Have checked out a lot of retiring airline pilots on little aeroplanes over the years. I found it a little easier as I had “retired' from the airlines as well.
All the above comments are valid particularly those from +TSRA.
However, I found that the main factor to work on was visual Nav.
Having spent many years using Jepperson/ Aerad Airways charts and indeed magenta-lined screens at high FLs, it’s a bit of a culture shock to have to start searching the earth’s surface for pinpoints from 1500 to 5000 feet.
A subtle rebrief on the relative importance of various ground features, especially in poor vis., seems to pay off. This can be assisted by allowing a little bit of beacon crawling at the lower altitudes to draw attention to the fact that there are many hidden gotchas when flying straight lines at low level. This applies to high masts, high ground, Rule 5 over built-up areas and, certainly in the southern counties, masses of Controlled Airspace with diverse privileges.
It doesn’t take long to get the message across though but it can obviously be a valuable lesson and takes the uncertainty out of the equation later on when they are getting more adventurous with their shiny new rating.
The fact that such characters WANT to fly little aeroplanes again, following a good career, takes much of the difficulty out of getting the problems of the private pilot across. Many comment that it can indeed be a jungle down here !
Last edited by Sleeve Wing; 17th Jul 2017 at 20:52.
Reason: Clarity