So what did you think of Ariel Tweto's first solo?

rbhankins001

rbhankins001

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Rob
Your thoughts?

I thought her landings were not good enough to solo but that is my humble opinion.
 
She is one of the daughter's on "Flying Wild Alaska" and she is learning to fly. They aired her first solo last night.
 
Well, as I posted in another thread....
She did really well but I wonder, was that really her first solo or was it her first solo for the TV show. All of those cameras in the cockpit and the pressure to perform for TV doesn't seem like a wise decision for a first solo! Seems like an added distraction to me.
 
I think she can fly much better than than the editors of the show want you to believe right now. They can't really talk about it on the show, but I'll bet she has been flying a long time. FWA is interesting because I like airplanes. However, it is WWE in a plane. Nothing on there is really as it seems.
 
mikeinbama said:
I think she can fly much better than than the editors of the show want you to believe right now. They can't really talk about it on the show, but I'll bet she has been flying a long time. FWA is interesting because I like airplanes. However, it is WWE in a plane. Nothing on there is really as it seems.
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Agreed, I think a bunch of it is dramatized. Her entire family has licenses except for her, of course she can fly.

I'm fine with the 'acting', because if she 'eventually gets it' then the general public won't view flying as an impossible obstacle.
 
mikeinbama said:
I think she can fly much better than than the editors of the show want you to believe right now. They can't really talk about it on the show, but I'll bet she has been flying a long time. FWA is interesting because I like airplanes. However, it is WWE in a plane. Nothing on there is really as it seems.
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It appears that most everyone in North America has their own "reality" show!:rolleyes: A lot of them are entertaining, and some are just stupid, but ALL of them are edited for the maximum shock value. From Flying Wild Alaska to Bridezillas! they take ordinary situations and add a little spice otherwise no one would watch.:dunno: Seriously, how many would watch FWA if it showed the mundane life of freight operators in Alaska?:dunno: Like most flying, hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer panic, they just play up the panic part. :D
 
N747JB said:
It appears that most everyone in North America has their own "reality" show!:rolleyes: A lot of them are entertaining, and some are just stupid, but ALL of them are edited for the maximum shock value. From Flying Wild Alaska to Bridezillas! they take ordinary situations and add a little spice otherwise no one would watch.:dunno: Seriously, how many would watch FWA if it showed the mundane life of freight operators in Alaska?:dunno: Like most flying, hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer panic, they just play up the panic part. :D
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Good point. Great show overall, we need more aviation related shows!
 
I think she did pretty well . Being some of those undercarriage shots were NOT the 150 , makes me wonder how many of those landings were really hers. On the last one , for being a 15 kt + cross wind , it sure did plop straight down hard with no indications of a cross wind.


I would think her pops would have done what ever he could to see her solo . So me thinks that was really not her initial solo.
 
Go Ariel. Ya , all these shows ham it up for the camera. I doubt even hard core aviation enthusiasts would watch "real reality TV" about flying. After about 10 minutes of preflight I would be on another channel. I put up with the inaccuracies to see the flying. OK wing men switched planes mid flight, the radial engined Beaver morphed engines, in flight and landed as a turbo beaver. OK and not shown is the camera plane following. I bet a lot of editing is used. OK Still better that wheel of fortune or TV drama's. I thought she landed fine, they re-used the airplane didn't they? Dave
 
The thing that really clued me in we're the undercarriage shots, straight down the centerline.....takeoffs and landings.....I don't believe a 20 hour pilot could do that.
 
Since it actually happened months ago (Alaska summer)................could it really have been kept a complete secret, if it wasn't the first solo, considering instant internet news. But I am sure, that the drama portion was played to the max.
 
i'm thinking staged - how did she not know she was going to solo when her and the instructor walked out to the plane? he told her she was going alone and she was shocked. i just don't buy it.
 
I hate this show. The way the show portrayed her and her flight training, I would never let her solo. There was no camera time she received that showed me she was ready. Every time she talks I want to throw the remote at my TV.

