With the license comes responsibility.... If a teenager (or any other age person in that matter) can't handle the responsibility, they should not be PIC.
 
I saw a similar story a few years ago with a teenager to threw some TP streamers out at the football game.

He lost is license, but I don't know if he got it back.

Phil
 
If I'm the FAA, I'd like to have a chat with his CFI, while I'm at it. Something didn't "register" during his training, that's for sure.

I realize this is like blaming parents for every stupid thing a child does, but this is a pilot who clearly slipped through the cracks and it's worth finding out if he offered any hints at what was to come. I mean, geez, it's THAT dumb that he must've.
 
I find it puzzling that a 17 year-old can rent an airplane but not a car. If it were up to me I'd pull his ticket and give him some jail time.
 
Good point on the CFI... maybe his CFI shared the same type of flight habits. But, who knows... sometimes people just do their own thing even after they've been taught the "right way".

Ugh. As if we don't have enough bad publicity when everything is going right in this hobby. :/
 
$$$$$?

I want to know where the $$$$ came from for him to get his ticket. If he has his ticket yanked it would be like tossing it in the toilet. I wonder if his parents paid for it.

I also wonder if the rock head had any plans of flying for the airlines. If he did I hope he had a backup career in mind.
 
Ya just what we need!

If its not bad enough already we have somejoker trying to call the wrath of God (well oK the FAA) down on our collective heads.

Frank
 
You never can tell

When I was a teenaged flight instructor one of my adult student pilots flew the FBO's PA-11 under the Deception Pass bridge. (GMC George knows where that is, it connects Whidbey Island with the rest of Washington State.) He was caught, of course, and my boss ran him off the airport. I saw him again years later. He had quit flying after that fiasco, unfortunately. I asked him how he had missed hitting the huge power lines that ran under the bridge. "Power lines?" he asked. This guy had seemed sane and responsible to me. He wasn't quite old enough to be my father, but I had thought him to be a grown-up.

My point is that while recklessness is often associated with teenagers, even adults can succumb to temptation in an airplane. I hope some way can be found to punish this present miscreant without running him off the airport forever. I am so glad no one was hurt. I taught my sons to fly and recklessness was one of the things I worried about, even though they are not reckless. But they are (were) teenagers. So far, so good.

If you see someone doing something dangerous around airplanes, talk with them about it. If they persist, talk with their instructor, parents, spouse, or anyone with any influence over them. I have done this a few times over the years. Some people have listened and others haven't. With a few I wish I had been more persistent.
 
Just Another D.A.K.

The low passes by this seventeen year old is typical D.A.K behaviour. Read
D.A.K as Dumb *** Kid. He doesn't have the maturity to fly an airplane. Perhaps, within 10 years.

DJD
 
Well, the problem with associating age with stupidity is that's exactly what the general population does with pilots and stupidity.

My guess is most young pilots are responsible pilots who are as aghast at this kid as we old-timers are.
 
Age and Stupidity?

Mr. Collins:

I never said that youth, in general, are stupid and I don't see your connection between pilots and stupidity. Surely you aren't saying that pilots are viewed, in general, as being stupid? However, I am saying, based upon 30+ years of working with 17 year olds and up, that most of them tend to do the very D.A.K. type things this one did and more frequently than me and probably, you. Being a D.A.K. doesn't mean that one is stupid. It does mean that D.A.Ks. are immature and do things like this one did.
 
Phil said:
I saw a similar story a few years ago with a teenager to threw some TP streamers out at the football game.

He lost is license, but I don't know if he got it back.

Phil
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention that case.....the airplane used for that little fiasco is parked just down the row from my hangar, and belongs to a good friend of mine. The kid had taken lessons in it, and apparently thought that gave him the right to take it whenever he wanted. Now this was a few years back, but I am not sure that he had even taken his PP checkride - and he had a passenger! As someone said above, just a young person who hasn't made all of the mistakes it takes to get enough experience to become an adult yet....As I recall, there was general outrage, and the Pearland Police thought he was the incarnation of Osama (this was very soon after 9/11), but in the end, he pretty much walked on all charges...and I am not sure that he even had his student license suspended, although I don't think I ever heard that he went back to flying. (which, by the way, is FINE with me - that he's not still flying!)

