Don’t get in over your head
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
I just got my first adult job and can finally afford a mortgage payment on that four-bedroom colonial if I eat rice and beans for the next five years. Should I make an offer? I just got the cast off my arm. Should I suit up for Friday night’s football game? Or how about one from my own life: When I turned 17 years old, my parents let me drive a brand-new Pontiac Firebird convertible, but should they have? I wrecked that car twice that year.
In aviation, there are so many regulations that you could use the printed FAR/AIM to do dead lifts. So, when you finally meet the minimums to be eligible for a certain flying privilege, you want to do it right away! But you know that small voice that says “Um, this doesn’t feel quite comfortable?” In most cases, listen to it. Argue with it if you have to. But don’t ignore it.
High performance as a new private pilot? As an FAA designated pilot examiner, I often give checkrides to people who have received 40-ish hours of training in the flight school’s Cessna 152 and then plan on buying a Beechcraft Bonanza or a brand-new Cirrus SR22. I always cringe when I hear that. Friends, a complex or high-performance aircraft with different stall/spin characteristics than your typical trainer will be a challenge. Don’t take it lightly. Please get some more experience and lots of training in type.
Multiengine as a part-time pilot? If you are an infrequent flyer, I highly suggest sticking with a single-engine airplane. Multiengine aircraft may seem safer, but I’d argue that the extra engine demands a level of proficiency most people just aren’t willing to keep up. Even career pilots run into trouble maintaining control in a twin when the engine fails during climbout. Exercise some prudence here, and fly a more forgiving aircraft.
Low IMC as a new instrument pilot? On the day I passed my instrument checkride, the examiner said, “Remember, you would always rather be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing, hoping, praying that you can make it to the ground safely.” Your new instrument ticket may make it legal for you to take off into a 200-foot overcast, but please don’t. If you’ve never been in instrument conditions without that comforting safety net of your flight instructor, you do not want your first single-pilot IFR day to be a nail-biting approach to minimums. Foggle time is useful for training, but it just doesn’t have the same test-your-mettle factor as real IMC. New instrument pilots should get their feet wet with a good high overcast. That way, if you decide you aren’t ready to be in IMC alone yet, you can simply request a lower altitude and make a stress-free visual approach to landing.
Making cautious aviation choices isn’t just about avoiding a tough flight where we struggle through some discomfort. We’re talking about something that could be far more devastating. Years ago, a wealthy businessman took lessons at our local airport. He was a philanthropist and a nice guy and a shining example of a self-made success. He stayed busy with his work, but he took lessons when he could, eventually earning his ATP. After amassing a little more than 2,000 hours, he bought a Cessna Citation and took a four-day course to get rated to fly it single pilot. After two months and 110 Citation-flying hours, he took off into a low overcast and crashed the jet, killing himself and three passengers. The NTSB ruled probable cause as pilot disorientation. He was perfectly legal, but I can’t help but wonder, did he get in over his head with the workload of a high-performing jet aircraft and instrument meteorological conditions coupled with his relative inexperience? For comparison, airlines train new jet pilots for several months before putting them in the cockpit next to an experienced captain. Most will fly that way for a couple of years and at least a thousand jet hours before making the switch to the left seat. I don’t want to do a disservice here to that Citation pilot. Two thousand hours for one pilot might make someone just as competent as another with 4,000 hours. But understand that you should think twice when upgrading to a new aircraft, and get more training than the bare minimum.
Aviation presents so many opportunities to do rare and wonderful things that would seem like a dream to nonflyers. We lucky pilots can fly half the speed of sound or do spins at 60 knots. We are a bunch who loves a challenge. And for many involved in aviation, we have the financial resources to make some of those wild dreams come true. I encourage you to do it all…with a healthy respect for your own limits. Build your skills gradually or with a more experienced pilot. There will be time for everything. Let’s not get in too big of a hurry.
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