On Mar 1, 2:42*am, WJRFlyBoy wrote:
"This is one of the funny things about flight training. Here is
something every pilot needs to know, but it is not in the PTS and most
instructors don't cover it. You get your certificate and they turn you
loose and you have absolutely no concept of how to turn flying into a
practical tool. And then people wonder why so many pilots quit flying
right after they get their certificate."

Another line item entry in a lengthening list of "The Differences Between
PPLicensing And Learning"

Instead of thinking about it as a list, I suggest you consider this
systematically. There is a connection between all the things you will
need to know, but probably won't learn. Once you understand the
connection, you should be able to find the holes in your training.
Here it is:

If it's not something an airline pilot NEEDS to know, then you
probably won't learn it - even if the flying you do requires it. The
reason is simple. Most flight schools are geared to training future
airline pilots. Most flight instructors come out of this training,
and with no other flight experience at all, begin to teach students.
There are a few exceptions, but not many.

Airline pilots don't need to learn about making arrangements for
fueling and storing the plane, getting transportation to the hotel,
organizing maintenance or making simple field repairs, evaluating the
suitability of various airports for various operations, developing (as
opposed to following) procedures and checklists, organizing the
necessary transition and recurrent training, determining what
equipment is necessary for a given operation, and a whole host of
other things. There is an entire organizational structure for that.
Now this is not to say that an airline pilot will not know these
things - he might, and some must (the people who develop procedures
and recurrent training curricula, for example, come frome the pilot
ranks) - but an airline pilot can go through his entire career and
retire as the captain of a 7x7 without ever learning these things, and
do just fine. Thus you won't learn these things if you don't make an
effort to seek them out.

Michael