From: spenny@sw.stratus.com (Steve Pennypacker)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.misc
Subject: Re: why IFR = "real pilot"
Date: 26 Jan 1993 00:25:40 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: wiley.ts.stratus.com

Well, I usually don't have too many arguments with Dave T., and people on 
the net rarely piss me off.  So today is a rare day.

In article <C1ACJL.46I.2@cs.cmu.edu>, dst+@cs.cmu.edu (Dave Touretzky) writes:
> 
> Most laymen consider airline pilots to be "real pilots", and GA pilots to be
> amateurs.  Spare me an indignant lecture about how *anyone* can choose to
> adopt an attitude of professionalism; let's be realistic about how the
> average groundhog views the skies.  We're amateurs.

Well, I don't judge my engineering ability by what my aunt thinks, and I 
don't judge my piloting ability by what groundhogs think.  The only people I
use to judge myself are myself, my passengers, and other pilots.  If the 
non-flying public were the appropriate way to judge piloting ability, all
of us amateurs would be in loony bins, and those of us who did manage to fly
and who crashed into a mountain would be perfectly justified in extorting
millions from Piper for a defective nose-wheel brake.  

> What distinguishes IFR flying from some truly arcane aviation sub-specialty,
> like the ability to land a gyrocopter on skis on a frozen lake, is that it's
> the IFR ticket that lets you play with the big boys.  Filing IFR means that
> you share critical skills and knowledge with the pros, and with the ATC
> system designed to support them.  It means that you can do the same things
> they do -- shoot an ILS to minimums into National or O'Hare, for example.
> It means that controllers are required to provide you with the same type of
> service they give to USAir or United.  That's what I meant by saying you are
> "in the system".

I have no problem with the term "in the system".  As a VFR pilot, I'll
use that term myself for IFR stuff.  It's appropriate, and there's not a 
single reason why any VFR pilot should feel insulted by being "left out" of 
the system.  It's just a way of talking about IFR stuff.  At the same time, 
I'm not so insecure that I need to compare myself with "the big boys" to 
decide how good a pilot I am, and I have no need to pretend I'm one of them.
Hell, if I used that analogy for driving I'd feel pretty insecure as a 
driver until I got hired as a bus driver.  But I'm not. 

Besides, you'll piss the big boys off at O'Hare just as much by shooting the 
ILS during peak time as I would if I flew in in good weather (well, OK, 
in the Seneca I guess you might not.  I guess that's because you're a better
pilot.  Or at least richer.)

> I don't recall my first solo instrument flight as being all that dramatic,
> but I do recall frequently being impressed by the fact that I was sharing
> the frequency and shooting the same approach as a USAir flight.  I'd even
> point this out to passengers.  "Look, we're hanging out with the grownups."

Sounds like an ego trip to me.  Piloting and big egos don't go well 
together.  It also sounds like the words of someone who 
still hasn't gotten over the fact that they're not going to be an airline 
pilot.  If you want to impress passengers, all you have to do is take them
flying and do a good (and yes, "professional") job of it.  Most non-pilots
are impressed enough that you can fly the damn thing at all, they would 
never know or care whether another voice is coming from an airliner or a 
CB radio.  

Any time I want to share a frequency with the airline-gods, I can simply go
fly into the Providence ARSA, or even Worcester ATA a few miles away for that
matter.  OK, so I can't do that when the ceiling is 200'.  But you know what?
I DON'T CARE!  And neither do my passengers, friends, family, or other 
pilots.  Those who have flown with me once have flown with me again.  That's 
important.  

There's no question that IFR pilots have skills that I and other VFR pilots 
do not.  ATPs have training and experience that I'll never have.  On the 
other hand, most of them would make a mess of their nice blue uniforms if 
they ever had to land any airplane at all in the field I soloed from.  The 
same is true of a lot of IFR types, and even some instructors I've flown 
with.  That doesn't mean I'm a hotshot pilot, it just means we each have our 
own strenghts, and more importantly we each have our own limitations.

> Of course, if you're not interested in using an aircraft for transportation,
> then you don't need the skills to be "in the system".  If you get your
> jollies by landing your gyrocopter on frozen lakes, then go out and be the
> best frozen-lake-gyrocopter-pilot you can possibly be.  All of us here on
> rec.aviation will respect your for your specialized skills.  But the
> groundhogs -- the sort of folks who establish official policies on use of
> small planes for business travel -- will just think you're a weirdo with a
> death wish.  That's the way it is with groundhogs.

IFR pilots are "near-pros", but those of us that like frozen lakes, short 
fields, or whatever else not in the system are getting our jollies?  What 
about IFR pilots who spend most of their time going out for $100 hamburgers?
Come on Dave, I thought you were more respectable than that.  Where do 
seasoned bush pilots stand on your list?  I personally have a lot of respect 
for any good pilot; maybe more so for good IFR types; and even more for bush 
pilots.  But they don't often play with the grown-ups.



Dave, if you want to say that IFR pilots have more priveleges than VFR
pilots, fine.  If you want to say that they have more skills (in general),
OK.  I'll agree with that.  But don't waste our time telling us that we're
lesser pilots because we can't "play with the big boys".

One last point.  Aviators have enough problems with our public image.  Why
do pilots have to look down on other pilots who don't do the same type of 
flying that they do?  Why can't they recognize each other for their skills
and present a positive image for ALL of us?  It's pretty bad when the press
bashes us.  But when pilots talk down about other groups of pilots, I don't 
blame the public for being afraid of us.

I'll shut up and wait for the flames now.
-- 
     Steve Pennypacker		     PP-ASEL

     spenny@wiley.ts.stratus.com     Stephen_Pennypacker@vos.stratus.com
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.misc