Airmanship at Ardmore.
Airmanship.
It's quite a simple concept really. If you are conducting a practice forced landing that sees you gliding straight through the traffic pattern of an airfield, the least you could do would be to tell the other aircraft that happened to be in the pattern what your intentions are.
Sadly that was not the case at Kelly field near Mercer on Monday. I joined the circuit at Kellys only to find an AFS C172 carrying out a practice forced landing that saw him or her glide right over the field at well less than circuit height, at right angles to the pattern. That would be OK if said aeroplane was landing at Kelly Field! In this instance, said 172 was gliding towards a paddock nearby.
OK - I could have lived with that! However common courtesy would have made things a tad easier for me. Perhaps a reply to my radio calls advising me of their intentions. I even asked! Not a reply. We extended a significant distance downwind to ensure clearance from this blind, deaf and obviously dumb aviator.
After landing, my passenger and I both sat back and watched as several AFS 172s practiced their forced landings into various paddocks nearby. It was as if Kelly Field did not even exist. There was no respect for the traffic pattern whatsoever! These aeroplanes glided overhead toward their chosen crash sites - one was no more than 2-300 feet (yes I can estimate heights rather well) and obviously did not know he was overhead an airfeild. As we departed, we made several radio calls to which we heard no reply offering advise on intentions or position.
On the subject of position, what is the "Big Green Shed". That raised myself and fellow friend/colleagues brows to hear another 172 commencing a forced landing from overhead "the big green shed". At least said instructor knew the difference between big and small, and had learnt his or her colours because they seemed to have learnt little about airmanship.
Perhaps it is time CFI took a wee look at what his junior instructors get up to while clear of the circuit. The fellow that shot past me doing a "beat-up" at Mercer several months ago, against the traffic direction and on the wrong frequency is a case in point. For my student, to see a 172 going past him in the opposite direction while we were only 200 feet after takeoff cemented in his mind where NOT to train.
Airmanship. It's got a much better ring than "human factors" don't you think? I can never see myself saying that I exercised good "human factors" by staying on the ground when the weather is bad. And our friends in Wellington wonder why the GA accident rate is so high.
I feel better now. And even more so when I report that next beat-up at Mercer to our friends in Wellington.