On another note, OMG the electric trim is broken we better make an off airport landing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :/
 
mikeinbama said:
The thing that really clued me in we're the undercarriage shots, straight down the centerline.....takeoffs and landings.....I don't believe a 20 hour pilot could do that.
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I once had a trainee who could do it at 6 hours (yes that's "six"). Dead on centerline, fuselage aligned, roll on the mains, never let the nosewheel touch on a T&G. Amazed me completely -- far and away the best natural pilot I ever trained. Solo'd, flew once more, and walked away. Go figure -- maybe not enough challenge.:dunno:
 
Honestly the show makes me cringe whenever they try to stir up drama by misrepresenting aviation.

The part that makes me cringe the most is when they (incorrectly) stated that light aircraft are VFR only, and heavier/larger aircraft have more sophisticated equipment for IFR.
 
I'm willing to overlook the over dramatization just to be able to watch a show about aviation. FWA certainly does beat Alaska Wing Men.

Since I am so hungry for shows about aviation I have watched the show intensely. I think that Arial is a lot spunkier than people think. She is indeed dingy about some things, but she's always shown spunk. Slips down on the ice pulling a pallet load of freight and she does nothing more than climb up and keep pulling.

She was a prize winning wrestler as a kid, including taking on the boys.

She does the Alaskan string over the ear tug of war with no quit in her. She will let her ear get cut to shreds before she gives up.

The only time I ever saw her cry or whine was when a cousin of hers committed suicide. Her anxieties during flight training were never appeared to be any more than what I went through.

I think it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to REALLY know what she is like in person. She went from not even knowing what the throttle was for, to being seemingly normal in her level of knowledge at the solo stage.

As far as her going to the plane not knowing she was going to solo until the instructor told her, that doesn't seem out of line. That's pretty much what both of my instructors did to me the THREE times I solo'd. First time twenty years ago. Second time after coming back to flying in the 150 again and then the third time when I solo'd the taildragger. All three times they flew around a little and then we took a break, then they said that I should go up by myself.

Yes, the show has melodrama and editing that is questionable, but it's the best aviation show we've got and I love it if for nothing more than the fabulous HD scenery of Alaska.
 
N747JB said:
It appears that most everyone in North America has their own "reality" show!
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Aww come on now. I haven't seen "Real Men of the Mid-Sized Company IT Department" yet.

We could get some action shots of an idiot like me trying to rack a heavy server above my head, and big dramatic pauses before the commercial break right when I'm about to type "service tomcat5 restart" into the console to "save the company and everyone's jobs".

When does the film crew get here? ;)
 
Tarheel Pilot said:
Honestly the show makes me cringe whenever they try to stir up drama by misrepresenting aviation.

The part that makes me cringe the most is when they (incorrectly) stated that light aircraft are VFR only, and heavier/larger aircraft have more sophisticated equipment for IFR.
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According to 121.159, single engine airplanes can't be used for Part 121 air carrier operations at all.

For Part 135, there are a bunch of requirements for IFR above and beyond those found in Part 91 that appear to make it difficult to equip small single engine reciprocating airplanes for IFR, so most such single engine charter ops are limited to VFR. At least that is my understanding.

Others who are more knowledgeable about such things may wish to correct or clarify.
 
I love the show... those of you hyper-analyzing everything, give it up... it's entertainment. It's nice that they are exposing more people to flying. Think of how it is received by the average Jill/Joe, setting on the couch, who aren't pilots.
The Ariel Soloing episode brought back a lot of memories from my solo in a 152, about 4 years ago. Exhilarating and terrifying. I'll have to say that, in a couple of those landings, she looked like a passenger on the way to a wreck. She'll have to work on that.
I wasn't sure that Ariel would ever solo... she just seemed too scatter-brained. Hey, a huge percentage of folks who start training never solo. And a bunch of those who do never finish up. Now, I have no doubt that she'll have her private by this summer sometime.
Tim
 
MBDiagMan said:
I think that Arial is a lot spunkier than people think. She is indeed dingy about some things, but she's always shown spunk.
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Yep. I have thought that from the first episode. Her character is a ditz. She is not.

I also agree with others, this is an aviation themed show, not a show about aviation. I have had a lot of people ask me about aviation as a result of the show, and the fact that Ariel could take and survive lessons made aviation seem more "approachable".

God knows we need more aviation stories on TV, especially ones that don't involve VX gas rockets under the wings of a Cub, or Cessnas with a nuke on the back seat.
But no. My mom used to say you could give some folks a free car, and they'd be mad it wasn't the color they wanted.
 
She is hot..and I can assure you she is much smarter than the "character" she plays.

