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From: jc@sdcsvax.UUCP (John Cornelius)
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Reduced hours for IFR ticket
Message-ID: <1283@sdcsvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Jan-86 10:11:40 EST
Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.1283
Posted: Wed Jan  8 10:11:40 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 10-Jan-86 00:28:15 EST
References: <1737@cae780.UUCP>
Reply-To: jc@sdcsvax.UUCP (John Cornelius)
Distribution: na
Organization: Western Scientific, San Diego
Lines: 52
Keywords: IFR training

Attitude is probably more important than hours when going after ANY rating.
Reducing the number of hours from 200 (to qualify for an IFR rating) may not be
the best of ideas. I will relate here a chronology (my own) which may strike a
familiar note with some of you.

 60 Hours	Received my private ticket and was greatly relieved. My primary
		instructor had taught me good habits. I thought I knew a lot.
		After all, I had read a lot and flown a lot over the last few
		months and I felt like I had had 12 pounds stuffed into a 10
		pound head.

125 Hours	By now I have had enough close calls, actually surprises, that
		I think I know what it is that I don't know. I've taken my
		first few extended cross country flights and experienced great
		diversity, not to mention occasional adversity.

200 Hours	I've now taken additional instruction (including instruments)
		and fixed some of the things that I knew might get me into
		trouble someday. As in rogue, I feel much more skillful now, I
		feel much smarter now. I am unbelievably cocky.

400 Hours	I now have a greater understanding of how little the sky is,
		how large (and ubiquitous) other airplanes are, and how fickle
		nature is. I also appreciate the frailty of mechanical devices
		having spent a year as maintenance officer for a flying club. I
		have learned that the first turnout isn't that important having
		blown a tire trying to make it. I finally understand the
		physical principles involved in this undertaking. I feel much
		more cowardly now. I feel much more tense when surprised. I
		revert to some of my low-low time practices like not becoming
		committed to a course of action if I don't understand what's
		going on. I perceive instruments as a valuable tool for finding
		VFR conditions. I notice similarities between things I have
		done and things showing up in _Retrospective_.

500 Hours	I AM more skillful now, and for that matter smarter too. I
		expect to become much smarter in the future. I recognise that
		one day I may die in an airplane. I intend to postpone that for
		another 40 years. I do not intend to be flying the airplane in
		question but anything is possible. I am more relaxed when
		surprised and more attentive during routine operations. I now
		know WHY many of the things that I was told were important are
		important and often it has nothing to do with what the CFI or
		FAA said was the reason. The foregoing not withstanding, I am
		humble as hell.

Perhaps the question should not be, "At what number of hours does a pilot
become competent enough" but rather, "At what number of hours does a pilot
become humble enough". 

John Cornelius
Western Scienitific