Helpful input

The only thing more annoying than some smart-ass commenting on what you’re doing is when that smart-ass is actually right. Although, in that case, it would probably count as constructive criticism, which one is actually supposed to be thankful for. And, self-aware, collected, appreciative, confident and void of ego as we all are, we would handle a situation like that far better than Chuck, I’m sure!

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10 comments on “Helpful input
  1. Bernd says:

    I very rarely fly with people who know enough about flying or the type I fly to comment on what I do (except during the biennial, of course). But I’ve done some embarrassing things, such as fully extend the flaps instead of retracting them after takeoff. And wondering why it wouldn’t accelerate past 75 knots even with the nose much lower than usual, where Vy was 80-something on the Katana.

  2. Top Bunk says:

    CRM – Cockpit Resource Management. ;- )

  3. KenH says:

    Panel #2 indicates CRM with Chuckles should be a chop to windpipe to render unconscious (or dead) and take controls yourself….

  4. Quill says:

    When I flew a lot of Flight Simulator as a kid, I had a piece of tape on my monitor that said “Gear? Flaps?” I don’t believe I ever belly landed in that game (except maybe on purpose), this was more to address cruise speed concerns. I likewise had an incident where the A321 I was flying randomly stalled in cruise, was unable to recover and crashed. Later realized the book I was reading hit the spoiler key.

  5. Johsua says:

    Being a fight instructor is learning to suppress your inner Julio. It is always amusing how long it takes some people to notice their gear is improperly positioned and why there is a funny sound on final. But when it goes far enough I prefer the question “Did you forget anything?”

  6. YawningMan says:

    So, what you’re saying is flight instructors sometimes have to suspend their instinct for self-preservation to teach the student a lesson?

    Got it. Don’t trust a quiet flight instructor.

  7. Johsua says:

    Of course. What sense of self preservation would allow a student to attempt their first takeoffs and landings? Some times just shutting up and letting them spin the airplane makes the point a thousand words can’t.

  8. TG McCoy says:

    One of my best students, came up to me one day and said:
    “Tell me was what I did was a SPIN?” I’d given what I THOUGHT WAS A GOOD LESSON IN SPIN AVOIDANCE AND RECOVERY.!! Well at that point in my young instructor’s life, we went out to the hangar and pulled a non gyro equipped champion product out an proceeded to do Spin recovery…
    Did so with every other private student after that….

  9. Captain Dunsel says:

    An instructor pilot in the T-33 squadron at Elmendorf AFB in the early 1980’s was know for his letting trainees push the envelope. I was in Base Ops, talking with the manager when that instructor and his student were shooting simulated flameouts in a T-33. It was a beautiful day, with light winds and a clear sky.

    The student pulled it too tight in his turn onto final. The T-33 snapped out and spun in. I still have a vivid memory of seeing the two white helmets under the canopy as the plane dropped behind a small hill, to be followed by a pillar of flame.

    As I was an eye-witness and the acting CO of the weather unit, I was on the accident board. The board’s decision (the squadron CO was also an eye-witness) was that the instructor had allowed the student too much leeway. This time it his inaction resulted in two widows and a fatherless child.

    Not trying to be a downer, but there’s a fine line between being too strict a teacher and too loose a one.

    CD

  10. Johsua says:

    Captain Dunsel, I 100% agree with your point. The instructor’s job is to keep everything safe. The instructor has to know both themselves and their aircraft well enough to know just how far they can let the student go before it gets dangerous for both of them. Scary is fine but you have to know the limits.

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