Simulating Proficiency

摘要

Each year, some number of pilots come to grief because they can't handle the demands of instrument flight beyond straight-and-level. The AOPA Air Safety Institute's 2011 Joseph T. Nall Report, which took a close look at general aviation accidents in 2009, found 22 accidents that year in which a non-commercial fixed-wing aircraft was involved in a weather-related accident with an instrument-rated pilot aboard. Of them, 16 involved fatalities. We can do better. Ensuring we're proficient in the airplane is one thing most of should be able to demonstrate on demand.