Taking newbies flying...

"Stefan" wrote

Have I got this right? You are not a flight instructor. (If you are, please
correct me.) Despite this, you hand over the controls to a stranger. To a
stranger nonetheless who sits the first time in his life in a small plane. And
you don't just hand over the controls at altitude (which admittedly I have
done myself), but right on the ground and you let him fly the take off. Then
you let him fly a 180 at low altitude. And all this *with a passenger in the
back*!

Yes, you screwed up royally. But for a different reason than you think.

What is the big F'en problem, here?

If the newbie happened to do it right, and it sounds like he did, there is no
problem. If he starts to get outside of the expected flight parameters, you
nudge and urge corrections, and if that doesn't work, you say "my plane."

Do you think that he could not tell if something was happening that was a trend
in the wrong direction? Do you think that everyone who takes the controls is
going to horse them, and screw up? If that were the case, there would be far
less new students. Perhaps that is the problem. People are so stuck on the
fact that flying is for supermen, and themselves, and nobody else deserves the
chance to prove themselves.

So what difference does it make, if he is a instructor or not. I'm willing to
place money on the fact that there are many people who are not certified flight
instructors that are way better teachers than many of the certified flight
instructors out there flying people and sometimes students with passengers
around the sky. How many people here, got to do the first takeoff that they
were in the plane, and the maneuvers following that, too? I'll bet over half
got to do the landing, with plenty of coaching and a few corrections, too.

I think your reaction is way, way over the top, on this one.

Remember the adage of many examiners, about predicting the students abilities,
and whether they will pass, or not? If you don't, it goes something like " I
can tell if the student will be able to fly, and pass, while the plane is still
being taxied out for takeoff."

So he was able to tell that the new person had a good feel for the plane, right
off the bat. It does not take a piece of paper with a bunch of initials on it
to be able to do that.

Good going, Allen. You may have just won another person over to our side.
--
Jim in NC