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Evening ladies and gents.
We've got a person at the local airport who solo'd in a light sport airframe in October of 2014.
The person comes from a legacy family, having many different types of aircraft flown in for decades. Has it all. Except for a medical or a consistent instructor.
A few of the locals have flown with the person, and another person solo'd him. The rumor mill began, and I heard stories of him doing aerobatics in this antique LSA. One day a week ago, he told me himself that he went out one day and did ten loops.
Continuing on, it began to make me feel uneasy. One of the other students in the area was under the impression he was about to take his LSA checkride, and then I began to hear two of his mentors telling me that he had taken up a passenger (while not being certified yet).
I mulled it around, decided that I needed to confront this issue head on with him. The conversation started out like they always do, and when it came to the meat and potatoes, it was nothing but short denials for answers and attempts to change the subject.
As a conservative pilot and advocate for the drop of the 3rd class medical, I'm on pins and needles and keep having to remind myself that this is not my circus and not my monkey. I can't help but worry that something tragic could happen. I guess on one side of the fence, if the person is solo and bends the airplane (any person solo for that matter) but if the person still is not a certified pilot and is taking up a passenger and bends the airplane... or worse... how bad of a black eye would that be on the LSA crowd?
I know this person's family, and there is about 30% of me that thinks some of his tales are made up... but the other 70% is worried for his safety, and that of the aviation community.
Not only is this dissertation just an outlet for me to get it in black and white, it's also a forum to see if anyone else has had a similar renegade, and what did you do to help the renegade make wiser decisions.
Everyone wants to be the cool kid, I get that. We are an elite group of people, a family. We have the passion to fly, but when one of our own starts making bad decisions, how far do we go to help them?
If this sounds like something blown out of proportion, I sincerely hope that this is all it is. Any advice?
We've got a person at the local airport who solo'd in a light sport airframe in October of 2014.
The person comes from a legacy family, having many different types of aircraft flown in for decades. Has it all. Except for a medical or a consistent instructor.
A few of the locals have flown with the person, and another person solo'd him. The rumor mill began, and I heard stories of him doing aerobatics in this antique LSA. One day a week ago, he told me himself that he went out one day and did ten loops.
Continuing on, it began to make me feel uneasy. One of the other students in the area was under the impression he was about to take his LSA checkride, and then I began to hear two of his mentors telling me that he had taken up a passenger (while not being certified yet).
I mulled it around, decided that I needed to confront this issue head on with him. The conversation started out like they always do, and when it came to the meat and potatoes, it was nothing but short denials for answers and attempts to change the subject.
As a conservative pilot and advocate for the drop of the 3rd class medical, I'm on pins and needles and keep having to remind myself that this is not my circus and not my monkey. I can't help but worry that something tragic could happen. I guess on one side of the fence, if the person is solo and bends the airplane (any person solo for that matter) but if the person still is not a certified pilot and is taking up a passenger and bends the airplane... or worse... how bad of a black eye would that be on the LSA crowd?
I know this person's family, and there is about 30% of me that thinks some of his tales are made up... but the other 70% is worried for his safety, and that of the aviation community.
Not only is this dissertation just an outlet for me to get it in black and white, it's also a forum to see if anyone else has had a similar renegade, and what did you do to help the renegade make wiser decisions.
Everyone wants to be the cool kid, I get that. We are an elite group of people, a family. We have the passion to fly, but when one of our own starts making bad decisions, how far do we go to help them?
If this sounds like something blown out of proportion, I sincerely hope that this is all it is. Any advice?