Repo show sillyness

"Nathan Young" wrote in message

snip

I also kept thinking how incredibly stupid it was for a pilot with no
time in type to get in and fly a completely unknown aircraft,
especially a high-performance experimental.

I don't see what the big deal was/is. Insurence companies have brainwashed us
all into thinking you are hazard to yourself and everyone on the ground if you
don't have 5/10/50 (you pick) hours in type and a CFI checkout before flying
something.

BS- Is it safer to have a checkout with an instructor or experienced pilot
before you fly a new airplane? Yes, maybe. Can you also check yourself out in
a new airplane if you're careful and do your research. Of course you can.

Familiarize yourself with the POH/operators manual. Memorize emergency
procedures and systems. Pay attention to the airspeeds and limitations, then go
fly. Get to altitude and get a feel for the airplane. See how if handles in
the landing configuration. After awhile, an airplane is an airplane. They all
fly the same, some just have a few little quirks.

I'm not advocating this for everybody. If you have access to a CFI for a
checkout it is MUCH better. But it is not impossible to check yourself out in a
new type. I've done it more than a few times, some with "there's the Green
tail, it's a little heavier than you're used to and not as quick, go fly" Hell,
that plane didn't even HAVE a POH or operator's manual.

--
Mike

"Jeffrey Voight" wrote in message
...
That's gotta be the biggest shock in the world. Go out to preflight
your plane to discover that item number 1) Visual Overview fails
miserably because the plane ain't there.

Jeff...

Which reinforces the importance of a good preflight... just imagine if you
took off blissfully unaware and you didn't discover the plane was missing
until your were airborne!

Eric :-)

That's gotta be the biggest shock in the world. Go out to preflight
your plane to discover that item number 1) Visual Overview fails
miserably because the plane ain't there.

It is a tragic thing indeed when pilots sometimes omit this crucial step and
attempt to take off anyway.

In article ,
"Mike O'Malley" wrote:

"Nathan Young" wrote in message

snip

I also kept thinking how incredibly stupid it was for a pilot with no
time in type to get in and fly a completely unknown aircraft,
especially a high-performance experimental.

I don't see what the big deal was/is. Insurence companies have brainwashed
us
all into thinking you are hazard to yourself and everyone on the ground if
you
don't have 5/10/50 (you pick) hours in type and a CFI checkout before flying
something.

BS- Is it safer to have a checkout with an instructor or experienced pilot
before you fly a new airplane? Yes, maybe. Can you also check yourself out
in
a new airplane if you're careful and do your research. Of course you can.

Familiarize yourself with the POH/operators manual. Memorize emergency
procedures and systems. Pay attention to the airspeeds and limitations, then
go
fly. Get to altitude and get a feel for the airplane. See how if handles in
the landing configuration. After awhile, an airplane is an airplane. They
all
fly the same, some just have a few little quirks.

I'm not advocating this for everybody. If you have access to a CFI for a
checkout it is MUCH better. But it is not impossible to check yourself out
in a
new type. I've done it more than a few times, some with "there's the Green
tail, it's a little heavier than you're used to and not as quick, go fly"
Hell,
that plane didn't even HAVE a POH or operator's manual.

--
Mike

Of course, be sure that the instructor knows the airplane you are going
to fly. There's nothing worse than an instructor who has flown nothing
but 152s and Cherokees trying to teach you to fly a Belchfire 500, which
he has never flown, either,

"Mike O'Malley" wrote in message news
Familiarize yourself with the POH/operators manual.

A POH/operators manual on a homebuilt is sure to tell you everything you
need to know about flying the thing.

"Mike O'Malley" wrote in message ...
"Nathan Young" wrote in message

snip

I also kept thinking how incredibly stupid it was for a pilot with no
time in type to get in and fly a completely unknown aircraft,
especially a high-performance experimental.

I don't see what the big deal was/is. Insurence companies have brainwashed us
all into thinking you are hazard to yourself and everyone on the ground if you
don't have 5/10/50 (you pick) hours in type and a CFI checkout before flying
something.

BS- Is it safer to have a checkout with an instructor or experienced pilot
before you fly a new airplane? Yes, maybe. Can you also check yourself out in
a new airplane if you're careful and do your research. Of course you can.

Familiarize yourself with the POH/operators manual. Memorize emergency
procedures and systems. Pay attention to the airspeeds and limitations, then go
fly. Get to altitude and get a feel for the airplane. See how if handles in
the landing configuration. After awhile, an airplane is an airplane. They all
fly the same, some just have a few little quirks.

I'm not advocating this for everybody. If you have access to a CFI for a
checkout it is MUCH better. But it is not impossible to check yourself out in a
new type. I've done it more than a few times, some with "there's the Green
tail, it's a little heavier than you're used to and not as quick, go fly" Hell,
that plane didn't even HAVE a POH or operator's manual.

