kelldragon

So, I officially have my first student that I think will never, EVER make it as a pilot. The kid's got the drive to do it, but he doesn't have the mental capacity or the skill. Flying around yesteday with him was the first time I've ever thought "Holy Christ, I'm gonna die in a flaming ball of tin on I-20!" I had to take the controls from him a minimum of three times to save our lives. When we got on the ground (much sooner than I had orginally planned before taking off) I had to ask him, "Where the hell was your brain today?" He had no clue what I was talking about and thought he had done just fine.

So, I proceeded to draw out on a dry erase board the multiple near death experiences of the afternoon. Almost hit another plane because he was staring at the pretty runway? Check. Got too slow and about stalled us into falling out of the sky at about 400 feet above the ground? Check. Overcompensated for previous problem and almost nose dived us into a Whattaburger? Yep.

Also, he was flying the plane like John Wayne in some airplane disaster movie. He had both hand on the yoke in a death grip (anyone that wants to go flying with me, I'll show you the correct way to fly, and that ain't it), and was moving it side to side the whole time. I had to ask him "Um, why are we weaving?" It's more of a visual thing, so it's tough to explain here.....

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to tell this guy "Sorry, I don't think flying's for you. You're gonna get yourself killed and more than likely take a couple of people with you." Haven't quiet figured out a better way to tell him other than "You're too retarded to fly." I'd like to chalk it up to slow learning, and I would if he didn't already have close to 100 hours in airplanes.