Bob Collins said:
If I'm the FAA, I'd like to have a chat with his CFI, while I'm at it. Something didn't "register" during his training, that's for sure.

I realize this is like blaming parents for every stupid thing a child does, but this is a pilot who clearly slipped through the cracks and it's worth finding out if he offered any hints at what was to come. I mean, geez, it's THAT dumb that he must've.
Click to expand...

I also happen to know the CFI in the incident from a few years ago, and a more professional, skilled, knowledgable guy you would be hard-put to meet. Extremely conscientious, father of his own kids, and generally a good judge of people, he never saw this coming. It upset him a great deal, but in the end, it was a young kid doing a dumb thing. If you blame the CFI, you might as well blame every eacehr who ever had a student go on to break a law..... The answer would not be to let young folks get in the cockpit, but then where would many of us that started early be?

Paul
 
judgement

As a CFI I find it easier to teach em how to fly the airplane than teach em good judgement no matter the age,not that I havent tried to get the point across!
 
revdjd said:
Surely you aren't saying that pilots are viewed, in general, as being stupid? However, I am saying, based upon 30+ years of working with 17 year olds and up, that most of them tend to do the very D.A.K. type things this one did and more frequently than me and probably, you. Being a D.A.K. doesn't mean that one is stupid. It does mean that D.A.Ks. are immature and do things like this one did.
Click to expand...

No, I don't think that's true at all. I think our young people are more responsible than we give them credit for. There are lots of young pilots who fly and act responsibly, and I think a sweeping generalization does them no justice. Suggesting that this kid's actions are, in general, representative of most 17 year olds simply doesn't work for me, for the same reason that it doesn't work for me when someone in the general public concludes that all GA pilots are ill-trained and incompetent because one flies a plane into a building in Manhattan... or because somebody on a Young Eagle flight decides to do aerobatics and ends up smoking in a field somewhere.

This story has us all worked up precisely because his actions are NOT representative of young pilots, and if we do believe that this is representative of 17-year-olds, then we all need to be on the phone tomorrow, calling for a higher minimum age for learning to fly.

Hey, I still think one of the stupidest things I've ever seen is the guy who drove his wingless experimental up and down his residential street. Now THAT was dumb. But it doesn't mean that most builders are dumb.

Granted, 17 year olds have a habit of doing dumb a** things. But the fact is it usually doesn't involve anything THIS stupid.
 
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I have heard there is research that shows the area of the brain that assesses risk is not fully developed in teenagers. I haven't researched this personnally, but it sure would explain a lot.
 
revdjd said:
The low passes by this seventeen year old is typical D.A.K behaviour. Read
D.A.K as Dumb *** Kid. He doesn't have the maturity to fly an airplane.

DJD
Click to expand...

Bob Collins said:
There are lots of young pilots who fly and act responsibly, and I think a sweeping generalization does them no justice.

My guess is most young pilots are responsible pilots who are as aghast at this kid as we old-timers are.
Click to expand...

I guess I take this subject a little more to heart considering I still am a teenager... I do agree with Mr. Collins about the generalization of "D.A.K" 17 year olds (my age only 2 years ago) does not do us young guys any justice especially when many general public take this atitude toward young pilots. Not only do we need to promote aviation to teenagers, but influence the great responsibility holding a PPL involves. It will only drive young enthusiasts away if we are seen as just the typical DAK's who don't have the maturity level to operate an aircraft responsibly.
 
