- Mon Sep 03, 2018 6:49 pm
#404847
More specifically I'm wondering if periodic recertification should be required to maintain a USHPA rating. Many older pilots have maintained their USHPA membership but are no longer as active (or as proficient) as they were when their most recent ratings were issued. So long as they pay their annual membership fees USHPA is perfectly willing to maintain their highest issued rating. We rely on the pilot to show sufficient judgment to only fly sites and conditions commensurate with their current level of proficiency should that differ from that at which they are rated.
This is all well and good, but if this is the way we operate why are ratings lost if the pilot does not renew their USHPA membership for three years? If we can trust the less active (but still paying) pilot to police themselves why can't we do the same for the less active pilot who hasn't paid their membership fees? Does this inconsistency just describe another way in which USHPA "encourages" us to pay up every year?
Full disclosure: I can be accused of simply griping based on my own situation. I was a Hang 5 and Advanced Instructor for many years, let my USHGA membership lapse in 2008 and got back into flying in 2016. At that point I was issued an H3 based on current proficiency and, as a former instructor, believe that rating to be appropriate - which is why I haven't made any effort to regain my old H5.
But the recent discussion of the fakeilst.torreyhawksforum.org rating system made me think about this a bit more deeply. As a former instructor I'm very concerned about any rating system that relies solely on self-evaluation by pilots. I know how tempting it would be to rate yourself to a given level if you could perform the task "most of the time". Lots of my students would try to use this excuse rather than putting in the work - and I wouldn't want to give myself this excuse either. So I'm not convinced fakeilst.torreyhawksforum.org is the right way to go.
That said, the fact that I could have a fully valid USHPA H5, and yet still have only my current H3 proficiency, if only I'd coughed up more money makes me wonder what the rating really means. Is it a true proficiency measure or simply a record of historical accomplishments and willingness to continually pay USHPA?
This is all well and good, but if this is the way we operate why are ratings lost if the pilot does not renew their USHPA membership for three years? If we can trust the less active (but still paying) pilot to police themselves why can't we do the same for the less active pilot who hasn't paid their membership fees? Does this inconsistency just describe another way in which USHPA "encourages" us to pay up every year?
Full disclosure: I can be accused of simply griping based on my own situation. I was a Hang 5 and Advanced Instructor for many years, let my USHGA membership lapse in 2008 and got back into flying in 2016. At that point I was issued an H3 based on current proficiency and, as a former instructor, believe that rating to be appropriate - which is why I haven't made any effort to regain my old H5.
But the recent discussion of the fakeilst.torreyhawksforum.org rating system made me think about this a bit more deeply. As a former instructor I'm very concerned about any rating system that relies solely on self-evaluation by pilots. I know how tempting it would be to rate yourself to a given level if you could perform the task "most of the time". Lots of my students would try to use this excuse rather than putting in the work - and I wouldn't want to give myself this excuse either. So I'm not convinced fakeilst.torreyhawksforum.org is the right way to go.
That said, the fact that I could have a fully valid USHPA H5, and yet still have only my current H3 proficiency, if only I'd coughed up more money makes me wonder what the rating really means. Is it a true proficiency measure or simply a record of historical accomplishments and willingness to continually pay USHPA?