run of instructors, the person mentioned at the start of this thread has had a bad run. It happens. And as far as coppers, plenty of the ones who never deal with wife beaters have bad attitudes, and some of those who deal with wife beaters still manage to treat people respectfully every day. You will find it in all people, across all jobs. More people need to share their good experiences and recommend good instructors to their friends, and spend less time just bagging the ones that didn't work out.

Like bad experiences with coppers - most people have had one and tell everyone about it, but rarely tell the good stories.