Proficiency

At the beginning of each season all pilots (including instructors) should take a check ride before they exercise their flying privileges. This will be a flight with an instructor and the pilot will be expected to show proficiency in all aspects of normal flying as well as emergency procedures. A combination of theoretical and practical skills must be demonstrated. The instructor should start with a briefing on any new procedures that may have come about since the last review and then proceed on to the expectations for the flight. A typical flight might include:

1. A demonstration of the emergency aerotow signals.
2. A box the propwash exercise.
3. A pre-stall check such as the CALL check.
4. Entry and recovery from a stall or an incipient spin.
5. Execution of linked turns with various angles of bank, from slow flight attitudes to steep turn attitudes.
6. Entry to a normal circuit with possibly a spoilerless landing as conditions allow.

Good airmanship and judgement are expected at all times. This is a good time for a constructive critique of skills. To best observe the pilot’s skills, the pilot being checked out should be seated in the front seat.  There can be many variations on the same general them. If pilots appear to be exercising good basic skills, then they should be challenged with more advanced exercises. This does not mean that the instructors should suggest unsafe flying. For example if a pilot handles normal linked turns well then the next set might be steep linked turns, or linked turns in slow flight which are more difficult to execute precisely. The post-flight debriefing is a good time to review any goals that the pilot might have for the upcoming season. This is an area that is often overlooked and can be useful in promoting these proficiency flights as reviews rather than tests.

While many jurisdictions require biannual flight reviews, due to the seasonal nature of gliding annual reviews should be done. It is amazing how stressful the first few flights of the season can be. It appears that some re-shuffling or adjustments of the mental set for flying is necessary and that this requires considerable resources. Most pilots feel more than normal fatigue after such a layoff.

There is some suggestion that the first performances after a layoff rely heavily on what was learned in the initial flight training. This is fine if the initial flight training was done effectively. If not the pilots seem to go through a quick ‘retraining’ period. It’s as if the pilot is reselecting the successful performance patterns and reattaching more importance to them. Perhaps this is the source of the increased fatigue. As well in recalling and resorting our performance learning we may also dredge up the stresses of the initial flight training. Our learning and memory appear to be truly two-way streets.  We not only recall the training, but the stresses and emotions as well.