While some of the editing has been creative I believe she was ready to solo. And I celebrate when any hot young chick takes the controls by herself and lives to talk about it.

Go Ariel !
 
loudbagel said:
She is hot..and I can assure you she is much smarter than the "character" she plays.

While some of the editing has been creative I believe she was ready to solo. And I celebrate when any hot young chick takes the controls by herself and lives to talk about it.

Go Ariel !
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Are you sure? If she's such a great actress, one would think she'd have found a real acting job in the couple of years she's been trolling around LA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cslbz3X2mQE
 
shes ok, I still think Sarah Fraher is better looking (and she isnt flat)
 
Tarheel Pilot said:
Honestly the show makes me cringe whenever they try to stir up drama by misrepresenting aviation.

The part that makes me cringe the most is when they (incorrectly) stated that light aircraft are VFR only, and heavier/larger aircraft have more sophisticated equipment for IFR.
Click to expand...

Yeah I fly an IFR 152!

I honestly don't care about the dramatizations... It's a show featuring real GA airplanes and it portrays GA in a positive light. It's not boring for non-pilots and I'm willing to bet its got A-Lot of people interested in learning to fly. I enjoy it.

And.. Another vote for Sarah Fraher
 
loudbagel said:
She is hot..and I can assure you she is much smarter than the "character" she plays.

While some of the editing has been creative I believe she was ready to solo. And I celebrate when any hot young chick takes the controls by herself and lives to talk about it.

Go Ariel !
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Sounds like you just like 16 year olds...
 
Since it's a TV show I wouldn't assume that everything that happened is, necessarily, the way everything happened, if you get my drift. But if that was really the three T-offs and Landings of her first solo, with a full, perpendicular windsock, she "done real good" :thumbsup:
 
denverpilot said:
Aww come on now. I haven't seen "Real Men of the Mid-Sized Company IT Department" yet.

We could get some action shots of an idiot like me trying to rack a heavy server above my head, and big dramatic pauses before the commercial break right when I'm about to type "service tomcat5 restart" into the console to "save the company and everyone's jobs".

When does the film crew get here? ;)
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Our outlook was down for 30 mins the other day, we could have used you there.
 
denverpilot said:
Aww come on now. I haven't seen "Real Men of the Mid-Sized Company IT Department" yet.

We could get some action shots of an idiot like me trying to rack a heavy server above my head, and big dramatic pauses before the commercial break right when I'm about to type "service tomcat5 restart" into the console to "save the company and everyone's jobs".

When does the film crew get here? ;)
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Office Space!
 
mbundy said:
Are you sure? If she's such a great actress, one would think she'd have found a real acting job in the couple of years she's been trolling around LA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cslbz3X2mQE
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She's still young, I think she is going to university which cuts into her time, and she managed to get this gig. She is listed in the credits as an associate producer. She's accomplished more than most people her age.
 
denverpilot said:
Aww come on now. I haven't seen "Real Men of the Mid-Sized Company IT Department" yet.

We could get some action shots of an idiot like me trying to rack a heavy server above my head, and big dramatic pauses before the commercial break right when I'm about to type "service tomcat5 restart" into the console to "save the company and everyone's jobs".

When does the film crew get here? ;)
Click to expand...
If they did that at our company, it would be like a live-action "Dilbert" some days. They have rules against cell-phone cameras, and then issue us cell phones with cameras!
 
I enjoyed seeing Ariel's first solo. The show does a good job of presenting GA in a positive light. But, there's something I didn't get and I haven't seen anybody mention it. My AFD says that Unalakleet has a runway 8-26. It's 1,900 ft long, more than long enough for a 152. So if Ariel was facing a 15 kt left crosswind on 33, why didn't she just land on 26? Did I miss something? Still, it was great to see the smiles all around as she solo'ed.
 
As I remember you had to to pass a pre-solo written test from your CFI, on emergency procedures and such.

Anyone wanna bet on her ever getting the PPL? I say she stays a student. She's done.

Being that she was just telling Dad how she just read about airspace and such there's no way she passed her pilot's written test yet...and I doubt she will in the near future. Imagine her trying to grok engine operation, flight planning, fuel consumption, and navigation by VORs and ADFs. :rolleyes:

And she's so ditzy she almost walked into the spinning prop! THAT would have been a season ender!
 
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