What makes a good pilot?
 

Quite often hear others saying he/she is/was a good pilot and was wondering what this is. Does it mean being a Chuck Yeager, knowing your documents back to front, getting on with people or even being able to drink other pilots under the table? Theres probably a hundred other things but then maybe its the whole package.
I'm asking this out of curiosity as to what you should be aiming for in your career.

I reckon most of the time you hear that it means "that pilot and I have the same opinions".
I have seen pilots that are toted as being "real good pilots" do things like bust minimas and make poor in flight decisions etc but they are still talked about as "good pilots". I think this is because they are well liked and have good stick and rudder skills. I reckon that good pilots are the ones that don't stand out a lot of the time.
Another interesting thing is that we can't help judging a flight on it's landing, you may have made several astute weather related decisions and picked up an atc error and all sorts of other things, but if you thump it on everyone walks away (pilots included) with the impression of an average flight.

A superior pilot is one who uses his superior knowledge to avoid those situations which would require the use of his superior skills!

I have absolutely no idea who first said that. Suspect it may have been Pontius!!!

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The pilot with a degree! It doesn't matter what kind, just as long as he or she has a degree. You see it makes them better suited to applying themselves and makes them smarter.:cool:

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Hey Buzzy I've seen those degrees. They hang in a roll on a holder on the side of the dunny wall, with a sign saying,"please take one.".

They're the ones King Oath! Too bad they dont print them on soft paper anymore.......

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The AFAP mag published an article some 5 to 10 years ago on this subject. It was written by an American airline pilot who also held a qualification in one of the psychology disciplines.

As best I can recall, the article suggested a good pilot, particularly in a multi-crew airline environment was not neccessarily the Chuck Yeager types, rather one

• who didn't make too many mistakes
• when they did make a mistake they were quick to recognise it and take corrective action
• promptly admitted making mistakes and didn't try and hide the fact from fellow crew members,
• set a high personal standard and attempted to maintain it
• were prepared to listen and work to be part of a crew, rather than a one-man-band

There were many more points that I have since forgotten.

At the top of the list is

Common Sense

Seen a bad example of a bad Pilot.

Was at this field one day and was taxying out behind a C-182 loaded with 5 pax heading off to conduct a para drop.

I made my taxying call and was back tracking behind this guy and he turned off to the right to take off on a perpendicular rwy about 1/3 the way down.
My rwy of choice was sealed and about 1600m long and I had 12kts crosswind from the left at about 70 deg left. I was using 01.
This guy then turned and back tracked to line up and take off on 11.
Do the sums not looking good!!!!
I jumped on the radio and said To "Do you realise your taking off with about a 12-15kt gusting wind blowing up your tail" He then replied in broken english as he was a foreign guy , that I was wrong and what was my problem. Me and my mate looked at each other and thought is this guy for real. We held short at our threshold to let this guy go first and over fly our rwy. I though I would let him go just incase we had to dash over and pick up the pieces.
It was the flatest T/O I have ever seen in my life. He took off on a long grassy strip of about 1000m long with that sort of tail wind , loaded like that. For the fact there we no obstacles around he pulled it off just. And if he had an engine failure it would have been good night the fox , with that touch down speed he would have had a tragic result.
This guy got his commercial licence in OZ , but obviously had issues with reading the wind sock. Which is correct me if im wrong day one stuff......

But yeah bad pilot I would say for sure to even think of putting his passengers at that risk.

But a good pilot i would have to say would be a confident pilot with respect for the rules and people around him , and also a sound knowledge.

Cheers guys , sorry to spin a story

Dicko183

Attitude as Blade root said. And professionalism. I professional pilot wont sink to doing stupid things in an aircraft just to impress someone else, every flight with or without pax is flown to the best of their ability (no slacking off on the rudders just cause no ones watching). How they treat everyone else (you would be surprised how poorly some pilots treat ground staff) and remember you where once a student pilot too.
:} :\

Learn spelling and grammar!!!!:ok:

Theoretical and practical skill - Knowing how the aircraft works instead of just knowing how to work the aircraft.

Reliability - turning up on time or early every time and getting all of the work done not just the bit where you take the pax from a to b. If not someone else on your team will have to pick up your slack.

Honesty - I have kept pilots on who have made mistakes but were honest with me (and themselves) about what went wrong while others who have made bulsh1t excuses or blamed others and they have not lasted long at all.

Attitude - It's been mentioned before and it's worth mentioning again Its partly the points I made above but it's a hard one to quantify maybe It's something like enthusiasm plus skill multiplied by the way you treat your work mates passengers and aircraft.

Any one with an instructor rating - just ask them, they'll tell ya

A fat bank account or a very generous benefactor.

I generally think any instructor over sixty is a good pilot.

Sums it up perfectly.

Ever noticed that the statement 'He was a good Pilot' is always made after a fatal accident. No disrespect to the victims, but the above statement obviously wasn't true in that case. Therefore, was he really a good pilot?

What should be said is, they made a bad error due to A B and C. Take this away and learn from it so that you don't do the same thing. That is what makes a good Pilot.


MM

I don't have anything more to add to the good things that have been said here so far. However, just thought I'd share something with Dicko183 about assessing wind direction.

At one stage in my life, I spent quite a bit of time flying in America. Many of the airports I used had a wind "T" rather than a wind "sock". The difference between these 2 indicating methods is chalk and cheese because, with the former, the sharp end points into the wind. It took me ages to get accustomed to that and I made a number of cockups along the way.

Then, of course, upon return to the land of Oz, I was so accustomed to using the "T" that I made a few more stuffups until I re-learned the "lesson 1" stuff all over again.

America might not be the only foreign country that uses the wind "T", so the bloke in your example might've made the same mistake that I was so familiar with. Anyway, it's just a thought.

It used to be that good "stick and rudder" skills (co-ordination) with an affable character, would generally see you as a "Good Pilot" but it's changed so much now, with more advanced aircraft. Those qualities still are valid in GA though.

It's more a case of "systems management" and Crew interaction skills that may see you as a Good Pilot in the airlines nowdays ...

Gotta change with the times and technology but for my piece, a colleague that knows how to execute a tricky crosswind landing and is of balanced character, gets my vote anyday.

Happy landings:ok:

I have seen a lot of "good pilots" come and go.

However my late instructor Gerry Grandt (circa 70's), said aim to be an "average" pilot that has as many take offs as landings.

I am still alive.