From The Editor

Among the many reader letters, e-mail messages, and telephone calls we receive at Flight Training are ones from students having problems with their training. Usually, their problems center around their relationship with the flight school or flight instructor. I try to offer them advice and encouragement, and wish them luck.

I hear from some of these students a second time. Most say they've resolved their problems and their training is progressing well. Sometimes, however, the news is disturbing, such as this letter I received last week.

Dear Scott:

Thank you for your letter dated December 16, 1997. To refresh your memory, I'd written a previous letter concerning my less than satisfactory flight training experience. Since then I have gone back to give it another try.

This time I was determined to go into the process with my eyes wide open, and find a school which truly met my expectations. I grabbed the Yellow Pages and called all five of the listed instructors at the local airport and made appointments with three of them. The other two didn't answer the phone even after repeated tries. No answering machine, no messages, no nothing.

I showed up at the time and place for the first appointment. Unfortunately, the instructor did not. He also didn't bother to call and cancel the appointment. I was now down to two schools.

There were people at my second appointment. They showed me around, but they told me that their area of expertise was training professional pilots. If I really, really asked them nicely, however, they might find it in their heart to take my money.

I never showed up for the last appointment. I had been worn down and disillusioned to the point where I don't think I'll ever try it again.

A little later, it occurred to me what the real problem is with your industry. The folks at your magazine seem truly concerned with trying to expand the flying population, but that is not filtering down to the grassroots level.

Flying schools are being run just well enough to compete with the crappy school across the field. What they don't realize is that I don't have to fly, I don't need to fly - I just want to fly. Schools have to learn to compete with the Harley dealership, the travel agency, the ski slopes, and everybody else who is more than happy to separate me from my discretionary income.

This weekend take a pair of scissors to the Sunday paper. Start a pile of travel ads, a pile of RV ads, a pile of electronic toy ads, etc. Oh, yeah, and don't forget the pile of flying school ads. The problem should be obvious. One schmuck, with just a little bit of marketing savvy, could clean the clock of this industry.

I took my money, booked a scuba diving trip to Cozumel - and bought a '57 Buick, the raw material of my next hot rod. I'm done.

Will Lucey
Merrimack, New Hampshire

In his first letter Lucey wrote of his long-held fascination with airplanes and flying, and that "finally, I have reached a point where money and time are no longer any hindrance to pursuing a private pilot certificate."

A friend, an attorney who realized the time was right, gave him a gift certificate to begin his training, and one of the attorney's clients recommended a school and instructor. Lucey scheduled 12 lessons over the next three months, and he said all but one was canceled.

Weather was the predominant excuse, and the instructor said "that there were perhaps 10 really good flying days per year in New England." When the weather was good and other airplanes were flying, the instructor cited a "personal schedule conflict."

With a seemingly realistic view of the weather, he added "I don't wish to do all my training in perfect weather. It seems to me that sooner or later I will be confronted with similar conditions, and would prefer to have some previous experience ? while I have the luxury of having an experienced pilot next to me."

Lucey wrote that one lesson every three months wasn't acceptable. "It creates a never-ending training process because the experiences of one flight are lost by the time a second flight occurs. I feel that my time is of value also, and having so many lessons canceled makes the goal of getting a certificate not worth the effort."

Given his experience, one would find it hard to argue with Lucey's decision to forego his dream of flight. Learning to fly isn't particularly hard, nor is it particularly easy, but when a student is forced to slog through an obstacle course to learn the necessary piloting skills - learning to fly can be impossible.

There is no magic solution to the problems students face. All each of us can do is honestly assess our role in their education and see if we are an obstacle or a bridge to the achievement of their dreams.

And as we reflect, we should think of Will Lucey, former enthusiastic student pilot, now spending his free time - and money - on a '57 Buick.