I read Ian Twombly’s “Right Seat: Plan A” in the December issue. I enjoyed what he had to say. I know AOPA is here to support aviation, but I feel we owe it to our fellow pilots who are seeking a career in aviation to be honest to them about the pros and cons about the first steps into the regionals.
A lot of regional pilots are walking around depressed because of such a large investment and big responsibility of being a pilot and not being compensated for what the job requires of them, and the quality of life issues they face. I thank you for being an advocate of aviation but as the saying on the job goes, “It’s the best job once the door shuts,” and it shouldn’t be the only thing we talk about. I would really appreciate an honest report for the future generations on the cons of being an airline pilot.
First Officer Erik Torrez
Topeka, Kansas
Are you outside in, or inside out?
I’ve been fairly inactive as a flight instructor for the past few years, ever since I landed a job flying wide-body Boeings around the world. This past month, I had some extra time off from work and one of my friends who owns a local flight school asked if I’d come help with some flight training. I didn’t have much else going on at home, so I decided to go help.
The first flight I did with a student was a presolo stage check. One of the maneuvers I asked him to perform was the steep turn. He followed all the proper set-up procedures, cleared the area, and then began making the turn to the left. Rolling past 30 degrees of bank, he proceeded to add a touch of power and continued to roll to 45 degrees. Then he started a slow descent. I kept thinking he was going to fix it any second, but by the end of the first turn, he had descended 200 feet! I asked what he was looking at during the maneuver and he said he was splitting his view from outside and inside to check his attitude indicator. I was pretty sure he was spending at least 90 percent of the time focusing inside, so I decided to try something different. I took my sectional chart and covered up all the flight instruments, and asked him to do another steep turn. Since he didn’t have anything to focus on inside the cockpit, he spent the entire time looking outside. The steep turn with sole reference on the actual horizon was perfect. I peeked underneath the sectional a few times; the altimeter and airspeed needles never moved!
I know many of the new training airplanes on the market these days have lots of nice electronics and gadgets on them, but it doesn’t change the fact that the best information available to the pilot is right outside the window.
Darren Murphy
San Antonio, Texas
Yikes!
Phil Scott’s “Aviation Speak” was very interesting from the first sentence: “A stall can occur at any speed [correct] and any angle of attack [yikes!]." I am certain I am not the only pilot that wrote about this. I have been a CFI for a long time and it is hard to believe that this made your magazine. I believe it is collectively agreed that a stall only occurs when you exceed the “critical” angle of attack, not any angle of attack. If Scott were correct I could pitch an airplane straight down, build up an airspeed of 130 knots, and the aircraft can stall? Wow!
Mike Foy
Westfield, Massachusetts
Errata
Several colleges and universities in the 2014 Flight Training College Aviation Directory (December 2013 Flight Training) should have been designated as accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (www.aabi.aero). They are: Middle Tennessee State University, North Shore Community College, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Rocky Mountain College, Saint Louis University-Parks College, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Illinois University, St. Cloud University, Westminster College, University of Central Missouri, University of North Dakota, University of Oklahoma, and Western Michigan University. Additionally, the listing for Kent State University should have included a degree in air traffic control. Iowa Central Community College (www.iowacentral.edu), which offers an associate's degree in aviation science/professional pilot, was inadvertently omitted from the directory.
An updated College Directory is available online (http://flighttraining.aopa.org/magazine/2013/December/1312f_college%20directory2.pdf).
Flight Training regrets the errors.
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