Granted, 17 year olds have a habit of doing dumb a** things. But the fact is it usually doesn't involve anything THIS stupid.[/QUOTE]

Mr. Collins:

It would seem to me, based upon your comments, that you have a limited experience, numbers-wise, with 17 year olds. Also, most 17 year olds don't have a pilot's license. Many more have a drivers license. Their "wisdom" and "maturity" or the lack-there-of, is reflected in their higher insurance premiums and greater number of accidents when compared to the populace as a whole.They are charged a higher rate because their age group is more like to be involved in an automobile accident then say, someone in their 30s.

The main reason that they are involved in more accdents is immaturity often expressed in risky actions similiar to this 17 year old we are discussing but, of course, done on the ground. Yes, inexperience with driving situations must be included as a cause for higher rates yet accidents due to risky behaviour is a larger reason.

It may be hard for you to accept it but this age group DOES dumb-*** things more often and in greater numbers that you may be willing to acknowledge. I know because I have buried more and visted more in hospitals than I care to remember.

The life equation is this: Youth equals immaturity which is often expressed in actions similar to the 17 year old being talked about. And yes, I have seen
17+ year olds doing more foolish things that "driving" a fuselage down a road.
 
Talk to who?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If I'm the FAA, I'd like to have a chat with his CFI, while I'm at it. Something didn't "register" during his training, that's for sure."



Bob, not so sure it was his CFI. I am a CFI and have been since 1981. Some of the smartest people do the stupidest things. I feel responsible for the type of decision making that my 2 boys have, it was my job as a parent to try to instill good decision making in there little pea picking brains. Once in a while they do things that make me scratch my head. I have been around aircraft all of my life and it is full of dumb stunts, had one RV-4 pilot do a roll over where he worked, and ran out of altitude. Had a student (50 year old) computer whiz, had his own PA-28 200, Cherokee Arrow, his first airplane, was not sighed off for cross country flight of any kind. Flew it 300 miles away, on his return trip he hit a mountain in the clouds. Ruined a perfectly good airplane. Like I tell people, regretfully some of the idiots that you share the road with get pilot licenses too. If you add adolescence and a dare, I don't think his CFI could have said anything that would change his behavior.

Parents raise kids, villages raise idiots.

Randy
 
Another Young Pilot

Here's an NTSB report of a fatal(2) accident that originated from our local airport a few years ago. The pilot wasn't a teenager but, as I recall, was in his 20's. He was a new PP and was taking a friend on his first airplane ride. The friend was videoing the flight which helped the investigators determine what was going on during the flight. IIRC, the pilot was flying the 150 as if it were a crop-duster and pulled it up into a hammerhead. He reached about 500 feet AGL at the top, a spin ensued, and the 150 spun all the way into the ground. A terrible tragedy.

I believe the pilot's uncle was a crop-duster but was unaware of his nephew's antics. Apparently he had done this stunt a few times before, but no one at the FBO where he rented the plane nor his CFI were aware of his stunt flying.

http://tinyurl.com/38o4ek

The similarity in this thread is two young pilots flying airplanes dangerously, but one lived to face the consequences and the other didn't live. Both risked the lives of others.

As regards this 17 year old in North Carolina, I wonder if he were given the opportunity to endure the discipline of the military, how good a combat pilot he would be. I mean after all, flying at low altitude in the darkness and living to tell about it is either being lucky or good. Hoping this doesn't insult the military pilots out there!

Don
 
Great Quote:

"Parents raise kids, villages raise idiots."

I absolutely LOVE this quote! Glad you posted it twice for emphasis!!:p
 
apatti said:
I have heard there is research that shows the area of the brain that assesses risk is not fully developed in teenagers. I haven't researched this personnally, but it sure would explain a lot.
Click to expand...

Lots of research to support this. The 17 year old brain is not fully developed and will act much more impulsively than those that are older. It has even been proposed as a legal defense: Not guilty by reason of adolescence.

