Gregg,

I totally agree with paragraphs 1 and 2, I think you lost your way in 3.
For day VFR pilots, and that's what students are until they start working on
night flying, the only instruments you need are a tacho, altimeter, airspeed
indicator, and a ball. If you have enough time in a machine later, you
don't even need most of those.

To me, most of the stuff inside the cockpit of a 152 is distraction from
learning to feel and fly the machine. You don't learn to drive by staring
at the tacho and speedometer. You look out the window, hear the engine, and
check your speedo every once in a while. Flying ought to be that simple in
the early stages.

Shawn
"gregg" wrote in message
...
ShawnD2112 wrote:


If I had to do it all over again, I'd learn in a Cub or a Taylorcraft at
a
little farm strip in the middle of nowhere, at least until time for my
QXC, then I'd move into a 152 with all the kit and learn how to talk to
people.

Hi Shawn,

I am in the middle of getting my taildragger endorsement - in a 1944 J-3
Cub. This baby was built for the Army and has the birdcage for the back
seat - great visibility. I find it outrageous fun. I got my PPL with 152's
and moved to Warriors after that. But this...so much more fun, more
challenging, in it's own way.

Doing this makes me wonder, at times, if students would be better off
starting out in something like a J-3. I think learning TD's makes me a
much
better pilot..because it's a J-3 with a narrower envelope than even a 152
or a Warrior; because TD flying takes "feel" - especially since you can't
always see what few instruments you have with a CFI in front...and what
few
you have don't include things like Turn and Bank and Artificial Horizons
or
vert speed, etc. so, for example, your eyes have to be on the horizon, in
turns.

All that's a benefit, as I say, but it might extend time to solo out, and
these days people like to progress quickly. So starting students out in
TD's might not be best overall. It might add too many complications at the
start. But oftentimes I wonder if it would be worth it.

--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm