"Pinch-Hitter" Course Now Online

[EyesSkyward]

We've discussed the Pinch-Hitter course here before. It's geared toward those who regularly fly as right-seat passengers on small, General Aviation planes. Here's the official blurb about the DVD version (http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?DID=19&Product_ID=264&CATID=90) of the course:

Pinch-Hitters are pilot's companions who want to know more about flying and learn how to control and land an airplane. Uncover the mysteries of why airplanes fly. Develop basic navigation skills. Learn how to tune and talk on your radio. Understand the instruments in your cockpit. Flying is more fun when you are a participant instead of a passenger!

Well now the Air Safety Foundation has created a web version of the course (http://flash.aopa.org/asf/pinch_hitter/flash.cfm), and it's free! :thumbsup: You even get a personalized certificate to print out if you take the whole course and pass the final quiz.

I took the course to see what it was like, and it's pretty nice. You can interrupt and resume the course whenever you want. Granted there are some things you can't learn solely through the interent (or on DVD, for that matter), so there's a lot "have your pilot show you [fill in the blank]" sprinkled throughout. Still, it covers some good ground. I especially like how the very first slide covers so effectively illustrates the odds of an accident due to pilot incapacitation (hint: it's super, super rare!)

I'd be interested to hear what the pilot companions on this board (paging Rebecca!) might think about it.

- Jeff

[Rebecca]

Well, thank you for that!

The AOPA video I have (which I have viewed ad infinitum :blush: ) is not interactive at all.

I checked out Section 2 of that online course and it is soooooooo much more realistic what with those throttle controls and yoke control and all. Kind of "wheeeeeee," in fact.

Will check back in after I've done the whole thing.

Have passed up several opportunities to fly with Craig this month (fall weather is apparently mega-perfect for flying) but another one may be coming up this weekend.

I guess I'm not so worried about pilot incapacitation as I just don't like to fly. Working on it.

[Rebecca]

Okay, I passed and printed out my certificate. Whee. Now I know enough to be incredibly annoying when/if/when/if/when/if/when I take a Discovery Flight.

Todd? You would find this a fun exercise, I think. (Was I starting to sound like a Barb there? :wave: Love ya, Barb and Barb!!!!) No worries, I fully expect by 2017 to have my private pilot's license!!! At a page or two of Rod Machado a week, there'll be no stopping me.
:airplane:

[aerobat]

Rebecca said:

I guess I'm not so worried about pilot incapacitation as I just don't like to fly.

Now, we might have to move this to the Exalted Forum of Serious Discussions, but...

Rebecca, didn't you use to love to fly, way back when? You worked at a flight school, didn't you?

So, would you be willing to reframe this statement as "I used to enjoy flying but something happened that made me not like it any more..." ??

Doesn't that give you a better toehold on the recovery side?

I am happy to hear that you will be a private pilot by 2017, and that you also--by extension--do not believe the world will end in 2012. Another voice of reason in the doomsday cacophony. :)

And am also glad to see that the 'when/if' struggle ended with 'when'. Good sign! :tiphat:

I'll check out that pinch-hitter course meself one of these days.

[Rebecca]

I did love to fly for a short time in the 80's. And I enjoyed that first flight with my husband last December. Then ... flying in the Cessnas started to feel more like a carnival ride (blech) than the blissful fantasia of flight.

You know, just the SENSATIONS and all, it isn't cool to me anymore. Can one get that back? Is it an inner ear thing, to do with aging or something? There's a thrill at liftoff, but then ... the whole flight is pretty much a frozen-in-my-seat kind of experience. Wanting to get down again. I don't think it's fear as much as just feeling like a fish out of water.

So, the Pinch-Hitter stuff doesn't have that compelling aspect it once did.

It was a port district I worked for, that had two airports, so I got to know and fly with some of the pilots based at them, plus a good friend took me flying with her.

I was thinking of you when I ended with "when," Barb. I knew that if you read this post and commented on that, I would really have to do that Discovery Flight. :mg: You are altogether TOO observant!!! :D

[Barb-SAN]

Then ... flying in the Cessnas started to feel more like a carnival ride (blech) than the blissful fantasia of flight.

I'm thinking that if I flew as a passenger in a Cessna, I too might feel like I was on a carnival ride (and I generally don't like or ride those, especially the ones that make you motion sick).

My personal experience is that when I am flying the plane...it's just a completely different experience...much as driving a car is different from being a passive passenger. And, I've found that my mind is so busy in the plane that I don't even think much about uncomfortable sensations/motion.

But how you get over the hump of actually taking a Discovery flight where you can experience being in control and trying that experience...??? well, only you know when or if you are mentally ready to do that. :thumbsup:

[aerobat]

Rebecca,

Thanks so much for that post.
I agree with Barb; having the controls removes that "along for the ride" aspect.

Of course as a CFI I have to let THEM have the controls most of the time, even when I would really rather not!! :eek: I am still in charge, but it's more abstract. And I have to be poised to take actual charge immediately, which comes up more often during landing than at any other time.

Speaking of which, I think that when you do you first crosswind landing, you'll find that sweet thrill again.

Apart from this...any commercial flights? Any desire to do a practice one o' those? :)

Barb

[Rebecca]

All flying boils down, for me, to risk (or discomfort) and reward. Do I want to be "up there" enough to fly for the "fun" of it? Right now, no. So I haven't flown with my husband though he has invited me several times in the last couple of months.

Is there a destination I really want to reach enough to fly commerically? Not at the moment, but I would if one emerged. I've been with TF for a year now, and it has helped, I think. I am inspired by all the folks here who grab onto that dream of reaching someplace, and then DO it.

It may indeed be something about the "passenger" aspect of GA that changes my entire experience of the flight. Certainly, I feel now that I could probably manage to get radio contact and to land if I had to, so it's not helplessness, necessarily.

But the phrase "crosswind landing" makes me shudder!:shocked: There is so very much I do not know, and nothing about flying seems to come instinctively to me.

The next step is to take the Discovery Flight, get those controls for a few moments, and see if that makes a difference.

[aerobat]

and nothing about flying seems to come instinctively to me.

Very little about landing, especially, came instinctively to me either (the radios were my only forte). I was pretty much flummoxed by landing. I am still not sure how I figured it out, finally. It had something to do with attention to subtlety. Actually, it had everything to do with subtlety in the midst of a sitch that required serious assertiveness as well.

But it's really, really rewarding when you finally get it, and then go looking for bigger doses of it. Crosswinds are perfect for practicing those dance steps.

Congrats, by the way, on completing the Pinch Hitter course! :tiphat: