Regarding finding new fun in flying (“Right Seat: The Jerk,” June 2013 Flight Training), I see the purpose of aircraft and flight a little differently, perhaps selfishly. Ian Twombly’s bumpy ride in the Cessna 172? I hear him. Years ago I flew six legs back and forth from Newark, New Jersey, to Washington, D.C. The MD-80 was light—even with full cabins on such short flights—and flying it was very frustrating, what with the constant turbulence on every landing on that sunny, but wintertime blustery day. I have never forgotten that by the sixth landing how much the MD-80 was absolutely not fun that day and I was glad to hand her over to someone else. It came as a shock that I could be literally shaken out of unconditional love of flying anything, anywhere, anytime.
By the time I got home I had come to my senses. The purpose of an aircraft is to make me a better person by allowing me to experience flight. Flying brings the joy of being airborne and gathering all it has to offer, which is immense—of seeing life the way the birds and clouds and the sun and the moon do, and seeing it from their perspective. Now that’s fun and life-changing. Doesn’t matter the airplane nor the mission. But, heck, if something else gets accomplished along the way, like actual work, well, that’s OK too.
Emerson Allen
Union, Connecticut
Stall+Yaw=Spin
I am doing my ground work hoping that at some point, I’ll be doing the flying portion of earning my private certificate. I’ve read a lot of articles, read through several pilot manuals, and viewed several DVDs. None of them described the stall/spin like Budd Davisson’s article, “The Not-So-Obvious Cause of Stall/Spin Accidents” (June 2013 Flight Training). What I’ve read is the classic stall as taught in flight school. Davisson’s article delves into the attitude of an airplane that contributes to accidents; the stall in a turn at low altitudes. This article discusses how this type of stall has a much less-pronounced warning than the typical nose-up stall. It also discusses the cure in detail. I’ll keep this one for review.
David Pavlich
Mandeville, Louisiana
Really good article by Budd on stall and spin awareness and avoidance. He makes a number of excellent training suggestions, which will help pilots understand the scenarios that lead to stalls and spins. He states “stall recognition and recovery is a major part of everyone’s flight training.” From what I’ve seen many times, I’d say this is surprisingly not the case.
For example, I was on an evaluation flight with a CFI job applicant and after performing a straight-ahead stall entry and recovery, I asked him to perform a turning entry. His reply was that he didn’t know how; he had not previously done one. This wasn’t the only case. There were other CFI evaluation flights where the CFI applicant could not execute and explain turning stall entries/recoveries, cross-controlled stall entries/recoveries, or spin-awareness scenarios. While Davisson’s suggestions are right on the mark, a major problem for student pilots is finding an instructor who will provide this training.
That obviously raises the question of how those CFIs passed their CFI checkrides (usually given by FAA inspectors). How about checkrides for private, instrument, and commercial ratings? The FAA Airplane Flying Handbook recommends stalls be practiced from both straight and turning entries for both power-on and -off conditions. But evidently, pilots and CFIs both may go through the entire process to certification without following the recommendations in the FAA’s own handbook. It’s no wonder that, as Davisson says, “Pilots keep making the same two basic mistakes that no properly trained pilot should make.”
Warren Webb Jr.
Cromwell, Connecticut
Errata
The article, “Big Fish in a Little Pond” (June 2013 Flight Training) should have specified that a sport pilot may land at an airport within Class B airspace so long as he or she has received training and a logbook endorsement from a flight instructor. Some airports (listed in Appendix D of FAR Part 91) prohibit solo student, sport, and recreational pilot activity.
The article, “Weigh In” (July 2013 Flight Training) was written by Rebecca Gibson. Flight Training regrets the errors.
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