Why be an Instrument Pilot? Ridiculous ! ! !

PVG_SGO said:
Yes, I'm working on instrument now. I never fly Cessna before, that is the reason the first day he show me how to pre-flight a Cessna. Btw, I got the private license in another school.
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Well, it's a piston single.... you have SEL rating, I presume... you aught to be able to preflight the aircraft without prompting or aid from your instructor. Take a look at your PIM, or "Pilot Information Manual", the generic version of the POH, and it should give you a walkaround inspection. New Cessna, sump all 13 drains, older Cessna, you only sump around 3.... make sure prop is on in the right direction, the alternator belt is there, enough oil is in (6 to 8 quarts I bet), the tires and wheels and brakes look acceptable, and that your flight controls are connected. Also, check lights, and outside P-S instruments....

I think that about covers the pre-flight of a 172.... easy-peezy.... :)

As far as switching instructors.... I see you're in Chicago but if you make your way down to San Diego there's a guy on here who is desperate to fly for free.... you might want to try that out. :D
 
PVG_SGO said:
This was the first time he show me how to do the pre-flight.
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What rating or ratings do you have?
What rating are you being trained to get?


Weight and balance in a 172 or any 4 seat trainer with only 2 on board is quite irrelevant, though if you wanted to do one I don't see the problem with practice, I would encourage it.

Pitot heat and Nav lights (if you mean the red and green wingtip nav lights?) are pointless for day VFR flights.

I agree his attitude sounds like crap though, very unprofessional. That said it sounds as though you are blowing some of this a little out of proportion.




To: ESL?

Likely based on sentence structure, but you really can't understand what he's saying? Make some slight adjustments to his sentences in your head and they make sense, the informations there, just disconnected.
 
shdw said:
Weight and balance in a 172 or any 4 seat trainer with only 2 on board is quite irrelevant,...
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Where do you draw the line then? 6 seats with 4 on board? 86 seats with 12 on board?

Weight and balance and performance data should be reviewed prior to each flight whether it's 135, 91, training, you and pops around the patch, or whatever.

-mini
 
shdw said:
What rating or ratings do you have?
What rating are you being trained to get?


Weight and balance in a 172 or any 4 seat trainer with only 2 on board is quite irrelevant, though if you wanted to do one I don't see the problem with practice, I would encourage it.

......
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Really, tell the DPE that on your checkride. :whatever: I am quite surprised that you say. It is very relevant.

Suppose those two are bigger (tall, weight, etc) and while they don't exceed the allowed weight, they would make the front too heavy. I know this for fact as there were a couple of CFI's that when I flew with them we would need to place a sandbag in the back to get balance of the weight/balance formula to work. It is very relevant.

That being said, once you do it with one instructor and the instructor does not change, you should be safe to not do it again. Barring any changes to fuel, bags, etc...
 
JEP said:
That being said, once you do it with one instructor and the instructor does not change, you would be safe to not do it again.
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Sure...if everything remains the same. Bags, fuel, people, aircraft, etc. You could get away with it...I'd rather just do it real quick and know for sure. How long does it really take?

-mini
 
Whenever I transition students to different aircraft I let them do the pre-flight. As they pre-flight I point out the differences as they miss them. After that my student's can preflight the airplane on their own.

As far as the weight and balance goes, do it. You are the one paying the instructor to train you to be a safe pilot. He says no, do it anyway. Safety is key. I have a Weight and balance excel sheet for the Arrow. Works great. I input the weights and I know weather I can go fly or not as the full weight and balance has been completed. There really is no reason to not take the extra 2 minutes to do that.

Overall talk with your instructor, if he isn't good for you, drop him and get a new one.

BTW, what do you mean by too comfortable in the airplane? Also what excuses does he give for not flying in IFR?
 
Discuss the issues with your instructor. I assume that if you just learned the preflight for the aircraft you are probably not to the point in your training where you should be in IMC anyway. If you are comfortable flying approaches, and have done an IFR cross country or two in VFR conditions, then, sure, have a blast in the soup.

Also, your instructor might not be lazy, there is more to IFR than meets the eye. Just because you CAN fly in the clouds, doesn't mean you SHOULD. Is there convective activity, or icing present? If so the risk goes up. No 172 ought to be in either of those conditions, particularly in a training environment. I'm not going to take a student up in actual for the first or second time if we're going to have to deal with a 40-50kt cross wind at altitude. After they've flown a few hours in actual, sure, it is a great chance to learn but not to begin with.