Mike,

I agree this is possible for lower performance production planes. But
there is a world of difference between a Cherokee/172 and a Glasair
III.

High-performance experimentals are in a world of their own. For
example, very high wing loadings make landings unique, power-on is an
absolute requirement, and final is flown at 90kts (stall = 70kts,
1.3Vso=90kts).

Plus, the differences go well beyond the handling of the plane, the
differences extend to systems and systems operation as experimentals
do not necessarily follow the standard operating procedures found in
production aircraft. With experimentals - even the POH can not be
taken as gospel. At a minimum, a conversation with the builder or
previous owner is in order before flying an experimental.

Think of all the bugs that may not be worked out (yet) with an
experimental - things that we (somewhat) take for granted in a
production plane:

Examples:
-How does the canopy latch/lock?
-Cooling issues (many experimentals struggle with this)
-C/G
-Improper rigging (takeoff is a bad time to find out the plane has a
rolling tendency).
-Fuel management issues - the GIII has a header tank behind the
instrument panel that feeds the engine. What combination of tank
selection and hi/lo fuel boost pumps will keep delivering fuel to the
engine? What about takeoff/landing vs. cruise configurations?
-What is required to get the gear to lock down? Many experimentals
have issues getting the gear down and locked, particularly with the
nosegear. Some require slowing down to near stall speed to reduce the
airflow against the nose gear to allow it to gravity drop into place
(see Peter Garrison's Flying article from a few months ago on his
Melmoth II).

-Nathan

I actually agree with you. I know quite a few 20,000 plus hour GA
pilots who can take experience in dozens of other airplanes and do
just fine in an airplane they've never flown. Even myself (with less
experience) I cannot think of any of the last dozen or so types I've
checked out in, every needing anything other than the sign off. I
can't ever remember doing something with the airplane that required
the CFI to touch the controls. My J-3 checkout was .6 hours and I was
on the controls the entire time. My Mooney checkout was the 2.0 the
insurance required but again, the CFI never touched the controls or
really said anything not in the POH. I'm pretty sure that 90% of the
active GA pilots could fly anything on the standard GA field without
problem. The difference is that 10% that causes all the checkout
requirements. Hell, I know guys that the first time they ever flew a
plane was from the right seat as the CFI.

-Robert, CFI



"Mike O'Malley" wrote in message ...
"Nathan Young" wrote in message

snip

I also kept thinking how incredibly stupid it was for a pilot with no
time in type to get in and fly a completely unknown aircraft,
especially a high-performance experimental.

I don't see what the big deal was/is. Insurence companies have brainwashed us
all into thinking you are hazard to yourself and everyone on the ground if you
don't have 5/10/50 (you pick) hours in type and a CFI checkout before flying
something.

BS- Is it safer to have a checkout with an instructor or experienced pilot
before you fly a new airplane? Yes, maybe. Can you also check yourself out in
a new airplane if you're careful and do your research. Of course you can.

Familiarize yourself with the POH/operators manual. Memorize emergency
procedures and systems. Pay attention to the airspeeds and limitations, then go
fly. Get to altitude and get a feel for the airplane. See how if handles in
the landing configuration. After awhile, an airplane is an airplane. They all
fly the same, some just have a few little quirks.

I'm not advocating this for everybody. If you have access to a CFI for a
checkout it is MUCH better. But it is not impossible to check yourself out in a
new type. I've done it more than a few times, some with "there's the Green
tail, it's a little heavier than you're used to and not as quick, go fly" Hell,
that plane didn't even HAVE a POH or operator's manual.

"Ardna" wrote in message news:zhPAb.27577$ZE1.12891@fed1read04...
I also kept thinking how incredibly stupid it was for a pilot with no
time in type to get in and fly a completely unknown aircraft,
especially a high-performance experimental.

I agree, especially after his first approach to land was too fast, he did
not know what to except from that aircraft - shame on him for doing it in
the first place, putting his life on the line for a few $$$'s.

Ardna

If you watch again you will notice that that was intentional. The
pilot didn't accidently fly too fast, we wanted to feel the plane out.

Sure didn't look like it.

"BTIZ" wrote in message news:SUwAb.11539$yf.4091@fed1read01...
can you say "re-enactment"?

BT

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
. ..
Just watched a show called Repo Men with Vincent (Pussy) Pastore.
They show a repo of an airplane, labelling it as a 1998 172. It's pretty
clearly a '61 or so (swept tail but no rear window).

(Robert M. Gary) wrote
Hell, I know guys that the first time they ever
flew a plane was from the right seat as the CFI.

How true! I've done it half-a-dozen times myself.

Bob