"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in
:


"Richard Russell" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 10:46:12 -0700, "Tom Sixkiller"
wrote:


"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Tom Sixkiller wrote:

"Richard Russell" wrote in message
...

Hopefully, this is an isolated incident.

Hopefully it isn't.

Why?

Because when these things are "free", like everything else, you get
what
you
pay for.



I disagree. When we say free, in this context, we're talking about
free to the end user (the pilot). If these seminars are part of the
FAA's mission or mandate and they are funded they have the potential
to be of some value. I have taken something away from everyone that
I have attended.

Okay...but similarly, I was offered a free seminar like that for
driving (by my insurance company). It was totally worthless, akin to a
high school drivers ed class.

A class that was worthwhile was the Bondurant School....but it was
$1500.

For flying, the Bonanza Pilot Performance Program is worth spending
some $$$.

I find that free government seminars are more bureaucratic "number
crunching", but then maybe this is that one in a thousand that isn't.






Price can be, but is not always, an indicator of quality. One of the
best Wings seminars I've attended was on icing. It was given by one of the
NASA scientests who worked on icing research at NASA's John H. Glenn
Research Center at Lewis Field. One bonus of attending was they
distributed the NASA In-Flight Icing Training for Pilots DVD and CD-ROM for
free. (You can also buy this from Sporty's for the $5.00 distribution cost
and you are expressley permitted to copy and distribute it.) There was no
charge for this Wings safety seminar and SONY donated the use of their
state-of-the-art A/V demonstration conference facility to hold it.

The Wings safety seminar which led to my original question was on
flying a sight seeing tour through the local class B airspace. I've been
to several of these (all free) and always pickied up good tips and pointers
at each one. The best one was free w/refreshments and had an ATC
controller presenting who both worked at a local tower AND was a private
pilot. He was able to give us the perspective from both sides of the
microphone.

A few years ago, when the FAA still had some money, they would sponsor
all day Wings safety seminars. One was at the county convention center.
Again, this was free for attendees, even though some of the speakers were
paid and the convention center was not free. Two of the better
presentations were one on fuel management and fuel reserves given by an
United Airlines captain and one on weather interpretation by a local TV
weatherman (who was also a meteorologist and a pilot).

I'm sure the Bondurant school was outstanding. But, when you found
out about it, was it advertised in context with free driving seminars, or
was it clearly advertised as having a fee?

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)