First Solo and Total Hours Flown

"mike regish" wrote in message
...
Part of the problem with the car analogy is that in a plane we are flying
through an unseen medium. Some people, I think can have a hard time
viscerally comprehending that. You cna see a road and any bumps in it.
Some can "see" the air pretty well and know what to expect, but some never
really develope that sense.

I don't think so. Most drivers aren't paying any attention to the road over
which they travel, and the basics of operating an airplane are easy enough
to master without considering at all the physical nature of the air through
which one flies.

I agree that this perception makes a difference in how good a pilot (or
driver) is. But it's not necessary, and many people in both activities
never develop that perception (though probably this failure occurs more
often for drivers than pilots). The car analogy works just fine...a person
who can be taught to drive can be taught to fly an airplane.

It might not be possible to make them a pilot, but they clearly have the
motor skills required for the basic control of an airplane.

I learned in a hang glider, and I think that helped me a lot with my PPL
since I was much more intimately aware of what the wind does. It really
needs to become instinctive. If you could teach some of these
"unteachables" in perfectly calm winds all the time, anybody who can
handle a car should be able to handle a plane. Just teach to the numbers.
Throw in some wind, which is almost always (if not always) present, and
their reactions aren't there.

But just as not being in "perfectly calm winds" causes problems for some
would-be pilots, so too will not being on "perfectly smooth roads" cause
problems for some would-be drivers. It really is the same issue, the main
difference being that the standard of qualification is lower for drivers,
and so we actually have "certificated drivers" who are not capable of safely
dealing with any road condition significantly different from clear and dry.

Just ask the millions of drivers here in the Seattle area who earlier this
week clogged our roads with vehicles improperly equipped for the snow
conditions, driven by drivers unqualified to operate in those conditions.

Most should get it at some point, but there may be a few who never will.

Agreed. But it usually has nothing to do with basic motor skills. There
are lots of people who are permitted to drive a motor vehicle who still
aren't suited for being a pilot.

Pete