Aquila seems to be interested to get it approved for IFR.
That would require it to be certified as CS-23 doesn’t it? VLA certification prohibits IFR operation.
It is absolutely not necessary to learn flying in a slow or simple airplane – for many people, if not most. Look at Lufthansa Flight Training in Arizona: Their beginners start on Bonanzas, and for the last couple of years they did not even bother to do MEP training – but go to the jet directly.
If you have never flown a slow airplane you have no idea what that is, it is all a matter of getting used too. And from instructors who worked for LH i know that they rather have an absolute beginner in a Bonanza than one who flew C-152s before. They also rather have beginners (they can form to their standard more easily) than people who already have a PPL.
The reason why people learn to fly in slow and simple airplanes is only: money.
Their beginners start on Bonanzas…
But they select no more than two students out of 100 candidates (and, if I am allowed to say that, occasionally still pick the wrong one). Those two are the most talented ones. Many of them have some background in gliding and many are sons and daughters of pilots who have been introduced to flying very early. The average student who goes to an average flying school will learn nothing when starting on a Bonanza. Many struggle with the speed and workload that is involved in flying a C152, some of them highly skilled professionals in their own fields of work. I say that from more than 20 years of instructing experience.
Ok, I respect your experience, and as a lousy CRI I will not challenge what you say, but I do know that many private pilots in the US learned to fly in Bonanzas and actually many SR22’s are sold to beginners who do their first hours in them. Many of them start getting IFR instruction after the first year or so.
The reason why people learn to fly in slow and simple airplanes is only: money.
Correct… and it works because most don’t do anything with their PPL afterwards.
Here’s some reading about this topic:
http://www.flyingmag.com/training/learn-fly/flight-school-high-performance-or-not
or this:
I know a guy who tells me he learned to fly in a Cessna 310 and never flew a single. He was traveling on business (a long time ago) and the company pilot was a former FAA designated pilot examiner. The company pilot suggested that him learning to fly would be a good idea so he just flew trips plus a little more with the guy (somebody else paying the bills) until he was ready for the check ride. OTOH I learned to fly in an 800 lb aircraft in which the average Cessna, Piper, or Socata trained spam can driver could not successfully complete a circuit. I don’t think any size of complexity of aircraft is intrinsically easy or hard, its just learning the specific skills for the specific plane.
That was my feeling too … I remember what Chuck Yeager told me in an interview about how he learned to fly the P-51:
“The flight instructor was standing on the wing and helped me get strapped in. He explained the switches to me. Then he told me to give the SOB full throttle, raise the tail at xyz miles per hour … (…) retract the flaps… When I asked about the landing he said that it’s the same, just the other way round”.
Okay, there was probably some “hangar flying” involved … But i’m sure there was some truth in it.
Piper for a while took new owners ab initio to PPL/IR in PA46s. For a fixed price. It proved hard and very unpredictable which also made it unprofitable for Piper.
I remember what Chuck Yeager told me in an interview about how he learned to fly the P-51:
An ex-US Navy fighter (Corsair, Sabre…) pilot told me that his unit had a twin that was used to fly in supplies. He had never received any instruction in twins, but one day he was ordered to fly it to get som spare parts. He sat down with the manual the day before, and off he went.
The best part of the story was that when he converted his military licenses to civilian, he had a checkride in a twin. When asked about what the critical engine was, he replied with a big grin: “What do you mean? They are both critical!”
