Worried about talking on the radio

[Colonel]

Once you have skill and knowledge, the paper comes easy.

Now, how do you get skill and knowledge? Generally, training is so terrible, it is
not a relevant way to gain skill and knowledge. So, people are self-taught and this
is recognized in the industry as essential. See the hours requirement? People want
to make sure that you've had a chance to teach yourself how to fly.

Suggestion: teach yourself

1) stick & rudder skill. Necessary but not sufficient.
2) systems knowledge. You must be able to intelligently deal with failures in flight.
3) weather knowledge & decision making. This keeps you alive.

Once you have the above, you can go through the motions of getting your ATP.

I don't think much of the above has changed in the last 100 years. Navigation
is now so trivial, it doesn't even need to be taught.

[David MacRay]

I think its good that Bill has the impulse to be better at something to improve his pilot ability, but instead of say listening to the radio, I'd advise him to study the AFM or POH or Maintenance Manual. Or better yet, just make more time to fly.

I don’t think working on improving his radio skills is what he meant to say in the interview.

Jimmy asked what he did in Vegas. He explained he goes back to his room by himself.
First by describing it as, “ I’m like Howard Hughes.”

Not Howard during his going flying lots phase but later on, living in a room in LasVegas, covering left over soup with a kleenex and not cutting his hair or finger nails.

Then he explained, rather than pulling the shades, hiding from people with the lights off, he enjoyed watching planes from the balcony and listening to them on an app.

I believe he was not doing that specifically to improve his radio work. Though as he mentioned, that is a benefit. It is fun, I understand what he meant by trying to explain how listening helps keep up with the language a little bit.

It’s never a replacement for getting out flying, but it is much less expensive and available than trying to rent a helicopter dual in every town he is in, and that’s only assuming he is rested enough to fly and has sufficient time off between shows.

I almost feel like you and the Colonel, have not been experiencing the pleasure of trying to book flights with schools you are not enrolled in a program with, in the last decade. Fixed wing dual flights are sometimes booked over a month in advance.

[Squaretail]

I almost feel like you and the Colonel, have not been experiencing the pleasure of trying to book flights with schools you are not enrolled in a program with, in the last decade. Fixed wing dual flights are sometimes booked over a month in advance.

I'm keenly aware of this, and was warning people of it a while ago. Actually like a decade ago at least if I was to search my post history. In spite of more schools opening all the time, and theoretically more rental capacity, there is less and less availability. Most of it is eaten up training foreign students, so if one is to complain about Canadian pilots, one might say what Canadian Pilots?!.

When I was in the business of renting out airplanes, I was the last one who was not trying to fill the schedule with foreign contracts, and people bitched and whined about how inconvenient it was, how expensive it was, how restrictive it was. But now its gone, I get asked all the time if I'm going to start it again... Uh, no thanks.

I'll admit I keep wanting you to go to these schools to get the low down, you could probably pose as someone who wants to finish a CPL and instruct at one of them, where as I'm a too known of a quantity and no one will talk to me. They think I'm there to steal students. Or copy there business model. Or maybe talk sense to the instructors. The last one terrifies them.

[Colonel]

Like Shiny, I have a well-earned revulsion towards FTU's which are machines that print paper.

If you want to become a good pilot, fly twice a day until you have at least 1,000 hours. Not at an FTU.

Something like this:



I checked myself out solo on all those aircraft. No dual for me! Let's see today's Princesses do that.

Had to check myself out solo on the R-985 Stearman too:



Funny story there. Jump in, throttle forward. I leave it there because that's how I roll. Crosswind,
downwind. Indicate 180 mph. No way. Stick up, over and a nice positive G roll on downwind,
throttle back for a nice descending U approach to a wheelie. It duckwalks on the runway because
of the high C of G caused by the extra fuel tanks in the wings.

Throttle forward for takeoff, you can probably guess where I left it. 180 mph on downwind, stick
back for a nice +4G pull and exited the loop at downwind altitude (kinda my thing) and throttle back
again, nice descending U approach to a wheel landing.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my self-checkout on the 450hp Stearman. Oddly no FTU
instructors had time on type. Why is that? Let me know where I can find FTU instructors with
substantial time on Beech 18, clip-wing Harvard, 450hp Stearman, PT-19 Cornell and PT-22 Ryan,
because that's what aviation is all about, right? Getting more dual from FTU instructors?

Now remember, I accept the Canadian rhetoric that I'm not very bright, and not a very good pilot -
had that message delivered to me at 170dB for many decades now. Coming through loud and
fucking clear.

Now, if I am a shitty pilot, it should be NO PROBLEM for you to do, what I do every day, right?

Canadians may have a very low opinion of me, but oddly insurance companies love me, and
are willing to insure me solo on new types. Why is that?

