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How safe is it to be your own pilot? (self.aviation)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Pat12 to c/[email protected]

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I have a few friends who have their own pilots license (private pilot i assume). How safe is it to fly your own plane?

I have acrophobia so learning how to fly is not high on my list but would like to know about how safe it is to assuage some fears. To be it seems scary because if something goes wrong, you wouldn't be the only person getting hurt (as would be the case for scuba diving or skiing) but you might also risk hurtings others like your plane crashing out of control.

edit: i'm asking on the off chance i feel like one day getting a private pilots license like my friends. i'm not planning on flying with the friends anytime soon; they live on the other side of the world.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They don't (usually) hand out licenses to anyone who asks. You have to pass written, oral, and practical exams.

Still, it depends a lot on the specific person. Are they dedicated to safety? Will they make good decisions even if it means a big inconvenience for them (not going to make it home that day because of weather, etc.)? Will they continue to learn as they continue to fly? See "TNFlyGirl" for a recent example of how having a pilot's license does not make someone a good pilot.

You know your friends and their personalities, so you'd be the best person to ask. Are your friends safe?

[–] agent_flounder 3 points 10 months ago

That was worth the dive down the rabbit hole. It sucks that this woman got herself and her dad killed. Watching the blancolirio videos about the crash where he played two of her recent videos, even to me who knows little, I feel she had no business flying without more instruction and far better instruction and a much greater fear of the consequences.

It boggles my mind that she would try to use the autopilot when she thought it was broken, didn't bother to learn more about it, and actually asked her non pilot dad to help her fly when she was struggling. That sounds categorically insane to me.

It seems like she didn't spend the time understanding her autopilot system. And from all the airplane disaster shows I've seen, quite a few catastrophes are due to poor understanding of aircraft functions.

It also sounds like she didn't have a firm grasp on the most fundamental aspects of aviation. Just from flying RC planes and doing a little reading I know that a plane with a high angle of attack that is losing airspeed and not climbing is in danger of an aerodynamic stall and needs power added or angle of attack reduced or both.

Which all goes to say that, from what I can tell, anyone wanting to get into flying better be very serious about learning how to avoid common mistakes, prevent getting in over your head, and make sure you truly understand basics and how to fly the airplane. It seems it can be as safe or dangerous as you make it?