ATP privileges?

[O-Line]

O-line, that was the point I was getting at. It takes more than simply making a few t/o's and landings to be a qualified SIC.

In the real world, frequently even that isn't enough. The insurance companies will determine what the real minimums are and they often want some sort of formal school at least annually.

'Sled

Oh, I couldn’t agree more! The thing we all have to remember is there is a difference between being “LEGAL” and being “insurable”, and even more important neither means you are safe.

In the real world being Legal is just the bare minimum standard, Insurance is a more “realistic” standard, and being safe is what we all strive to be.

 

[Lead Sled]

In the real world being Legal is just the bare minimum standard, Insurance is a more “realistic” standard, and being safe is what we all strive to be.

Very well said. One of the first things that any pilot needs to learn that what is legal isn't always safe. Another thing that pilots run into soon enough it that it's not the FAA that determines who can fly what - it's those pesky insurance companies.

Getting a pilot’s license or a new is nothing more than a license to learn. There is perhaps nothing more dangerous than a “green” instrument pilot out in the weather. Passing a written and taking a checkride no more makes you an instrument pilot than buying a piano would make you a concert pianist. We all start out “green”, but as we gain more experience, hopefully, we become “seasoned”. That’s what experience does for you, you don’t manipulate the controls “better”, you just fly “smarter”.

Us old farts can’t let our guard down either. I remember reading about safety plateaus. Accidents seem to cluster at certain distinct points – 100 hours, 500 hours, 1000 hours, 3000 hours, 10000 hours, and 20000 (if I remember correctly). This occurs not only with total time, but also with “time in type”. There is a real tendency to get too comfortable and let your guard down. A 10000-hour pilot with 3000 hours in type needs to be careful that he doesn’t get complacent or he too, will get bit.

Unfortunately, over the years, I have known many good pilots who have died in aircraft accidents. When it happens, it is a VERY sobering experience. All too often, as you look back on the events surrounding the accident it becomes very apparent that, in many cases, it was very avoidable. It’s all too easy to let bad operating practices creep into our day-to-day flying. Like the guy said when St. Peter met him at the Pearly Gates, “It never killed me before!”

'Sled