Student pilot, 2 hours dual given, Piper Cub, goes out to
practice taxiing on a paved uncontrolled airport. Wind is
calm at 9:30 AM, at 9:45 the wind picks up to 20G35.....
you be the judge about student pilot skill.

Same conditions, except Cessna 152, student pilot still is
in trouble.

The skills needed to safely taxi an airplane include weather
and forecasts, control positioning, having the wing tips and
tail miss contacting other airplanes, not killing people who
may walk into the area, radio monitoring and perhaps
talking, hand, foot and eye coordination....

Airplanes designed by Ted Smith use nosewheel steering, but
not in a standard way, some are steered by electrical
switches mounted on the panel, some by holding the rudders
still and tapping the brakes. Some planes have steerable
tailwheels, some have toe brakes and some have heel brakes.
Learjets, Beechjets and Boeings are different too.

If a student pilot needs "practice" in the "simple art of
taxiing" they need a CFI present until they are ready to
solo.
see http://www.aviationsafetymagazine.com/sample/taxi.html
for a eye-opener which also opened a fuel tank.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.




"Cub Driver" usenet AT danford DOT net wrote in message
...
| On Fri, 7 Apr 2006 12:36:20 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
| wrote:
|
| You can't get a little pregnant, neither can you almost
fly
| an airplane
|
| Actually, that's exactly how the French taught flying in
WWI, and
| therefore how most American pilots learned to fly. They
employed a
| "Penguin" that could taxi but not fly. You got in, taxied
like crazy
| across a field, turned it around, and the guy on the other
side
| stepped in and taxied back, and so on until everyone had
had a turn.
|
| I suppose the idea was to save money and not have the
student pilots
| tie up an actual airplane (and risk pranging it) while
they learned to
| taxi -- a considerable skill in a taildragger.
|
|
| -- all the best, Dan Ford
|
| email: usenet AT danford DOT net
|
| Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
| Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
| In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com