I had a student a while back who was a corpsman during the first gulf war. I asked if he saw a lot of horrible stuff and he said that most of the injuries he saw were caused by guys doing foolish things completely unrelated to combat. For example, one Marine put a spent shell casing backwards into the muzzle of his rifle, loaded the gun with a blank cartridge and fired it at his buddy for fun. He survived, but with a big hole in his shoulder. DAK I guess.
 
PCHunt said:
"Parents raise kids, villages raise idiots."

I absolutely LOVE this quote! Glad you posted it twice for emphasis!!:p
Click to expand...

I always liked the one... " When this guy leaves town, he's depriving his village of it's idiot"

Hope the kid gets this kind of stuff behind him, and lives a full productive life.
 
SportAvServ said:
Bob, not so sure it was his CFI. I am a CFI and have been since 1981. Some of the smartest people do the stupidest things. I feel responsible for the type of decision making that my 2 boys have, it was my job as a parent to try to instill good decision making in there little pea picking brains.
Click to expand...


Sorry, didn't mean to suggest the CFI was responsible. I meant I'd talk to him to find out if there was anything the kid exhibited that would portend this kind of action. Not so the CFI can be held responsible, but so that some sort of "profiling" can be accomplished so CFIs know a little more what to look for in weeding out this sort of person.
 
revdjd said:
It would seem to me, based upon your comments, that you have a limited experience, numbers-wise, with 17 year olds. Also, most 17 year olds don't have a pilot's license. Many more have a drivers license. Their "wisdom" and "maturity" or the lack-there-of, is reflected in their higher insurance premiums and greater number of accidents when compared to the populace as a whole.They are charged a higher rate because their age group is more like to be involved in an automobile accident then say, someone in their 30s.
Click to expand...

I don't really want to get into a debate over who knows more 17 year olds because it's irrelevant to the point I made. If one makes a generalization that most 17 years olds are this dumb, one would be able to pull any group of 17 year olds, point to them and say, "most are this dumb."

And that would include pulling a group of 17 year old pilots.

I think generalizations are extremely hurtful to general aviation. Simple as that. Which is why it won't surprise me when somebody comes out this week with further restrictions on who can fly.
 
One of my favorite scenarios's that cross my mind occassionally:

The thought crossed my mind most recently when I was visiting Elephant Rocks in Missouri. There are several HUGE granite boulders that the public is allowed to climb on. I was climbing the rocks higher and higher up the hill until I came to a wide crack in the rocks. I really wanted to go on up the hill, but it was about a 35ft drop down the crack if I didn't make it.

This is when my wife (PhD Psychologist) looks at me and says, "In the mind of a 17 year old, they only think 'If I can make it then _________'. But the mind of a 30+ year old is, 'If I don't make it, then __________'."

She said enough and I didn't want to ruin our trip. But it made me think how your thoughts change from "If I can pull this off" to the "If this doesn't work out" approach..

Phil
 
Mr. Collins:

It's not a debate about "who knows a greater number of 17 year old". It's a debate about the lack of maturity, recklessness and risky behaviour exhibited by those in this age group. It's a statistical, a psychological and "a fact of life" that the younger the age (17), the greater the probability and frequency of poor decision making and reckless behaviour. This applies to the majority of 17 year olds out there. Yes, there is a percentage of 17 year olds out there that exhibited a greater level of more mature behaviour than the general populace. It is, however, a small percentage. These, Sir, are facts.

On a personal note, if you wish to continue this debate and respond to this email, I suggest that we take it to the private message forum. I see no need, at this point, to proceed otherwise.
 
Near miss

Ya know..I started flight training when I was 14 years old. My great uncle taught me how in his beat up Aeronca Chief. Believe me, when he was done, I could fly it, but I was no pilot by any stretch of the imagination. Later in life when I recieved real pilot training, I was lucky to have an instructor that figured this out. He focused less on stick and rudder with me, (I had that down pretty good by then), and more on what it takes to get your head around being a pilot. The bottom line... As a teenager, I probably wasn't ready for all of that.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Regards...Chris
 
Thanks for the dose of fear, cop and journalist.

