dingo222
Well-Known Member
I had an eye opener today, so I thought I'd share it with the other CFI's out here. Here is the scenario: Another instructor says "hey man", I'm going out tonight, cant fly with my instr. student at 7 am tomorrow, can you go with him yada yada yada. No prob, so we set out on an IFR x-cntry in solid IMC. Cloud bases at 2, tops at 10, so we are in the soup the whole trip with freezing lvl reported at 9 to 10. I'm tired, and doing the usual, with eyes on the AI and DG, with some advice like "keep it standard rate, "Socal Appr has called twice, do you plan to answer etc?" About 30 min into it at 7,000, I look out the window and see almost an inch of sheet ice on the lead edge and creeping over the wing.
Strike 1: I was complacent.
I ask for higher and cant get it, but we get cleared down to 6, and can't hold it even with full power.
Strike 2: I didn't make the controller realize how dire the situation was getting.
We get cleared for a 180 and down to 4, and the student pulls the power for descent. The stall happened somewhere around 90 kts indicated. Strike 3: FUBAR
I recovered and made it down to 4 where the ice finally started to flake off.
Lessons learned. Stay alert. I got complacent with the "i've done this 1000 times" mindset.
Teach your students to do the exact same as you would. This students instructor never taught him what to do in icing conditions, about load factors and higher stall speeds etc. Explain, demonstrate, supervise, evaluate.
I've been instructing for quite a while now, and cant believe how
lazy I have become. Stay alert, stay alive is my new motto. Accidents usually happen becuase of a chain of mistakes. Thank god I was able to break the chain today. Pass it on to the students and younger CFI's out there. Complacency kills, and hopefully i can teach others through my mistakes!
Strike 1: I was complacent.
I ask for higher and cant get it, but we get cleared down to 6, and can't hold it even with full power.
Strike 2: I didn't make the controller realize how dire the situation was getting.
We get cleared for a 180 and down to 4, and the student pulls the power for descent. The stall happened somewhere around 90 kts indicated. Strike 3: FUBAR
I recovered and made it down to 4 where the ice finally started to flake off.
Lessons learned. Stay alert. I got complacent with the "i've done this 1000 times" mindset.
Teach your students to do the exact same as you would. This students instructor never taught him what to do in icing conditions, about load factors and higher stall speeds etc. Explain, demonstrate, supervise, evaluate.
I've been instructing for quite a while now, and cant believe how
lazy I have become. Stay alert, stay alive is my new motto. Accidents usually happen becuase of a chain of mistakes. Thank god I was able to break the chain today. Pass it on to the students and younger CFI's out there. Complacency kills, and hopefully i can teach others through my mistakes!