On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 7:40 AM, Mats Henrikson <[email protected]> wrote:
> > and Kiwis are much more easy-going than the > French/Germans/Americans. Yes, but only by a small margin. My experience of flying in both places is somewhat limited, but here's a sample. France. Pre-flight checks limited to: Make sure that wine is in plastic bottles and not glass ones with corks. Front seat passengers don't get oxygen, so they can smoke. Instructors have to do all their smoking before take-off. Normally 2 - 3 hastily smoked cigs before climbing in. A walk around is done, with waggling of control surfaces and a lot of "Sheet"s and "Merde"s. Student pilots are shown not only how to wear a parachute, but how to use it... more or less. (This is remarkable, because I have never seen anyone in Oz tell a student or passenger what to do with a parachute.. probably for obvious reasons.) No obvious checks in the cockpit other than a fairly furious waggling of the stick and stamping on the rudder which makes sure that if full control stick deflections were impeded in any way, they were not after the check. No release check. (I did several release checks for visiting foreign pilots who felt better having done this.) A routine radio call, but no other instrument checks. Audio vario is not used (??) Perhaps because you can see where you are and see if you are going up or down. New Zealand. Pre-flight checks limited to: "Want a fly in the Blinik?" (Answer yes to flying, no to maintenance). My walk around appears to be an unnecessary delay to take off. Like the French, very rapid launches with efficient tugs and ground crew. Once in the cockpit… "I'm Ok... You OK bro?" Once the aircraft are rolling… "We're getting a but near the fince" (I had seen the fence coming a bit close to the wing tip and could translate.) "Who is steering? You or me?" "You mate, I've got the dog in here with me." Chaotic? Cockput chicks are your friend. Be nice to them :-)
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