Advice for young pilots

WacoFan · Feb 25, 2010

inigo88 said:
Great advice Boris!

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go gel my hair into a spikey pattern, put on my backpack, insert my iPod headphones and head to the airport!!!

Hey now, I'm one of those San Francisco lib-pinko-comie-bastards and I'm addicted to TAILWHEEL all the way!!! :rawk::rawk::rawk:

There is at least SOME hope for you!!!

inigo88 · Feb 25, 2010

WacoFan said:
There is at least SOME hope for you!!!

Woohoo! :beer:

ChasenSFO · Feb 25, 2010

-Flight Simulator is a game.

falconvalley · Feb 25, 2010

Always...no-

Never...forget...to check your references!

dark_reaper · Feb 25, 2010

falconvalley said:
Always...no-

Never...forget...to check your references!

lol, some one watch that movie recently...

Here is my 2 cents.

If you are a airline pilot and want a fuel uplift. At most places you are at the mercy of the fueler. It can be anything from 5 min to an hour. Me personally I go for 15 min to 45 min before I return.

Maurus · Feb 25, 2010

ChasenSFO said:
-Flight Simulator is a game.

Sad thing is that in training I can tell a difference between people that fly on flight sim a ton and people that have never touched it. With that said, a lot of bad habits can be created with flight sim so your results may vary.

Screaming_Emu · Feb 25, 2010

1) Slow down and enjoy the journey. Otherwise you'll get to where you wanted to be and go "this is it?"

2) Keep learning. Every once and a while, go through some of your old text books, you'll be surprised what you've forgotten.

3) Be quietly confident. Otherwise people will figure out that you're making up for something.

4) When flying with someone else, a good rule of thumb is "whoever is the most scared wins". If you can convince them not to be, then so be it, but if someone thinks something you're doing is a bad idea, it probably is. And if its not, there's probably still a way to go about it that makes everyone happy.

5) Be well rounded. Big deal, you're a (jet/widebody/bush/instructor/test/fighter/etc) pilot. It may impress some people at first, but they'll get bored of it quickly. Especially if they're sitting in the same cockpit as you. Know other stuff, have other hobbies, it'll get you further.

6) Be the best you can be from the very beginning. You may be a student pilot now. But if you fail to learn something at that stage, your foundation will be weak. Later on, people's lives WILL depend on you. Even if you're flying alone, there are other people in the air with you and on the ground below you. If you don't know what you're doing, you put everyone else in danger. This industry is strange, it is very possible for you to end up in the seat of an airplane that you are incredibly unqualified for. That is not the time to realize you missed a lot of the basics.

7) Take the time to do it right. Flying isn't hard work, but its a lot of easy work. There is always something you don't know, or things you could know better. Don't just learn the "what" so you can pass the checkride, but learn the "why" because it might save your life some day. There are flight schools everywhere bragging that they will take you from 0 hours to an airline pilot in 90 days. Yes, they will get you through your checkrides, but unless you take the time to do your homework, you will be an empty shell of a pilot. After 90 days you may end being able to call yourself an airline pilot. But you won't actually become one until you work hard and know your stuff.

8) Know your limits.

inigo88 · Feb 25, 2010

ChasenSFO said:
-Flight Simulator is a game.

But what about my 3000 hours of B744 time????!?!?!!!111oneone

JoelT · Feb 25, 2010

Screaming_Emu said:
4) When flying with someone else, a good rule of thumb is "whoever is the most scared wins". If you can convince them not to be, then so be it, but if someone thinks something you're doing is a bad idea, it probably is. And if its not, there's probably still a way to go about it that makes everyone happy.

Good one! My Dad said something similar during his crew briefing on the L1011. He used to say, "We don't do anything unless we have three yes's or three no's." Of course, for that to work everyone has to act like a big boy but, we're all professionals. Right?

Crism · Feb 25, 2010

I'm Microsoft Word'ing this thread and saving it. Good stuff here.

///AMG · Feb 26, 2010

I'm no old salty guy, but here are a couple tips I'd throw in:

1) Never stop your scan. If you are fixating on something for more than a few seconds at a time, you are doing something somewhere else wrong. Doesn't matter if you are VFR bouncing around the pattern at homefield, shooting an approach to mins, cruising at FL360, or whatever.....every type of flying I have ever done has required some sort of consistent scan.

2) Don't assume. You know what they say. If you have a question, ASK. And always verify what you think you are seeing with some sort of a sanity-check.

splash · Feb 26, 2010

Just say "no" to flying. It's like crack. I'm in and out of rehab all the time.

troopernflight · Feb 26, 2010

If you have that nagging feeling that you are forgetting something, you probably are. And if it doesn't feel right, it's probably not right. Five0, I'm sure you can identify with this!

BobDDuck · Feb 26, 2010

When I went through upgrade a few years ago, a former student of mine (who at that time was a retired AA MD11 captain getting his CFI to teach his grandson to fly) sent me this. It is geared towards the guy in the left seat at an airline but I still think it is good advice all around.

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It is my personal feelings that as the Captain you should no longer worry about flying the airplane, doing the weight and balance, programming the FMS or getting tied down in details you can hand off to the FO. The Captain’s job is to MANAGE the aircraft, keep the big picture and make safe decisions.

Remember that with that responsibility you also need to know how to use your resources for the best and safest outcome of the flight. Even if it means admitting you are wrong or that someone else has a better idea. Which is sometimes the hardest thing for a new Captain to do even if it is the best thing. It was for me sometimes.

The crew, passengers, ATC, Dispatch, ramp and gate personnel are all responsible to the Captain. "The Pilot in Command of an aircraft is ultimately responsible for the safe conduct of the flight." (FAR 91.3). Or as Captain Len Morgan said "Everything in the FARs, the Policy Manual, your training, can all be summed up in one phrase: It's your call, Captain."
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“As the Captain, you never need to get upset or angry, or lose your temper. You have no need to explain in detail, any decision or request you make. You have already won any argument. You are the Captain".

"Remember, as an FO you could look to the left for advice. Now the only thing you are going to see when you look to the left is your own reflection in the window."

drunkenbeagle · Feb 26, 2010

Polar742 said:
2) There is no reason to bend the metal and/or get hurt due to a decision you made.

I'll have to disagree on this one. Sometimes bending metal is the best decision you can make. Though the flying I'm doing now comes with the very real risk of making an off airport landing someday. There is nothing that will ever make flying totally risk-free.

TurdBird · Feb 26, 2010

troopernflight said:
If you have that nagging feeling that you are forgetting something, you probably are. And if it doesn't feel right, it's probably not right. Five0, I'm sure you can identify with this!

You're right on the money!

Hootie · Feb 26, 2010

Kids need to pay thur doos!

Advice for young pilots

WacoFan

Bigly

inigo88

Composite-lover

ChasenSFO

hen teaser

falconvalley

Absentee Dad of the OOTSK, Runner, Cat Frustrator

dark_reaper

Airport Bum!

Maurus

The Great Gazoo

Screaming_Emu

Well-Known Member

inigo88

Composite-lover

JoelT

Well-Known Member

Crism

Thuper Member

///AMG

Well-Known Member

splash

your social justice comic center

troopernflight

Well-Known Member

BobDDuck

Island Bus Driver

drunkenbeagle

Gang Member

TurdBird

Well-Known Member

Hootie

Old Skool