Approximately four years ago, I discovered what I had missed in my ongoing training. I was never taught sternly enough about what it means to make a commitment.
It was a sunny fall afternoon. My best friend and I were members of the same local chapter of a pilot's association. Our afternoon was to be spent at a member's airfield with the rest of our chapter members. The fare was to be barbecue, soft drinks, and lots of fliers' war stories.
I had landed at this dirt strip in the past and saw no difficulties. The airfield is located on the side of a hill in a very rural area. The landing pattern is from the south. We are all taught that when landing on an ascending runway we should the touchdown zone to greet us faster than normal, and it will require a more accentuated roundout and flare. Being in a valley meant that surrounding hillsides had to be negotiated to reach the landing field. This type of mountain flying was common to us.
The approach to the strip was good, but we decided to do a go-around. We added full power and commenced the go-around. My aircraft crashed into the trees about a half-mile uphill and to the east of the field. I woke up six weeks later in the hospital. I didn't know why I was there. When my wife and the hospital staff thought I was ready, they told me that my best friend had been killed. I did not remember anything about an accident, nor even which airplane I may have been flying. I was told about my go-around. After four months, I was finally re-leased from the hospital.
What was missing in my training was the fact that some airstrips re-quire a commitment to land once a certain point in the approach has been reached. This point of commitment will vary with factors such as reserve power, load, and pilot skill. When I had landed at this strip in the past, I had been alone in the airplane. This time, my load was 165 pounds more. That may have been why I "tripped" into the trees. I may have also made a wrong decision as to which way to turn away from the strip. More than four years have passed, and I still reflect on what prompted my decision for a go-around and what my thought process might have been after that commitment was made.
Robert F. Duncan
Medford, Oregon
Charts Should Show All Closed Airports
Regarding the "Legends" story in the December 1999 issue, Elizabeth Tennyson was exactly right in her opinion that closed or abandoned airports make excellent landmarks and possible forced landing sites, but not all closed airports appear on charts. A personal experience a few years ago has had me asking why ever since.
On my very first lesson, my instructor and I were returning to Stinson Municipal, located very near Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. When asked if I could see the field yet, I pointed out what I thought was Stinson. But my instructor chuckled, "No, that's Brooks-landing there wouldn't be a very good idea."
Brooks AFB is an active military installation, but it no longer has a flying mission, and the runways are clearly marked as closed. Unfortunately, it doesn't even appear on the San Antonio sectional chart. Not only would showing this field on the sectional be a good idea for navigation and emergency landings, but it also would help to prevent pilots who are unfamiliar with the area from mistaking it for Stinson.
There must be hundreds of closed and abandoned airports nationwide that don't appear on sectionals.
Bob Garrison
Waunakee, Wisconsin
Comfort Counts
I would like to comment on Michael Leyva's response ("Flight Forum," January 2000) to an article about postponing the checkride until a student pilot can have access to his or her favorite airplane ("Checkride Success," September 1999).
It was Leyva's feeling that if a student needs a particular airplane to pass a checkride, he is not ready to take the ride. I completely disagree.
As a CFI, I am sure that Leyva has flown many aircraft and feels comfortable in all of them. What he may have overlooked-or perhaps forgotten-was what it was like as a student taking a checkride for the first time. Often, the student on a checkride is flying with a person he has never flown with before, on a flight (checkride) he has never flown before. It isn't that a student needs a particular airplane, but why not try to schedule the checkride in the one they feel most comfortable in.
Every airplane, just like every person, has its own personality and quirks. The more comfortable a student is, the more likely he is to pass the checkride.
So, by all means, adjust your checkride a few days to accommodate your favorite airplane. You probably have spent months preparing for your checkride, and the more comfortable you are, the more confidence you'll have. A student should be able to fly different airplanes but should not be penalized or criticized for attempting to increase his chances of checkride success.
Heinz Proft
Via the Internet
Training Troubles Continue
I was on your Web site this morning looking for an instructor and found a paragraph asking for input on how student lessons were going. All I can say is that I wouldn't blame anyone for not completing their training. Here's my story, sad but true:
I'm 31 years old and have been around commercial aviation most of my life, thanks to my father, who was an A for a major airline. I've always loved being around airplanes, but I never thought I could become a pilot because I'm somewhat colorblind. Earlier this year I decided that I would accept any limitations that colorblindness would impose on me, so I started training. Or I tried to.
I called one school and asked for an intro flight (as advertised). They said "sure," so I jumped in my car and was there in 20 minutes. When I got there, nobody wanted to take me. The intro flight was to convince me that I wanted training, and obviously I wanted the training, so I guess they didn't see the point in the intro flight. I wasn't happy about this, but I asked that they sign me up for a lesson anyway. I showed up for the lesson as scheduled, but the airplane was broken. Unfortunately, nobody had bothered to call me, so I was pretty disappointed.
Realizing that there were several other schools on field, I decided that I had enough from this place and told them thanks, but if this is how you treat your customers, I don't want to be your customer.
I called my second choice and was told that someone was always there, and to just swing by. I swung by several times that weekend, but nobody was ever there.
I called some other schools and clubs on the field, but they wanted money up front, and with the experiences I had had so far, there was no way that was going to happen.
I contacted my second choice again and the person who answered the phone listened, took my name and number, and said that he'd have an instructor call me. The instructor called me a couple of days later and apologized for the delay. Apparently spring is the busy season, and he was busy. In fact he was really busy. He was moving up and would be gone for three weeks to get training for his new job. In light of how much success I had had to date, I didn't care, and I told him to sign me up.
More than two months after my first attempt to sign up for training, I finally got my first lesson. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for a week.
Unfortunately, because it was now summer, scheduling an airplane became the next obstacle. I averaged about one hour of flight every other weekend. But lessons every other week were like getting into airplane for the first time on every lesson.
I couldn't schedule an airplane, so my solution was to get my own. I bought a Piper Tomahawk. Look out, world, I'm on the fast track now. Or so I thought. Everyone was more than happy to take my money to help me get the airplane, but nobody wants to train me in it. So here I sit.
I've continued my instruction in the club's Warriors and have soloed once. Unfortunately, the club's insurance requires two solos before you can schedule the airplane without your instructor. Just prior to my second solo, the Warrior ate a valve, and now the airplane is unavailable again. I haven't had a lesson in a month.
I'll tell you why students don't finish flight training. Unless you know it's something that you are totally committed to do and continue, it's not worth the effort.
Steve Belling
Wheaton, Illinois
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