AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - May 2015 - 12

LETTERS

FROM OUR MARCH 2015 ISSUE

My Toughest Student
Everybody loves their mother-especially when she's a tough-talking pilot
like Dave Hirschman's mom.
Dave Hirschman's March
story, "My Toughest Student,"
touched me more than any
other over the 45-plus years
I've been an AOPA member and
an avid reader of AOPA Pilot.
Maybe it's because I've
struggled with my own
diminishing flying skills as a
septuagenarian pilot (and have
given up the battle), or maybe
it's because I would have liked
to have had such a relationship
with my long-departed mother,
or maybe it's because I would
have loved to have had a flying
buddy such as Mrs. Melville.
They sound like a terrific
mother/son combination. I
envy their flying adventures
and wish them many happy
hours aviating, navigating, and
communicating.
Norm Zareski
AOPA 406813
Palos Verdes Estates, California

Now, at last, I know why I
adore Dave Hirschman's articles so much. It's because of
his mother's love of flying, her
adventuresome spirit, and her
willingness to not only keep flying but to earn her instrument,
seaplane, and glider ratings and
her tailwheel endorsement.
She's a true role model for
any senior. To her son, I say, let
that woman swear anytime she
wants. She's earned the right
to outswear a soldier with her
gumption, fortitude, and flying
skills. I hope to meet her someday and tell her that. She should
be AOPA's poster girl!
Kathy A. Megyeri
Washington, D.C.

12 | AOPA PILOT May 2015

Toughest

STUDENT
Flying with Mom
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

MY MOST CHALLENGING FLIGHT STUDENT WAS THE ONE I WANTED MOST TO SUCCEED: MY MOM, WILMA MELVILLE.

When she decided at age 73 to get back into
ﬂying after a 22-year hiatus, I ﬁgured she'd knock
the rust off, memorize some new airspace regs,
discover the wonders of GPS navigation, and feel
at home again at the controls in no time. She'd
already obtained a new third class medical, and
a ﬂight review in a Cessna 172.
Next she started shopping for an airplane,
a used Grumman Tiger, and all she needed
from me-her CFI son-was a checkout. Mom
was a 700-hour private pilot with complex
and high-performance endorsements, and the
180-horsepower, ﬁxed-pitch Tiger was a model
she knew well. Several friends and I were helping with her Tiger hunt when she called to let us
know she had found her airplane.
"Turns out it's not a Tiger," she said. "It's an
RV-10."
I was impressed that she had found an RV-10
in her $80,000 price range. The 260-horsepower,
constant-speed-prop, kitbuilt airplanes usually
sell for double that, or more. "Well, it turns out

76 | AOPA PILOT March 2015

it's $180,000," she said. "But the deal is done.
I've already sent the money." Mom's always been
decisive. But as she's aged, she's become impatient, too.
We arranged to meet in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
where the RV-10 and its builder were located.
She could get familiar with it during our 1,300nm ferry trip to her home base at Santa Paula
Airport in Southern California. I was totally
comfortable with the RV series and owned a single-seat RV-3 at the time.
But there was no denying the RV-10 was a big
step up in power, performance, and technology
from a Tiger. There were six big cylinders and
a constant-speed prop to manage, a fuel injection system, glass panel, and a Garmin GNS430
that was new to her. She also said she wanted
to get started on her instrument rating, ﬂy some
approaches on our way home, and log as much
time as possible under the hood.
Already, this seemingly simple airplane
checkout was getting complicated.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 77

"This is the best story I've read this year
and thank you for sharing. I'm 49 years
old and have been flying for the past six
years and wondered about flying in my
later years. Your story has giving me great
hope of my future years in the cockpit and
obtaining future ratings."
David D. Glover Sr.
AOPA 6544695
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Wx Watch
In review of "Lessons from
Roselawn," I was impressed
with how Thomas A. Horne
condensed a plethora of information into a relatively short
document. It was distributed to
our pilots in a company safety
meeting. One of our captains
and I flew for Simmons from
1988 through 1994 and 2013,
respectively.
Horne's article helped
explain to many pilots what
the Simmons ATR pilots had

suspected. There was an
unknown issue regarding the
airframe icing tendencies of
the ATR. Following the accident
I became immersed in reading
all I could find about aircraft
icing. Having always been interested in meteorology, this was
enjoyable for me, much less
the motivation to do so. It has
served as an excellent reminder
to me (as do your articles), and
a continuing educational device
which I have used in my corporate aviation career.

Thanks so much for dissecting and disseminating
another landmark accident so
well, to pilots young and old.
I'm certain AOPA Pilot's P&E
articles have helped to save
many lives over these decades.
Brad Ruedig
AOPA 813739
Mundelein, Illinois

Dogfight
I a l way s e n j oy re a d i n g
"Dogfight" and considering
my own opinions on whatever
subject matter might be discussed. I must actually respond
("Making Training Relevant").
Sorry, Mr. Haines, but I must
agree with Mr. Hirschman. The
likelihood of a total power
failure, including backup batteries, is rare-but rare is still
not zero. Depending upon
the electronics used, many
smaller/portable devices may
not adequately show the terrain below you or obstacles
along the way. It's far too easy,
as Mr. Hirschman points out,
to become mesmerized by the
pretty colors and simplicity of a
purple line.
Electronics and technology
advances are the sign of our
times, but give me a map, compass, and clock any day over the
gadgets. I still enjoy the view
of that moving map under me.
Advance to your gadgets if you
must, but many small-airplane
GA pilots can't afford such
frills-and really don't need
them anyway.
Alan D. Resnicke
AOPA 5278610
Silver City, New Mexico

http://www.aopa.org/pilot

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - May 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - May 2015