sigh
Mick,
Totally agree, I started my PPL training some 16 years ago but had to stop due to work & family. At 40 I decided to get back into it as I had the chance. Even as a newbie I was shocked at the standard compared to 16 years ago. Simple things like not being able to hold an altitude or read a map, and this was departing Wellington International in NZ!! It just seems that these little things no longer matter because everyone sees themselves in a shiny jet and lets the autopilot do it all.
Attitude plays a huge part and preparing to go through some hard yards, something that is very much missing these days. I was fortunate to have 2 months recently in a king air on air ambo missions. Did I learn lots, hell yes! Being thrown around at night in 60kts winds, trying to plan my descent, reading star charts and no auto pilot soon made me realise that stuff can go wrong very quickly. 180kts taught me to always be 10mins ahead. All of this happening while I had a prem baby in the back. Then came the landing. Only then did I realise the value of flying the 152 on 1 wheel down the centreline of the runway to come to terms with a crosswind landing. My instructor made me do this every time there was a strong crosswind.
He also told me that "the plane doesn't know how big it is, how wet it is, how dark it is or even how many engines it has...it is just an airframe. As a pilot we get the plane to do what we want it to. If it doesn't do what we want it to then we are doing something wrong, so fix it."
Maybe I view this stuff a bit differently because I have a bit of life experience (Spent 7 years in the Police and have had my fair share of undie sucking moments) To me there just seems to be a lack of common sense.
I know in the last year I have put in a huge effort to get into the position I am in now.
Last edited by pineappledaz; 14th Jul 2014 at 06:08.