Exactly. If I remember correctly, Air France wouldn't have ended up in the Atlantic off Brazil if the FO had a basic comprehension of pitch/power/airspeed.

 

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Do you see any gray, or do you only see black and white? Why do you think the new rest rules came about? It was primarily due to fatigue and their studies of it. It has been compared to being intoxicated. Just as one shouldn't drive while under the influence, one shouldn't operate an airplane when severely fatigued. Have you ever done an altitude chamber and saw first hand the effects of hypoxia and how that affects decision making?

 

The "tail stall" theory is absolute and utter BS and anyone with the slightest aviation clue knows it. I'd be astounded if either of those two had the remotest idea as to what a tall stall is, much less what to do about it.

She had a gut reaction because something bad happened after she lowered the flaps, so she instinctively raised them to "fix" the problem. No way would she have completed the necessary logical leaps to diagnose a tail stall without discussing it with the CA or at least verbalizing what she was doing.

 

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As others have said, 1500 is no big deal, two years as a CFI and you'll have some fun too.

You better believe its a big deal when you need 500 HOURS CROSS COUNTRY. You aren't going to have a mere 1500 hours with 500 hours cross country as a cfi. You could easily end up with 3 or 4 thousand hours while you are losing seniority at mesa and psa by 50 pilots a month. Have fun with that.

 

I am sensitive to the tail stall argument, having flown through a few winters in a Twin Otter. However this accident started with the stick shaker, not the pusher.

Most of us, I trust, will release back pressure in reaction to a buffet or stick shaker. I am certain that all of us who have towed banners will do so (to use the RAA's favorite example of "wasted time"), likewise for any of a dozen other ways that new pilots build time and basic airmanship skills.

 

IIRC, for an atp, cross country only requires you to fly to a fix, not land. Otherwise a military pilot who takes off from xyz, flies a ten hour mission, and lands at xyz would not be able to count that flight towards the atp. A smart instructor can plan many lessons to fly to a fix 50 miles away without negatively impacting the student. It may not be 500 hours, but should be enough to meet 135 mins, get a 135 job, and get the remaining xc. But all that requires one to know the regs, work the system, and bust his tail.

 

Well, 135 xcountry is point to point as well. I'd always take students to a airport that was 10NM away from my departure airport. Worked well in my favor.

 

I'm a military guy who flies commercial all the time, and I have over 1500 hours.

I like the 1500hr rule. Is it arbitrary? Absolutely. The difference between the 1400hr pilot and the 1500hr pilot isn't significant, but the difference between the 250hr pilot and the 1500hr pilot is. The point between 250 and 1500 that the lightbulb moment happens is different for every pilot, but there is a moment. There are lightbulb moments after 1500 hours, too.

The reason why I like the rule is that piloting skill is a quickly perishable skill, and it's dependent on a lot of factors that on any given day can make you half as good as you usually are. If the captain is half as good as he usually is... maybe he didn't get any sleep, his schedule is off, he's got serious personal problems that are distracting him, or he's sick... the FO is the next line of defense against possible disaster. I like knowing that he's at least as experienced as the captain who's not quite performing up to par and not some guy who just happened to meet the mins.

 

I did the same thing.