From: wd@cs.tu-berlin.de (Wolfgang Diestelkamp)
Subject: Re: Any tips for a pilot-to-be?
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 11:04:27 GMT

In article <1993Jan11.215346.10896@netcom.com> hchong@netcom.com (Hoi Chong) writes:

[ lots of quotations deleted ]

> From the beginning I had said that it was accidental, and I learned from
> it (stay away from cloud).  The main point of the post was to alert other 
> pilots, student or otherwise not to mess with cloud. 
> 
> But it seems some people has to have the last word, like accusing me
> of delibrately going into cloud, or the general "flying unsafely" 
> accusation, when I had said that it was accidental and it taught me
> a great deal.  These people seems to think that they are God when it
> come to flying, and that other people who commit mistakes have no right 
> talking about their experience on the net, and that the same people will
> never learn from their mistake. 

At least in your first posting there seemed to be some evidence that
this was so (I'm sure you didn't intend to give this evidence):
You wrote that *after the incident* flying into a cloud became a no-no
for you. This, as Lars-Henrik pointed out, gives the impression, that
before the incident it may have been imaginable for you.

> It seems that these people think that if I did not talk about the experience 
> in a shaky, scary, voice, then I must have done it on purpose, and planned 
> to write about it on the net.  I know that pilot are serious people, and
> I mentioned this in another thread, but I do not expected to be made a bad 
> guy, or have my instructor ability called into question, when I was
> merely trying to alert others to the danger of cloud to non-IFR.
> 
> Again and again you and your supporters implied that I had not learned
> from the incident, where is your proof?  Just because I did not come out
> and use phrases like "scared to hell" or "gave up flying as a result",
> you think that I have not learned? 

I can't remember any posting where this was implied; none of the replies
talked about your abilities and your flying after the incident, and
noone proposed that you didn't learn from it. What people did point out,
and I agree with them, and I'm sure you do, is that this incident should
never have happened.

> As for Mr Ginsberg, he implied that I don't have the ability to learn, 
> hence my instructor should not allow me to solo.  The only thing 
> I could conclude from that is that since Mr Ginsberg does not
> know me personally, and the only thing he know is that I am not white, 
> then he must think that I cannot learn because of the nature of my 
> anchestry.  Mr Ginsberg may not be racist, and I am very sure he is not, 
> but he was as just plain ol' asking for it.  

Matt in no word implied that you didn't have the ability to learn; he said
that at the time of the incident there is evidence that you were not ready
to solo in that kind of weather/environment etc. (as proven per the
incident itself), and that your instructor should have known better.
It is simply ridiculous to call this racist.

[ rest deleted ]

-- 
Wolfgang Diestelkamp
wd@cs.tu-berlin.de
wolfgang@first.gmd.de

Newsgroups: rec.aviation.piloting