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flight reviews?

RobertD

Well Known Member
I'm curious as to what others are doing about flight reviews during the pandemic. Mine is due this month but I'm working really hard at maintaining appropriate distance and sitting next to someone in an RV for an hour just doesn't meet my criteria. Like many (most?) pilots I'm in the at-risk age group.

RVs are pretty darned drafty and I suppose we could both wear masks but it still seems like a risk here in NC where our daily cases are setting records. The cfi I have used for years is also regularly giving lessons which makes him even more of a risk.

I'm also distressed at the thought of even temporarily giving up one of the true socially-distant activities I have these days. Particularly when it's the activity I like the most. :D

thoughts, ideas?
 
I'm curious as to what others are doing about flight reviews during the pandemic. Mine is due this month but I'm working really hard at maintaining appropriate distance and sitting next to someone in an RV for an hour just doesn't meet my criteria. Like many (most?) pilots I'm in the at-risk age group.

RVs are pretty darned drafty and I suppose we could both wear masks but it still seems like a risk here in NC where our daily cases are setting records. The cfi I have used for years is also regularly giving lessons which makes him even more of a risk.

I'm also distressed at the thought of even temporarily giving up one of the true socially-distant activities I have these days. Particularly when it's the activity I like the most. :D

thoughts, ideas?

My BFR and medical were due in May and June respectively and after some hunting around ended up having a friend/CFI do my BFR, and was forced to find a new doctor to do my medical since the one I used previously insisted I get a COVID test that just wasn't practical. In the end, it turns out there are quite a few CFI's and doctors still in operation. You just have to look around and may have to drive/fly to them.
 
I'm curious as to what others are doing about flight reviews during the pandemic. Mine is due this month...

thoughts, ideas?

C'mon down to Savannah and fly the Expanded Envelope Exercises® with me.

With summer heat and turbulence/thunderstorms, it might not be fun to fly down, do the flight review, then fly back that afternoon.

Ed
 
Good time to fly

Just got my IFR ticket, doing the full training and tests during Covid. Good plane availability along with an awesome instructor and DPE of choice - both of which are normally booked solid. Northern California :)
 
What are your expanded envelope exercises?

Here's link to a previous thread on the topic:
https://vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=180541

The Expanded Envelope Exercises® (E3) are a set of fun, challenging, rewarding exercises that can be done in most normal category aircraft. They seek to expand a pilot's personal envelope, i.e., comfort zone, so that loss of control precursor situations do not degenerate into loss of control.

E3 is flown entirely at <60° bank, <30° pitch, and < 2 Gs. A competition aerobatic pilot confirmed that E3 teaches things that aerobatics does not.

Next time you're in Georgia, or I'm in Arizona...

Ed
 
I “reluctantly” got one 2 weeks ago. Finding an instructor is easy. The problem is most instructors spend a lot of time in close quarters with different people. Not a good combination. My feeling is this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better, and a 3 month extension would not put me in a better situation.

We both wore masks, and I had the air vent blowing in my face the whole time. It worked out in the end but it was definitely taking a chance. A surgical mask in a cramped cockpit for an hour is just a false sense of security. You are still taking a chance. Good luck.
 
Rules now....

....please don't spin off into viruses and governments and conspiracies. Nice and civil and per the rules please. Some replies deleted by me.

Carry on.

dr
 
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So my reply a couple of posts up was to a post that has been deleted. Just to circle back to this; Seems to me that you are indeed taking a risk by getting into an airplane with someone right now.

Only you can determine if that risk is acceptable or not. My personal feeling is that it's manageable and probably not any worse that going to the grocery store or being in a car with someone else. Yes, you're cooped up in close quarters with one person, but at the store, you're exposed to hundreds if not thousands of "other people germs" from whatever people have handled, etc. When I'm in the car with my family, I'm also exposed to them and they all have lives that take them into contact with other people, so I don't see giving or receiving instruction as much different.

In my own case, the procedure is to wear masks & wipe down the cockpit with an instrument panel safe alcohol mixture before/after every flight. Everybody at the facility has to answer a questionnaire before accessing the building re; whether they've been exposed, travelled in the last 14 days etc. If the answer is yes, they are out for two weeks.

I believe that these measures are about as good as we can do while continuing to live our lives. I'm continuing to fly & will do so as long as my employer and the government guidance directs us that its ok to do so.
 
So my reply a couple of posts up was to a post that has been deleted. Just to circle back to this; Seems to me that you are indeed taking a risk by getting into an airplane with someone right now.

Only you can determine if that risk is acceptable or not. ...

There is also a geographic differences to consider when evaluating the risk. for instance my county has only seventy-some confirmed cases for the whole pandemic, and that was only single digits or low teens when I got my FR done a couple months ago. So I felt comfortable doing it, and neither of us wore masks although we both offered to each-other.

Now if I lived in Miami right now I probably wouldn't be comfortable with that same risk.

Bottom line is if you feel comfortable and can find an instructor that feels comfortable go ahead and do the FR, if you're not comfortable that is your choice as well.

My understanding is we do qualify for the 3 month grace period, but if I was going to rely on that I would be contacting my insurance carrier and/or broker to verify I was covered.
 
My understanding is we do qualify for the 3 month grace period, but if I was going to rely on that I would be contacting my insurance carrier and/or broker to verify I was covered.

I wish someone (FAA? AOPA? EAA?) would summarize the document in post 2, in plain English. My reading of it is that, as a cfi, I qualify for a 3 month extension, but only for instructional flying-not for personal flying. This of course makes no sense, but it wouldn’t be the first faa pronouncement that makes no sense.
 
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