Just once, if I have to read one of these articles about someone doing something stupid, I'd like to read one without a stupid quote from a law enforcement official who just has to get the word 'terrorist' in there to make himself and his agency sound more important than they are. I'm all for air safety, and this was a truly stupid and dangerous thing, but the fearmongering some media and law enforcement engage in for the purpose of sensationalizing what is essentially a local prank is inexcusable and counterproductive. See boy re: wolf, chapter 1. The point's been made already, but stupid plane tricks, as well as the flame-fanning by the media involved just give more ammo to the anti-GA forces.:mad: Not that I'm advocating censorship. That's not my way. But it appears a little common sense is too much to ask for, from all parties involved in that event.

Sorry.. the coffee hasn't kicked in and i'm trying to figure out how to paint the inside of my push tubes in a way that will be effective and not messy.
 
You know, on the one hand people want "just the facts" from the media and then when they get them, they don't want them.

The media can't win in this case. They ask the cop about it, he gives them his official response, the media quotes the law enforcmeent official and then people accuse the media of fanning flames.

the headline wasn't "Terrorism first feared in football flyover," it was "FAA reviewing football flyover."

The lead on the piece wasn't about terrorism. Nor was it in the 2nd paragraph, or 3rd, or 4th.

In fact, there was only one reference to it, the CMS director of security, saying "at first I thought it was some terrorist, then I saw it was kid playing a prank."

The fact is that's the guy's first thought in a narrative about what he saw. And that was the only reference to terrorism in the entire article.

It was hardly fanning flames or sensationalized in any way. In fact, it was an extremely well-written piece. There's no evidence the guy was misquoted. The quote wasn't played up, and the story didn't linger on a qualifying clause.

The reporter did a good job.
 
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While this is disturbing and not good for the reputation of general aviation, please do not lump all youngsters into the same group.

I started flying at 15 and never once did I take the responsibility of being pilot in command of an aircraft lightly in or out of the airplane. All the way thru high school, I would never do anything that would have even come close to causing my privileges to be revoked. It was just that important to me even at that age.

When you see something like this happen, you start to question the way kids are raised these days as a whole. (subject for another forum)
 
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Brantel said:
When you see something like this happen, you start to question the way kids are raised these days as a whole. (subject for another forum)
Click to expand...

But you shouldn't question it unless you believe this kid is representative of the whole. Every generation always thinks it's the last one with any brains, that knew how to raise kids, and that the following generation is dumb.
It's kind of a natural thing, I think.

But I don't believe that. Nor do I believe this is the first kid ever to do something stupid in an airplane.

I think the tragedy here is if people thinks this kid is the poster child for his generation. To me, that's an insult to a generation of mostly good kids doing good things, the parents who worked hard to raise them, who will go on to make us all proud.

I'll be willing to bet some of them were on the football field and in the stands, and I'll be willing to bet that it wouldn't be hard at all to find some who are church groups that help others, maintain a very high academic rating, and know more at their age than I did.

But then again, *I* was probably some old geezer's idea of a dumb kid, raised poorly, going nowhere. :D

It would be a shame if this act is excused as just a kid being a kid. It wasn't. It's a kid breaking the law.
 
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Bob Collins said:
The reporter did a good job.
Click to expand...

After re-reading the article (post coffee), yes I agree with you. I still maintain that the climate of fear pumped into the news stream daily is detrimental to the objective processing of information, when it does actually arrive. So based on my own reaction to what is essentially a factual article (I never said it wasn't), I'd say the use of the word "terrorist" evokes far more fear than it should. Except for 9/11, some homegrown tragedies like OK City, Eric Rudolph, and some well-foiled plots (many of which were later proved to be nothing at all), we don't have terrorism in this country. But now, the word 'terrorist' is very well associated with the word 'aircraft.' This, admittedly, is anecdotal; when I have conversations about airplane building and flying among non-aviators, the talk veers off toward aviation-based terrorism, or terrorism in general, and how easy it is for someone to get hold of a small plane and do evil with it. This happens a lot. I'll just say that I will go on trying to explain the facts of GA and homebuilding to those who ask, and I'll go on doing it by explaining to most of them that the skies are not full of terrorists when they invariably bring it up. It would just be nice if I didn't have to. Apologies for the near-threadjack.
 
