If training pilots would just read that book before starting training things would fall into place far quicker. I am going to say that almost all of the Pilot error accidents that happen, happen because the pilot does not yet understand the concept of flight. He knows how to fly, but does not UNDERSTAND flight. If you understand, and practice (snap decisions) you will be far better off when things go bad. What we do now in training is practice stalls so you know what it is and hopefully avoid it. The problem is we do it in a way that you already know it is coming. "OK we are going to do a level flight stall" "OK now we are going to do a power on stall." a power on stall would take me 2 min to develop, because I did not like them so I went into it slow. I would tell myself how stupid is this I would not even begin to hold a plane like this so why am I practicing it. Stall training should have little to do with the actual stall. The CFI should get you into a fast climb 1100 fpm or so then give you something else to do, "get that paper out of the back" or something. As you reach for the paper you forget to let go of the yoke and pull back just enough to put it into a power on stall going right into a spin. NOW that is stall training! Slow flight stalls, get as slow as you can and then say "Turn 180 to the right @ 45deg. You will stall. This is a typical return to the airport stall spin crash when you loose an engine on Take Off. In these scenarios you do not have to actually stall for him to correct you. It is your first reaction that counts. What did you do first? Once you know what to do first you will never stall a plane by accident. Hey look out for that bird!!... Did you pull back or turn sharp without more power or speed? It does no good to miss the bird if you auger in.

Dan

Why do you say that the 182 is too much plane? Too much to fly or too much to own? You can get older 182's for less and they will fly just as nice if not better. Look also into the older 210 first years. You can get the gear welded down and make  nice fixed gear six pass plane out of them. Be creative when you look. If you look at planes that everyone else is buying then you will pay top dollar. There are so many nice planes out there. Not that he 172 is not nice or the 182, but they bring top dollar. The 172 can do a family of 4 if you are not into comfort too much. If I had to pay the price for a 177 I would get a Viking instead. For the same price of a 177 you can get a 75 or newer most likely a 78-82 Viking that would blow the doors off the 177 in stability, speed, and options. The Viking is one of the bet buys out there and one of the easiest planes to fly.

Dan

Try the ME that you got your Medical with. You are going to have to work with one anyway to get it resloved. There are a lot of specialized ME out there that go out of their way to help you.

Dan

Dave this post is kinda old but I will post anyway. I have been away for a while so I am trying to get caught back up.

Owning a plane is like this. If you can work on things yourself then owing is no different than anything else. If you have to RELY on someone else then owning is like everything else. I will not rely on anyone working on my plane the plane that I fly 9,000' in the air. I do all my own work and do an owner assisted annual. I know what is being done on my plane and I know what to expect when something goes wrong. I have owned a 1980 172N with 8,000 hrs one of the best planes I owned. I have also owned a 1975 Piper Six with 5,000 hrs. The 172 looked like crap and flew like a dream. The six looked like a million bucks and flew OK. I own a 68 150G that looks like the 172 old and used barely ran when I brought it home from FL. All I did was put 4 cylinders and a carb on it and it flys great. I have less than $15,000 in the 150. I had $35,000 in the 172, basically did all my training in it and sold it for a profit not spending anything other than a new AT indicator. I had the most into the Six $120,000. And it cost me some when I sold it. I now fly a 1966 Viking $35,000. A new engine will cost me $8,000. or so in the next year and I have been putting newer electronics in it (Because I like to not because I have to) But I will never loose money on this plane. Owning a plane is freedom, what is your freedom worth? not to mention your piece of mind.

Dan

I would say not to go with an acad. if you just want a job as a commercial pilot. There are many things you can do as a CP. Flying the power lines and pipelines is one. flying for the DNR as a fire spotter is another. Flying checks is very popular. If you were to get a hold of a CFII and told him or her that you want to go PPL to COM as fast as possable and want block time you will learn more than any other way. Learn your lessons on CC trips and you will learn even more and faster. Learning in the pattern is wasted time in my opinion. Buy a plane and hire a CFII fly as much as you can in the clouds or IMC. COM pilots fly on demand not just on sunny days.

Dan

I will put a nod in for the Telex 50D headset. It is a very robust headset and the most comfortable that I have tried. I have glasses so that makes a difference, the regular headsets just will not cut it when you wear glasses.

