The BEST thing your CFI taught you?

during training in complex aircraft: CFI's quote "learn the systems and make the systems work for you, it works in life as well as airplanes."
 
paflyer said:
Never eat anything bigger than your head.
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LOL! My dog almost had to have surgery after he ate something smaller than his head but larger than the other end. Best guess was a rodent skull. He passed it at about 3AM one night so I didn't go look. Didn't sound fun. Hahahaha.
 
denverpilot said:
LOL! My dog almost had to have surgery after he ate something smaller than his head but larger than the other end. Best guess was a rodent skull. He passed it at about 3AM one night so I didn't go look. Didn't sound fun. Hahahaha.
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That's funnier than hell!!! Not so much for the dog. Even less so for the rodent- Oh the indignity!!!
 
Zeldman said:
Unless the cows are running after you, then taxi faster than the cows......;)
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Or take off quick! I had just landed on a rough grass strip in a Cub, and noticed the damn cows headed my way. Turned around quickly and got out of there, hell, they might've ate the plane! They did look hungry.
 
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mscard88 said:
Or take off quick! I had just landed on a rough grass strip in a Cub, and noticed the damn cows headed my way. Turned around quickly and got out of there, hell, they might've ate the plane!
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That's no joke. I'm not sure how modern fabric tastes, but in the good old days of doped cotton fabric there were plenty of stories of livestock eating the fabric off of the wings of airplanes. If I find myself chased by cows or, really, any other animal and I'm in an airplane, I'm giving it the onion and getting off the ground.
 
Oh yeah, my power CFI gave me this gem:

"You get the weather you get, not the weather that was forecast."
 
paflyer said:
Never eat anything bigger than your head.
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Among my motorcycling friends: "If you can eat it in one sitting, hit it. If not, try to avoid it"

That said, I know a guy who was riding two up, he and his wife, and a deer jumped out. He knew he couldn't avoid, so he pinned the throttle and held on...........and split the deer in two and stayed upright. Yes, he was very lucky, but he also put the bike into a stable position by pining the throttle.

In general:

A motorcycle on the gas (rear squatted, forks elongated) is stable
A motorcycle on the brakes (forks compressed, rear elongated) is unstable
 
Forgot another one that goes with the Unable:

Was going through my PPL training and the CFI I was flying with asked me "If the airport is landing runways 14 and 04 and the tower gives you runway 04, do you have to accept it?"

The answer from me was "Yes", to which he responded, "Nope" and then asked "Who's the final authority for any decision making?"

And then he went on to demonstrate that during a training flight. We were given runway 14 and he said "Nope, we need 04." Tower was a bit ****ed, but we got our runway.

ATC is there to help, but you are the final authority.
 
Caramon13 said:
... We were given runway 14 and he said "Nope, we need 04." Tower was a bit ****ed, but we got our runway...
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"If you need runway four you need to hold for ten to twenty minutes for other traffic, you still want runway four?" You may be the final authority of your airplane but that controller is the final authority on who gets to land on which runway. ATC is there to separate aircraft...not just YOUR aircraft. ;)
 
Timbeck2 said:
"If you need runway four you need to hold for ten to twenty minutes for other traffic, you still want runway four?" You may be the final authority of your airplane but that controller is the final authority on who gets to land on which runway. ATC is there to separate aircraft...not just YOUR aircraft. ;)
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While I don't necessarily agree with the bolded statement, I do agree that if you INSIST on a runway you are the one that has to deal with all the baggage associated with that decision such as holding, s-turns, etc..definitely. In our case we would have had a pretty strong crosswind, almost beyond the limits of the aircraft if we were to land on 14, so we really did NEED to land on 04.

Far be it from me to be a jerk to ATC's, I often like to fly with the flow of traffic (even if I have to deal with a nasty crosswind) and I try to help out where I can. But this "tell" vs "ask" mentality that the CFI showed me that day really made me re-think things a bit.
 
WannFly said:
ROFL
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I'm serious. Well not that it was the best thing I learned, but he actually did this. We used to go out drinking on Monday nights after ground school was done. I'm often surprised I survived my flight training...not the flying part, but the going out and getting drunk with my CFI (who was also my roommate).
 