John Courte said:
I'd say the use of the word "terrorist" evokes far more fear than it should. Except for 9/11, some homegrown tragedies like OK City, Eric Rudolph, and some well-foiled plots (many of which were later proved to be nothing at all), we don't have terrorism in this country. But now, the word 'terrorist' is very well associated with the word 'aircraft.'
Click to expand...

But as a journalist, it's not my job to protect you from irrational fears by filtering out the accurate quotes of, in this case, knowledgeable witnesses.

Without getting into a big political debate, the fear you describe is one that has been deliberately instilled as part of the political process.

If a guy saying what he thought the incident was and the thought-process he used to figure out what was going on made reference to terrorism, I REALLY don't want the news media to decide I can't handle the word.

I mean, clearly you heard the word and you determined it was b.s. So why can't someone else make the same choice as to how much value it has?

I don't think the general public views terrorism and airplanes as synonymous. I just have to give the general public more credit for having some intelligence than that. I don't think we in this forum are any smarter on average and as I've preached many times before, if we think GA gets short shrift, there's nobody in a better position to change that perception than us.

But how much are each of us really doing? Enough?
 
For all you perfect people that are outraged at this kid. Of course it would be all right at 18 years for him to join the
Army and go fight YOUR war..He did wrong, But cut him some slack..It isn't the end of the world.R Bentley
 
Bob Collins said:
But as a journalist, it's not my job to protect you from irrational fears by filtering out the accurate quotes of, in this case, knowledgeable witnesses.

Without getting into a big political debate, the fear you describe is one that has been deliberately instilled as part of the political process.
Click to expand...

No political debate, agreed. This isn't the place.

Bob Collins said:
But how much are each of us really doing? Enough?
Click to expand...

It's not enough, because it's still happening. Although, I have personally gotten 5 people started into flying lessons (no kickbacks from the school either) and 3 of them have earned their PPL, yet I realize this is insignificant compared to some of the work that has been done by others. I write my congresspeople, with actual letters on paper, about all GA issues of concern. Not that they listen, but it's something. We will never have done enough until idiots stop doing idiot things with aircraft, or until the general population of the US feels having GA and recreational aviation around for the foreseeable future is in its best interest, which it is.
 
Richard L Bentley said:
For all you perfect people that are outraged at this kid. Of course it would be all right at 18 years for him to join the
Army and go fight YOUR war..He did wrong, But cut him some slack..It isn't the end of the world.R Bentley
Click to expand...

I wonder how we would be reacting had this kid screwed up and went into the bleachers full of women and babies. I am not at all inclined to cut this kid ANY slack. As for joining the Army to fight a war that I have been 100% opposed to since day one, that would be his choice.
 
wow

im glad you folks didnt judge the stupid things i did as a DAK. and to think i am now a teacher of DAK's.....how do you think your parents always knew what you were up to? cause thay two were DAK's. this is alittle far from the usual but man everyone makes stupid mistakes sometimes. let him pay the price and get on with life..im sure he'll regret this for years to come. god knows as he grows and has kids and the world shrinks around him people will remember his stupid mistakes. they'll be all his own.:D reminds me of sitting in church or at a gala or silent auction and some of my wittnesses..... err freinds:eek: are their..(The parents of freinds) i can help but think if they remember all the stupid **** i did :eek: "Hey you were the kid that use to .........."god knows i do. fortunately no one was hurt. maybe he would make a good chopper pilot.;)

funny how everyone can easily overlook their mistakes at the same time trying to bury others.
just so were straight on this horrendous deviation from the role model lifestyle, can i reasonably beleive every poster here to be perfect? i wasnt. but i sure can communicate with them now.
lets not get into the what if's.
 
