Is My CFI Overlooking Solo Prep by Focusing on Emergency Maneuvers?
Posted by Ok_Independent_7499@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 53 comments
I’ve finally gotten comfortable with flying patterns and have decent landings, with a few perfect ones sprinkled in there occasionally. However, instead of focusing on patterns, my CFI insists on now practicing emergency maneuvers now that I’ve become proficient at our towered field.
I have my stage check next week and my solo flight the week after. I’m confused as to why we keep practicing emergency maneuvers when my solo will only involve flying the pattern.
While my patterns and landings are good, I want to perfect them as much as possible before my solo. Since my solo will just be flying the pattern, I don’t understand why we’re spending time and money on emergency procedures. I believe that improving my landings and pattern work will make me more comfortable in both regular and emergency landings.
I’m considering telling my CFI, ‘I want to focus more on flying the pattern and practicing landings in the pattern before my solo. I think it’s the best use of my time and money and will improve my comfort with landings and emergency approaches.’
What are y’all’s thoughts? Am I just a know-it-all new pilot or are my concerns legitimate?
Aerodynamic_Soda_Can@reddit
Wait, did I miss a memo that emergencies can't happen in the pattern? This is going to revolutionize my time building plan!
NevadaCFI@reddit
Hopefully those emergency procedures include landing without the airspeed indicator covered up. Are you able to handle a blocked pitot tube? I have my private student do a lap around the pattern with a towel covering the entire panel.
therealorsonkrennic@reddit
Oh I like that
voretaq7@reddit
Question: If you're out shooting circuits or buzzing around in the practice area and the engine quits, who is going to save you?
If your radios fail - or worse, short out and catch fire - who's going to save you?
Forget about the fact that the regs require it (which they do, go read 14CFR 61.87). Proficiency with emergency procedures is critical before you solo. Even in the pattern.
Frankly IMHO emergency procedures were easier than landings. If your patterns and landings are good & your emergency procedures are not then emergency procedures are absolutely, unequivocally, 100% where you should be spending your time. Buckle down, get proficient, and then enjoy your solo time.
Payton1394@reddit
Emergency maneuvers is 75% of solo prep.
afcraig2010@reddit
When you solo is irrelevant. You need those emergency skills for the checkride and real life anyways so might as well be prepared for them during your solo time, just in case you need it. So maybe you solo at 20 but can still get your checkride done at 40 hours.
spacecadet2399@reddit
"I'm confused as to why we keep practicing emergency maneuvers when I'll never have an emergency" is what I read this as.
ganonred@reddit
One is true; pick one: A) Instructors are dumber than rocks B) emergencies are always planned C) student pilots are impervious because they’re so far behind the airplane they don’t even mentally arrive at the crash scene.
pattern_altitude@reddit
"I don't understand why we're getting me proficient handling emergencies when I'll be flying by myself soon"
Oooookay.
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
Point taken
bhalter80@reddit
Airplane operating technician not pilot
DualRatedPilot@reddit
One day I’ll have the confidence of a pre solo student pilot
bhalter80@reddit
I've never known more than when I was a fresh ppl holder
Bibik95@reddit
Go on VASAviation on YouTube, there are multiple videos of ATC recordings of student solos experiencing emergencies. Some are the usual ones we practice, some are not. For some, it's their first solo.
Shit happens to everyone eventually. Some people fly for years before experiencing it, for some it happens on the first day.
Be glad your instructor is concerned enough and didn't sign you off at 10 hours just because you are "comfortable flying pattern".
But hey, whenever you do solo, enjoy it. It's a great feeling. But don't let it get to your head. Fly safe.
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
Watching a first time solo student crash land on the YouTube channel as we speak. Wow, thanks for the suggestion.
Gave me a lot more inspiration to double down on the emergency procedures training I wanted to ignore.
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
This was all good and nearly instant feedback. I’ll shut up and keep listening to my CFI. Thanks lol
thrfscowaway8610@reddit
Sounds good. Just a quick reinforcement: in Europe, where I trained, EFATOs started being taught on the second lesson, and there weren't too many lessons after that when the power wouldn't be pulled on me by my instructor at least once. The ability to recover from a fully developed spin was a pre-solo item.
The Americans have a saying to the effect that in an in-flight emergency, you don't rise to the occasion; you sink to the level of your training." I'd say that that's about right.
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
“You don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training.“
That’s going in my book of quotes. Thanks for that.
FlyingSpectacle@reddit
A quote told to me during pilot training at my first airline captain upgrade. Always loved it Rang true as a pilot and paramedic. When shit hits the fan you will remember NOTHING that isn’t rote. I’ve experienced this. 😂
thrfscowaway8610@reddit
No worries. Having had the experience, much later in my flying career, of a total engine failure in flight, I can personally vouch for its accuracy.
DanThePilot_Man@reddit
Something something invulnerability
blastr42@reddit
Yes.
61.87 d 11
readbackcorrect@reddit
My husband doesn’t have Reddit. But if he did, he would think you were talking about him. I was his student before we started dating. If you don’t trust your CFI’s judgment for what you need to learn, get a new CFI. Students have quit my husband before. He survived. Not all of them did, but that probably had nothing to do with the CFI they ended up with. More likely, they just didn’t develop good judgment before that one little thing went wrong.
kent814@reddit
Dont give all these single CFI’s on here false hope lol
readbackcorrect@reddit
Well it’s never false hope! My husband of now 25 years certainly never thought he would meet a student he wanted to marry. Yet here we are :)
Flavortown42069@reddit
Nice troll post 😂
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
The sad part was that I was dead serious. I’m really being “that guy” for once.
