Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation
so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it
all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as
representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have
heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we
might never have considered before, or something that didn't
"stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for
the practical test.
It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers
become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our
ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those
strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow
them to soar magnificently through it.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are
always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips.
Remember... when it comes to being better pilots, we're all in this
together.
Aero-Tips 03.28.06
Most instruction must
be performed by pilots who are Certificated Flight Instructors
(CFIs). There are cases, however, when you can receive
“log-able” instruction from persons who are not current
CFIs.
14 CFR 61.41 tells us
pilots may credit instruction toward the requirements for a pilot
certificate or rating from:
- A flight instructor of an Armed Force in a program for training
military pilots of either the United States or a foreign
contracting State to the Convention on International Civil
Aviation.
- A flight instructor who is authorized to give such training by
the licensing authority of a foreign contracting State to the
Convention on International Civil Aviation, and the flight training
is given outside the United States.
These flight instructors are only authorized to give
endorsements to show training given, not endorse pilots for
practical tests or privileges.
Other Instructors
It’s common that persons providing instruction in large
training centers (like FlightSafety International, SimuFlite and
SIMCOM) are not CFIs, but internal and FAA oversight of the
training center permits them to train clients. These instructors
are usually former military or retired airline pilots who for
whatever reason have not earned or maintained an instructor’s
certificate, but whose experience is still beneficial to
students.
ATPs
What about Airline Transport Pilots (ATPs)? I understand there
was a time when ATPs (or the Airline Transport Rating ATRs before
them) automatically held instructor privileges, at least for ATP
candidates (readers: help me with the history, please). If that was
indeed the case, it is no more.
61.167 spells out the
privileges of an ATP:
An airline transport pilot may instruct (emphasis added) --
- Other pilots in air transportation service in
aircraft of the category, class, and type, as applicable,
for which the airline transport pilot is
rated...
- In flight simulators, and flight training devices
representing the aircraft referenced above...
- In an aircraft, only if the aircraft has functioning dual
controls...
There are also limits on duty time and Category II or III
approaches. The key is an ATP (without a CFI ticket) may provide
instruction in airplanes for which they are (usually type-) rated,
or simulators for those airplanes. The person receiving instruction
to others must be “in air transportation service.” The
intent is to allow in-house airline instruction by persons in the
chief pilot’s office who do not necessarily have instructor
certificates.
Aero-tip of the day: You can learn from pilots
of any experience level. What you can log depends on FAR
61.