Dan

You are getting it. What you still have to remember, is in a stall you are not flying you are falling. @ 300' there is no more room to restart the flight phase. So what it looks like from the ground is nose augured in. straight down! If you lower the nose you are still flying even though you hit the trees you do so horizontal. Trees bend and break slow you down and give you a chance. Auguring in you have zero chance it is instant death. You will learn later in emergency landings that trees make a good landing area if nothing else is available. They slow you down gently. My point is that in stall training you need to get your first instinct to be SPEED no matter what. You will learn later also the phrase speed = altitude and altitude = speed one exchanges for the other. So even at 300' speed up "Gain Speed" then pull back gain altitude.
 
Order the book or rent it from the library "Stick and rudder" one of the best things you can do for your training.

Good luck,

Dan

Slow flight is something that should be taught more. You should go up and fly in slow flight and do maneuvers. This get you used to critical parts of flying. It is not that stalls are that dangerous it is the "Doing the wrong thing" that makes them so deadly. Next time out do slow flight with the horn going, have your instructor tell you "Look out your too low" What is your reaction? You will more than likely pull back on the yoke and stall the plane. Happens all the time. Your barely moving something is in your way and you pull back to get over it. It is so hard to drop the nose when in trouble from low airspeed and no altitude. Fear of stalling is your best friend. Speed is your friend you gt it from two sources. One drop the nose, two the throttle. If you have no more throttle drop the nose you have no other choice.

I am glad your lessons are going good. Get to know the stall but always fear them.

Dan

Head sets vary from person to person and plane to plane. Best bet is to try a few out. most on line stores will let you try them out. DC are robust but very heavy and pricey. Light Speed are very comfortable but pricey and not very robust. Pilot brands are lower cost but lower value it is the second set I bought after buying a 200 ASA non ANR. I would stick with a ANR set, remembering that people will ride with you so you will need another set some time anyway. Get your better set after you get your ticket and have some extra money. I use the 50D Telex but the 30D or the Echelon are very good also. Check E-bay!

Dan

Jason, you might consider an older certified plane. You can get some very good deals on older projects. I am building a 66 Bellanca 260 (Viking) into an Experimental. I paid $6,000. for the complete plane less most instruments and radios. I can have it done for less than $30,000 or so depending on how far I want to go. The Mustang II is a very nice plane that you can get done for less than $30,000. and yet go 200 mph on 150 HP. The problem I ran into is that I would still only have a 2 seat plane for the same price I could have a 4 place. As far as instruments it depends on where you fly. You may need a transponder if you go into controlled airspace. You need a compass. You should have a radio even though it is not required. An air speed indicator is another instrument that you should have. If you are flying over 3000' you need an altimeter. You have specific altitudes to stay at over 3000' AGL. A good plane would be a Stratomaster Ultra. For $1,000 you would get all instruments for flight and all instruments for engine you would have to get probes and sensors extra. But it is a far cry from the things that go into a certified plane. You would be better off getting a hand held GPS than a panel mount.

Dan

Conrgats, you will be telling stories of hair raising exploits in no time.


Dan

contact: Shashi Kanth  snkanth@usa.net

I sold my Piper Six N32394 to him and he is at the KRAP field. He is not a CFI but his two CFI's that were there to fly the plane were very good. The one older one owns or is part owner at the new self service pump off to the right. They are putting up new hangers over there also. Shashi is a real nice guy and worth talking to just for the heck of it. Tell him Dan said Hi, and hope all is well with the Six I really miss it.

Dan

I know of a couple of great CFI's at KRAP. Let me know if you need some assistance.

Dan

Go to the airport and get an old Sectional for your area. If you have or can get a handbook all the better too. Now plot your course on the sectional vor to vor you will need the freq. start up MS and try and follow your course with the VOR. Do not use the GPS! If you can do that or when you can do that. Start a flight and fly around not taking notice of where you are. Now plug in two or three VOR's and see if you can find out. You will also notice that you will use the AI for climb and decent or should. I did not use it all through my training. It wasn't until I started using MS that I was able to really understand it. If you get the basics of the instrument scan down before you start training you are way ahead of the game. We had one student that had to just go up and goof around to make up hours just to get the minimum in.

Dan

Well two things came help there. MS 2004 and getting to know your CFI really good and personal. If you get the Gliem kit. Handbook, syllabus, workbook, and AIM also the CD. You get a big headstart on learning the basics of the airplane before you even fly. By using the MS 2004 you can learn how the VOR and OBS work together. You learn some basic radio procedures. Although the flying does help some mostly what it does is give you that Ive been here before feeling while flying with your CFI. You learn a lot about V speeds stalls and approaches. If you go in to your CFI well prepared you will cut your time in half. Cost less than 4,000.00.

Dan