Dear Rod:
I’m a 550-hour instrument-rated pilot and consider myself reasonably proficient and very safe. This year I did my flight review with one of the newer FBOs on the field. The strange thing is that the instructor spent nearly a full day with me doing ground training, followed by a two-hour flight in the late afternoon.
Then he wanted me to return the next day for more flying. He said that there was nothing wrong with my flying skills, but he wanted to see more of my maneuvers before fixing his name to my logbook. This has already cost me more than $600. Am I being taken for a ride? Is this normal?
—No Name Please
Greetings No Name:
I’m always loathe to second-guess any instructor, but I do have to say that your experience doesn’t seem normal at all.
Ultimately, the instructor has every right to satisfy his need to evaluate your proficiency before fixing his name in
your logbook and I wouldn’t begrudge any instructor the time it takes to do so. The mistake he made, however, was not informing you about how thorough his review would be. After all, not everyone can afford or even expects a $600 flight review (perhaps even $900, when it’s finally completed).
Keep in mind that the FAA only requires one hour of ground review and one hour of flight time as a minimum for the flight review. Clearly the FAA feels that a reasonably proficient and safe pilot should be able to complete the review in this time.
So the next time you sign up for a flight review, begin by asking the instructor about the potential costs and time involved. Then be willing to bargain for a more equitable review based on what you think your skill level is. You have the FAA on your side in this matter, because the feds give the instructor tremendous leeway in personalizing the flight review to fit the needs of the applicant.
Dear Rod:
I have a 13-hour student who insists on fishing for the runway with the elevator control during landings. As he begins his roundout, he’ll apply a little aft elevator pressure then release that pressure a bit, pull and release and pull and release and so on. Fishing, right? No, he doesn’t let the wheels touch only to lift off then touch again, nor does the nose appear to pitch up and down. He just seems to be hunting for the runway with the elevator control. I'll admit it’s his fourth landing lesson and he’s making consistently safe landings already, but I hardly think the behavior is professional. I much prefer a smooth, aft transition of the elevator control during landing. How do I stop this behavior?
—M.K.
Greetings M.K.:
Hmmm, he's making consistently good landings and you want to stop his behavior? Does he not have a fishing license? I don’t think I’d be too concerned over the behavior you’re witnessing. Here’s why.
Based on your description, what you call fishing is not actually fishing. Instead, it’s a rather common flare technique known as sampling the response. This is what many pilots do during the flare to help them identify the point where aft movement of the elevator control begins to affect the airplane’s pitch.
During the flare, as the speed decreases, it takes continued rearward elevator movement to sustain flare attitude. That means the position where elevator back pressure holds the nose up actually moves aft during the flare. By pulling aft a tiny bit and releasing a little bit of that elevator pressure, then repeating this action, your student is able to continuously identify the elevator position that keeps the nose at the proper flare attitude. This minimizes the chance that he’ll over- or under-flare the airplane. Believe it or not, this is what many pilots do (to varying degrees) during landing and they don’t even suspect they’re doing it.
Of course, if he were really fishing for the runway, you’d have to prevent that behavior. Until he shows up with a bottle of tartar sauce, however, I don’t think I’d change a thing.
