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  #51  
Old 10-24-2009, 11:10 AM
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Flyfalcons Flyfalcons is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bonney Lake, WA
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Further proof that airplane ownership does not make one a good pilot.
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  #52  
Old 10-25-2009, 11:10 AM
johnny stick johnny stick is offline
 
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Default village idiot

Sad part is the owner lives by me. I'm embarrassed to say that, but it teaches me to be careful if a neighbor asks you to go for a ride. How does one judge whether a pilot is good or not on the ground? How does one avoid going flying with these village idiots? All I can think of so far is to avoid people with bonanzas.
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  #53  
Old 10-25-2009, 11:19 AM
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L.Adamson L.Adamson is offline
 
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Location: KSLC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnny stick View Post
Sad part is the owner lives by me. I'm embarrassed to say that, but it teaches me to be careful if a neighbor asks you to go for a ride. How does one judge whether a pilot is good or not on the ground? How does one avoid going flying with these village idiots? All I can think of so far is to avoid people with bonanzas.
Luckily for you................. a Bonanza owner on a another fourm just posted this link for it's stupidity. I guess all Bonanza owners are not alike!

L.Adamson -- RV6A
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  #54  
Old 10-25-2009, 12:08 PM
dreamtime dreamtime is offline
 
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Location: San Dimas, CA
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Default Who You Fly With

My practice is to ask questions ahead of time, and to know exactly what we're going to do on the flight. I only rarely fly with people I don't know well, and I do it reluctantly (apart from the airlines, that is).

In particular, after reading some sad stories about confusion over who is the pilot in command, I've made it a practice to clarify that before take-off in those few times when I thought there might be confusion.
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  #55  
Old 10-25-2009, 02:08 PM
LOGGY LOGGY is offline
 
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Posts: 68
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Seeing this clip reminds me of a Quote that is frequently espoused by one of the "old timers" at my airport.............."Aviation is a self purging occupation"
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  #56  
Old 10-27-2009, 09:45 AM
breister breister is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,231
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Well, I while this just shows that the PK (Probability of Kill) of Cumulo Granite is not quite 1.0 - I won't go around assuming that I'm the exception to the rule.
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  #57  
Old 10-27-2009, 10:51 AM
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aparchment aparchment is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South Hamilton, MA
Posts: 521
Default How to Judge

Unfortunately I don't think dangerous or inconsiderate pilots are limited to a particular brand of aircraft ;-)

Since you can't judge a book by it's cover, ensuring that someone is a competent pilot before letting them be PIC of a small aircraft you are about to get on can be challenging. Obviously first hand knowledge is the best first way to judge. Do you know from personal experience that the person is a good pilot, have they been flying regularly in the type or the specific aircraft they will be operating, is the plane well maintained, is the person healthy, are the weather conditions acceptable? If all of those are answered satisfactorily then accepting a ride is acceptable. If the airplane is unusual or advanced, add "can I fly this plane from my seat if something happens to the pilot."

Things become more challenging when you don't know the pilot, or don't know him/her well. In these situations you can only extrapolate from how the person presents, the condition of the plane, ask about his/her experience, see if anyone knows anything about how well he/she flies, etc. If you're not comfortable, decline the ride. If you do go and see something you don't like, say something. It doesn't have to be harsh, unless you feel your life is really in danger. Things like, "aren't we a bit slow, what's the stall speed in this configuration," or "is there a reason you aren't using the standard technique" would probably get the point across. If you don't like what you see, ask the person to take you back to the airport. If they are freaking out, offer to assume PIC duty until they regain their calm, or until the end of the flight.

I accepted a ride once from a successful medical professional. His plane was beautifully built, he presented as very competent and organized with a fair amount of flying time; but as soon as we lined up on the centerline for takeoff I could tell this was going to be a difficult flight. He completely overlooked crosswind takeoff technique and before I knew it he was yanking the plane off the runway to avoid the runway lights. Things happened quickly, but in hindsight I should at least have said something like "right aileron into the crosswind."



Quote:
Originally Posted by johnny stick View Post
Sad part is the owner lives by me. I'm embarrassed to say that, but it teaches me to be careful if a neighbor asks you to go for a ride. How does one judge whether a pilot is good or not on the ground? How does one avoid going flying with these village idiots? All I can think of so far is to avoid people with bonanzas.
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  #58  
Old 10-27-2009, 11:45 AM
johnny stick johnny stick is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 301
Default Thank you antony

Thank you antony for your response. I like what you said and will keep it in mind when offered a ride in anything that could kill me.

johnny stick
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  #59  
Old 10-27-2009, 01:55 PM
Bill Dicus Bill Dicus is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Shorewood, WI (Milwaukee area)
Posts: 1,066
Default Rides with unknown pilots.

Once at a local airshow a fellow offered me a ride in his nice-looking Swift. I accepted and he looked good on takeoff and climb. After settling in cruise he did a nice barrel roll, which is the max I wanted to see. Then without warning he did about a 6G pull up for a loop. The max G was past before I could get on the controls. I thought we were going to die. Very grateful the wings stayed on as there have been structural failures in Swifts. No G meter present, so am estimating the load - but do fly +6 and -4 regularly in the Pitts so prob within a g or so. The advice about flying with unknown pilots is good. Bill
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  #60  
Old 10-27-2009, 02:03 PM
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aviationgeek84 aviationgeek84 is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Iowa
Posts: 255
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Bill,

I had a similar experience with a guy that was receiving a flight review from me. When asked to perform steep turns (as part of the flight review) he immediately went to 90 degree turns to "show me what the plane can do" (it was another homebuilt, non-RV).

Needless to say, I was done at that point...

It has been said that it is all of our responsibilities as pilots to keep friends/other pilots in check. We should stand up and call out dangerous situations before they unfold. We all know that's easier said than done... as they say, "You can lead a horse to water......"

Fly safe. Have fun. Both can be done.
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