@DanHulme I know. I deleted it. My phone does weird things with cut/paste sometimes. I was talking about where the airline didn't want to expose the passengers to inconvenience
@TomMcW Well, heading to the doc today to get some meds (other methods weren't working). Guess it's a good thing I'm "content" with a SPL, because starting this afternoon a PPL is right out.
One of these days they'll revamp their policies, right? Right!?
@JayCarr I hope they'll come to their senses someday. We need to have a million-pilot march on Washington! Actually it would have to be million-prospective-pilot march. If you've already got a ppl the new rules work just fine. Glad you're on, I was just about to ask you an adhd question
@ymb1 if you already have a valid 3rd class med it never expires. You have to go to your regular doc every 4 years and watch an online video every 2 years. No more AME after you pass your first medical
@ymb1 The problem JayCarr and I have is that they have an absolute ban on a whole bunch of common medications. And in my case, the way it's written it says "any history of...," so the ban is permanent, even if I get off of the offending medications. I can never be eligible for a ppl just because I take a couple of meds for depression
@ymb1 It's overkill. Plus, if you fly for a living and you get depressed you have 3 choices: either lie to the ame (felony), go untreated (unsafe), or lose your career (unfair).
@TomMcW Egypt follows EASA (Europe), but with a local sprinkle of BS. civilian medial is done thru the air force, so there goes the light tower test for a color blind, there's no such thing as VFR, best thing is CVFR (controlled VFR), and mostly it's in two remote airports where you stay within 5 nm of the airport, plus costing an arm and a leg for the license, and on the annoying level of things, a PPL pilot must always wear a uniform
@TomMcW even when Carolann visited egypt coupla years ago, her coverall with the sponsors wasn't allowed, she had to change into a uniform with epaulets
@TomMcW I have no idea what Solar Impulse went through to land in Cairo, I can only imagine...
@TomMcW reasoning? there is no reasoning, anything can be shoved under the umbrella of national security. as if "spying" would require flying a GA plane in class G. Google Earth exists FFS :D
@TomMcW first rail road in the region, even before the U.S., first airport/airline in the region, including seaports in the Nile river, and we've only been going backwards since the 1950's
@ymb1 Is the military still in charge of the govt there? I remember it went back and forth for a bit, but Syria and Iraq have dominated our international news over here since then
@TomMcW another mysterious thing for us on VATSIM and even for real pilots, Cairo doesn't have SIDs or STARs, when they were implemented, immediately they were NOTAM'ed suspended, until the procedures were removed... explain that :D
@TomMcW lol, sure you can ask any you want. And yes, they need a more common sense approach to medications. It should be all about proving that you are functional when treated and making sure that that treatment is monitored. I have no problem with having to prove to any and everyone that I'm okay to fly, I just wish they'd give me the chance.
@ymb1 Out of curiosity, would you say it's a good thing or a bad thing? The American media has an opinion, but I don't really trust them if I'm honest.
@JayCarr lesser of two evils is still not good if you ask me, what's the US media's opinion? I get both CNN and fox news here on TV but can't stomach either lol, prefer sky news or BBC
@ymb1 To be fair, there wasn't so much a stated opinion so much as it was really very interesting that there wasn't much commentary on it. They didn't like that the Muslim Brotherhood was moving into power, I remember that. When the military took back over it was kind of like the media all shrugged and moved on.
I think they are used to the idea of Egypt being governed by the military, and that military being friendly to the US. So they kind of accept that as the de factor standard, no matter how much the citizens of Egypt might object, and move on.
To be fair...the American media is really good at doing this sort of thing. I guess covering Branjolinas divorce is easier than delving into human rights abuses the world over... </rant>
@ymb1 It's what happens when you let the bottom line drive what you cover. Now we have boutique news sources that will cater to whatever worldview you find the most pleasant...
Which is why the only "news" program I ever liked was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Didn't always agree with him, but I liked that he spent a lot of time bashing the news, and I liked that he never made any bones about the fact that his shows was, primarily, an entertainment venture.
These days when I want news I just read quasi-academic journals for in depth news analysis (CFR, Foreign Affairs) and do my best to take a sampling of different outlets when anything big happens domestically.
...anyway, I'm tired. Sorry for the news rant. I'm just feeling very "rambly" this morning.
@ymb1 Strong arming something healthy, that you don't want, down your throat sounds vaguely like Trump...except for the "healthy" part. Shoving it down your throat though, yeah.
This all reminds me that I need to do some more research into my local candidates. Probably is more pertinent to me anyway.
Just easy to get caught up in the national race with all the coverage it gets.
@TomMcW Yeah, I'm trying to look for things that are differentiating them instead. I figure there are two things I can count on from Missouri reps. 1) They love guns, 2) they don't believe in spending money on anything (which is great...unless we actually need something.)
