82 African Pilot April 2015
Accident Report
COMMENTS
The subject of stalling will get some more coverage in articles to come.
Loss of Control, cited as the number one killer in both aeroplanes and
helicopters, has various origins, of which manoeuvre stalling is but one.
Naturally stalling in this instance is not meant to be for the helicopter
enthusiasts and operators, but for all fixed wing jockeys.
Science favours no man; it is just that, science. It is very worrisome that
when I go around the country, it becomes evident how little pilots know
about aerodynamics. The science of flight is the basis of knowledge.
Knowledge is the basis of skills. Skills development without scientific
knowledge is outright scary business. I read some articles recently
where pilots proudly explain how they got to fly through experience
only. There is no pride in being lucky, it is professionalism that counts.
Let me be clear right from the start. You ought not to learn how to fly
from a downloaded manual or a YouTube guide for idiots. However,
I was privileged to have been taught by professionals. It was no fun
at all; in fact, it was hard work and my instructors were relentless in
pushing for excellence. Second best is considered a failure when
making flying your hobby or profession. This is about the only hobby
where a professional approach is non-negotiable.Sorry, that was just me starting to blow off steam when I see poor aerial
instruction, poor lecturing and the blind trying to lead the blind.How is it possible that a pilot with an excess of 100 hours to over-rotate
on take-off? How is it possible that a qualified instructor witnesses
this take-off, yet allows the situation to get out of hand? There are
so many questions and we can only speculate on some of them. The