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Old 07-31-2017, 06:39 AM
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RCFlyerDan
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I have been trying to figure out who benefits from this new rule allowing a turbine applicant to fly solo the day of the waiver applicant and why the AMA Safety Committee even asked the Executive Counsel for the change. The only ones that I have figure out are Distributors or Companies selling the products. Especially the TurboFoam jets that have come out this year. This way a guy that buys a jet at a show has a turbine waiver before going home. Great idea, but should training or maidens even be accomplished at events? I have seen both done at events. Not a great safety idea.

In the past ten plus years that I have been flying turbines, instructing turbines, been the main CD approving the waiver applicant or being the second observer for the waiver applicant, I see very little benefit to the normal applicant. Especially the one that truly has been on the buddy box training for the previous however many flights to become competent. And, yes, Dieselman, the instructor doesn't let the student get to the situation that the jet can't be safely saved. I do agree that on short final, sometimes not much can be done. On the normal turbine applicant the day of the waiver flight, I have rarely seen where this new rule is a benefit. Most of the time, the first flight is the waiver flight. What happens to the applicant that flies several flights not on the buddy box on the waiver flight day and then still doesn't pass the waiver flight? He has now flown without the buddy box without prior jet training and didn't pass. The buddy box idea has it's own issues too. Just because the only jet guy on a field has a waiver, doesn't mean he is a better pilot than the applicant. Most guys don't want to hand over $10K to a guy just because the rules say so. There is also the brand name of radios to have a buddy box training system. I have a new applicant that has a Futaba radio. There are no jet pilots at our field that fly Futaba. I told him for me to help, he needs to upgrade his transmitter and either buy what we have, or buy a new radio to use the old one as a buddy box. Again, I only see jet manufacturers and distributors benefitting from this new rule. I wonder if they are the ones that lobbied the AMA Safety Counsel?

99% is extremely generous on the applicant's ability prior to purchasing a jet. You must not live in a very affluent area. I have live on both side of South Florida, in Boca Raton and now Cape Coral. We have millionaires that either live here full time or retire here. Some have no business flying a jet, yet have the money to keep buying them when one is totaled. We have one Snowbird Millionaire that is 80 and has no business flying a turbine, yet, someone gave him one. After flying a jet only 50-100 feet over the parking lot last year, I wanted to have his waiver taken away. A few weeks later, He had a new Viper to maiden and came to ask me if I would do the maiden. I told him that I would only help him if he would fly the jet on the buddy box. He decided to let his builder do the maiden on the jet. The builder isn't much better and totaled the jet on the maiden flight. Well, guess what? That millionaire simply ordered another one on his phone at the field. The other guys that are flying jets may have a terminal diagnosis and keep ordering jets one after another, because they know they can't take the money with them. The real issue is the turbine pilot that has a waiver and is growing older and loosing his ability to fly a jet. Normally, you would think that finances will dictate them retiring from jets. The two examples that I have seen and currently current here in Florida doesn't follow that thinking.

The rules are to help keep us safe, but in reality, it is all about the insurance. The two examples that are true to life, this doesn't really matter. On the 80 year old, since he is a millionaire, if something bad happens, whomever got hurt is going to come after his umbrella policy and the AMA will probably not even be involved in the law suit, since they are secondary insurance. In reality, the AMA is simply taking more risk with this new rule, and the manufactures and distributors benefit.

Last edited by RCFlyerDan; 07-31-2017 at 07:28 AM.