Nail on the head!
What a refreshing, honest post!
Ring any bells, boys?
No, not really. Alien to me, that was.
Quote:
I'm now disappointed if at the end of a flight I haven't learned something and improved something.
Did you feel like that at the end of a 'LESSON' if you were TAUGHT b*gger all?- time after time?
Absolutely NOT!
I came to GA with my eyes open. I'd done gliding in the late '70s (a bit - 'till I got pissed off driving tractors and pulling private owner gliders around for a few precious minutes in the air). I'd spent 3 full weekends, 07:00 to 19:00 each day, before I even got into a cockpit! Thanks a bunch, D&L! (It WAS a long time ago!).
So I went to Barton in 1978 for a PPL determined not to be pissed around again. Made that clear, in the crowded clubhouse one wet Sunday afternoon after calling in to Barton, to the chairman of LAC. He promised me they would not piss me about as D&L had done.
I was not pissed around by LAC. But I did, sometimes, have to 'manage' my progress according to my 'Birch & Bramson', what lessons I had in what order etc. Sometimes an instructor would jump into the RH seat of the 150 with "OK SSD, what would you like to do today". So I had to tell him. I had many instructors in the 8 months it took me to get a PPL, but I consider that an advantage - it taught me there are more than a few ways to skin all these cats.
The CFI was keeping an eye on overall progress and all lessons were of course logged to ensure the entire syllabus was covered, and for the important stuff there were some really excellent instructors. The gentleman who sent me solo at 10 hours, well before I was expecting it (ex WW2 Lancaster pilot, later V bomber pilot, as I discovered later the only guy I know who can gain height in a Chippy while aerobatting it and unpeeling an orange at the same time) knew I was better than I thought I was.
That same gentleman conducted my GFT (now called a skill test, I believe) less than 40 hours after my first PPL lesson and I did make a few mistakes (I think the PPL minimum was 38 hours back then - and it included spinning!). He walked away from the 150 saying "thank you very much. A very enjoyable flight".
"But.... Did I pass?"
"Oh yes! Of course".
So my PPL course was immensely rewarding - every lesson gave me new experiences and knowledge to hoover up (I was still in my mid 20s). Some of the instructors were ho hum, but some were aviators to a very high degree and they passed that enthusiasm for airmanship and love of flying to us newbies.
I'd had to 'manage' my lessons myself at times, ensuring stuff I was happy with wasn't repeated, and stuff I had difficulty with was resolved. I'm not a 'type A' personality, but I'm a pretty good project manager.
It was intensive, it was demanding, and there were times I had to bunk off work when the wx was right to do a x-country. But it was amazing!
And talking of VFR nav I remember sitting in a 150 one day awaiting the CFI for my first dual flight out of the circuit (Barton - Crewe - Wigan - Barton). He strapped in and said "OK Mr SSD, where's your plan?".
"What plan?"
"How are you going to fly me from here to Crewe, Wigan, and back here with no plan?".
"Head west to Warrington, turn left down the Low Level Route to just south of Northwich, pick up the railway to Crewe, do a 180, follow the railway back up the LLR to Wigan, then turn right to return over Leigh and Astley to here".
Which is exactly what we did!
I find much of what has been posted on this thread to be quite alien. I hope the above explains why.