Cookie Cutter CFIs
I hadn't flown for a very long time, nor operated in the Shrub's latest brilliant idea, the ADIZ, so I thought I'd go to Leesburg and get a CFI and go flying. Thought maybe I could get an instrument check out as well, so i could do some more practice and get my skills back to the point where they should be. This should all be pretty easy, right? HA! Little did I know I was dealing with .... Mr. "By The Book" who wasn't quite sure WHAT book he was even using.
Everything started out innocently enough, with Mr. CFI giving me the keys, POH, and location of the Seminole we were going to fly. Not a bad airplane. Brand new just about. So I let myself in, did the preflight (finding the fuel drains was amusing) and got everything ready to go. CFI comes out and tells me now we have to go file a flight plan. Hmmm..thought that would be something he would have done already. Guess not.
So off we go to Leesburg Flight Service, right next door, file the ADIZ plan (direct FDK), call Potomac Approach before start up, got the squawk, started her up and taxied on out to 17. The aircraft had no checklist of any use (gee, thanks) so I had to rely on memory for most things. Since I was flying a twin, I never use the fuel pump, so brain farted on that. CFI finds this to be a flagrant violation of something or another and mutters to himself. Uh, ok kid. If there was a CHECKLIST maybe I wouldn't have FORGOTTEN, but since I told him I hadn't flown in ages, you'd think he'd be nicer. Anyway, I told him I didn't know how to use the Garmin 430s in the aircraft to fly approaches, but he seemed to think that was ok anyway, he'd set them up. Fine says me...and off we go.
CFI hadn't asked for, nor did we recieve any notams on the construction going on at Frederick. When we arrived, I didn't notice anything weird because I wasn't looking up... hit the fix, went outbound on the VOR (after explaining to CFI that you don't use the LOC outbound, read the chart...) reached the fix, did all the right stuff, intercepted inbound and kept it within 1 dot. When I looked up, I noticed this uh...displaced threshold 1/2 way down the runway at FDK. I suggested FDK because I wanted a long runway to practice t/o and landings. This was not it! Egads. I put it down anyway, nice landing, brought it back around and we just about had time to do some air work and get back to Leesburg.
On climb out, CFI noticed I hadn't raised the gear. I would later be admonished for this, as yet another example of my poor procedures. Sheesh. Didn't seem to matter that I did steep turns to within 100 feet, and slow flight with no problem even after not having flown for forever. Nor did it matter that I shot the loc into Leesburg with less than 1/2 a dot off and squeaked the landing.
In the debrief I was basically told that I might be somewhat safe VFR, but I shouldn't take any passengers, and IFR was right out. My procedures were awful, and I needed a lot more practice. Well gee. Thanks. I think the kid just wanted more multi time and thought I'd fly with him some more.
Now, in most cases, I'd be the first to say that when a pilot starts bitching about a CFI's "check out" that it's usually that the pilot is lousy and the CFI is just being prudent. I think that perhaps the "old bold" pilot is just dangerous, and whining because the CFI saw that, and called the pilot on it. However, I can also see the times when the CFI is expecting much more out of a student than is practical, and also not taking into consideration what happens when you haven't flown for ages. When I asked him, he admitted that nothing I did was "unsafe." He was just "uncomfortable." This discomfort, I believe, was his inexperience and lack of multi and instrument teaching showing.
This is not to say that I don't need practice. I most certainly do. This is not to say he wasn't right about my procedures needing work. Yep, they do. But I'm not unsafe, and I should be competent to fly IFR with just a few more hours with ANOTHER CFI :-) Hey Paul, you busy? :-)