I am with you Green Goblin. K.I.S.S. Some people in GA (and airlines) just love to make stuff more complicated than it need be. I think a lot of it has to do with our generally benign Aussie skies which bore them. Idle hands and all that.
If they had to fly in really poor weather, or a really busy environment, maybe they would not have time to dream up unnecessary B.S. and would certainly come to realise that there are more critical things out there than 1 or 2 litres per hour of fuel optimisation.
The time to learn the niceties of climb planning and leaning (other than in the cruise, when applicable) is after the basics of keeping it blue side up have been mastered.
More effort should go in to ensuring that students can mentally compute fuel remaining and ETAs while under pressure. My old RAAF instructor would not even give me access to a 'prayer wheel' computer or a protractor for cross country work. They were used to plan the flight, then locked in the boot. The only cockpit navaids allowed were a chart and a pencil.
Also, harking back to when I learned to fly, I would like to see more training done when the wind is howling, rain is bucketing down and the scud is barely above MSA. That approach teaches students to know how far they can go, and a bit of respect for the elements.
Today's flying schools are breeding a bunch of pussies.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 26th Jul 2013 at 02:42.