There is one fairly new pilot on our field that seems fascinated by the L 4. From conversations with him he has flown nothing but glass cockpit stuff and just seems dumbfounded how anyone can fly an aircraft " without the proper instrumentation ". I tell him of course the Cub has everything needed to fly safely. That the plane talks to you and you only need to listen to it. It tells you when it is slipping and skidding, tells you when it is getting ready to stall it pretty much talks to you throughout your flight. All you have to do is listen and feel. I think he sees it a bit differently.
Well yesterday I took him up. I got up to about 400 feet and he starts screaming that we have an emergency. I finally get out of him that the ASI is not working. Seems the flip up cover got stuck. I hadnt noticed since I pay little attention to the thing anyway. I told him so and that we could continue the flight but he insisted we land. I honestly thought the guy was going to have a heart attack on landing and he was telling everyone of his near death experience. All the old timers just laughed but the other newer guys were just amazed that we somehow got her down in one piece.
Are we really training these new pilots to be so dependent on technology that when something that minor occurs they go into a near panic? I was taught the only time to panic in the aircraft is the moment the flames start to burn you or a large part of the aircraft falls off.
How sad that these guys are missing out on the best true flying experiences. It is like they are flying a giant video game.
Well yesterday I took him up. I got up to about 400 feet and he starts screaming that we have an emergency. I finally get out of him that the ASI is not working. Seems the flip up cover got stuck. I hadnt noticed since I pay little attention to the thing anyway. I told him so and that we could continue the flight but he insisted we land. I honestly thought the guy was going to have a heart attack on landing and he was telling everyone of his near death experience. All the old timers just laughed but the other newer guys were just amazed that we somehow got her down in one piece.
Are we really training these new pilots to be so dependent on technology that when something that minor occurs they go into a near panic? I was taught the only time to panic in the aircraft is the moment the flames start to burn you or a large part of the aircraft falls off.
How sad that these guys are missing out on the best true flying experiences. It is like they are flying a giant video game.
