Instead of focusing on student starts, GA needs to take a hard look at the overall progression a student makes from start to finish. Believe it or not, the product being sold is a pilot certificate, not flying lessons. GA needs to do some serious research into why people don't finish. Without this knowledge, GA will never know what portion to fix.
What good is it to have people like Mr. Lucey start and never finish? I know we'd like to think that everyone would like to fly, but that just isn't reality. The pool of potential prospects is a limited resource. What happens when that resource is tapped into by an aggressive marketing program and then thrust into a defective training environment? I suspect that activity at the airport will rise and then taper off again as the pool of students drops off again.
Mr. Lucey was right when he stated the competition for discretionary dollars is fierce. General aviation had better wake up and begin to focus on how they deliver their product so they can compete with other industries after these same dollars.
Patrick B. DeLacluyse,
Libertyville, Illinois
At Odds With "I'm Done"
I'm totally at odds with the thought that it is impossible to find good instructors, expressed in April's "I'm Done." I, too, dreamed of flying since I was old enough to sit upright in my grandfather's Ercoupe. Unfortunately my grandfather had to give up flying due to health, which meant the same for me, but 20 years later I still had a severe desire and limited time and money. But one day I said today is the day. I drove 30 miles to an airport, walked into the FBO and said I would like to learn to fly. Two men sat me down and got me started in my dream.
Phil and Chris were always there for me. Chris, my instructor, was ready any time I was, whether I'd just call and say I was on my way down or I would just drop in unannounced. If there was ever a way these two could help, they would bend over backward to do it; they truly wanted their students to succeed. And in November 1995, I got my ticket, 13 months after walking into their FBO. I firmly believe that these men are the kind of instructors who make up the majority of the instructor population and that if Mr. Lucey would have gone to his last interview, he might have met a Phil or Chris who could have helped him fulfill his dream, too.
Patrick Andrew
Brownville, Nebraska
Don't Buy "I'm Done"
As a student pilot, I just cannot picture the experiences discussed in April's editorial, "I'm Done." In every activity I've always found someone who made entry into the activity just a little more daunting. Every activity, that is, except flying.
For years I've wanted to take up flying. Until I did, I'd talk to people periodically, and I even took a few intro rides. I suppose I made a mistake and didn't check out the different flying schools. I just went to the nearest one, had a chat, got the facts, thought about it a week, and signed up. I have had three instructors. My first was always on time, pleasant, professional, very knowledgeable, and never missed a lesson. Ditto the other two.
I'm sorry, I just do not buy it. The man in the editorial must be leaving something out because if there ever was an activity whose participants make it fun to enter, it's flying. Sleep well, it's not a problem!
Eric Hall
Bristol, Rhode Island
I'm afraid it is a problem. Most pilots are fortunate and have found good instructors and schools, but a number of pilots-to-be have shared the negative experiences discussed in "From the Editor." Fortunately, the good experiences outweigh the bad, but when you get right down to it, one bad experience is too many. - Editor
10 Good Days
Your article "I'm Done" in the April issue is a sad commentary on our hobby and business. I can think of no other competitive field where the desire and need is so great, yet the customer is so rudely ignored. This is not salvation but extinction for general aviation.
The comment by an "instructor" that "there are perhaps 10 really good flying days per year in New England" was typical of the lame excuses when there is no responsibility to others who desire to learn to fly. In 1943, as a naval aviation cadet, I received my first dual on February 12 at the old Keene, New Hampshire, airport. On February 22 I soloed a Cub on skis, not realizing I'd picked the "10 best days." I got my Navy "Wings of Gold" and became an instructor. Since then I have taught others and reveled at witnessing them capture the joy of flight. At 76, I no longer teach, but thankfully I still fly and hop aspiring Young Eagles in my RV-4.
Jack Briggs
Cicero, New York
Appointment Waiting
Reading Mr. Lucey's letter in April's "I'm Done", I began to get angry. Angry at the poor experiences he has had, angry at those who let him down. Until I read on, that is. "I never showed up for the last appointment. I had been worn down and disillusioned," he wrote. I hoped that what he'd written had been that he had called and canceled his appointment, but no, he wrote that he never showed up.
How does Mr. Lucey know that at that last school, an eager instructor was not waiting to keep an appointment and take him flying? How does he know that that same instructor had not perhaps put off other, longer-standing students in order to keep his appointment? Any flight instructor could tell of wasted days, weekends, evenings, waiting in vain for prospective students to show.
I've lost count of the times I've put on fresh coffee, vacuumed the carpets, polished the mirrors, and waited, all spit shined, for a customer who decided to go out and buy a hot rod instead. When I call to find out if there was, perhaps difficulty with finding us, often the prospect doesn't bother to return calls, or offers a weak excuse for not making the meeting. A flight instructor I know said recently, "If I had ten dollars for every no-show, I would earn more than I do from giving flight instruction." I didn't laugh; it was far too close to the truth.
You see, courtesy is a two-way street. None of this excuses the poor treatment any prospective student receives. But equally, thousands of extremely satisfied pilots would attest to the fact that good flight instruction is not hard to find.
Mr. Lucey, if ever you tire of your '57 Buick and decide to have more fun than it should be legal to have, come to Chicago and learn to fly helicopters with us. But be warned, if you make an appointment with us, be there. We will.
David A. Borrows, President
ProCopter International Inc.
Wheeling, Illinois
More Long Cross-Country
Amy Laboda wrote an inspiring column for your January issue about long cross-country flights. In it she described the transcontinental round-robin Ty Greenlees and I made last summer for our newspaper, the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News. We wrote a three-week series of stories about our adventure called "The Spirit of Flight." Its purpose was to show local readers the rich and varied world of aviation that has resulted from the work of two Daytonians, Orville and Wilbur Wright.
It's no stretch for me to say Flight Training magazine helped prepare me for this adventure with helpful reminders about flying fundamentals. Despite density altitude, high elevations, and thunderstorms, we stayed safe.
We also received valuable assistance from the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Among other things, EAA helped us stay on schedule with special arrival procedures at Oshkosh, and AOPA offered space on its website for all of our stories and more than 50 photos. You can find our series at http://www.aopa.org/special/dayton-flight/index.html.
Timothy R. Gaffney
Dayton, Ohio
True And TWEBS
I have two comments on March's "The Weather Never Sleeps." The first pertains to true vs. magnetic winds, and the second is TWEBs.
In interpreting the TAFs the author correctly stated that the wind direction in TAFs are in "true" degrees, but he omitted this reference to "true" in the METARs, possibly misleading readers into thinking the winds were "magnetic." METAR winds are in "true" degrees.
The only time a METAR wind is in "magnetic" degrees is when the METAR is a voice report from either an automated ASOS or AWOS. ATIS winds should be in "magnetic," but I've encountered some broadcasts of "true" while "quality controlling" the report. Even if a pilot requests current weather from Center or FSS, he receives the winds in "true" degrees.
I write TAFs, TWEBs, and METARs for a living. I've also given weather training to many pilots, CFIs, and FAA controllers over my 22-year career as a professional meteorologist. I've always found that most pilots believe that the METAR winds are "magnetic" and were surprised to find out they are really "true".
My second comment relates to TWEBs. The author has stumbled onto Pandora's Box. National Weather Service TWEB forecasts are no longer broadcast on VORs. Only a couple of NDBs broadcast TWEB forecasts. TWEB forecasts are not even available on DUATS. Some FSSs put TWEBs on their TIBS recordings, but others don't. Thus for some unknown reason, the majority of TWEBs are never seen and thus not used by pilots.
Larry Burch
Salt Lake City, Utah
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