Flight Training - February 2014 - 8

LETTERS

Talk back
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COMMENTS. Please email letters
to flighttraining@aopa.org. Letters
will be edited for style and space.

LET'S BE HONEST

REALITY CHECK, TIMES THREE

I

read Ian Twombly's "Right Seat: Plan A" in the December issue.
I enjoyed what he had to say. I know AOPA is here to support
aviation, but I feel we owe it to our fellow pilots who are seeking
a career in aviation to be honest to them about the pros and cons
about the first steps into the regionals. A lot of regional pilots are
walking around depressed because of
such a large investment and big responsibility of being a pilot and not being
compensated for what the job requires of
them, and the quality of life issues they
face. I thank you for being an advocate of
aviation but as the saying on the job goes,
"It's the best job once the door shuts,"
and it shouldn't be the only thing we talk
about. I would really appreciate an honest
report for the future generations on the
cons of being an airline pilot.
First Officer Erik Torrez
Topeka, Kansas
ARE YOU OUTSIDE IN, OR INSIDE OUT?

I've been fairly inactive as a flight instructor for the past few years, ever since I
landed a job flying wide-body Boeings
around the world. This past month, I had
some extra time off from work and one of
my friends who owns a local flight school
asked if I'd come help with some flight
training. I didn't have much else going on
at home, so I decided to go help.
The first flight I did with a student
was a presolo stage check. One of the
maneuvers I asked him to perform was
the steep turn. He followed all the proper
set-up procedures, cleared the area,
and then began making the turn to the
left. Rolling past 30 degrees of bank, he
proceeded to add a touch of power and
continued to roll to 45 degrees. Then he
started a slow descent. I kept thinking he
was going to fix it any second, but by the
end of the first turn, he had descended
200 feet! I asked what he was looking at
during the maneuver and he said he was
splitting his view from outside and inside
8/

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

to check his attitude indicator. I was
pretty sure he was spending at least 90
percent of the time focusing inside, so
I decided to try something different.
I took my sectional chart and covered up
all the flight instruments, and asked him
to do another steep turn. Since he didn't
have anything to focus on inside the
cockpit, he spent the entire time looking
outside. The steep turn with sole reference on the actual horizon was perfect.
I peeked underneath the sectional a few
times; the altimeter and airspeed needles
never moved!
I know many of the new training airplanes on the market these days have lots
of nice electronics and gadgets on them,
but it doesn't change the fact that the best
information available to the pilot is right
outside the window.
Darren Murphy
San Antonio, Texas
YIKES!

Phil Scott's "Aviation Speak" was very
interesting from the first sentence: "A
stall can occur at any speed [correct] and
any angle of attack [yikes!]." I am certain
I am not the only pilot that wrote about
this. I have been a CFI for a long time and
it is hard to believe that this made your
magazine. I believe it is collectively agreed
that a stall only occurs when you exceed
the "critical" angle of attack, not any angle
of attack. If Scott were correct I could
pitch an airplane straight down, build up
an airspeed of 130 knots, and the aircraft
can stall? Wow!
Mike Foy
Westfield, Massachusetts
http://www.PILOTSHOP.COM http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG
Flight Training - February 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - February 2014
