Air Law before solo?

[stiknruda]

There seem to be many threads running concurrently where somone opines that "remember you'll have to sit Air Law before your first solo".

Is this correct?

ISTR that an Air Law pass is not mandatory.

[Dr Eckener]

It is not mandated by the CAA, but many schools require it to be taken prior to first solo for good and obvious reasons.

[cessna l plate]

The funny thing about aviation is that a lot of the rules and procedures have their origin in common sense.

As the "Air Law" exam is a bit of a mis-nomer, as it also cover rules of the air and not just the applicable acts, I personally think it would be very wrong to go solo without an air law pass first.

Look at it this way, on your first solo, YOU are commander of the aircraft, are in full control, and in effect are lord and master where that aircraft is concerned. It makes good sense to me to understand the rules that apply to you before going solo. And look at it from the flying schools perspective. If on first solo you go and beat up the local farm house or whatever, you can claim ignorance as you haven't done the law exam, the boys from the Belgrano will then start looking for someone else to prosecute, rather than the idiot that did it in the first place. As most instructors can barely afford the petrol it costs to get to work, do you realy think they are going to jepordise what little cash they have for a CAA fine??

At the end of the day, for more reasons than I have put here, it is a logical thing to do, a safe thing to do, and good airmanship to do it. It's not that scary, like anything else, if you read the book you can answer the question!

[ChrisVJ]

What is interesting over here in Canada is that the 'Air Law" exam, ie rules and regs test has a 90% pass mark whereas the other tests are, if I remember right, 70% or somethig. Apparently it is more important to know the rules than to know actually how to fly!

Typical bureaucrats?

[Will88]

I certainly didn't pass mine before I went solo. It's one circuit - is passing air law really going to make any difference? I think not.

:E

[Dr Eckener]

Thanks for the input Will. I have never thought of it like that before. Now that I know nothing bad ever happens I am going to rush out tomorrow and cancel all my insurance policies:ugh:

[Banjo]

Always thought about the first solo and how people race towards it so often. I prefer to keep my students back a bit after all if the field is closed during a first solo by another aircraft having an incident on the runway a little more navigation and handling skill will probably go a lot longer to helping than a pass in air law.

[bar shaker]

Banjo

A nice little earner too ;) ;)

My instructor said that he knows the right time to send his students solo and it is as much to keep them keen to learn as it is to reward them for good progress.

I didn't have Air Law, but the school prefered it.

[Blinkz]

Its not the fact that first solo is just one circuit, its the fact that it is possible that something may go wrong on that one circuit. For example its possible that another a/c may crash on the runway and cause the airport you fly from to close, you would have to divert to another airfield. Unlikely obviously, but the student needs to be at a level that would allow them to handle these situations.

[Lister Noble]

At Old Buck we must have Air Law before we go on our own.
To me it makes absolute common sense, because I reckon the most important bits in there are the "anti-collision" rules,followed by airspace rules.
Sorry that's a bit of my marine past coming in there,interesting that most of the anti-collision rules are the same as the maritime ones.
Lister:)

[OpenCirrus619]

Sorry that's a bit of my marine past coming in there,interesting that most of the anti-collision rules are the same as the maritime ones. Lister:)

and stating:

"...a green light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the starboard side..."

sounds so much better than the "110°" in the aviation world.

OC619

[Lister Noble]

Or "green to green should never be seen"
;)

[Whirlybird]

Red on Red and Green on Green
Indicates that all's serene
But colours of a different hue
Indicate some action's due
If on your Red you see a Green
Theirs should be the action seen
But if on your Green you see a Red
You'd better act or you'll be dead!

Helped get me through the CPL exams anyway

[bar shaker]

Much of aviation comes from the days when it was the Navy that were in charge of it.

The Starboard Rule is one such thing, as is using knots and having a rudder.

[DFC]

It is not a requirement because it is not necessary.

A pass in Air Law can be acheived with absolutely no knowledge of local airspace, airfield layout, circuit procedures and R/T procedures.

Before being sent solo it is a requirement that the student must not be a danger to themselves or otehr airspace users. That requires tyhe instructor to ensure that they have an appropriate level of knowledge.

I can guarantee that if a student has a problem on a first solo and the instructor trys "They have passed air law" as an ass covering exercise, they will soon find that it is meaningless unless the instructor has ensured that the appropriate knowledge regarding the aircraft, the local procedures etc etc has been demonstrated prior to first solo.

Many JAA countries have centralised exams and students sit all the exams in one sitting at a central exam centre. No learning a confuser full of copied authority questions there!. Those countries do not have any problem with students going solo before passing the official exam. However, the instructor must in some cases sign a certificate in the student's logbook stating that they have suficient knowledge to fly solo. They also have to hold an RT licence.

One common reason why instructors push students into doing the exam prior to going solo is to make them do some study as they progress and not end up with all the flying completed but no exams passed.

Next we will hear that som instructor requires the met exam to be passed before solo so that if the sutdent makes a bad decision regarding the weather they can simply shrug their shoulders and say "ah but they had passed the met exam so they shoudl know better".

Regards,

DFC

[Lister Noble]

Whirls,yes I remember that,just!
Doesn't work if you are head on though;)
Then its green to green etc.
When I started learning to fly,I used port and starboard,abeam,fine on the port bow etc,.
I did it slightly tongue in cheek,but it creased the instructor.
I believe that now we can't officially use port,stbd etc ,just left and right.
Bit sad really.
Lister:)

[stiknruda]

Thread drift.....

the RAF no longer use port and starboard as it is non standard NATO parlance. Echelon left or echelon right, nowadays!

Stik

[Will88]

Thanks for the input Will. I have never thought of it like that before. Now that I know nothing bad ever happens I am going to rush out tomorrow and cancel all my insurance policies:ugh:

If you fancy cancelling all your insurance policies, that's your call - but aren't you being a little rash?

In reality, a pass in Air Law means sweet FA. What's a lot more important is that the instuctor satisfies himself that you have the common sense and spare mental capacity to deal with any oddities that may arise.

Not the date of the bloody Chicago convention off by heart :rolleyes: