Pinch hitter course

Jeanie

Jeanie

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Jeanie
What is usually covered in a pinch hitter course?
 
And note that most references to the Pinch Hitter are decades old, anywhere you find them on the web.

Very few places actually doing them anymore. I believe AOPA's version is now just an online presentation and quiz.

To really do one, you'll have to find a CFI who will custom build one in most areas.
 
Ive never been asked to do one, if I were I would just take the student/pax to initial solo in the selected plane, slight more emphasis on ATC, vectors and nav.
 
ChitDisturber said:
Ive never been asked to do one, if I were I would just take the student/pax to initial solo in the selected plane, slight more emphasis on ATC, vectors and nav.
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Which is what most CFIs here have said, which isn't that much more money and is just as effective, which is probably why the AOPA formal curriculum has all but disappeared for Pinch Hitter(TM). (Yeah, I think they even went to the trouble to Trademark it back in the day. I swear I saw the trademark sign on it somewhere.)
 
Radio communication, basic airplane control. Many of the 99s chapters still conduct PH courses.
 
The annual FAA Air Expo held at Daniel Webster in NH has a Pinch Hitter course. Usually runs the better part of 6 hours and includes radio, flying, map reading, AFD... It is usually followed with "And you should get a few hours with a CFI."
I sat in on the course and thought for a basic ground school, it was pretty good. In general, they were not making pilots out of them, but assistants. You can cover the basics yourself and just get the CFI to give the first few hours flying.
 
denverpilot said:
To really do one, you'll have to find a CFI who will custom build one in most areas.
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After my PPL and IR, my instructor told me he'd give my wife five lessons for free. I'd just have to rent the plane. Sadly, she declined.

I does bother me somewhat, should I become incapacitated, I'd love for them to at least have a fighting chance. I don't know the statistics, but just getting to the airport environment, even if you crash land, greatly improves chances of survival.
 
Coarse doesn't work well for a pinch hitter. It should be ground very fine.

Oh wait...

You said course NOT coarse.

So you weren't talking about
one-hitter-metallpfeife-metall-pfeife520704.png

were you?

Nevermind...

:redface:
 
denverpilot said:
(Yeah, I think they even went to the trouble to Trademark it back in the day. I swear I saw the trademark sign on it somewhere.)
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AOPA owns the trademark. It was registered in 1993, renewed in 2003, and is currently listed as live.
 

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I would suggest potentially previewing the course first. I sent my wife, who is a little bit of a nervous flyer, to a course. And it basically succeeded in making her a lot more nervous. For example, one crusty old pilot spent a lot of time talking about how AWOS info is like looking up through a straw and there can be thunderstorms just a few feet away. Sadly, the course caused more harm than good.
 
Opposite of Sam happened for my husband.

Took a pinch hitter course and decided I wanted to get my PP (and not my IR) It's all about the instructor. The point is that your passenger can land the plane if you become unable to fly the plane anymore. Knowing about the push to talk and the emergency frequency and finding the airport and getting to the ground is all that is needed.
 
saracelica said:
Opposite of Sam happened for my husband.

Took a pinch hitter course and decided I wanted to get my PP (and not my IR) It's all about the instructor. The point is that your passenger can land the plane if you become unable to fly the plane anymore. Knowing about the push to talk and the emergency frequency and finding the airport and getting to the ground is all that is needed.
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That's what I was hoping for! :D
 
DJTorrente said:
AOPA owns the trademark. It was registered in 1993, renewed in 2003, and is currently listed as live.
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...which is why the AYA had to change the name of the course it runs each year at the convention to "Cockpit Cool". Our program has about four hours of ground school followed by one flight of about an hour focusing on basic aircraft control and getting the plane to and on a runway without breaking anything. In deference to the latter restriction, some participants only get close and never actually do land the plane, but most do actually get to touchdown on around their fourth or fifth attempt. Note that thanks to the TSA, we do not call this "training" and do not make any log entries other than that of the pilot conducting the flight in his/her own log.
 
The American Bonanza Society http://www.bonanza.org/pilot-training-bppp/onlineflight

occasionally offers its "companion course" during their multiple BPPP pilot clinics all over the country. I believe they are open to non-members of the Bonanza society, however the instruction is geared towards Beech aircraft and such.
 
I would think it should contain basic aircraft control with specific attention given to the function of trim, basic navigation and communication including radio navigation with attention given to the gyro:compass relationship and basic landing technique, which if they learned to trim for every speed change, should get them onto the ground alive. Basically I would think normal basic cross country and some landing training will get them there.

This all however brings up another issue I never hear of, and that is training the pilots to keep the plane set up for PH to be able to take over with the minimum confusion and stress. Primary examples would be, do you keep the radio on FF or 121.5 frequencies even when you aren't talking? Do you keep the ILS(if there is one at your destination) or VOR at/nearest your destination plugged into Nav2, or the instrument procedure programmed and loaded on your GPS box even if you don't intend to use them? Better yet, do you have that person operate as your navigator even if you don't need one? The best way to increase your PH's odds are to operate as a two pilot cockpit gradually adding load from paper Nav to electronic nav and radio work, to 'hold us on this course for a few minutes' and own to getting them to get configured and slowed down with proper trim on final. Let a CFI work them through the landings at that point.
 
denverpilot said:
And note that most references to the Pinch Hitter are decades old, anywhere you find them on the web.

Very few places actually doing them anymore. I believe AOPA's version is now just an online presentation and quiz.

To really do one, you'll have to find a CFI who will custom build one in most areas.
Click to expand...

My flight school does them. It's basically stage 1 of private pilot watered down. Just enough to let them solo, but I don't think most even solo. The last lady that I heard of that wanted to do it was doing it in a Supercub (her husband owned one) and she ended up taking it all the way to her private. :yesnod:
 
Having been in the shoes of one who was a “little bit of a nervous flyer” I’d like to add my two cents worth.

I was very blessed to have someone who had the patience of Job. If you are going to put the yoke into the hands of someone who already has some anxiety…that person has to be more than comfortable with the CFI. IMHO. Finding that perfect fit is key…or it can do more harm than good as already stated.

I think it was very early into my training when I asked my CFI why in the world he was taking Spanish guitar lessons and his reply to me was “Because I don’t ever want to forget what it is like to be a student.” That spoke volumes to me and I think from that point on, I let my anxiety be what it may, without any fear of judgment.

I also wanted to learn how to land our plane from the right seat because that is where I sit. Knowing that I probably would never continue to become a “real” pilot, I felt strongly about that. From what few Pinch Hitter courses that I had kinda sorta looked into, the ones I found were from the left seat.

My CFI and I spent over 25 hours in our plane with over 80 landings…the last 60 or so being all mine. I learned about our plane: switching tanks-which was not easy as they are on the left side of the plane, our radios, holding a course, altitude, how to find the airport, energy management, stalls, eventually talking to the tower at GRR, etc etc. And with much controversy- landing our plane without flaps!!! Shock!!! His theory was this: the goal is to get the plane down- adding flaps was just one more thing to process. And selfishly – I liked the idea that if I’m not a “pilot” and I call out an emergency—that sky is mine! ATC’s job is get me down as best as they can in-- a stressful situation. Clearing the skies for me and letting me go where I’m comfortable.

I realize that I got more than the standard PH course. But if someone is serious about learning to land a plane, find a better than good CFI and push your limits. I can say that had I gone up for just one or two times and landed the plane in probably good conditions, would not have done as much for my anxiety as learning to deal with less than desirable conditions--- based on my skill level. I had my fair share of “Oh s*&t!" moments and as uncomfortable as it was at the time, looking back I’m glad I have some “experiences” under my belt.
 
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While you should be able to land without flaps, it is quite beneficial to use as much as you can. The slower you can go, the less damage/injury sustained when it goes bad. Kinetic energy to speed is a squared relationship.
 
ProFlight is a Conquest and Citation CJ3 initial/recurrent training outfit. They offer a pinch hitter course at no charge to their existing customers:
http://proflight.aero/courses/other-courses/pinch-hitter/

They recently ran this new course for the first time using PilotEdge for the ATC. It was pretty interesting. We got a CJ3 pilot (one of the ProFlight instructors) on the line and he served as our real-time Subject Matter Expert.

Trying to control, coordinate with other sectors, help keep the pilot calm and work with the SME on the phone was quite a challenge.

It all worked out and she landed at LAX in their CJ3 Level 6 FTD. The audio of the ATC interactions is available here: http://assets.pilotedge.net/recordings/archive/helen_pinchhitter.mp3

The most tricky part was towards the end where she finally did reach her target altitude (ALT hold on the AP), the plane leveled off, and without autothrottle engaged, started slowing down pretty rapidly. We had to decide between recommending she continue the descent with automation or just hand fly, but opted for the latter. She got it down beautifully, much to the relief of the husband (a CJ3 owner/operator) who was watching quietly from the back seat.
 
Henning said:
While you should be able to land without flaps, it is quite beneficial to use as much as you can. The slower you can go, the less damage/injury sustained when it goes bad. Kinetic energy to speed is a squared relationship.
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That's great for pilot training, but not so good for cockpit companions. Too many issues with trim changes, flaring, etc. Much easier to manage angle of attack and sink rate without flaps, and we're not much concerned with the reusability of the aircraft, so a low sink rate tail-low touchdown under control is fine for this purpose even if they subsequently go off the side or end of the runway. We examined this in some detail before deciding to teach "zero flap" in the AYA Cockpit Cook program.
 
Do these courses have the student flying from the right seat-- presumably where they'd be sitting if the need arises-- so their sight picture and general feel for where controls are located is familiar?
 
paflyer said:
Do these courses have the student flying from the right seat-- presumably where they'd be sitting if the need arises-- so their sight picture and general feel for where controls are located is familiar?
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The AYA's Cockpit Cool course does it that way for just that reason. Interesting part is that for 61.57 purposes, the pilot conducting the course gets to log the takeoffs but not the landings since s/he is not the sole manipulator during the landings.

