Pilot Bill of Rights, Control Riding and Dealing with Drones

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) on June 23, 2015, wrote U.S. Senators saying it is fundamentally opposed to the dangerous policy shift proposed by the Pilots Bill of Rights II (PBOR2). Reader Martin Brookes writes that every instructor he has flown with couldnt resist adding their control input on landing via subtle, unannounced control inputs to help the student. This is an unfortunately common practice, sometimes called control riding. While its easy to bash the FAA efforts to regulate drones, its important to note Congress in 2012 told the agency to come up with a regulatory scheme allowing UAS operations in the national airspace.

Key Takeaways:

• Opposition to the Pilots Bill of Rights II (PBOR2) primarily comes from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and influential senators like Bill Nelson, who has actively sought to dilute the legislation.
• The practice of "control riding" by flight instructors, where they make subtle, unannounced control inputs, is criticized for hindering students from learning critical self-recovery skills and for indicating a CFI's lack of confidence.
• The FAA's push for drone regulation and registration is a response to a Congressional mandate and publicized incidents, with a focus on commercial operators, but it unfairly impacts long-standing recreational model aircraft hobbyists.

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