Common misconceptions

So my kind work colleagues that humor me by asking questions about my flight training, rather than just politely tolerating me, have thrown up some interesting misconceptions:

Eye sight - You don’t need perfect vision to fly on a Private Pilot Licence. I’ve not looked up the exact details but basically if your eyesight can be corrected to a decent standard then you are good to go.  I wear contact lenses, so if I ever get a licence it’ll be endorsed “must wear corrective lenses” just like my driving licence is.  Even if you have dicey colour vision you can still (I believe) get a licence that allows you to fly in the daytime as long as your plane is radio equipped, or something to that effect.

Controls – A couple of my colleagues thought I was winding them up when I complained about not being able to reach the pedals. The throttle (power) might be a hand lever but yep, we still have pedals for the rudder. A properly coordinated turn requires you to use the control column to bank the wings whilst maintaining the correct pitch ( basically moving the control column to bring the nose up or down) whilst applying the correct amount of power and checking any sideways movement with the correct rudder pedal. Now do you see why I need that octopus?

Flying is horrendously, ridiculously expensive – Not true.  It is merely stupidly expensive J

Flying is glamorous - So untrue I don’t even want to go there. I refuse to wear anything that I won’t mind getting oil or fuel on, so already I’m dressing like a scruff. Add to that the sunglasses, headset and knee board combo. It’s not exactly high fashion. The planes get hot. After a good circuit workout I could probably wring the sweat out of my clothes. Glamor is not the word I’d use.

Simulator use – Another colleague asked me how much time I spend practicing the various maneuvers in the simulator before I go up. Errm, approximately none! I have a ground briefing with Bob before every flight. This can range from 10- 45 minutes depending on the complexity of what we are trying to achieve. Other than that practice is for real. Bob only takes control now when he’s demoing something or I ask him to because I want to observe something (or fix my hair!). I reckon 99% of the flight now, it’s me behind the metaphorical wheel! For the record I tried MS Flight simulator once (we have the whole yoke/control column/rudder pedal set up). It didn’t end well. No survivors!

Radar - I don’t have radar or any other instruments on board to tell me where other planes are. I use my eyes (or more usually Bob’s!). Even in the controlled airspace around the airport where I’m talking to ATC. I’m still flying Visual Flight Rules. Which basically boils down to “It’s your fault if you hit someone”.