Dumbing down in flying schools
Saw this briefing taught in a Victorian flying school on a flying instructor course:
Steep Turns: Objective. The student at the completion of this lesson will from memory show an understanding of the principles and considerations involved in carrying out steep turns of between 45 and 60 degrees angle of bank in a safe and accurate manner on any aircraft with diagrams and a model.
Ye Gods - is that for real?
Contrast this with the rather more concise (thank goodness) example from the old DCA Flight Instructor's Manual:
Exercise 8 - Turning: Aim: To teach the student to cary out various types of turn and how to turn accurately onto specified headings.
What with reams of paper that make up the various competency based syllabi (which few instructors can spare the time to read even if they wanted to), we now hear of flying schools that have deleted practice solo stall recoveries from the flying school Ops Manual because they are "too dangerous". This for Warriors, and Tomahawks!!
And now at Point Cook - once the mecca of all training airfields in Australia, we find that one flying school has directed its instructors to use not less than 1500 rpm when "gliding" during practice engine failures after take off. This is to "save" the engine. It's all about money, isn't it?
Never mind that this will give a student an entirely erroneous impression of the true glide angle with a failed engine.
Point Cook has flat good fields surrounding it except to the south, yet we now hear that simulated engine failures after take off are restricted to runway 17 out to sea. All because the local authority that runs the airfield are running scared stiff of the occasional local nutters who complain of noise from Cessna 150's.
The Chicken Little syndrome is with us - the sky will fall on us -repeat 100 times. Meanwhile, CASA who I presumed was the guardian of flight standards in GA flying schools, simply pile on more paper work and look the other way as the dumbing down sets in.