"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:PtlZf.9845$t22.1756@dukeread08...
Along these lines, of responsible actions, when I was
learning to fly, the FBO hired a farm boy with lots of
trailer and tractor experience as a lineboy. After an hour
of training they sent him to put the Illinois governor's
King Air 90 in the hanger by himself. He did a good job
except for the bi-fold door which stalled half way up. He
did put the fuselage in the hanger but removed the entire
vertical stabilizer and rudder.

Ouch!! I see a mighty tax increase in there somewhere I think :-)

My issue with all this is of course the responsibility transition issue
between the instructor and a student as that addresses the pilot in command
issue. I've always stressed this to instructors whenever I could. It
pertains to the use of the FAR terms definition for "pilot in command", and
actually, the use of anything in the FAR's for that matter, as being
anything but a bare minimum definition for the competence/responsibility
issue.
I like to see instructors teaching new pilots to view the FAR's as minimum
requirements; then take the student above that level of understanding in how
the student views himself/herself in relation to the regulations.
It's this line of thinking that causes me to find fault with an instructor
who would allow a 2 hour student to go out un supervised and taxi an
airplane.
Doing this in my opinion fogs the issue of pilot responsibility for the
student, who can now easily start to believe that responsibility for the
safety of an airplane can be assumed in steps....or gradually, as the case
may be.
I like to see instructors work up to a definite dividing line for the
transition of responsibility for the aircraft to the student. The student
should realize that there is a moment in time when he/she has been
determined to be competent enough to assume total responsibility for an
airplane and it's operation. This operation should be considered as the
TOTAL operation of the aircraft, and the moment the student assumes this
responsibility from the instructor, if the instructor has done a credible
job of teaching, the student will make that all important TOTAL transition
to accepting responsibility and thinking as "pilot in command".
For me, this moment should occur at solo and not before. In fact, I believe
every action taken by an instructor during the pre-solo stage should be
designed to bring the student to this all important mental transition to
thinking as pilot in command, and that moment occurs with the responsibility
transition made from the instructor to the student as solo is accomplished.
Dudley Henriques