10-09-2009, 06:18 AM
I teach flying. It has in common with firearms that if you don't use the equipment right great damage and death can occur. Also in common with firearms the really important things that you train to deal with are things that you hope never happen in real life.
As an example consider an engine failure or a rope break on take-off in a glider. What to do first? Where to go? What are your priorities? I have carefully explained to licensed pilots that "today we would not choose to turn around if we have a rope break because we have a 2-mile long runway ahead of us and we would have a 20 knot tailwind if we did turn around, so just go straight ahead or do a 360 degree turn if we have the altitude". I then proceed to pull a simulated rope break on the very next flight. Guess what they do? They proceed to try to turn around and land with a 20 knot tailwind despite the mile of runway left in front of them, because they read it in a book that had a picture by the way of a runway so short that they couldn't land straight ahead. Also, stall/spin accidents are the major cause of fatal crashes but instructors are actually discouraged from exposing the student to fully developed spins. Statistically, the training is more dangerous than risk of an actual unintended spin. My point is that certain things require a lot of training to actually get right and some very knowlegable people believe that sometimes it is better to just not go there. There is a phenomenon whereby a student will freeze up on the controls, usually in a spin because spins give you the feeling of falling out of control. The student literally does not hear the instructor screaming in his ear "I've got the controls!" The instructor is trained to slam his elbow into the chest of the student if sitting side by side or brain the student with any convenient heavy object if sitting behind. Usually the student lets go at that point, although sometimes they are unaware that they have been bludgeoned, they just realize their neck hurts later on. How is it possible that you could be unaware of someone screaming in your ear? Fear in a life threatening situation. How could you be so "stupid" as to do exactly the thing guaranteed to get you killed despite being trained to do otherwise? Again, fear in a scary situation. How would you describe a home invasion or a rape? Fear in a scary life threatening situation.
I took a hunter education course. It was informative but completely inadequate to teach me or anyone else how NOT to grab a gun or when to actually use one. That would take months of concerted training with realistic emergency scenarios, just like flight training. Also, part of the training I give includes a discussion of the crashes that occurred at my home field and what really caused them. Usually the student has no clue of what can go wrong.
I am not anti-gun but I recall an incident years ago on the mainland where a young japanese man dressed as John Travolta (and unarmed) I think was shot dead in someones carport when he went to the wrong house. The shooter was later quoted in his trial as saying that he wished his own hand had been blown off rather than that the victim had died. My own experience is that it takes a huge amount of time and effort to develop real flying judgement and I bet it is the same with firearms. I can actually see why the FAA thinks it is better not to train with real spins if you are not going to go at it full bore, because the risk of the actual event is less than the risk posed by the preventive trainig. Again, I can see a parallel with firearms.
My point is don't feel safe because you think only idiots would make mistakes. Flying is a hugely conservative business with far more initial and recurrent trainig than is required for firearms, and yet people routinely screw up, and they aren't always the idiots.
As an example consider an engine failure or a rope break on take-off in a glider. What to do first? Where to go? What are your priorities? I have carefully explained to licensed pilots that "today we would not choose to turn around if we have a rope break because we have a 2-mile long runway ahead of us and we would have a 20 knot tailwind if we did turn around, so just go straight ahead or do a 360 degree turn if we have the altitude". I then proceed to pull a simulated rope break on the very next flight. Guess what they do? They proceed to try to turn around and land with a 20 knot tailwind despite the mile of runway left in front of them, because they read it in a book that had a picture by the way of a runway so short that they couldn't land straight ahead. Also, stall/spin accidents are the major cause of fatal crashes but instructors are actually discouraged from exposing the student to fully developed spins. Statistically, the training is more dangerous than risk of an actual unintended spin. My point is that certain things require a lot of training to actually get right and some very knowlegable people believe that sometimes it is better to just not go there. There is a phenomenon whereby a student will freeze up on the controls, usually in a spin because spins give you the feeling of falling out of control. The student literally does not hear the instructor screaming in his ear "I've got the controls!" The instructor is trained to slam his elbow into the chest of the student if sitting side by side or brain the student with any convenient heavy object if sitting behind. Usually the student lets go at that point, although sometimes they are unaware that they have been bludgeoned, they just realize their neck hurts later on. How is it possible that you could be unaware of someone screaming in your ear? Fear in a life threatening situation. How could you be so "stupid" as to do exactly the thing guaranteed to get you killed despite being trained to do otherwise? Again, fear in a scary situation. How would you describe a home invasion or a rape? Fear in a scary life threatening situation.
I took a hunter education course. It was informative but completely inadequate to teach me or anyone else how NOT to grab a gun or when to actually use one. That would take months of concerted training with realistic emergency scenarios, just like flight training. Also, part of the training I give includes a discussion of the crashes that occurred at my home field and what really caused them. Usually the student has no clue of what can go wrong.
I am not anti-gun but I recall an incident years ago on the mainland where a young japanese man dressed as John Travolta (and unarmed) I think was shot dead in someones carport when he went to the wrong house. The shooter was later quoted in his trial as saying that he wished his own hand had been blown off rather than that the victim had died. My own experience is that it takes a huge amount of time and effort to develop real flying judgement and I bet it is the same with firearms. I can actually see why the FAA thinks it is better not to train with real spins if you are not going to go at it full bore, because the risk of the actual event is less than the risk posed by the preventive trainig. Again, I can see a parallel with firearms.
My point is don't feel safe because you think only idiots would make mistakes. Flying is a hugely conservative business with far more initial and recurrent trainig than is required for firearms, and yet people routinely screw up, and they aren't always the idiots.