Lead Sled
Sitt'n on the throne...
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
- Posts
- 2,066
When it comes to gauging a pilot’s experience we use hours because they are easy to measure, but they’re also a pretty poor indicator of one’s true skill level. There is also the issue of the type of flying you are doing – for example an ag pilot will require a different set of skills than a business jet driver. I remember some comments that Bob Hoover made at an airshow that I attended - he mentioned that he had given up instrument flying because he couldn't "master" both aerobatics and IFR flying. Either one or the other would have to suffer.
When it comes to measuring experience, there is a big difference between 5,000 hours of experience and 1 hour of experience repeated 5,000 times. Low time pilots and CFIs tend to fall into the latter category. For the lack of a better way of putting it, when I’m looking for an experienced pilot I look more at the type of flying s/he has been doing rather than the total amount of time that that particular person has in their log book. I’m looking for a pilot who has "been around the block" a few times. I’ve known 7,000 hour CFIs that haven’t been all the way around the block and I’ve flown with 2,500 hour pilots that have. Flying freight or charter, single-pilot, in clapped out Navajos, twin-Cessnas, or heaven forbid, twin-Beeches are definitely not glamour jobs, those guys quickly learn what it is to go around the block. A few years of that kind of flying and they're ready for almost anything else that comes along. It only gets easier from that point.
It's not that 1,000 hour commercial pilots and CFIs don't have a lot to contribute. They certainly do. Many of them, who are active CFIs, can fly circles around us when it comes to specific maneuvers that they might be teaching and performing on a daily basis and we might not have done for months or years. The issue is one of depth, not breath of knowledge. Pilots in this position (and every one of us old farts have been there) have a broad range of knowledge, it just doesn't run very deep. That's what experience does - deepens your knowledge and understanding. As you gain experience you don’t manipulate the controls better, you fly smarter. You not only know when it’s safe to say yes, you know when to say no. Professionals need to know how to do both. As a pro you won’t keep a job long if you constantly tell the boss no when, in fact the answer could have been yes. And you definitely won’t last very long in the business if you tell him yes when you should have said no.
I read somewhere that pilot experience and aircraft accidents seem to cluster at certain distinct points – 100 hours, 500 hours, 1000 hours, 3000 hours, 10000 hours, and (if I remember correctly) 20,000 hours. This occurs not only with total time, but also with “time in type”. Complacency is a killer - 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.
There is no magic way to get experience. You have to get it one hour at a time. It’s pretty easy to allow yourself to think that once you achieve a certain amount of time then you will be “high time” or experienced. Not true. When I had 100 hours, I realized that I really knew a lot about aviation. When I had 500 hours I was practically ready to be an ATP. When I had 1000 hours, well that was it, I knew it all - or so I thought. Here I am, with more flight time in my log book than I ever thought I would amass and I can't believe how much I don't know. Ya’ll be careful.
‘Sled
When it comes to measuring experience, there is a big difference between 5,000 hours of experience and 1 hour of experience repeated 5,000 times. Low time pilots and CFIs tend to fall into the latter category. For the lack of a better way of putting it, when I’m looking for an experienced pilot I look more at the type of flying s/he has been doing rather than the total amount of time that that particular person has in their log book. I’m looking for a pilot who has "been around the block" a few times. I’ve known 7,000 hour CFIs that haven’t been all the way around the block and I’ve flown with 2,500 hour pilots that have. Flying freight or charter, single-pilot, in clapped out Navajos, twin-Cessnas, or heaven forbid, twin-Beeches are definitely not glamour jobs, those guys quickly learn what it is to go around the block. A few years of that kind of flying and they're ready for almost anything else that comes along. It only gets easier from that point.
It's not that 1,000 hour commercial pilots and CFIs don't have a lot to contribute. They certainly do. Many of them, who are active CFIs, can fly circles around us when it comes to specific maneuvers that they might be teaching and performing on a daily basis and we might not have done for months or years. The issue is one of depth, not breath of knowledge. Pilots in this position (and every one of us old farts have been there) have a broad range of knowledge, it just doesn't run very deep. That's what experience does - deepens your knowledge and understanding. As you gain experience you don’t manipulate the controls better, you fly smarter. You not only know when it’s safe to say yes, you know when to say no. Professionals need to know how to do both. As a pro you won’t keep a job long if you constantly tell the boss no when, in fact the answer could have been yes. And you definitely won’t last very long in the business if you tell him yes when you should have said no.
I read somewhere that pilot experience and aircraft accidents seem to cluster at certain distinct points – 100 hours, 500 hours, 1000 hours, 3000 hours, 10000 hours, and (if I remember correctly) 20,000 hours. This occurs not only with total time, but also with “time in type”. Complacency is a killer - 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.
There is no magic way to get experience. You have to get it one hour at a time. It’s pretty easy to allow yourself to think that once you achieve a certain amount of time then you will be “high time” or experienced. Not true. When I had 100 hours, I realized that I really knew a lot about aviation. When I had 500 hours I was practically ready to be an ATP. When I had 1000 hours, well that was it, I knew it all - or so I thought. Here I am, with more flight time in my log book than I ever thought I would amass and I can't believe how much I don't know. Ya’ll be careful.
‘Sled
Great post.