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We all make mistakes. I've landed on the wrong end of a runway. I've gotten low and too slow.

Dumb? Yeah, you bet.

But this incident isn't just a "whoops," boys-will-be-boys situation. It's a pilot who showed the lack of judgment to fly safely. Not far removed, from driving drunk. Yeah, it's pretty funny until he crosses a median strip and wipes out a family, and then people wonder why the authorities didn't do something.

I'm sure he is actually a pretty good kid. He just has no business being in the air right now. He's dangerous to people on the ground. He's dangerous in to other pilots in the air. Case closed.

We give lot of lip service to this concept of personal responsibility -- and accepting consequences. This is one of those times when we find out if we really believe in it.
 
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hmmmmmm

this could go on forever. so i'll finish now, you cant punish him for what he didnt do. but you can punish him for what he did. Im thinking they will. He will regret it for the rest of his life. We'll forget about it, he wont,
you know the difference between a doctor and a mechanic? doctors bury their mistakes.
 
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I dig. There are times when I think it's crystal clear to the offender that a mistake has been made and most certainly won't be made again, and that's the whole point, right? At some point, further punishment becomes piling on. I'm not for piling on, for the record. I am for making sure the kid doesn't do it again.

If he gets a suspension of his certificate for 90 days, I think -- again, assuming the kid NOW realizes the stupidity of his move -- would be fitting.

Ruining his future? Nobody wins in that scenario.
 
cytoxin said:
this could go on forever. so i'll finish now, you cant punish him for what he didnt do. but you can punish him for what he did. Im thinking they will. He will regret it for the rest of his life. We'll forget about it, he wont,
you know the difference between a doctor and a mechanic? doctors bury their mistakes.
Click to expand...
And the mistakes of the mechanic? They end up for sale on the used car lot. They are the ones with the "30-day warranty".
 
17 year olds

Love all of the comments here, sounds like we are all very aware of our responsibility to the aviation community as a whole.
Just too off set what this 17yr old did I put a link here of a 17yr old that I soloed this last weekend. Soloing someone this young is very special for me, I know he is just beginning his long history with flight; he is the only one in his family that likes airplanes but has the full support and help of them all. He is a friend of my son so I donate my time, besides I really don't need to buy that happy meal.

I wanted to give an example of what I do to test and teach a student about his or her reasonability in the air. When there is a day with some scattered clouds I ask the student to fly headings and change altitudes VFR and purposely aim the airplane towards a cloud. I wait for the student to divert, if they don?t I take the plane before we bust regs and ask them what the cloud clearances are, and why were they willing to fly into the cloud? Most say that I was there and they figure that if I told them too it was OK. That is when they get the " You are responsible of the out come of this flight, not even your instructor should make you bust a regulation, don?t let anyone, even ATC tell you to do something that you know is wrong. Aviate Navigate, Communicate. All along the path to a private license I'm always looking for good decision making, they may be able to fly but will they make the correct decision when needed. I have declined to fly with a few, like this last summer a guy asked if I would teach tail wheel in a RV-6, I said I do but then I learned he had 40= hrs in a 172 and his instructors wouldn?t let him solo, then I found out the RV-6 was 200hp (a lot of airplane, things happen fast) and he would not listen to what I had to say. On top of it all he owns his own business and is not used to being told what to do. Call me anything you wish but I saw nothing but trouble with this scenario. Someone else took him on, but that is just fine with me, would love to find out how its going.

I will shut up now, thanks, love this site.

RT


http://youtube.com/watch?v=twIKLO8sQPY
 
I haven't been an active CFI for quite a while, but I think that this is the first time I've seen touch-and-goes for a first solo!
 
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