When can you say you know enough to be safe in the cockpit?
 

There is no end to knowledge, be it any subject.. Sometimes I wonder do I know enough to be safe in the flight deck? Is passing the checkride enough? Is the checkride syllabus ideal to ensure that one would pull the aircraft out of all troubles? Is it possible to lay down on paper number of items besides common sense that a pilot must know at least?

Knowledge
 

IFLY INDIGO:

You Learn and will continue to Learn, all your flying life. If you ever get to the stage that you think you know it all, beware.

The day you don't learn anything when you go flying is the day you've become complacent.

You need to define "safe in the flight deck" since the answer ranges between first ever solo flight and never, depending.

A long way....
 

When can you say you know enough to be safe in the cockpit?

When you master the SOPs....to the point where you practice them
even when distracted, when there is an 'abnormal', when you're tired,
when you're flying with someone who doesn't practice the SOPs, or,
worse yet, has contempt for them.

When the SOPs become natural, normal, the only way....i.e.
you don't how to and cannot fly any other way, other than by
the SOPs.....

Then, you can say you're safe in the cockpit....

when you can and will follow SOP, know the REASON for the SOP AND know when/how to deviate from them when/if AIRMANSHIP dictates so.

If you do not know how to operate without the help of an SOP, you are not ready to be PIC. It is all about AIRMANSHIP.

When you recognise that rules (SOPs) are for guidance of the wise, and obedience of fools.

99.999999% of your aviation career you will and should follow SOPs, it is that 0.0000001% ocassion that you need your experience. Blindly following SOPs is an invitation to trouble.

It's a little like driving, if I'm in a 30mph area and are going through a crossing and yet see a car pull out through a red light, then instantly my experience and instinct take over, if that means me accelerating to avoid them, so be it, even if it takes me over the speed limit. It would have breached my "SOP" but I won't be in hospital, or worse.

OK, good discussion...
 

Maybe a start of a new thread.

When, in your aviation career, has the SOP NOT
been the proper course of action? Please describe
the event in detail, citing the applicable SOP, what
you followed, instead, and the outcome. What, do you
feel, would have been the outcome if you had followed
the SOP?

This is an honest question....no motives, here. We
can talk about this, openly.

Further thought....who wrote the SOP you thought was
inappropriate? Was it the manufacturer, someone in
your company? Just thinking about this....

Any comments/thoughts?????

Honestly, I'm trying to remember if and when and how
the SOPs did or didn't serve me well.

And, when you come up with an experience where the
SOP was the incorrect path to follow, describe why, and
describe what and how, a revised SOP would better
address the experience you had.

OK? Fair enough?

SOP's are important but pilots also have to use good judgement so SOP's don't kill them.

Again....not feelin' the love....
 

Bubbers44, et. al.,

Honest question.....take time to think back, all the
years and all the thousands of hours....think back,
and answer the question.

You know, this discussion may have far reaching
implications. Maybe we will, at some point, agree
that certain SOPs are not correct. Maybe we'll
look at the rules of flying from a new perspective.

Let's all go into this with an open mind.

While I type this, I'm thinking back to all the accidents
that gave birth new SOPs.

Let's think beyond the obvious. i.e. make one rule/
regulation: "Thou shalt not crash." I think we'll all
agree we need more than that.

A twist to the discussion....look back in your
experience. When have the SOPs saved your XXX.

Volant model....stand by for revision!!!!!!!


Please try to stick to the topic and not attack my
young age and inexperience level.

No offense taken.....seriously, no offense taken....

Pantload
 

Sir, if you're not just fishing, and not trying to spout a pantload for fun.... then you ought to consider why it is people are chosen to fly airplanes rather than computers.
If what you seem to be saying were ever to be so, there would be no use for humans in the cockpit at all. ....and there aren't many of us who believe that to be the right course.

When can you say you know enough to be safe in the cockpit?
 

When you can interpret every situation without mistake, and if the situation is correctly identified, choose an appropriate course of action.
Such knowledge takes a lifetime to accumulate.

However, safe operation can be achieved in limited circumstances (the absence of unnecessary risk), providing that the operator has sufficient knowledge and skills (know how) to execute specific tasks and use safe guards to identify and recover from error, but most important to be aware of one’s individual limits in knowledge and know how.
And even then, you can be wrong ... ... not safe enough.

Errors in Aviation Decision Making.

Great posts, so far, but
 

Great posts, so far, but please think back to
situations when following the SOP would have
been a bad idea. Or, when a situation occurred
for which there was no SOP.

Example, the United DC-10 accident in Sioux City....

Also, have a look at the Volant model....at some point
when you were in the yellow or red....what brought you
back?

Cite specifics, please. Get as detailed as your memory
allows.

Hmmmmm?:cool:

ok, here just one real life example:

Landing at airport daylight in Africa, daylight, VMC but with thunderstorms approaching, 2 other aircraft on "freq" but no idea where they are as they don't seem to know either, useless ATC:rolleyes:...
On final at around 1000', visual with runway, no terrain issues: GPWS warning: terrain terrain pull up...

SOP: GPWS warnings on final must result in an immediate go-around.

So... what do you do? discuss ahead!:}

Retract the wheels so you don't leave black marks on the one below you. Check the one above has done the same for you :-)

When aircraft become completely automated.

grounded27, “When aircraft become completely automated.”
… to the point of having no knowledge whatsoever - ignorant.

Simply put, when you can recognize that the current situation is beginning to put you in a box that has few viable options and you know what to do to increase the viable options, and when to do so.

Another name for this is airmanship.