Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

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Rich
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Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by Rich »

The latest Sport Aviation has an article by Budd Davisson where he decries basically all "modern" Standard/Utility Category aircraft as (I'm characterizing here) not manly enough. An excerpt:

When a pilot climbs into a Cessna/Piper/Beech/Diamond/Cirrus, although each has its own idiosyncrasies, within certain limits they still fly essentially the same. More than that, their designs are such that pilots’ basic skills can be weak, and they’ll still be safe because the airplane will try to take care of them.

He continually calls out "Katana and Cirrus" (I guess all Diamonds are Katanas) pilots as being substandard, but notice he tarred essentially the whole fleet of non-antique, non-sportplane (AKA experimental) pilots as having been coddled by their too-safe airplanes.

I guess we should all hang our head in shame.
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by Colin »

I have tried to get a tailwheel endorsement twice. Neither time was I committed fully (willing to fly more than once a week or on consecutive days), which is bad for learning. But neither time did I get the sign off. I am sure that I am not the pilot that Chuck Yeager is. I am very, very happy to have the Diamond taking care of me (and, more importantly, my passengers).

Likewise, I am very glad when she is driving that my wife doesn't have to think about shifting gears. Or turning on the headlights. Or navigating. She's distracted enough.

Technology saves us all the time. Davisson should be flying a WW1 plane that has a "burp" throttle. A guy who flew his collection out of Paso Robles just died doing exactly that. A real loss of a great aviator, but he was demonstrating why we don't fly the same old technology and keep moving forward.
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pietromarx
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by pietromarx »

I did my tailwheel a long time ago. Was a fantastic experience. To prove skills I had to do three landings at Hayward (KHWD) with one landing on the left main gear, keeping it there, and then taking off, the next touch-and-go on the right wheel, and the third touch-and-go on both mains. Was fun. Can't do it today, but could with a few hours.

I then did my glider rating. Much more fun. Never miss a landing. Always remember adverse yaw, Inverted spins are ridiculously anxiety-producing. However, having the skills are reassuring. Flying gliders is truly one of life's great joys.

There is no question in my mind that the pilots in AF 447 could have used these skills and saved their passengers' lives.

All this said, it is downright weird to complain about safe planes. I bought both DA-40s precisely because they are safe. Would any of us want to put our families into a plane which didn't have modern active and passive safety systems?
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by rwtucker »

As much historical expertise as Budd possesses, he disqualifies himself as an expert on the modern small GA fleet when he makes amateurish statements, such as lumping Diamond and Cirrus into the same category of forgivingness.

To his larger point, it is true that 2017 minted pilots can fly well and safely with considerably less skill than their fore-pilots. But wait!! If that were true, why did those of Budd’s generation have so many more accidents? You can appeal to the facts differently on that question, but you can also make a case that the Budds of the world sound a lot like those old timers who tell us that the modern generation is soft, and that they used to walk 10 miles to school in the snow (we all know they didn’t).

This said, I do admire the navigation skills of the WWI pilots who flew transoceanic routes using celestial navigation, calculated headwinds with precision maneuvers, etc. and carried just enough fuel to make their destination field. I had an uncle who did that for the entire duration of the war. He could do amazing flight calculations in his head right up until the day he died.
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by 1911Tex »

Budd Davisson has lost his direction, a real nut case who likes to philander. I wonder if he drives a car with seat belts, rear camera, half a dozen air bags, go flat tires, 5 star collision test ratings, crash absorbing bumpers, multiple computers, automatic door locks, auto dimming rear view mirrors, power brakes, steering, cruise control, sound dampening, power windows and door locks, navigation console, automatic transmission, turn signals, automatic driving lights, smoke detectors at home, so on and so forth.....I think you get my drift.
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by CFIDave »

It was getting my tailwheel endorsement (in a Decathlon) right after getting my PPL that actually convinced me to buy my first Diamond (a DA40). The flying characteristics were like "day vs. night" -- you had to work really hard to fly the Decathlon well (e.g., rudder for adverse yaw in every turn, instability and susceptibility to over-correction during the takeoff roll, precise control of descent rate to avoid a bounce during a wheel landing, etc.) The Diamond was SO much easier, relaxing, and fun to fly. (I returned to flying the Decathlon a few years later for CFI spin training, since it spins very easily by stomping on the rudder during a stall.)

I still have great admiration for my father's piloting skills, flying his narrow landing-gear 1946 Luscombe tail-dragger. As a child I used to be very impressed watching him "dance on the rudder pedals" when landing in gusty cross-winds. I still remember him saying proudly "Real pilots fly tail-draggers." :)
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by pietromarx »

I loved flying Decathlons... but Diamonds are a completely different universe of airplane.
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by LTek1 »

People keep telling me that tailwheel endorsement is an essential skill for a skilled pilot.

I keep telling them my airplane doesn't have a tailwheel. :shrug:
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by Diamond_Dan »

These "holier than thou" diatribes drive me nuts. There are only two relevant questions for me:

For the pilot -
What is the goal?

For the aircraft -
What is the mission?

For a relatively new pilot working on an instrument ticket who wants to take his family out on a sunny weekend without undue risk, the DA40 is about as perfect as I can get.
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Re: Curmudgeon speaks out on our wussy airplanes

Post by rwtucker »

For what it is worth, in a recent IAA meeting in which the majority of the pilots present had tailwheel endorsements (I was one of the few that did not have the endorsement), I asked how important the endorsement was to general piloting skills. I was surprised to hear that no one thought it was important unless the pilot seeks a big tire mission such as teetering on mountaintops or skidding into a 300-foot river bar. For most missions, these pilots thought that a tricycle gear is a better choice. They noted that an appropriately configured C182 is a perfect aircraft for every one of Idaho’s backcountry wilderness landing strips, better than a Super Cub because it can get you to the strip a lot faster and land and take off with room to spare. One surprise was a comment from one of the Super Cub riverbed drivers. He said that the tailwheel sight picture is easier to control across aircraft but that every tricycle gear presents a different sight picture that makes it harder to jump quickly from one aircraft type to another. I had not heard that before.

In contrast, pretty much everyone agreed that glider pilot skills make you a better pilot. I need to get that on my list.
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