There is something I don\u2019t understand about the new pilots who are learning to fly in these modern times.\u00a0 Many are all for flying, but they must have the radio to do it.\u00a0 And GPS.\u00a0 They can\u2019t go anywhere without their technologies.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how many times I have talked with a new student pilot about flying and asked, \u201cWhy do you fly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I just love the freedom,\u201d they respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do?\u201d I ask.\u00a0 \u201cThen why do you give up your freedom to an air traffic controller?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u00a0 You have to talk on the radios to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deep down inside, I want to laugh…and cry.\u00a0 I know this new pilot is only reflecting and echoing the sentiments of his training, and I feel sorry for him.\u00a0 While he enjoys the \u201cfreedom\u201d of flying, he has no clue as to what is real freedom.<\/p>\n
I am willing to bet he has never shown up alone at the airport early in the morning just before the sun broke the horizon, while the dew was still thick and wet on the ground.\u00a0 He has missed the joy of pre-flighting, starting, and taxiing out to takeoff into a glorious sunrise. \u00a0He may never have experienced flying through the smoothest air God ever created.\u00a0 I am sure he has never enjoyed the solitude of flying truly alone, of flying however high or low he desired, or flying whichever direction he chose \u2013 on a\u00a0lark \u2013 just to be flying<\/em>.<\/p>\n There is a certain delight in flying.\u00a0 The whole point in flying is to separate yourself from the earth, to traverse freely at your slightest whim.\u00a0 Today, many new student pilots believe you have to talk to ATC in order to fly \u201ccorrectly\u201d or \u201csafely.\u201d \u00a0Flight instructors are teaching these students you can only be safe when talking with someone on the ground.\u00a0 In essence, pilots today are giving up their freedom to ATC, who then tells them how fast, which direction, and how high they might fly.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t sound too free, does it?<\/p>\n Often a new pilot will retort ATC keeps them clear of other traffic.\u00a0 Again, I go through the laughing-crying emotion.\u00a0 I want to scream, \u201cGet your head up and out of the instrument panel and use your eyeballs to keep yourself clear of other airplanes!\u00a0 That\u2019s your job, not ATC\u2019s!\u201d \u00a0Then I think back on my own career and a few memorable near misses come to mind.\u00a0 Out of seven, ATC was involved in six of those events.\u00a0 In other words, ATC was the direct link which almost caused the collisions.\u00a0 Only one near miss occurred without the help of an air traffic controller.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, many of the nation\u2019s flight instructors today are teaching reliance on technology and the system instead of self-reliance<\/em>.\u00a0 They need to focus on the basics and teach their students how to fly, how to think for themselves, and how to survive in the aeronautical environment without depending on voices on the other side of a radio frequency.<\/p>\n If the instructors do that, and their students become very well qualified pilots, then maybe the voices on the other side of the radio can help make a safe pilot a little safer.<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is something I don\u2019t understand about the new pilots who are learning to fly in these modern times.\u00a0 Many are all for flying, but they must have the radio to do it.\u00a0 And GPS.\u00a0 They can\u2019t go anywhere without … Continue reading