Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
Last year I was laid off for a bit and had some free time on my hands so I asked a veteran GA instructor in Wichita if I could hang out in the back seat of his Apache while he instructed. As it turned out I did this for several months and watched him teach quite a few pilots, usually men transitioning from the military to the airlines. What I discovered was surprising- there was no obvious correlation between airframe history, total time in flying, and skill flying this simple Apache. A fighter pilot did some of the worst flying I have ever seen, while a newbie from a third world country did some of the finest flying of all. The conclusion I came to was that seriousness is the most crucial factor. Total flying time and fancy flying history did nothing to predict who is the most skilled and who was the most dangerous in this particular GA airplane.
The GA CFI in San Diego whom I flew with few times after getting out of the military had quite a different few with his students. He said that his post- military pilots were some of his best students. They handled pressure (simulated emergencies for example) and transitioned their use of checklists from one aircraft to another with ease. They were teachable and eager to learn unlike many of his other students. Their airsense (along with common sense) and general SA were well above par he would say. They only had to learn new sight pictures or a new feel for the airplane. I had my own challenges transitioning from one type of flying that I had done for 20 years to a totally different type of flying in a fairly short time. I'm sure that if you were sitting in the back of his Bonanza the first time that I tried to flare it on landing after flying AOA landings for so long that you would have thought I wasn't actually a pilot at all, but I've actually managed to squeak a few on after some practice now
I have known active and post military pilots to have been killed in GA accidents. What they usually do is a good sense of risk management, and if they put their training to use - they will probably do a pretty good job of not painting themselves into a corner. But GA flying can be dangerous if risk is not managed correctly or if complacency creeps into the equation.
As far as the OP's contention that we all stop doing whatever type of recreational behavior that might involve some risk; well if that is his approach to life then best of luck to him.
USMCFLYR