It'd be nice to find someone with a bit more common sense about purchasing, but I'm not sure how I'd figure that out without knowing the person and being very familiar with their history inside and outside of government.
@ymb1 You ought to see it, it's a spectacle to behold. Both candidates for governor have made commercials with assault rifles. One of them shows himself shooting like he's Rambo and the other one has a commercial where he disassembles and resembles a rifle in 30 seconds blindfolded
@TomMcW @JayCarr here it's almost impossible to get a gun, but there's an unwritten law in upper egypt (southern egypt), where rifles for protecting land is de facto for the rural areas, the government just doesn't bother even when there's an ongoing blood feud say between two families. Let me get a source:
@TomMcW @JayCarr Theoretically, a murderer can be pardoned by the family of the victim by crossing the village barefoot with a shroud on his head that he will then proceed to place at the feet of the head of the rival family as a gesture of apology (AFP 12 June 2003) So... yeah there's that
In Afghanistan, as I recall, you can be excused from killing someone if a member of the victims family forgives you. So if you kill someone in your own family, then demand another family member forgive you...... Yeah, not so great.
@JayCarr well, my opinion on gun control in the US from what I see, it's pointless in major urban areas to have guns, and I find it okay say in Montana or Alaska, where law enforcement is miles away and there's wild life as well to contend with
@JayCarr so maybe there can be on city-size-basis kinda law to please everyone
@ymb1 The difficulty is that if you allow certain kinds of guns to be purchased in one area, they tend to make their way into areas where they are not allowed. Keep in mind, it's impossible to really control customers, they'll buy what they want if they can find it. Controlling sellers is the only real option.
If none of them are allowed to sell weapons that are being banned, you may have a chance of taking that weapon type out of circulatino.
I should note, I'm not for banning all kinds of weapons. But I do think it would be sensible to remove the weapons that are doing the most damage (basically, conceilable handguns.)
@ymb1 Yeah, that plays into what I'm saying. Having a pistol you can hide in your pocket that has 12 bullets in a semi-auto configuration... Is a bit dangerous if you have anger managment problems.
I have no problem with people owning rifles or shotguns for hunting/home defense.
But conceilable weapons are used in the vast majority of murders so.....
@JayCarr he also talks about Australia, where there is a total gun ban, an assault rifle reaches 12K on the black market, so if u already saved 12K, you really don't need crime
@ymb1 Yup, extremely sensible. I wish people here in the states understood the difference between the impossible (banning all guns) and the practical (just making it super hard to get a gun.)
You can't get ride of all gun related violence (at least not easily, not in the US), but you can reduce it. And I think that's a worth goal.
But the issue has become super didactic over here, so people are having a hard time finding that middle ground.
@ymb1 Reminds me of a video my brother posted on Facebook. This guy barges into an office ready to shoot everyone. Only, he's got a mystery. Takes one shot that misses then pulls out wadding and gunpowder and a ball and a ramrod. Meanwhile the office empties
What's also funny is that people seem to forget that we already have a lot of weapons restrictions. You can't just go out and buy a .50 machine gun, for example. There are a lot of restrictions on weaponry you can and can't buy. People who advocate gun rights aren't actually advocating full gun freedom, they are advocating stasis.
@TomMcW I certainly hope it is, because it's what they're giving me. We're going to call it Concerta instead of Meth or Speed. But a rose by any other name...
@ymb1 I already spoke with them regarding psychiatric meds, their response was "We don't advocate for any medicatiosn to the FAA" to which I responded "Glad i don't have a membership then."
The AOPA is useful for many things, don't get me wrong. This just isn't one of them.
In the meantime I'm using a very careful reading of the rules surrounding a Sports Pilots license to allow myself to get that. The FAA has explained that you can get an SPL, even with a medical condition, so long as you and your doctor agree that you are safe to fly (and provided you have not failed a 3rd class medical.)
So, you know, I can still buy an LSA and go zipping around the countryside. I'm a little bummed that 3+ seaters are off the table and that I can't get an IFR, but I'll survive.
@TomMcW Yeah, but I'm one of those rule following weirdos. I'd just end up self reporting. Besides, I'd rather follow the rules so that I have a leg to stand on when I request changes.
@ymb1 Yeah, and they have started to take some steps forward. They recently started okaying certain kinds of depression medications for example. So there's still hope.
It's especially odd that ADHD meds are not allowed though. Pilots have been using them for years. They're called "Go Pills", I believe the Airforce still hands them out to pilots on extremely long missions. I know they were used all the time in WWII.
