Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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I need to fly with an instructor for rating revalidation purposes, before the end of:

February
1
1%
March
10
7%
April
11
8%
May
11
8%
June
12
9%
July, or beyond
93
67%
#1828520
TLRippon wrote:Well, PPL is one thing but I'm looking forward to checking the logbooks of the many LAPL holders who are coming back after very little flying in the previous year and may have run off the end of their two year rolling currency. I'm looking forward to a bonanza month in May.

There will be large numbers, but most of them won't know they are out of validity and just fly, unless someone is positioned between them and the aircraft keys like it sounds you are. Unless you have them trained already, please wear a bodycam and mic when you try and tell them why they cannot fly. I often wish I had worn one over the years, even well before the LAPL came in. I sometimes felt like the Forrest Gump of the GA world when 'things happened'.
#1828522
I just don't understand how anyone flying on a LAPL can get this wrong, it's by far the easiest of any licence revalidation / currency requirements to understand. Did you fly 12 (or it may be 13 not a distinction I need to worry about) hours AND did you fly with an instructor in the last 24 months - if yes fly if no go find an instructor. I'm ok until Jan 2022 LAPL and April 2023 NPPL.
#1828555
Let’s be honest everyone. The reason a six hour in the second year pilot crams the remaining six hours in is because they are afraid of failing the LPC and having their licence temporarily suspended while they undergo additional training.
I think the instructing community often dismisses the stress and anxiety maintaining currency causes, particularly with the over 50’s. As soon as the medical becomes yearly and you become older, the stakes become higher and risking it all on an LPC can put you into a mental place you don’t want to be.
I fly about 300 instructing hours a year and about another 150 in my own aircraft but I still feel the anxiety when my IRr renewal comes around every 25 months because I only fly about 15 hours a year IFR and I’d be lucky to carry out more than five approaches during that time. This gets compounded when the renewal test includes approaches you rarely fly. For example, when you are stuck in the clag and going into a larger airport you are offered a radar vectored ILS but tested on an NDB hold and approach which you may not have flown since your last test.
The answer is of course, go out and practice but the point is that practice is currency which is what these pilots don’t have.
I think though that making the prospect of an LPC a routine and benign affair overlooks the underlying issues the pilot may be facing and why the cramming takes place. The LPC is seen by many as the stick and the revalidation by experience route is seen as the carrot.
Kemble Pitts, skydriller, rdfb and 2 others liked this
#1828557
If there are any examiners out there making proficiency checks an ordeal just don’t use them and get someone else in, that really isn’t the intent. Standards Document 14:

For proficiency checks, the examiner has more leeway and may broaden the application of repeat manoeuvres. The intention of the proficiency check is to determine the applicant’s ongoing proficiency in those skills previously demonstrated for initial issue of the rating but perhaps not recently exercised. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to re-brief in the air and ask the applicant to repeat an item.

To be honest, I have seen far more bizarre stuff from instructors on the biennial instructional flight than examiners who are trained and experienced in what to concentrate on and assess.
Wide-Body liked this
#1828566
Miscellaneous wrote:
riverrock wrote:The only examiner I personally know just lost his medical ( hopefully temporary) but I'd be hesitant finding someone else.

Here's a question. Can said examiner still sign off renewal by experience? :D


No, 'cos at the moment he ain't even a pilot, let alone an instructor or examiner. You've got to have a valid medical to exercise the privileges of examiner/instructor.

Even if he flew 25 hours with you last week and said 'I'll sign it all up next week' and then lost his medical in the meantime - no can sign. You can argue the merits or otherwise but that's how it is as far as I read it.
Miscellaneous liked this
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