Insights

I like to sleep well, and I’ve been in the flight training and aircraft rental business for years—much of which was concurrent with my employment as an airline pilot. The secret to sleeping well and renting airplanes is quite simple: Insist on proper flight training. Only then am I comfortable giving a renter pilot the key to an airplane or allowing a student pilot to solo.

Federal regulations and the practical test standards for private pilots, FAA-S-8081-14A—and sport pilots, FAA-S-8081-29—clearly define those requirements. External actions, however, have compromised the intent of those publications.

The first action occurred after the FAA introduced the concept of integrated instruction, which places considerable emphasis on instrument reference during initial flight training. During subsequent years, stall/spin accidents continually increased and eventually became a big problem.

Are the flight instruments that important? Of course, but only if the pilot has received proper training using only visual references. That’s the first step. With proper training in attitude and power management and the use of one’s physical senses, a pilot can fly any of the required maneuvers safely. Fly them precisely, no—but fly them safely, yes.

Precision occurs when aircraft attitude is coordinated for the current task, using visual attitude references and engine power, and then confirmed with instrument reference. Instrument reference is not the first step for a VFR-only pilot, because proper visual training is how you prevent stall/spin accidents from occurring. A VFR-only pilot who must concentrate on instrument reference to control an airplane in visual conditions is an accident waiting to happen.

The second action occurred with the introduction of scenario-based training and glass-cockpit airplanes with their advanced avionics systems and automation. The FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) publication states that the airlines and military use scenario-based training. While a true statement, that meaningful training is conducted in advanced flight simulators—not airplanes. It does appear, however, that satisfactory, high-end simulation for general aviation instrument and visual flying is starting to appear—a remarkable advancement for flight training, flight safety, and cost.

Novices read the advertisements and assume that the new technology makes learning to fly as easy as driving a car. Not so! Learning to fly is far more demanding and requires the same degree of basic training that has existed in the past. Once the basics are mastered, one can move on to the new technology, which—if used properly—does truly enhance flight safety and efficiency.

One example of how flight training has become skewed well beyond the scope of common sense and known experience occurred with the publication of an integrated private and instrument flight training syllabus written for an airplane manufacturer by a college professor. Here’s a sample of what was listed during the first stage of instruction:

Second flight: introduction to aircraft weight and balance, performance, and autopilot use. Third flight: use of the autopilot, introduction to an instrument approach, and landing practice. Fourth flight: approach to landing, slips to land and go-arounds, and weight and balance calculations. Seventh flight: IFR navigation, instrument approach demonstration.

If you think that approach to flight training makes sense, then P.T. Barnum was correct when he said, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” which means there are a lot of gullible people in the world, including those with no or minimum flying experience.

Here’s another consideration: The government has spent billions of dollars on military flight training for countless years. If combined visual and instrument basic training had merit, this would have been done years ago.

My longtime friend Ed Valdez, a United Airlines pilot and assistant chief flight instructor at our flight school, said it best: “As a student advances through flight training, a pyramid of knowledge and skills develops. If there are holes in the bottom, the pyramid eventually collapses.”

The bottom of that pyramid is basic, visual flight training. Master those elements as listed in the federal regulations and practical test standards before you advance in any training program.