oicur12, you and I have traded barbs in the past here on Pprune over the events of 1989, with you very much singing the praises of the ‘realistic went backs’ and me just as outspoken for the ‘greedy, self-serving, fat-cat stay-outs’ of that time. Many people who were not involved in the rather seminal events of that year have expressed how ‘bored’ they were with that particular debate. However, with your comment
But I have always found it crazy that with each piston twin rating - 402 to navajo to baron etc, requires assy flying. the drills are really the same and the handling is so similar why exspose yourself every time you get a piston ticket.
you have shown everyone in startling - indeed mind boggling - detail, the new standard of professional aviator who was introduced into the ranks of the two major domestic carriers in 1989-90.
I’m still shaking my head in absolute wonder that
anyone with more than five minutes of twin time could make such a statement. For someone who has actually carried paying passengers in a regular public transport aircraft to make it frankly astounds me.
But then, I was brought up in the old ‘wasteful, feather-bedded’ system that was thrown out in 89, to be replaced by lean, mean aviators with their eyes firmly fixed on their employers’ all-important bottom line. Aviators like yourself, willing to cut out all that unnecessary featherbedding like asy checkouts on a new type.
I’ve flown more hours conducting asy checks than I care to remember, and (I suspect like 99.9% of instructors on twins), on occasion, had the odd thing occur from out of left field which, but for the grace of God and a modicum of good luck, could have seen me and my trainee as statistics or the subject of a thread like this on Pprune. I knew John Woodman and had nothing but the highest respect for him, both personally and professionally, so I’m not about to comment on this particular tragedy – I’ll leave that for the BASI investigators – but I will say, if he and his student were killed conducting a VMCA demonstration, (as one poster above has alleged – but how could he know?), they died conducting an vitally important and utterly necessary part of an endorsement on to any type.
Contrary to
oicur12’s, ideas on the issue, most aviators would agree that every pilot should be familiar with the handling characteristics as it approaches VMCA of each aircraft type he flys, and he should see those characteristics demonstrated in the controlled, well briefed environment of an endorsement,
not for the first time when it happens on some dark night ‘in anger’.
With no apologies for ‘hijacking’ the thread (as I am sure to be accused by the ‘new lean mean’ brigade).