BTW, despite requests by AOPA, TSA has not granted any "pinch hitter" exemption to the various Alien Flight Student rules for primary training, so unless you've done all that, the course attendee does not repeat not get any logbook entry for this -- just a demo ride conducted by a commercial pilot in an airplane provided by the attendee.
 
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Ron Levy said:
The AYA's Cockpit Cool course does it that way for just that reason. Interesting part is that for 61.57 purposes, the pilot conducting the course gets to log the takeoffs but not the landings since s/he is not the sole manipulator during the landings.

BTW, despite requests by AOPA, TSA has not granted any "pinch hitter" exemption to the various Alien Flight Student rules for primary training, so unless you've done all that, the course attendee does not repeat not get any logbook entry for this -- just a demo ride conducted by a commercial pilot in an airplane provided by the attendee.
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This being said, a CFI is not required to offer this service am I correct?
 
I usually type up a single page of notes titled "What to do if Bob dies while flying". It lists in very simple terms how and what to ask ATC for, how to use the AP to follow vectors and altitude assignments, some basic speeds and then a very basic description of how to land. I try to make it humorous.

It is probably a total waste of time, but it makes the right seater feel a little safer.

(They are not of course, they are going to die a horrible burning death but they don't need to know that).
 
Henning said:
I would think it should contain basic aircraft control with specific attention given to the function of trim, basic navigation and communication including radio navigation with attention given to the gyro:compass relationship and basic landing technique, which if they learned to trim for every speed change, should get them onto the ground alive. Basically I would think normal basic cross country and some landing training will get them there.

This all however brings up another issue I never hear of, and that is training the pilots to keep the plane set up for PH to be able to take over with the minimum confusion and stress. Primary examples would be, do you keep the radio on FF or 121.5 frequencies even when you aren't talking? Do you keep the ILS(if there is one at your destination) or VOR at/nearest your destination plugged into Nav2, or the instrument procedure programmed and loaded on your GPS box even if you don't intend to use them? Better yet, do you have that person operate as your navigator even if you don't need one? The best way to increase your PH's odds are to operate as a two pilot cockpit gradually adding load from paper Nav to electronic nav and radio work, to 'hold us on this course for a few minutes' and own to getting them to get configured and slowed down with proper trim on final. Let a CFI work them through the landings at that point.
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The inclusion of the instrument stuff in this list gives me pause. I can't imagine Karen hand-flying an ILS to minimums. But it does make me want to at least remind her about how to activate our relatively crappy wing leveler. We've had discussions about what to do in VMC.
 
As a maturish pilot (65) Me becoming incapacitated came up when in conversation with my wife, we decided she should do a Pinch Hitter course, personally I think it is the best thing we could have done. The CFI took her through comms work, airspeed management,holding altitude, shallow turns, basic navs following headings and landings.

It has given her a lot more confidence when we go fly, I sometimes have her take the controls to keep in touch with what she learned and remind her how the plane feels.

Yep certainly worked for us.
 
denverpilot said:
The inclusion of the instrument stuff in this list gives me pause. I can't imagine Karen hand-flying an ILS to minimums. But it does make me want to at least remind her about how to activate our relatively crappy wing leveler. We've had discussions about what to do in VMC.
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It's not "instrument stuff" as such, it's Navigation stuff as in leading one to the airport/runway, sometimes airports are hard to find.
 
Henning said:
Technically/legally correct.
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Agreed, but it's a lot more likely the course will provide effective learning if it's a trained instructor giving it. It also decreases the likelihood of the pinch hitter putting the plane into a position from which the pilot cannot recover, since instructors are trained and tested on their ability to evaluate performance, determine when the limits are being reached, and recover safely -- things not included in any Pilot knowledge, experience, or practical test requirement.
 
Many years ago (1980s) I had a couple pinch-hitter students and I would say that basic control of the airplane and using the com radio was daunting enough for them without introducing navigation with VORs and ILSs. Of course there was no GPS at that time. The premise was that if they had to do it for real they would tell ATC then be vectored somewhere. With GPS I can see teaching them to do "direct to" but that's about all.
 
Henning said:
It's not "instrument stuff" as such, it's Navigation stuff as in leading one to the airport/runway, sometimes airports are hard to find.
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As a couple of 747 Dreamliner guys found out... Again.

I got the impression he was saying he'd set his non-pilot companion up to fly an approach if he conked.

That'd be very very difficult for a non-pilot without an autopilot that was at least two-axis and well-behaved.

Might be smarter to point out which direction your planned "out" is for escaping IMC and a rough heading.

"Heading 230, set the heading track / wing leveler on, and call ATC or 121.5. VMC is [insert time here] away on that heading."

Not always possible but not sure most non-pilots are going to want to be shooting an approach, autopilot or not.
 
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