Knocking off the rust

By KT BUDDE-JONES

If the last time you were ahead of your aircraft was when you pulled the prop through, you may need recurrency training.

It is a fallacy to think that your skill level will never degrade with time or that you will not develop bad habits. Smart pilots know that they need to check their egos at the door and check up on what they need to know, say the flight instructors with Stallion 51, which provides not only check outs in the P-51 Mustang, but also unusual attitude training and more at its base at Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) in Florida.  

Is there a maneuver or situation you are not comfortable with? A session with a CFI is the time to face it and conquer it safely instead of avoiding it, hoping it will never come up.  

“Recurrency training provides the opportunity to break out of your routine and expand your capabilities with a qualified instructor in a safe and controlled manner,” says Stallion 51’s Chief Pilot Lee Lauderback.

Flying with a qualified instructor allows you to safely check off the most important maneuvers, such as slow flight with stall recognition or stall recovery from various configurations and attitudes, he notes.

If it is a scenario you have been in while at low altitude, like in the pattern, replicate it at a safe altitude and check that you are doing it correctly, he adds.

Or what about the dreaded go-around? You don’t like doing them unless you have to, but waiting until you have to can lead to a costly mistake.

Are you avoiding crosswind days because you are not current with crosswind landings? Going up with an instructor will help you face the demons instead of avoiding them.

“Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed — take a step back and calm down,” advises Stallion 51 instructor Steve Larmore.

Going up with a qualified instructor for re-currency training will help you take that deep breath and look at not only what you are doing, but how you are doing it, he says.

And don’t forget engine failure and emergency procedures, adds Marco Rusconi, another instructor.

“Simulating emergency scenarios in controlled conditions will help refresh your skills to be ready for the unexpected,” he says.

What does a qualified instructor pilot look like? 

He is not a friend of a friend who flies an airplane like yours who will tag along for a $100 hamburger or a good friend who is a pilot in a different kind of aircraft who will fly along with you.

You need a qualified flight instructor who is checked out in your type of aircraft to not only assess your skill level, but to be there to save the day in case you mess up, the instructors advise.

“Your friend or a friend of a friend won’t be able to do that and you will both pay the price,” they warn. 

And you don’t have to dread the experience, says Lauderback, noting recurrent training is not only educational, but can be fun.

It also gives you the chance to learn something new that could make you a better — and safer — pilot, he says.

“Not only can you refresh the skills you have, but you can learn some new ones as well,” he says. “You are adding more tools to your tool box — and as any good mechanic will tell you, you can never have too many tools.”

So does Lauderback, the highest time Mustang pilot in the world, go through recurrency training?

You bet he does.

He says it is “an investment” in not only his life, but also his livelihood and ensures that the Mustangs he is entrusted to fly will keep flying because he is up to the task.  

Are you up to the task?