Time for a new flight instructor. My old one left to go fly a Lear Jet. I was taking flying lessons from a local FBO and must admit that I was pretty naive about flight training curriculum and didn't even know that there was a syllabus to be followed. Evidently, neither did any of my first two flight instructors because I got milked by these guys. This was in the late 80's and I sure hope things have changed by now.
I had barely passed my private written exam with a 73%, but it was a passing grade so that was behind me. I now had to concentrate on my flying which I wasn't doing so good at. For one thing, my first flight instructor never sat me down to show me how to read a sectional chart. He never taught me pilotage and ded-reckoning, lost procedures or how to use the VOR. All we ever did was practice basic maneuvers. I blame myself for not finding out what their training requirements and obligations were and I should have done my own homework. I didn't even have a FAR/AIM because I didn't know that it existed.
I came in to meet my new flight instructor. He was a young kid right out of flight school. He looked at my log book and said, "So you're ready for you're cross country". I couldn't believe it. He was ready to sign me off on a cross country without ever flying with me or making sure that I could use a sectional. I had to say "Back up dude, I don't know what you're talking about". I'm not crazy and I know my limitations. I was in no way ready to fly a solo cross country, and besides, I believe that I would be required to fly a dual cross country with a flight instructor first.
I started flying with this guy anyway and really didn't get much further. We usually went to the practice area and practiced basic maneuvers, fly back to the airport and do some touch and go's. I didn't know it but my money was going down the pot. I wasn't getting anywhere.
I still wanted to learn to fly and in the mean time was getting "Student Pilot" magazine and was checking out professional flight schools from around the country that advertised. I was ready to change professions from sales rep to pilot but had to figure out which school to choose. I got brochures from everywhere. I was making good money and could afford the change for a while but knew that I would have to find a job if I moved away to go to flight school. One school actually called me up and after several phone calls talked me into signing up. They were located in Tulsa Oklahoma.
I went to the FBO for my last training flight. My new flight instructor was gone and they assigned me another one. This guy was different. He was young but very professional and no nonsense. From the time that we walked to the ramp for pre flight to the time that we landed he was on top of me. It seemed that everything that I had previously learned was wrong. Yes, I got milked by the first two flight instructors and that never happened again. I made sure of that.
After landing, this guy sat me down and explained things to me. Things that these first two guys should have done all along. We went into the bookstore and he started throwing books at me including FAR/AIM. "Read this..Read this..etc." I left with $100 worth of reading material, closed my account and didn't go back. I was due to start flight training at a professional flight school in three months.
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