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Are You Ready? 2010-03-18
In the real world of life some things are done too soon. Getting married, having children, picking fruit, and going into your own business are typical examples. Applied to flight instruction, we often find that students are pushed into solo or into the flight test before they are ready. "Picked too green", is the saying. I have picked several students for solo when they were ‘too green’. Usually, I know and the student known when the right time for solo happens. For the PTS flight test there are so many imponderables that knowing just when to go for it is a crapshoot. As possibly only one of many instructors in several types of aircraft and many hours of instruction, the one who signs the Application Form cannot do more than review and check for proficiency. The examiner is in much the same position, taking only a series of snap-shots that show the performance skills and judgment skills required of a pilot. The student pilot who is ‘picked too green’ has been exposed and perhaps even learned the required skills for the moment. The retention and carry through of these skills are degraded through lack of practice so that the ability to stay out of trouble is also degraded. The student, often ashamed to admit this lack of skill will find reasons not to fly and reasons not to get instructor help. It does not take very long for even an experienced pilot to revert to ignorance, out of currency, and less than proficient. An accident looking for a place to happen. Allow yourself time to grow up as a pilot. Feeling uncomfortable about something is enough reason not to fly. Being scared of any or all aspects of the flight real or imagined is a valid basis for cancellation. The actual flying is retained, it is the finer points of taxiing, communications, configuration changes, emergency procedures, situational awareness, and checklist use that fail first. 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