"DON'T YOUS GOT INSURANCE!?!?!"

A150K

A150K

Well-Known Member
Here's an interesting encounter that I had today that made me laugh, but also made my skin crawl/made me lose faith in the human race. Though I am a freelance CFI for the moment, I'm in good terms with the local flight school (actually, I use their planes for some of my students) and I occasionally fill in for them when they need it. In today's case, I had to do a 172 checkout..Easy enough, right?...So, I find myself sitting behind the desk and some guy with one of the thickest Long Island accents I've ever come across (and I grew up in NJ prior to moving to NM..) comes strolling in and right away I notice some issues....But nothing big enough to keep us from going flying, so off we go. His flying is nothing to write home about, but it meets the basic criteria for the checkout...that is until we start working on landings. I had to intervene on the first 3 landings to prevent him from landing on the nosewheel (he was the type who is essentially unresponsive to verbal commands) and finally after 2 more attempts (flatter than normal landings with poor directional control on the rollout) we called it a day and taxied back in. Upon debriefing, I informed him that he was going to have to fly with either me or one of the school's instructors again before the checkout could be approved due to the landings. His response (keep in mind the Long Island accent):

Him: WHY DA HELL NOT?!?!
Me: Well, over 50% of those landings had the potential to cause damage to the aircraft had I not intervened and I wasn't particularly comfortable with the other 2.
Him: DON'T YOUS GOT INSURANCE!?!?!?!
Me:............Uhhh........Yeah, so good meeting you and good luck on finishing up your checkout.

WTH? So just because insurance exists means it's okay to be a piss-poor pilot and break airplanes? I talked to the owners about it and they have decided to ban him from renting from them.

BTW, according to someone else on the field, the dude has 2 landing accidents on his record from his New York days...I wonder why?
 
What he probably doesn't realize is the school's insurance covers the school and would probably sue him for the damages and lost revenue if he broke something.
 
ryanmickG said:
He could have done his primary in a Piper.

A 172 is actually the hardest plane I've ever landed.
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There's actually some truth to that. It's not that it is hard to land, it't that it can be hard to grease onto the runway. Now give me a 150 or a 177 and I can grease it on every time.
 
A150K said:
There's actually some truth to that. It's not that it is hard to land, it't that it can be hard to grease onto the runway. Now give me a 150 or a 177 and I can grease it on every time.
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I have run into a handful of guys that transitioned to the high wing after they got their cert and the landings were flat and hard. Obviously his attitude towards it sucks....
 
TwoTwoLeft said:
You'd be surprised...:rolleyes:
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It's for this reason I actually dread checkout flights more than I do flying with brand new students.

"So after I prang this thing on and nearly break the airplane twice in .3 I'm going to take my 3 kids up for an hour and fly around, sound good?"

Yeaaaahh... No.
 
You guys should have been there for my first couple 172 landings a while back after flying the 767 for work. I warned the instructor that he should keep close to the controls at first. He laughed. I shrugged. :)

Didn't break anything, though!
 
This is interesting. With about a 2.5 exception in my logbook, (and some TW time) all of my time has been in Cessna aircraft. I learned to fly a 152 safely enough to not break the airplane or scare pax and managed some pretty nice landings with it.

With 172s, if I'm a bit rusty, it does take me considerably longer to get the feel. If I'm a bit rusty, I don't go to short fields until I'm feeling confident. If I'm a bit rusty, I'm much more likely to call a go-around - I have a habit of being high with the 172 for some reason.

But every Diamond or Piper I've ever flown I usually greased them on the first try. Maybe it's 'cause I wasn't thinking about it the way I do with a 172?

I'd never heard a seasoned pilot describe a 172 as harder to land, but I am not at all surprised now that I think about it.
 
dasleben said:
You guys should have been there for my first couple 172 landings a while back after flying the 767 for work. I warned the instructor that he should keep close to the controls at first. He laughed. I shrugged. :)

Didn't break anything, though!
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Funny how it works out so.
 
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