Am I honestly a retard???

[bobbysamd]

Who is the true retard?

The problem arrose when I needed to divide some numbers, and I said I would need a calculator. My GS instuctor looked at me kind of strange, and said "you can't figure it on paper"? I said that I had completely forgotten how to divide numbers without the use of a calculator. This did not seem to sit well with her. She went on to question me about what I wanted to do with my flying!!! She said that if I ever wanted to fly professionaly, that I should take a basic math course!!! So at this point I feel like a total retard, and all I can do is give some excuse about using calculators since 5th grade...

Now I know that I SHOULD be able to divide numbers on paper, but does anyone think she was just a little over the top . . . .

I haven't read every post on this thread in detail - I will - but I agree that your ground school instructor could stand a lesson(s) in diplomacy. I would not recommend this, but someone should ask your ground school instructor if she remembers the Law of Recency from the Fundamentals of Instructing.

I remember when I began my flying lessons my concerns about the math aspects. My math skills were never that strong and I expressed my concern to my instructor. My instructor, who, by education, was a mechanical engineer, assured me that all I needed to know was how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Unlike your instructor, he reassured me - and he was right . I learned later that working proportions to solve for unknowns, which I had not done since high school, was also extremely helpful.

On the other hand, though your ground instructor's attitude is inexcusable, try looking past how she came at you and consider her message. Perhaps your arithmetical skills could stand a brush-up. Don't you use arithmetic in your auto tech job?

Finally,

Perhaps it is a generational phenomenon, or perhaps not. When I went to school we were expected to write legibly, spell correctly, and perform mathematics with pencils, tables, and - - gasp - - even a slide rule in high school. Today my children are not expected to even spell correctly. It sickens me. I was embarrased a few weeks ago to admit to my daughter that I had forgotten the quadratic formula. I would rather die that admit to this forum that I had forgotten how to DIVIDE.

Tony has a point, which could spawn an entire discussion on the inadequacies of American education and the value of a college education for pilots.

I, too, have forgotten the quadratic formula, but I haven't thought about it much since high school - which goes back thirty-five years. Besides, I was never that swift with algebra.

Good luck with your ground school.

 

[cforst513]

Ditto... 5th grade was the last year calculators wer forbidden, after that we all had them. By high school algebra, they were REQUIRED, we all had TI-35 or TI-36X calculators in class, you got a demerit if you didn't bring yours.

heh heh, imagine my surprise when, after graduating from highschool, i bought a TI-88 graphing calc for over $100, b/c to get a B.S. at my college you have to take calculus, and for the few calc. classes I took we had to do EVERYTHING freehand, no calculators: graphing, functions, the whole 9 yards. Best $100 I ever spent....

 

[TonyC]

I, too, have forgotten the quadratic formula, but I haven't thought about it much since high school - which goes back thirty-five years. Besides, I was never that swift with algebra.

x equals negatve B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus 4AC all over 2A


I think...


I can still factor, though

 

[Daveman]

I can still factor, though

Me too. I can also do long division. And sometimes, on a good day, I can calculate the altitude I need to lose to cross a certain fix. Of course they throw in the X factor (50 miles south of certain fix).
TonyC: Here's a fun book. "Taking the Quantum Leap" -Fred Alan Wolf
Of course none of this will help my Polar interview.

 

[Guitar Guy]

Your 20 miles out from the airport at 10,000 feet. Field Elevation is 1,000 feet. Your doing 120kts accross the ground (or is the ground doing 120kts under you?) anyway, when do you start your descent. By the way its night time, so you can't see the keys of your calculator, and its solar powered.


See the need for division. And this is just the tip of the iceburg.

Used to do this sort of calculation a lot in the ol' 1900D and without a calculator. You could start a nice, slow descent "immediately". The gradient would be 450 ft/NM (9000 ft divided by 20 miles, assuming those are "NM"). The descent rate required would be 900 ft/minute (120 knots being 2 NM per minute and taking 450 ft/NM and multiplying by 2 NM/min).

This works out nicely, by the way.

But honestly, it wasn't tough carrying a cheapie calculator in your uniform shirt pocket just to check your mental math.

 

[FlyinTim]

Unprofessional on her part.

 

[crzepilot]

I never do any math in the cockpit except simple addition or subtraction...Tell her to go sit on her thumb.

 

[KigAir]

I don't remember seeing " Able to perform division on paper." as a listed requirement for a PPL.

 

[TonyC]

I don't remember seeing " Able to perform division on paper." as a listed requirement for a PPL.

It doesn't say "able to breathe with mouth closed" either.






.

 

[KigAir]

It doesn't say "able to breathe with mouth closed" either.

.

That should be a requirement, especially for after lunch lessons.