15 Hour Wonders

On Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 3:27:58 PM UTC-5, Gary Wayland wrote:
On Sunday, December 8, 2019 at 7:22:28 PM UTC-5, Bob Youngblood wrote:
The FAA has made it possible for glider plots with very limited time to acquire a CFIG rating with only 15 hours of total glider time. This is truly an accident waiting to happen, what could a glider pilot actually know with such limited time? What do you think?

Any SEL pilot usually thinks he knows it all when transitioning to gliders. If a 15-hour CFIG can't follow the tow plane, then we have a real problem. The FAA was thinking 7 seven hours when they made the rules, then doubled it to make sure, IMHO... And the guys at the field know if the CFIG pilot is an accident waiting to happen. They don't need to look at hours flown. Some come with natural gifts that others don't have. Hours are to get that little piece of paper. The rest is up to the community to police it.

Florida was crazy to give me a learner's permit to drive my Honda 90 on the road!
And the cops would chase us as we drove our Go-karts and homemade mini bikes on the road.
We had a big dent in the dryer that was in the garage. Flying into the garage as the garage door slammed down was a frequent occasion. The dent was a testament to too little brakes as we crashed hiding from the law!

I was in an R22 that had a boom strike! Now that is another story! And still alive to tell the tale!

What is the old saying? If you walked away from it, it was a good landing....

I did take a ride with a CFIG once that smelled of alcohol. The best pilot I ever ran into.

Credentials do not always make good instructors. But, I guess its the minimum that gives you status and keeps the insurance current...

The potential for a boom stike is one of the reasons for the SFAR on the Robinson. Tolerating a CFIG that smelled of alcohol is not a good move.

As for the Robbie, here is a good read: https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-...n-helicopters/

Fly the Guimbal Cabri G2. Fine helicopter.

Walt Connelly