Don’t be me. Be better smh lol
Flavortown42069@reddit
Holy shit haha. Well good on you for owning up. We’ve all done stupid stuff in the process of getting our licenses. My advice is to “chair fly” the emergency procedures at home until they burn into your memory. If something ever happens without the safety net of your CFI you’ll have a better chance of making it out alive!
Ok_Designer7625@reddit
"I have my stage check next week". That's exactly why you're doing emergencies, because you ARE proficient in the pattern and with tower. Assuming you're at a Part 141 you will instantly unsat if you fail any of your emergencies, period. Your CFI knows more than you think. I would strongly suggest to respect what he's trying to teach.
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
Yeah, I’m at a 141 school.
But you’re right
Ok_Designer7625@reddit
Since you're at a 141 I'm assuming you have a TCO for the stage/flight course? Or the TCO that is close to the stage in terms of expectations? I didn't read the TCO at first either but it seriously helps you glide through all the lessons without any confusion. I'm willing to bet that your CFI already knows you're fine to solo in the pattern. He's just prepping you in advance for the stage.
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
Yes, we do have a TCO. After reading everyone comments and yours I’m pretty sure that’s precisely what he’s doing.
He’s a great CFI that knows his stuff. I’m going to trust his judgment.
Snoo30232@reddit
Famous last words as it has an emergency on his solo flight, plenty of videos on YouTube where a solo pilot had an emergency.
OnionDart@reddit
Has to be a troll post, yeah?
therealorsonkrennic@reddit
If only.
therealorsonkrennic@reddit
Oh dear. Take a good, hard look at §61.87(c) and (d), cowboy. Before you solo, you have to be PROFICIENT AND SAFE with EVERYTHING on that list. Emergencies ARE solo prep! Once you're in the plane by yourself, everything that happens is on you. You have to earn the privilege of soloing on your instructor's certificate. If you can't see why learning how to deal with in-flight emergencies is important, I'd worry about you soloing. Being too good for the syllabus is a good way to build a hubris, and that's how you get yourself killed.
Mithster18@reddit
Your instructor wants to make sure youve over learnt the emergency procedures so that should one occur you don't kill yourself or others. I'd argue that hammering the emergency procedures make you a more proficient pilot than rote learning a circuit
Vincent-the-great@reddit
Shocking take: emergencies can happen on a solo
ResilientBiscuit@reddit
You don't really get to choose when you have to do emergency maneuvers.
radioref@reddit
Everyone knows emergencies never happen in the pattern.
FlyingSpectacle@reddit
Hey follow up. My sim instructor keeps making me do V1 cuts in the sim. I really just want to focus on doing greaser landings so I can hit on the flight attendants. Why do we keep doing emergency procedures? I will mostly just be doing ILSs anyway and I want to perfectly grease the landing so I can get compliments when I stand in the door as the passengers deplane. Guys why?
Ok_Independent_7499@reddit (OP)
Well said, lol. Back to emergency procedures I go!
JetKeel@reddit
Instead of telling your CFI what you wrote in your post you should say this, “thank you for your focus on emergency procedures.”
Emergency procedures ARE solo maneuvers. You know, because you might need to do them when you’re solo.
X-T3PO@reddit
If you want to be a better student, (a) GTFO Reddit, and (b) do what your instructor tells you.
crinfl@reddit
Sounds like you’re a know it all not even a pilot quite yet. Follow your instructor’s guidance on this stuff. There’s a reason to learn everything when you do.
kw10001@reddit
A real life statistic, in the flesh!
Brendon7358@reddit
Think of emergency procedures less as a skill you need to learn and more like a lifeboat for when you need it.
TxAggieMike@reddit
Has your CFI introduced you to FAR §61.87(c) & (d)?
In addition to you doing consistently decent landings, he is required to train you to proficiency in these items. Emergencies are part of this list.
. . .
And every CFI will handle this differently. Me, I do a ground session to introduce and then have the student chair fly several situations, including engine out in flight.
Then next is a flight where I “fail” different things and have the student work his memory items and check list. Then suddenly we have an oil pressure situation indicating imminent loss of engine power.
Once the student shows proficiency in handling both an announced and unannounced “failure”, that part of training is finished for the moment and we’re moving forward.
hagrids_a_pineapple@reddit
Calm down there maverick
saxmanB737@reddit
What emergency maneuvers are you doing? What if you have an emergency while you are on your first solo? It’s absolutely necessary for this. You’ll have plenty of time to perfect pattern work. Sounds like you have it down anyway.
Shinsf@reddit
Your pattern work being off, messed up radio calls, landing long. How are you going to handle a fire, or the engine shitting the bucket when your instructor isn't there.
I got news for you emergency procedures and practices will never stop being a part of training.
HighVelocitySloth@reddit
What do you do if there is an emergency on your solo? I rained at a Charlie airport. One of my 3 landings I had a extended downwind that was pretty long. Another I did 360’s to the west of the airport. I am also guessing emergency procedures are part of your stage check
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I’ve finally gotten comfortable with flying patterns and have decent landings, with a few perfect ones sprinkled in there occasionally. However, instead of focusing on patterns, my CFI insists on now practicing emergency maneuvers now that I’ve become proficient at our towered field.
I have my stage check next week and my solo flight the week after. I’m confused as to why we keep practicing emergency maneuvers when my solo will only involve flying the pattern.
While my patterns and landings are good, I want to perfect them as much as possible before my solo. Since my solo will just be flying the pattern, I don’t understand why we’re spending time and money on emergency procedures. I believe that improving my landings and pattern work will make me more comfortable in both regular and emergency landings.
I’m considering telling my CFI, ‘I want to focus more on flying the pattern and practicing landings in the pattern before my solo. I think it’s the best use of my time and money and will improve my comfort with landings and emergency approaches.’
What are y’all’s thoughts? Am I just a know-it-all new pilot or are my concerns legitimate?
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