"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"OtisWinslow" wrote in message
news

"EDR" wrote in message
...
It's about time the Feds require that all students must spend the first
20 hours of their training in taildraggers. It's the only way they are
going to learn propper control input on landings.

If these CFIs can't train people to properly fly a nose dragger, why
would there be any reason to believe they'd do any better in
a tail dragger. There'd just be more wrecks. I think whoever is training
these people needs a little recurrent training themselves.

There are some people who seem to think that modern flight instructors do
not know how to fly or that they are generally all incompetent. It is a
variant of the old "the next generation is going to hell in a handbasket"
attitude.

The fact is that when these old codgers learned to fly the instructors
really were generally incompetent. They let people solo after an hour and a
half of instruction, there were no standards, and nobody cared about
airspace, radio procedures, or aircraft systems. The accident rate in those
days was five times higher than what it is now. The FAA was threatening to
shut down GA for good.

Now these old-timers go in for their flight reviews and find that they don't
understand the things they should have learned when they first got into an
airplane. They don't know airspace, can't hold heading or altitude, and
their landings can best be described as controlled crashes. Their judgment
is terrible; they will take off into thunderstorms and fly broken airplanes.
Many of them are completely incapable of landing on a paved runway. They
don't like being criticized by people who could be their own grandchildren
and they don't think 'the kids' have anything to teach them. Most of all,
they don't want to face the truth -- they are incompetent pilots and always
have been.

So they like to say that instructors who don't fly tailwheels or do loops or
who don't do much instruction are better instructors. They blame the
instructors for the fact that they themselves can't fly and will never
learn. EDR's rant is very typical of these people.


Wow
That is quite an indictment towards us old gray haired guys. My
original instructor has a 6 digit license and still flies. He has
probably forgotten more than I'll know about aviation and much of what
he taught me is still valid.
During a recent flight review, the CFI wanted to pay me for the ride
after I showed him so many things that are not in the book or required
of new pilots.
I've made more mistakes than most but mainly because I got out there
in the tough world of ag and bush flying. The mistakes I made allows
me to teach new or lesser experienced pilots how to avoid those same
mistakes. They are free to learn their own! The regulations, radio
procedures, new avionics, additional restrictions on where and when we
can fly are all part of advancing technology. The flying is still the
same even when the aircraft are different. Many of the techniques that
are used in a J3 Cub are just as applicable to a slick turboprop or
jet.
As for the tail wheel discussions, I learned in tailwheel aircraft in
the 50's and now have someplace in the neighborhood of 8000 hours in
them with lots of it doing takeoff and landings. I've done a lot of
instructing in them as well and there is no doubt that the pilots who
learn to control tailwheel aircraft are much better with takeoffs and
landings than those who only fly trikes. It even shows in helicopters,
and yes I have a lot of time in them too. I kind of take it personal
when someone makes a blanket statement that us old gray haired guys
are incompetent and full of crap.
Ol Shy & Bashful 21,000+ and still going - CFI/IRAM Gold Seal