A reluctance to take the controls

On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:47:47 GMT, Matt Whiting wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:
Maybe instead of "make a pot..." I should have said "vote Democratic",
or "get an instrument rating".


I've voted for Democrats, and I'll get the IR someday.

Why not get it today? You are missing an opportunity that few people
(even fewer than those who get a chance to take the wheel of an
airplane) get to experience. I just can't understand any pilot who
wouldn't want to earn their instrument rating as soon as regulations
allow. I guess such pilots are just mis-wired. :-)

Matt


You and Pete are both being unfair. I am sure you realize that obtaining
the IR is a very non-trivial task and requires considerable personal
time and effort. This is not always possible for a recreational pilot
and once you have your PP you are very aware of the further effort
required for the IR.

Personally my attitude was like Jay's - I'll get my IR someday. As it
happens I now have the time and money required and am persuing it (hope
to write the exam on Tuesday). And, having a couple hundred extra hours
of CC time has helped a lot in the situational awareness area - so say
my instructors. But, after getting the PP, I just wanted to fly for fun
for a while. I think it was worth doing it that way for my personal
situation.

Further, I now know that I have to schedule regular IFR flights and
approaches in order to remain current, as well as take the proficiency
checkrides. More work, time and effort. Not all pilots have that
available.




randall g =%^) PPASEL+Night 1974 Cardinal RG
http://www.telemark.net/randallg
Lots of aerial photographs of British Columbia at:
http://www.telemark.net/randallg/photos.htm
Vancouver's famous Kat Kam: http://www.katkam.ca

"randall g" wrote in message
...
[...]
You and Pete are both being unfair.

Hardly. None of us are trivializing the work it takes to get an instrument
rating. Heck, I think any of us who has one would readily acknowledge that
it is *at least* as great a challenge as the initial Private certificate
training.

The point is that Jay goes on about other people not wanting to do the
things he thinks everyone should want to do, and yet ignores the fact that
he himself doesn't want to do the things other people enjoy (even though we
don't necessarily think everyone should want to do them).

The instrument rating just happens to be one example of this. It only comes
up because of his reputation with respect to it...it has nothing to do with
anyone implying that the instrument rating is easy, or even that Jay
*should* get one (I personally have never said it's a requirement...Jay
clearly finds his own flying enjoyable and convenient without an instrument
rating, and it's not my place to say he should feel otherwise).

It seems to me that if you think I'm being unfair in my reference to the
instrument rating, then you have not understood why it is I refer to it in
the first place. Perhaps that's my fault for not being clear, but the fact
is that nothing you appear to have inferred from my comment about it has
anything to do with what I actually was writing about.

Pete

On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 06:33:26 GMT, randall g wrote:

You and Pete are both being unfair. I am sure you realize that obtaining
the IR is a very non-trivial task and requires considerable personal
time and effort. This is not always possible for a recreational pilot
and once you have your PP you are very aware of the further effort
required for the IR.

IIRC Jay has started IFR training back then, but for a couple of reasons he
hasn't finished (mis-wired?? *eg*). He really hasn't jumped on the
opportunity ....

#m
--
Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/

randall g wrote:
On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:47:47 GMT, Matt Whiting wrote:


Jay Honeck wrote:

Maybe instead of "make a pot..." I should have said "vote Democratic",
or "get an instrument rating".


I've voted for Democrats, and I'll get the IR someday.

Why not get it today? You are missing an opportunity that few people
(even fewer than those who get a chance to take the wheel of an
airplane) get to experience. I just can't understand any pilot who
wouldn't want to earn their instrument rating as soon as regulations
allow. I guess such pilots are just mis-wired. :-)

Matt



You and Pete are both being unfair. I am sure you realize that obtaining
the IR is a very non-trivial task and requires considerable personal
time and effort. This is not always possible for a recreational pilot
and once you have your PP you are very aware of the further effort
required for the IR.

You missed the point entirely. The comment wasn't about getting the IR
rating, it was about people having different interests and motivations
and that not implying that you are "mis-wired" as Jay suggested. The
point is that even Jay has aviation related things that aren't important
enough for him to pursue even though they would be an opportunity to do
something that few people get to do. That was the point.

Jay often seems unable to understand that not everyone who thinks
differently than him is weird or somehow lacking in some way. I enjoy
aviation, motorcycles and firearms, but I know a lot of people who would
rather spend a day walking through a museum or an art show. I can't
fathom why anyone would want to spend a day looking at paintings, but I
don't describe such people as mis-wired.


Matt