Caramon13, perhaps I came on a little strong which wasn't my intent. As most know I'm a pilot and a controller and I understand both issues. I'm sure any controller wouldn't have had a problem with a request rather than a demand for a different runway. Perhaps if you added the information about the wind I would have responded differently. Controllers always try to change to the runway most aligned with the wind. My point was that pilots don't always take in consideration what other traffic may be out there other than one aircraft that requests a different runway.
 
I don't demand, but it also isn't a request - I'm sharing my decision with you, not asking your permission. It's my prerogative. And yes, I'll circle, s-turn or do whatever you need me to, until it's available, 'cause that's your prerogative.

I know I don't have the big picture you have; just like you don't have the insight into what drove my decision. I'm not asking to turn a runway around for no reason; that would be an inconsiderate jerk's action. And I'm assuming you aren't putting me through hoops 'cause you didn't like my "tone" on the radio - that would be a petty a-hole's action. Neither of which applies to 99% of ATC or pilots.

Sorry if this is a little testy, and for the most part we all get along - but every now and then the authorities get confused.
 
though I don't personally know him, I'd bet @Timbeck2 knows all that, I read all the above and thought they handled it nicely.

My opinion is one would have them labelled incorrectly if labelled as, "authorities" which could possibly lead to a strong opinion of their mindset,

Keep in mind I'm a low time nobody, so don't nobody run screaming into the night. :)


The one I'll never forget is
"Always remember , there's three things that matter when in the traffic pattern, airspeed, airspeed, and airspeed."

 
He said I couldn't afford a plane. It might be one of the most expensive lessons I learn. Ask me in another 5 years.
 
Flying: crosswind landings for my private / what icing looks like for my instrument / chandelles for my comm.
Decisionmaking: if my gut tells me not to fly, then don't.
 
Sundancer said:
...Sorry if this is a little testy, and for the most part we all get along - but every now and then the authorities get confused.
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I can guarantee you that I'm not an "authority" on anything. I can also tell you that a lot of the "confusion" lies in bad communication and in my experience if you want to put percentages on it, pilots are a lot more confused than controllers. Using the example above and one that I commented on, if the pilot needs another runway, ATC will bend over backwards to accommodate that request. But put it to the controllers as a demand with no explanation whatsoever, then you're going to get some attitude and quite possibly some penalty vectors.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Caramon13, perhaps I came on a little strong which wasn't my intent. As most know I'm a pilot and a controller and I understand both issues. I'm sure any controller wouldn't have had a problem with a request rather than a demand for a different runway. Perhaps if you added the information about the wind I would have responded differently. Controllers always try to change to the runway most aligned with the wind. My point was that pilots don't always take in consideration what other traffic may be out there other than one aircraft that requests a different runway.
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No biggie, I get the general idea and can appreciate it from both perspectives. @Sundancer put it quite well.

It helps to remember that there is a person on either side of the mic and that person be it a pilot or ATC has responsibilities. The controllers down where I live are very accommodating people and will go out of their way to help pilots. In turn if I can help them out by changing my approach or relaying a message, etc, I do it. Sure you you can just say "Unable" and have ATC guess at why you said that, but the more ATC knows about what you are trying to do and why, the more they can help out.

Maybe in an emergency when I don't have time to explain my reasoning I would choose to do what that CFI did, but I'm just not that kind of guy in any other situation. You get respect when you give respect.
 
ateamer said:
"Fly the plane like you have 100 passengers in back who you want to come back."
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Which makes me think of one of the pilots (Kann?) who trained Ernie Gann in Fate is the Hunter: "If my ass gets there in one piece I'm pretty sure the passengers will too."
 
In primary training I, of course, learned to fly. The instructor had nearly 10,000 hours and I particularly appreciated gems of this sort. "If you have a choice between hitting a light pole and another airplane, hit the light pole. It's cheaper."

He also pushed me into cross winds which even made the tower wonder... Cross winds don't scare me.

