george day

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• May 1, 2002, on Instrument Flying:

  Ditto. Just passing a test means very little -- and 10 days is hardly enough to count for real experience. To pass a test, perhaps, but not much more than that. Instrument training is truly something to be undertaken deliberately. To race through it is to rob yourself of the ability to develop instincts. Robotic responses and rote answers you might have, but real situational awareness...that's another can of worms.

• May 2, 2002, on Learning to Fly:

  Some of the downsides of the Katana as a trainer: 1) It is considerably more expensive to rent, per hour, than a typical 150/2 or Tomahawk (both of which are excellent learning platforms). Hello, money matters. 2) The thing doesn't fly or, especially, land like almost any conventional airplane in the GA fleet. That's because it's a quasi-glider. It floats, a lot. Most private pilots will transition from trainers to middle-of-the-road Cessnas (172s) or Pipers (Cherokees); the more adventuresome and well-heeled will go the way of Mooneys, Bonanzas, etc. (No one without a good bit of experience should think about getting into a Lancair or something like that -- wonderful, wonderful airplanes, but they are decidedly high-performance and need an experienced stick.) And that's why Cessnas and Pipers -- and primarily Cessnas -- still dominate the training fleet. Why spend almost twice as much on a Katana when you're going to have to relearn so much in transitioning to 99.5% of w...

• May 2, 2002, on Shopping for Airplane Accessories:

  Why all this talk about watches? Let's see. One of my best friends is a military fighter pilot who, on the side, owns two highly sophisticated private planes. His watch is a Timex Ironman. His timer is a second Ironman with a broken band. Another friend of mine is an ATP who flies a P-51 for fun. Uses a cheap Casio. I have an ironman and keep a $5 timer in my flight bag. That's all anyone needs. This talk of Rolexes and needing to have a watch that displays GMT is silly. You've got a watch on your wrist, you've probably got a clock on the dash and you've got a timer. If you're a gearhead, that's great -- but at least admit that you're a gearhead. This stuff is not necessary.

• May 2, 2002, on Shopping for Airplane Accessories:

  Incidentally -- and now a positve comment from me -- the Lightspeed 25xl headset is an excellent choice. Runs around $500 or so (what I paid, anyway), batteries seem to last forever and it's quite comfy and effective.