Contrast this laissez-faire approach with the procedure followed when renting an airplane. First there is an examination of your pilot and medical certificates, followed by a pilot checkout in the airplane. Some FBOs and flight schools also require renter pilots to study the pilot's operating handbook (POH) and complete an open-book quiz. This is supposed to ensure that the renter has at least read and understands critical information about the airplane they are about to fly off in.
A checkout adds to the cost of renting an aircraft, but there's a hidden benefit to the checkout process. Since you'll be flying with an instructor on the checkout flight, you can use the face time with the CFI as an opportunity to get a "How am I doing'?" evaluation of your basic skills.
If that sounds like asking for trouble, consider that, unless you are training for an advanced rating or certificate, you may fly with an instructor only once every two years when it comes time to renew your currency with a flight review. Two years is ample time to develop some bad habits-habits that can be difficult to break once they become ingrained. Checking out in an airplane you've not flown before is a good time to attend to your techniques and procedures with the advice and counsel of an instructor. Since a checkout typically is more instructional than evaluation, it can make for a more relaxed, informal relationship between instructor and customer than a formal flight review.
I discovered the hidden value of an airplane checkout during a recent trip to Wilmington, North Carolina, when I needed to rent an airplane for some local solo flying. One of the local FBOs said that it had a Cessna 172RG available and could summon an instructor for a checkout. An hour later I was sitting down with Paul Howe, a retired IBM executive who fell in love with flying late in life and is now an active CFI.
My last-minute decision to rent an airplane meant I didn't have time to academically prepare for the checkout by reviewing the POH. However, I did my instrument training in a 172RG some years ago, so I wasn't coming into it completely raw. I'd also been flying a lot in the weeks before the checkout, so my skills were sharpened.
The checkout went well. I had forgotten how heavy the airplane feels, both on the ground and in the air. On the positive side, that wide-stance tubular main gear structure has enough give in it to smooth out the hardest touchdown. We did some slow flight, steep turns, and stalls, and then returned to the airport for one touch-and-go followed by a full-stop landing.
From almost the moment I started the engine, Paul began scribbling notes. I assumed he was recording squawks, of which there were some. My assumption turned out to be only partially true.
When the checkout flight had ended and we'd secured the airplane and turned the paperwork in, Paul turned to me and said, "Well, you paid for my time in the airplane so I might as well give you my observations."
Hmmmm?Taking an unplanned checkout was stressful enough. I expected a few pointers about my handling of the RG, but an evaluation of my basic flying techniques and procedures? This was a surprise-and possibly an unpleasant one, depending on Paul's critique.
We found a table and some chairs in a corner of the FBO office, and sat down. Paul pulled out his small notebook and flipped to the notes he had made while we flew. "You did fine," Paul began, putting me instantly at ease. No problem with flying the 172RG, he said. However, he had observed a few techniques that didn't quite measure up to his standards.
Item one: Communications with air traffic control (ATC). Paul explained the value of efficiency in radio communication. When making an initial call to an ATC facility-what Paul termed a cold call-announce your N-number and nothing else. This says who you are, but avoids piling on a lot of other facts the controller may not be ready to absorb on the first contact from you. Save your position, request, and other information for your second, or warm, call, when the controller is prepared to hear from you again.
Item two: Avoid rapid cycling of the Cessna's electric flap switch. It puts undue stress on the motor and can lead to premature failure. When cycling the flaps during the pretakeoff check, I apparently flipped the switch from extend to retract quickly enough to worry Paul.
Item three: One cycle of the propeller control on an airplane with a constant speed propeller is sufficient during the pretakeoff check in warm temperatures. The traditional technique is three cycles of high to low to high rpm, but Paul pointed out that engine manufacturers say one is enough. I had taken a fence-straddling position on the issue and cycled the prop twice.
Item four: Don't call the tower to say you are ready to take off until you truly are ready. Otherwise you may not be able to take advantage of an immediate takeoff clearance, and will be forced to wait for landing traffic. I had spun the 172RG around into the wind for the pretakeoff check, and had just started to pivot back onto the proper heading when I called the tower for a takeoff clearance.
Paul had a couple of other constructive suggestions. At the end of his 15-minute critique, it was clear that he has a keen appreciation for precision and a sharp eye for the lack of it. I accepted his observations about a few kinks in my technique in that spirit.
It was only later that I realized the bonus value of my pop-quiz checkout in the 172RG. Not only had I passed the quiz and earned the right to fly the airplane solo, I also received some thoughtful pointers about ways to do a few routine cockpit tasks a little better, a little more efficiently. When was the last time a rental car agency offered tips that made you a better driver?
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