Is your instructor new, or has he taught for a while? If they are new they might be trying to figure it out still. If not then they probably have a better idea of when you are ready to fly in the clouds than you do. Be patient, just because you are learning instrument flying doesn't mean you should jump into the clouds right away. He/she may know better than you do, oddly enough. Your best bet is going to be to talk with your instructor and share your concerns.

Question for the public, do you do a w&b prior to each and every training flight? What if the fuel is the same, the instructor and student have not gained/lost more than a pound or two since your previous flight and no changes or alterations have been made to the aircraft?
 
shdw said:
What rating or ratings do you have?
What rating are you being trained to get?


Weight and balance in a 172 or any 4 seat trainer with only 2 on board is quite irrelevant, though if you wanted to do one I don't see the problem with practice, I would encourage it.

Pitot heat and Nav lights (if you mean the red and green wingtip nav lights?) are pointless for day VFR flights.

I agree his attitude sounds like crap though, very unprofessional. That said it sounds as though you are blowing some of this a little out of proportion.




To: ESL?

Likely based on sentence structure, but you really can't understand what he's saying? Make some slight adjustments to his sentences in your head and they make sense, the informations there, just disconnected.
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It' getting cold in Chicago, if we fly into the cloud, do you still think the pitot heat is pointless. I was taught to follow the checklist since first day of school.

Thank you very much for your suggestions, I will working on my english as much as I can.
 
minitour said:
Sure...if everything remains the same. Bags, fuel, people, aircraft, etc. You could get away with it...I'd rather just do it real quick and know for sure. How long does it really take?

-mini
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Oops, meant to type should!!! But I think you get the overall idea. ;)
 
cencal83406 said:
I see you're in Chicago but if you make your way down to San Diego there's a guy on here who is desperate to fly for free.... you might want to try that out. :D
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Nah, he might do it for free, but english proficency is a deal breaker. :rotfl:

------
Dude, get a new instructor.

That said, cold front is coming, today might be a good day for actual in Chicago but tonight it won't be. Winter is a wassailing in and cloud flying in GA aircraft will need to get picky.
 
Maurus said:
He says no, do it anyway. Safety is key.
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I think there is some communication break down here, as I can't imagine any instructor encouraging a student not to do a W&B. It shouldn't take more than 30 seconds in a C172 to figure out that you are within the envelope though.
 
Where are you flying at in Chicago?
I'll reitterate what others have said, discuss your problem with the instructor. If that doesn't change his attitude, get a new one.
 
The pitot heat won't protect the wings, horizontal stab, vertical stab and prop from ice. I don't know if any 172s that are FIKI, your instructor is probably making a wise call if there is known ice in the area. I'm only a bit South of Chicago (W. Lafayette, IN) and we're already having to deal with icing at lower altitudes.
 
Ok, I'm going to get flamed for this I'm sure.

I just don't get the w/b for every flight thing. I know the planes I'm flying have a useful load of ~800lbs. 240lbs of fuel. that leaves me with 560 pounds useful load remaining.

As long as my student isn't a hippo we will be just fine. I also make sure my students can clearly recognize the times when a W/B is needed. Any time they are bringing a buddy on the flight; they do a weight and balance. Anytime density altitude is an issue a w/b is done, and they work out some performance numbers.

I use the common sense method, if a pilot can't quickly recognize when there is going to be a problem they probably are just learning things to the rote level. I hope my students learn to do weight and ballance calcs when they know they need it, not because I 'told them so'.
 
JEP said:
Really, tell the DPE that on your checkride. :whatever: I am quite surprised that you say. It is very relevant.
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Did you do two W&B calculations for your check ride? I only did one, and it included a whole bunch of people and luggage.
 
Are you sure your CG is within limits? Just because the weight is ok doesn't mean the "balance" is too...
 
All I'm going to say is that if you're not happy with this instructor (I wouldn't be either) then get a new one. There are plenty of excellent CFI's that could use and extra student.
 
I think open communication is the key. Possibly they are misunderstanding each other, or they just don't have mend-able personalities. Regardless, communicate your concerns with the instructor. Then decide to talk with your feet (choose another instructor) if you feel it is necessary. Good luck and fly safely.
 
TFaudree_ERAU said:
Did you do two W&B calculations for your check ride? I only did one, and it included a whole bunch of people and luggage.
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???? I must be missing something. Busy working, surfing, etc...:dunno:

No, I only did one W/B for my checkride....
 
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