@JayCarr I'm not even sure I could get away with "forgetting" to mention anything. For years I had to have a DOT physical and I had to get a letter from my doc each time showing my diagnoses. FAA being part of DOT, wouldn't want to gamble on how well they check records
And I had no problem with that at all. I was taking a sched II controlled substance and a seizure med. They needed to document that I wasn't abusing drugs or driving around with a seizure disorder. That makes sense
@JayCarr I'll b ok with an spl. The fbo has C162's to rent. As soon as I can drum up some $$. Unfortunately I have to replace my car, so that's eating up my chances this year
@JayCarr I'm not sure how many spl students are out there, but there's got to be more people in the same boat as we are with the meds being so common. And maybe the faa will eventually come along
@TomMcW There are rumors that they are considering raising the aircraft weight for SPL and also allowing for 4 passengers instead of 2.
If that all happens, I think a lot more people will be interested in an SPL as well.
In fact if they did raise the weight limit to about 1800, the speed limit to roughly 150mph and the passenger limit to 4, I don't think I'd ever want a PPL.
Yeah, a low powered one. I think that would be the good balance.
So, that would be 2500MTOW (roughly), 140mph, 4 place.
Though I kind of wonder if they should just push for 2000MTOW, just to encourage the industry to make some more modern airframes.
I mean, the LSA manufacturing standards are actually pretty smart, it would be nice to see if they can bring some cost reduction to a 4 place, 2000MTOW aircraft.
If you could buy one of those, new, for around $120,000 (For a bare bones sort of plane) that'd be cool.
@JayCarr What I was wanting to ask you about earlier is if you use our know of any specific technique to prevent seeing what you expect to see rather than what's truly there. For example, if you're doing a checklist and for the last 400 times you've looked at the oil pressure and it's fine. So now when I look at it I expect to see a good reading. Sometimes that overrides what you actually see.
Did it just this morning with one of my deliveries. Caught the error before I walked off, but nonetheless. That could get you killed in an airplane
@TomMcW If I have a checklist that I must follow, I read it outloud to myself and answer myself outloud.
It also helps, if I'm inspecting something, if I touch it.
Basically, I get the process out of my head and into the real world as much as possible.
For what it's worth, there are a lot of coping techniques you can learn by seeing a good counselor. It's what I'm doing these days...
Another thing that might help is forcing yourself to make a comment about it that is completely off the cuff.
So, rather than just saying "check" say something about how it looks that you've never said before.
Say "check, and the needle is a line." or "check, and the dial has a red band on it" or something.
If you force yourself to observe something new, it will help you pull your mind out into the real world.
I actually use that trick for reading.
I always use a highlighter, but rarely to highlight important things. I just highlight the most interesting sentence in any given paragraph. That way I have to pay attention to what I'm reading for the sole purpose of just figuring out what sentence was the best.
Basically I'm just shortening the dopemine cycle since, you know, delayed pleasure and ADHD don't get along very well.
I'm hoping I won't need these so much after I start on meds though.
@JayCarr I sometimes get into trouble with my downwind checks if my workload is high because I stop saying the names of things and just prod them with my finger, "that's good, that's good, that's good"
@TomMcW Do what you need to do. If there's anything life has taught me up to this point it's that letter peer pressure scare me from my coping devices is just a recipe for disaster. People who don't like how I cope (so long as I'm not being obnoxious) can go stuff themselves.
@DanHulme Weirdly enough, high workload would probably reduce my error rate. It's the routine things that get me. Thinking I've checked when I haven't really
@TomMcW Things that are boring are almost always the problem for me too. New exciting things really get my attention, routine stuff.... Eh. Again, hoping the meds will help with this.
I'm more worried about being a 200 hour pilot, frankly, than a new one.
@DanHulme In driver training at work we always have to do a "commentary." You basically just drive but say out loud everything you see and think. When I feel I'm not doing so well, like if I'm tired or something, I'll start doing commentary to myself and it helps me re-focus
It's basically for the reason you're talking about. The instructor can't really tell what you're paying attention to. (Although he's not sitting in front of me like yours is)
@DanHulme lol, ah, that's what you mean by "get into trouble" you mean "get into trouble with the instructor who can't see what I'm doing", but you're still getting the list done.
I admit, if I had to fall back, I'd probably fall back to just touching things as well even if I can't remember the correct noun.
@JayCarr That's something I do for myself, though. Pretend as if someone else is there with me and I have to explain what I'm doing. But I often do things like this morning. I deliver a small white box of meds to house #9 three times a week. But this morning I didn't have #9. Instead, a similar white box was going to #6. I had already rung the bell at #9 before I caught it. I was expecting to see a 9 so that's what I saw
@TomMcW Well, do keep in mind, this happens to people who are non-ADHD sometimes too. I mean, I assume this is the first time something like this has happened in a while?
Since we have so many tornados I'm going to petition the Kansas state legislature to change our nickname to "The Vortex Ring State." Much cooler than "The Sunflower State"