This was a fun self-checkout:



Piaggio Royal Gull. Can't be more than one or two flying in the world, now. Geared pusher
twin taildragger flying boat. Out of C of G with full fuel and a pilot. I loved it. It Felt like a Seabee. In the cockpit, I felt like an extra on a Tim Burton movie set. Don’t look at the star.
PS Hadn't flown in a long time. Scary as fuck. One of the nacelles had water in it - parked outside
naturally - and I'm told when I took off, the water mist coming out the back made the engine look
like it was on fire. Convenient. Off to Buffalo on the way to Belize.

Again, none of the FTU instructors on the field had time on type. That was quite a surprise.

[digits]

I checked myself out solo on all those aircraft. No dual for me! Let's see today's Princesses do that.

[...]

I'm happy to take on your challenge. Which owner will let me solo their aircraft? Happy to pay for it as well.

[Colonel]

… and that is the first problem a Princess needs to solve.

Aviation is all about solving problems, not receiving more dual from an FTU instructor.

You get good by teaching yourself. Start doing that. Rob Holland did, and he’s better than you will ever be. But still, you have nothing to learn from him?

Personally I think banner tow and jumper dumping are two great ways for a low time CPL to build stick and rudder skill, but that might be too blue collar for the white collar crowd with the soft hands and manicured fingernails.

You want hard core? Ag spraying. Those guys can FLY!!

Not a choice for a big city Princess. Got that.

[Squaretail]

I'm happy to take on your challenge. Which owner will let me solo their aircraft? Happy to pay for it as well.

You don't get to do that stuff by just paying money. If you want to start flying other people's airplanes, you already have to fly airplanes. Be at the airport, fly airplanes. When people see how often you fly, then you get to fly more. The price in time is way higher than the price in money. Hang around the airport. A lot. A chance at time on the stick doesn't come around often at the start, but you got to be ready when the time comes. And by hang around he airport, I don't mean where the big planes are, that's a fools errand. If you're serious, you spend your weekends where GA happens, and going to every fly in you can swing helps.

I mean no one trusts a random stranger with an airplane. Well occasionally they do if you get farther into this game, but that's a long ways on in this story. But if you're someone they know, and they've seen you fly, well the equation changes.

Personally I think banner tow and jumper dumping are two great ways for a low time CPL to build stick and rudder skill

One great thing that is happening in aviation now, at least if you're a low time guy looking for your first break, is the increasing demand for airborne data acquisition. Lots of stuff going on, and though its a lot of work (and lets not beat around the bush, at low pay) new pilots can get a lot of flying in. You can even wear your pilot costume while doing it if you want.

[Colonel]

There are still lots of opportunities for low-time pilots to teach themselves to fly.

I’m trying to put a positive spin on this … even though someone might struggle with a lack of initiative and have a tremendous deficit at creative problem solving, those same personality characteristics are exceedingly well suited to repetitive jobs like assembly line worker or airline pilot, who mindlessly do the same thing, day after day, over and over again.

Just read this in the news about the Ukraine:

the UK also blamed the Russian air force's lackluster performance on "heavily scripted" air combat training that is "designed to impress senior officials, rather than to develop dynamic initiative" among air crews.

So maybe Russian Air Force might be another choice?

[mcrit]

the UK also blamed the Russian air force's lackluster performance on "heavily scripted" air combat training that is "designed to impress senior officials, rather than to develop dynamic initiative" among air crews.

So maybe Russian Air Force might be another choice?

Don’t believe everything our media tells you about the war in Ukraine; the German media told the Germans that they were winning righ up until the Soviets entered Berlin.

[Colonel]

I believe everything the media tells me. They are smarter than me, and have no conflict of interest.

Here's a valuable freebie. I worked it out myself - no one told me this.

If you want to be a superb 20th Century pilot, you need to excel at 3 things:

1) stick & rudder
2) systems knowledge
3) weather knowledge and decision making

You need to be an ace stick, know more about your aircraft than your mechanic, and more about
the weather than any meteorologist.

How do you do that? Well, let's look at #1 - stick and rudder.

Do what Neil did, and buy a Pitts S-1. Single seat. MUCH cheaper than two seat. Don't buy a
two-seat. Front seat is for student or fuel tank, neither of which should concern you right now.

For ten years, put 100 hours on the tach of that S-1. Each flight should be .33 on the tach of
aerobatics, so that's 300 flights per year for ten years. Pretty well every day for ten years.

At the end of those ten years, you will be a master stick. Aerobatics and landing a very
challenging aircraft will be second nature to you. Any other aircraft (except perhaps a Gee
Bee Racer) will be child's play to fly.

And, it won't cost very much money. But it will take some effort, so you won't do it, because
this is the 21st Century, when everyone wants everything for nothing.

Free advice: develop a work ethic. I can't promise you success if you work like a dog, but
I can promise you failure if you don't.