John
 
Timbeck2 said:
"If you need runway four you need to hold for ten to twenty minutes for other traffic, you still want runway four?" You may be the final authority of your airplane but that controller is the final authority on who gets to land on which runway. ATC is there to separate aircraft...not just YOUR aircraft. ;)
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If you are polite and use the words like "please" and "thank you", ATC is more likely to oblige.
I did not learn this one from my CFI, I worked it out all by myself. :)

Which could also be another important thing CFIs could teach students: "those pesky ATC guys hiding behind the microphone are actually humans, like you and me". :nod:
 
jsstevens said:
Which makes me think of one of the pilots (Kann?) who trained Ernie Gann in Fate is the Hunter: "If my ass gets there in one piece I'm pretty sure the passengers will too."
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Yeah, I occasionally had passengers wonder if they'd be ok/safe, whatever, and I used something like that, "if I look out for ME, you in the back will be fine". Meaning I don't wanna fly dangerously or do something stupid, so you'll get there safely. They quickly understood that too!
 
Timbeck2 said:
I can guarantee you that I'm not an "authority" on anything. I can also tell you that a lot of the "confusion" lies in bad communication and in my experience if you want to put percentages on it, pilots are a lot more confused than controllers. Using the example above and one that I commented on, if the pilot needs another runway, ATC will bend over backwards to accommodate that request. But put it to the controllers as a demand with no explanation whatsoever, then you're going to get some attitude and quite possibly some penalty vectors.
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Concur and conceded- I'm more likely to botch comms than a controller is - he/she is a professional, and I'm not; I'm not flying a full shift every day. But "attitude" and "penalty" vectors are petty nonsense, not worthy of a professional.
 
BigBadLou said:
If you are polite and use the words like "please" and "thank you", ATC is more likely to oblige.
I did not learn this one from my CFI, I worked it out all by myself. :)

Which could also be another important thing CFIs could teach students: "those pesky ATC guys hiding behind the microphone are actually humans, like you and me". :nod:
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I heard someone do that to be funny one day. Ground didn't answer him (probably on the land line) so he keyed up again and said, "Pweeeeze?" LOL. Controller was laughing as he answered.
 
"Stay with it."

I'm a few days into my multi add-on. Tuesday afternoon, we were shooting my first single-engine approach under the hood in the Seneca. I'd dealt with the simulated failure pretty well, I thought. Except I hadn't simulated securing the dead engine, and so my CFII left it where it was - windmilling at idle rather than 1000RPM, approximating a feathered prop. At 300 AGL, I pulled off the hood, and realized that although I'd been pegging blue line on glideslope, the last-minute gear and flaps I'd applied were causing a nasty sink, and I was sure I wouldn't make the runway.

It wasn't a real emergency - we still had the other engine, and the zillion-hour CFII sitting beside me wasn't sweating it. But I was freaked and thought I was out of options - remembering a recent crash where a single-engine twin didn't quite make the runway. I let the speed degrade just a little, and when I pulled power back on the good engine there was plenty of rudder to keep controlled. I put the last notch of flaps in and made the numbers.

In debriefing it later, my instructor was clear that that's the spot where students wash out and freak because they think they're out of options. I'm 425 hours into this flying thing, and I've had three situations so far where I was up against my edge for real - and stayed with it. I'm grateful for all the good teaching I've gotten, and for the piloty stuff I've learned here that's helped me be safer in the air.
 
whereisrandall said:
I let the speed degrade just a little, and when I pulled power back on the good engine there was plenty of rudder to keep controlled. I put the last notch of flaps in and made the numbers.
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Great post and an even better lesson. MEIs stress blue line so much that it takes a "moment of clarity" like that one to remind the student there's usually a large speed gap in most trainers between blue line and Vmc and sometimes a gap between Vmc and stall... (Not very often the latter at my altitude, but I'll say it for completeness! haha!)

It's good that you trapped yourself in that mental corner and thought your way out of it. Really hammers home that the airplane is still flyable below blue line. In most twin trainers the full flap short field approach is also below blue line, and we think nothing of it, but engine out, people can get funny ideas from all the emphasis on blue line, blue line, blue line.

You didn't really need to pull the operating engine back though, unless you were approaching Vmc. Did you mean Vmc and not blue line? The story makes more sense that way. In which case, yeah, reduce power if directional control is being lost but otherwise hang on to it. You need all you've got with one windmilling at idle until it becomes controllability problem, then you need aircraft control more.
 
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