Bad Habits?

[pilot#476398]

It has been said that private owners and pilots like myself who do more recreational flying than commercial, develop bad habits.

 

So, to those of you who have witnessed said bad habits, could you give some insight as to what they are,...so pilots like myself can watch out for them?

[Flying Pig]

Landing at Class C towered airports without ever saying a word on the radio

[Dragbrace]

It has been my experience that many private pilots lack the situation awareness skills that are necessary to become a good commercial pilot. Excessive chatter to their passengers, the nature of the flight , site seeing etc., and the upcoming lunch or round of golf all distract the pilot from being aware of the situation they are in . Wind, weather and terrain changes if unnoticed can lead to problems in a hurry.

 

Also, lack of experience actually working an aircraft can lead a private pilot to over estimate the performance of his aircraft. Commercial pilots deal with performance issues every day.

 

The fun trip to the top of Mt. So & So to look for Big Horned Sheep can suddenly turn into a nightmare when you realize that your buddies you invited along weigh far more than the 200 lbs. a piece you estimated them to be.

[palmfish]

I believe there are pilots who have exceptional knowledge, judgement and skill and others who don't. The rating they hold doesn't necessarily predict which camp they belong to.

 

I know several recreational private pilots who I would match up against a professional any day of the week. It simply takes desire and committment to achieve and maintain proficiency in their spare time.

 

The one thing that recreational pilots often have that professionals may lack is passion. Passion leads to motivation. Combine motivation to fly with access to an aircraft, and you are probably looking at a very competent pilot. It's unfortunate that the only private pilots we tend to hear about are the ones who make mistakes. They give their peers a bad name.

 

It is wrong to lump private pilots together in a "lower tier" just because of the rating they hold or the type of flying (recreational vs. career) they perform.

[aeroscout]

My experience with owner operators is they do not have the skill of professional pilots in 3 areas.

 

Overconfidence from the assumption that success in business or vocation translates to equal amounts of success in other areas such as aviation.

 

A tendency to accept deviations of any magnitude. Professional pilots tend to have a better control touch that results in maintaining ATP standards nearly 100% of the time. If they are not dead on with their airwork, they immediately recognize it, and put in an immediate correction to get return to dead on.

 

Experience.

 

A perfect example is a 7,500 hour private pilot I flew with who was very defensive about being criticized about his performance. He tried to use his hour total as evidence that he was highly experienced, but it was as if he had 1 hour repeated 7,500 times.

 

It sometimes seems to me that owner operators are more concerned with buying their ratings than developing the skills to earn them.

 

No offense personally to any owner operators on this forum. I admit I am speaking in generalities and of course there are always exceptions and sometimes even notable ones.

[Goldy]

1. Sloppy landings. Anywhere on the tarmac is fine.....

2. Poor emergency skills (not practiced enough)

3. Good weather only flights so you don't gain experience in flying in less than perfect blue skies with no wind and no turbulence. When you have a job to go from point A to B, you plan, you have an out, and you fly (usually!).

 

At least those were the 3 areas that suffered for me when I was only flying privately....that plus sea level makes for lousy pilot skills.