Are pilots really good or just lucky???

On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 18:31:31 GMT, zatatime wrote:

On 7 Dec 2004 09:55:51 -0800, "Michael"
wrote:

I know at least one who loves to fly, but realizes he
doesn't have what it takes to be a pilot (IMO correctly).


What is tihs Top Gun? I've known someone blind in one eye who was a
good pilot, and various people who are scared of their own shadow who
are good pilots.

After this many years I can truly say I've met a lot of people who
would never, or could never become pilots. I've seen pilots lose
their judgmental capability, but they thought they were doing fine.
One guy ran out of gas three times and had off airport landings in
just a couple of months. Totaled the airplane on the third one.

I've seen students who just could not multitask enough to safely fly
an airplane *except* when every thing went right. Throw in an
emergency and they'd either panic or just give up.

I saw one student get too low on final, give it too much gas, over
corrected for that and turned the 150 into a lawn dart. Put shoulders
in the wings at the struts. Now that's not much of an indicator by
itself. Every one makes mistakes. He went on to get his PPL and did
well. However, one day less than a year later, he did pretty much the
same thing with a 172. He quite flying.


I also know brash people who aren't affraid of
anything and may be an accident waiting to happen, but they know how
to control an airplane.

And people like that should not be let near an airplane.

There are even parapalegics who are pilot's!
Certainly and the few I do know have great judgmental ability.


Knowing how to control an airplane does not make a pilot.
Being able to handle the airplane and yourself in adverse conditions,
while making decisions under pressure does.

Given so many different ways to excercise your priviledges, I just
don't understand what it means to "not have what it takes to be a
pilot."

If you stick around long enough you will. :-))

He may not fly from California to Maine, but I'm sure given
enough time he could learn to aviate effectively and perform emergency
procedures profficiently as a local pilot.

Learning the procedures is the easy part. When the *proper* responses
become automatic you are well on the way.

Now more than ever with a
Sport license, maybe this is his ticket to get in the air.

I think the Sport Pilot is a good idea, but there is a reason they
limit the seating capacity to two and the airspeed as well as weight.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


z