Peter wrote:
I am entitled to not remember everything.
Sure. But neither should you automatically assume that Swedish AIS is taxpayer funded just because it has a telephone briefing service.
I don’t get why, faced with an article about a pilot who fails to be competent in dealing with things he should not have to deal with, most here have a go at the pilot, rather than at the things he had to deal with.
Cobalt wrote:
I don’t get why, faced with an article about a pilot who fails to be competent in dealing with things he should not have to deal with, most here have a go at the pilot, rather than at the things he had to deal with.
Because he is a pilot. He has to deal with reality, not imaginary stuff. He behaves like this: 
Yes, I think this is an object lesson in how a completely wacko over complicated non-system for even modest GA missions results in an intelligent person screwing up. He may or may not be the most practical or proficient ATP rated university professor, that’s not clear to me, but transport infrastructure including that for flights across Europe needs to work well with 17 year old kids…
If I look at the NTSB docket for this accident, the name of the pilot is identical with the author of the article. So it was the same pilot flying the odysee over the Balkans who lost control over the airplane due to a brake problem.
The accident report is quite revealing too. The accident occurred on departure from Orlando MCO. The pilot taxied onto the departure runway in a hurry and opened up the throttle while the plane was still 45° off centerline and thereafter indicates that the right brake had failed, causing the airplane to veer to the left. As he feared hitting the runway lights he applied full throttle and got the airplane airborne but decided to land it again outside the runway at night time. On touch down he lost all landing gears and the prop went to pieces.
So he was airborne and knew he had a bad brake, yet he put it down on soft ground.
I wonder why he did not continue flying the airplane to a safe altitude and then returned to the more than ample runways at MCO for a landing without brakes, which should definitly be possible to do on a 60 m wide runway… I know, monday morning quarterbacking but still…
Cobalt wrote:
I don’t get why, faced with an article about a pilot who fails to be competent in dealing with things he should not have to deal with, most here have a go at the pilot, rather than at the things he had to deal with.
Lacking flight preparation is a problem wherever you are. Not knowing what you are getting into will get you into problems. His main mistakes were not so much due to the European problems but rather his lack of awareness of the same. Even in the flying paradise of the USA, the regulators do not look very kindly at this kind of flight planning I reckon. If they were faced with someone who has 3 fuel emergencies on 3 subsequent legs, they would probably take action and so they should. The only reason why nobody did anything here was actually Europe working in his favour as most likely the Serbs had no idea about his antiks in Croatia and Greece. Otherwise they surely would have done something about a guy who lands at a military airfield because he is out of fuel on an IFR plan to the nations capital. I would not dare anyone to do some stunt like this in Switzerland or Germany, I don’t think the authorities there would be as understanding and helpful. And seeing how his plane ended, they might well have a point!
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I look at the NTSB docket for this accident, the name of the pilot is identical with the author of the article
You don’t say? What a coincidence
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I would not dare anyone to do some stunt like this in Switzerland or Germany, I don’t think the authorities there would be as understanding and helpful. And seeing how his plane ended, they might well have a point!
And that blinkered philosophy is why my German wife and I don’t live there. It’s completely counterproductive, and unfortunately instead of showing Europe how things can work better, leaders in European aviation and seemingly everything else are going in the opposite direction, creating an over complex, increasingly inefficient and unpleasant world unapologetically focused on promotion of an elite.
Again, this 700 nm flight should be supported by a system that a 17 year old newly licensed pilot can use without any trouble, with the system helping, not threatening to jail him!
Germany is the simplest country to fly in with minimum preparation. “Winging it” and pray for the best does not count as any level of preparation.
Silvaire wrote:
And that blinkered philosophy is why my German wife and I don’t live there. It’s completely counterproductive, and unfortunately instead of showing Europe how things can work better, leaders in European aviation and seemingly everything else are going in the opposite direction, creating an over complex, increasingly inefficient and unpleasant world unapologetically focused on promotion of an elite.
Silvaire, I love flying in the US but you are losing perspective – classic Stockholm syndrome. Europe is not that bad, It is frustrating and far less free than the US but overall it is fine. The article is silly and indicative of negligence on the part of the pilot. He is lucky not to be cited and subject to administrative action. He decribes crossing numerous countries. I could write a similar aricle on entering the US. Try flying to Brazil.
Pop psychology aside, I’m not going there with you, the more practical reality in my experience is that sometimes you have to leave to see what then becomes patently obvious.
Flying a Citation with the elite in Europe isn’t exactly what I’m taking about regardless. The differences in that kind of flying (which based on my ongoing experiences flying in the back seems unattractive for the pilots) must not be all that significant anywhere in the world, true. What I’m talking about is flying a simple 700 nm flight within one day without days of anal preplanning, without a pointless flight plan, and without much in the way of en route radio work… because it also adds no value. Adding value to the lives of everyday people is what I’m addressing, creation and not marginalization of a system intended to support a 17 or 18 year new private pilot flying anywhere in Europe with his Cessna 150 without dealing with nonsense process or people. He can do it in a car…
@Arne I’ve flown in Germany. I’m talking about flying beyond Germany, as per this thread.
