AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 56) PROFICIENTPILOT BY BARRY SCHIFF Flying lessons W orld War II had ended only 13 years and seven months before the first edition of The AOPA Pilot was published 50 years ago this month. eventual by-product of the Federal Aviation Agency, which was formed later in 1958, a result of the TWA-United Airlines midair collision over the Grand Canyon on June 30, 1956. The agency became the Federal Aviation Administration in 1966. On occasion, simplicity increased difficulty. For example, the gyroscopic artificial horizon (attitude indicator) and directional gyro (heading indicator) were not yet required for instrument flying, so pilots had to learn using only “needle, ball, and airspeed,” what is now referred to as partial panel. To the dismay of a general aviation industry hunBarry Schiff began Turns to headings were made using only a congry for business, the anticipated post-war flying writing for AOPA ventional compass, so pilots had to fully underboom failed to materialize. Military pilots were Pilot in June 1963. stand turning errors and anticipate them accuratenot flocking to their local airports to fly civilian ly when rolling out of turns. Conventional visionairplanes. The most common trainers remained tube-and-fabric, 65-horsepower relics, primarily Aeronca 7AC limiting devices like those we use today were impractical beChamps and Piper J–3 Cubs. (Cessna 150 production began in cause a hood allowed the student to see outside the aircraft September 1958.) If you want to start a heated discussion while referring to the compass, a frequent requirement. There amid a gaggle of old-timers, simply state that one of these was one hood on the market, the Francis hood, but it was used trainers was better than the other; it doesn’t matter which one only when flying airplanes equipped with gyros. Instead, and prior to each instrument training flight, we covyou choose. Then watch the dust fly. (The Champ was the betered the insides of the windows with stiff, orange, plastic sheets ter trainer despite the greater popularity of the Cub.) Many who learned to fly in 1958 were inspired to wash their custom-made to fit each type of airplane. The student would wings in the wind by the heroic exploits of wartime pilots. I wear blue goggles. He could not see outside when looking at the was encouraged to fly also because of the favorable impres- compass because the combination of blue and orange resulted sion I thought it would make on potential girlfriends. I can tell in black. There was no way to see anything outside the airplane. It was more effective than using a hood and made us feel as you that it did not favorably impress their parents. In 1958, I was a 19-year-old flight instructor and charter pilot though we were really flying through dark, solid cloudiness. You earning $5 per hour. This provided barely enough sustenance to couldn’t even see the wingtips. This was difficult for the instructor because he had to stare maintain my status as a math major at UCLA. Trainers rented for as little as $11 per hour, including fuel, and aeronautical through the translucent plastic to see outside the aircraft and charts sold for 25 cents. Two nights each week when I should look for traffic. The plastic was usually scratched. Straining to have been doing homework and studying for exams, I was see through it when flying into the sun was especially difficult. teaching ground school instead. The only training aids I had The good news is that there was not much traffic to worry about, and I never heard of a midair collision resulting from were chalk and a blackboard. Learning to fly was easier and at the same time more difficult training with such a system. My first exposure to using “omni” (VOR) was during a flight than it is today. It was easier because there were fewer regulations, hardly any airspace restrictions, and much less traffic. I from Santa Monica, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, with three used to fly students into Los Angeles International Airport, park friends in a rented Cessna 170 equipped with a newly installed the “Airknocker” at an airline gate not scheduled for imminent Lear Omniscope. The first steps were to tune to the desired freuse, and walk into the terminal for 10-cent cups of coffee. We quency using a “coffee-grinder” and then aurally confirm the would also visit the Weather Bureau there to watch hourly station. The rest was supposed to be simple. A little blip on a weather observations being taken and then disseminated on small green oscilloscope indicated the radial on which you were Teletype machines. On occasion we got to see the balloon located. It was so simple that I got lost and wound up landing at an airport just to find out where we were. After that, I got some launch of a radiosonde used to obtain weather data from aloft. Learning to fly was more difficult because we still used four- instruction in the use of omniranges. My advice is to never step out of the airplane and ask the first course, low frequency radio ranges for navigation even though “omniranges” (VOR stations) were coming on line at a rapid person you see where you are. It is much less embarrassing to pace. The notion of satellites, GPS, microchips, and moving- instead purchase some fuel and look at the receipt to determine the name of the airport and your location. map displays were beyond imagination. There were no flight instructor ratings per se. Instructors taught whatever they were capable of teaching. Ratings were an Visit the author’s Web site (www.barryschiff.com). AOPA PILOT • 56 • MARCH 2008 http://www.barryschiff.com
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