HowardDeeversYou passed your check ride! Now what?

Howard Deevers

It takes a lot of training and work to pass a check ride. Reading all of those regulations, training, getting a sign off for the check ride, takes a lot of time. Now that you have passed that check ride, what do you do?
Well, fly, of course. We all want to do that and we all expect that the new certificate in your pocket will get put to good use. So, do go out and fly.

But don’t quit training. You have heard the expression: “this is only a license to learn” I’m sure. And, it should be that. Another expression is: “a good pilot is always training.”
The problem is that not enough pilots will follow that advice. They get their private pilot's certificate, and we never see them again. We don’t see them at safety seminars, and they never see another instructor again until their Flight Review is due in 24 months.

That may satisfy the minimum legal requirements, but it doesn’t say much for that pilot that doesn’t really think that he, or she, has a “license to learn.”

The airlines bring their pilots in for recurrent training every six months. We may not all be airline pilots, but it sure is a good example to follow. If all private pilots were to go back to their CFI every six months and get just one phase of the “WINGS” it would make a great difference in safety all over the country. And, that phase of the WINGS counts as a flight review, and resets the clock for your next flight review. Do that every six months and you will be a better pilot, a safer pilot, and living up to those two slogans above.
There are a lot of on line courses available through FAAsafety.gov, and the AOPA. I get a “Pilots Tip of the Week” in email form every week. Check on line at Pilot Workshops. You can’t go wrong.

The ARIZONA PILOTS ASSOCIATION and the FAASteam have some program going on somewhere in Arizona every month. It should not be hard to find an interesting and educational seminar somewhere close to you.

Fred Gibbs started the “Bring Your Wingman” program a couple of years ago. So, don’t come alone; bring your flying buddy, or look for someone else to bring to a seminar. You will be a better pilot.

 

 

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