Are You Experienced?

This sounds like malpractice on the part of his FBO and possibly flight instructor. How can a student pilot in primary training with about 20 hours get checked out in a different aircraft with that little training? I remember that being approved for solo flight in my FBOs 172 was a big deal, like it is for most students: you do some landings with the instructor, then he or she gets out and tells you to do it yourself while observing from the ground, something that apparently didnt occur in this case since the instructor was with him for that sole hour of dual. Im even wondering how the students insurance company would have covered him (or if he was covered at all...).

Editorial Staff

Thursday, July 26, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Concerns were raised regarding potentially unsafe student pilot practices, specifically inadequate aircraft checkouts for solo flight and unendorsed solo cross-country planning, though the editor noted these incidents might reflect older regulatory standards.
The FAA is revising commercial pilot requirements, removing the need for a complex aircraft for checkrides while maintaining the 10-hour complex aircraft training requirement, with new rules allowing this experience to be met using complex, turbine, or technically advanced airplanes (TAA).
Upcoming regulatory changes also include permitting simulator use for IFR currency without an instructor present and expanding the definition of a Technically Advanced Airplane.

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I found the Learning Experience in June’s issue (“Remember Your Training”) a little alarming. The writer says he had “recently been checked out” in the FBO’s Cherokee, a plane in which he “may have had a total of an hour of dual instruction (the implication is that he had less).

This sounds like malpractice on the part of his FBO and possibly flight instructor. How can a student pilot in primary training with about 20 hours get “checked out” in a different aircraft with that little training? I remember that being approved for solo flight in my FBO’s 172 was a big deal, like it is for most students: you do some landings with the instructor, then he or she gets out and tells you to do it yourself while observing from the ground, something that apparently didn’t occur in this case since the instructor was with him for that sole hour of dual. I’m even wondering how the student’s insurance company would have covered him (or if he was covered at all…).