Just read Greg Brown’s column in Flight Training about his 40 years aloft (“Flying Carpet: Forty Years Aloft,” November 2012). I was a senior in high school in 1972, just south of Madison, Wisconsin. I had tried for an Air Force scholarship early that year, but did not know anything about flying, so I did not do well.
There was no way for me to pay for my own lessons, so I didn’t start. About 10 years ago I finally was able to make it happen. I started getting Flight Training then, and have enjoyed Brown’s column ever since. I now fly a Cessna 172 out of the University of Wisconsin Flying Club (no 150s at all, just two 172s), so I found it interesting that he was once a member. Thanks for all the great stories.
Jim Sainsbury
Monona, Wisconsin
Follow the rules!
The last thing student and other neophyte pilots need is the perpetuation of the myth that it is acceptable to perform straight-in and midfield downwind (across field) pattern entries (“Technique: Traffic Pattern,” November 2012 Flight Training). Nowhere in the Aeronautical Information Manual is this described. In fact I am not aware of any FAA publication that advocates such approaches (AC90-66A mentions them but certainly doesn’t recommend them). Let’s discourage pilots from being lazy and instead encourage them to perform the proper and safest method of entry as recommended by the AIM. Considering AOPA Flight Training is a flight training publication, I would have thought you would advocate standardization and compliance with accepted procedures.
David Ison
Via e-mail
You’re fired
Rod Machado’s “Since You Asked” column is one of the first things I read in Flight Training magazine. I never thought I would write a comment, but I felt Machado was probably off the mark with the 15-hour student who cancelled a flight because of weather (“Time for a New CFI?” November 2012).
I believe Machado’s assumption that the CFI did not want to do ground school is a bad one. I know that there are CFIs who only want to build flight time and refuse to do ground school. That is rare in my experience. Most are more than willing to do ground. I think a stronger assumption is that the 15-hour student only wants to fly and has no interest in doing ground school. Or possibly the student has a history of canceling that is not mentioned. There has to be a level of communication and trust between CFI and student. The CFI should have explained exactly why he was ending his instruction with his student. There is more to this story than the student describes.
Paul Jazwinski
Merrick, New York
Slow flight
I have been practicing for my checkride and I have a problem entering slow flight. I keep losing too much altitude. Boom, I get home and this month’s issue is talking about slow flight 101 ( “Checkride,” November 2012 Flight Training). Great article. However, the author mentions the PTS number two says, “Task to be completed no lower than 3,000 feet agl.” I believe this is incorrect. The PTS says, “Task to be completed no lower than 1,500 feet agl.”
Dave Amann
Azle, Texas
Amann is correct. We inadvertently introduced that error in editing. Flight Training regrets the error. — Ed.
Shame on him
I was greatly disturbed by the article “Know Thy Airplane, Lest Empty Tanks Smite Thee” (“Flight Lesson,” November 2012 Flight Training). Statements such as, “I made a beautiful dead-stick landing,” and, “My best Bob Hoover style” and “The tanks were bone dry” made it seem like running out of fuel was not a big deal. Well, it is a big deal and it is the number-two cause of accidents behind weather accidents. As the check pilot examiner for the Civil Air Patrol, I can say that if the author was flying a CAP aircraft, his flying privileges would have been revoked and he would never again fly a CAP aircraft. That is how seriously we take issue with running out of fuel. Pilots must be vigilant and calculate the fuel that will be required for a particular flight. If, while in flight, fuel becomes an issue, a landing at the nearest airport must be made. In the Nevada CAP Wing, pilots are required to plan the fuel necessary to get to their assigned search area, the fuel necessary to conduct the search, and the fuel required to return to base or get to an airport that has fuel.
Bill Schroeder
Carson City, Nevada
Related Articles
