The thread formally known as the P-39 vs. ze Germans thread.

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In the way back when, in my province, if you took your road test in an automatic, your drivers licence had a restriction on it..."Automatic Only"

That is how it still is in Germany today. My German license does not have that restriction because I took my lessons and test in a manual. Most people over there still drive manuals anyhow.
 
B.C., almost in the middle. Hoping to move south shortly, out of snow(what its doing at the moment) and back into the rain

You want rain? Come down here to coastal Louisiana. It rains everydamn day, and the temps are still in the 80's.

As a matter of fact I will trade you. I miss the snow...
 
Kevin,
When I turned 14 I was driving a 1961 4-spd. Volkswagon.
When I turned 15 I was driving a 1964 3-spd on the tree
Valiant station wagon. When I went to drivers-ed at 15.5
I had to have them show me how to drive an automatic.o_O:eek::oops::rolleyes:

True story, Jeff:)
Ah the Valiant with the 3 on the tree. We had one of those on the family for like 35 years till my grandfather finally sold it. I'd wager that thing is still out there somewhere chugging along.
 
Driving on the "wrong" side of the road for example in NZ, biggest obstacle was turn signals and wipers. Stay there long enough and reverse mirrored issue wipers and turn signals occurred. In aircraft with sticks vis wheels one has to not rely on mechanical stick and throttle responses. This also applies to flying from a left or right seat in a crew served aircraft, a different experience...

Somewhere along the way I managed to accumulate about 23,000 hours of flight time, some 10,000 of that as a 747 captain, but also a lot of Alaska bush flying. As a hobby I also have done the simulator flight dynamics for many aircraft large and small. A lot of which I was able to fly, some not. Simulator can indeed help one master a lot of flight control issues, particularly instrument flying. Having flown "jellypoppers" in FSX a lot I found that the skill actually did transfer well to real helicopters. I believe the gent who stole the Q400 from SEA probably had flight simmed it previously. Quite realistic aircraft are available with regards to procedures. My first time flying in a 747-400 was as a captain sitting in the left seat, of course after six weeks of intensive trading at Boeing. That said i had previously been a 747-200 driver, but the planes are quite different.
 
In aircraft with sticks vis wheels one has to not rely on mechanical stick and throttle responses.
I found the trick is to not get too seat sedentary. Nearly half my flight time was in the right (or in the case of stick-and-rudder machines, the back), either as CFI or FO. Even when flying the line, I was still getting some stick time in ragwings and gliders whenever duty time allowed. Keeps the brain engaged.
Can't imagine flying long haul and getting only one landing a day, maybe. We used to do 8 -14.
A friend used to fly a 747 Newark-London back in the day, and he said he couldn't stay current without the simulator. Not enough approaches, landings, or IMC time. He also said there was no challenge in landing it, except in high crosswords.
BTW, welcome aboard the haha hotel! Lotta good eggs around here, even if we do get a bit cantankerous at times.
Cheers,
Wes
 
if you took your road test in an automatic, your drivers licence had a restriction on it..."Automatic Only"
Take your flight test in a Mixmaster, and your license says "Multi engine land, centerline thrust only".
Driver Ed teaches only in automatics these days, then the kids' first cars are old 4wd pickups or Jeeps, and they're instant road hazards. Everybody should be taught and tested ONLY on manual transmissions. Bar none. If they can't hack it, they don't belong on the road at all. When they lose it with their juggernaut machine, someone else is usually the victim.
Cheers,
Wes
 
Kevin,
When I turned 14 I was driving a 1961 4-spd. Volkswagon.
When I turned 15 I was driving a 1964 3-spd on the tree
Valiant station wagon. When I went to drivers-ed at 15.5
I had to have them show me how to drive an automatic.o_O:eek::oops::rolleyes:

True story, Jeff:)
Gear sticks are so much more fun.
 
Yes agree. The more gears the better. Thats why I love my rigs with a 13 speed. ( they kinda suck in heavy traffic though);)
I do taxi at the moment, I prefer sports saloons for the work. Current one does 150 mph, but never tried it. 2 Litres with air con on full kills the acceleration above 70 mph, but you've still got plenty of it at lower speeds. You can jump gears too while accelerating.
 
Gear banging is way more fun than automatics, that said, my caddies have the manual automatic shifter, push it to the side and you get to bang gears... sort of, still fun though.

First car was a 1969 Chevelle with a four speed and a rebuilt 350 (5.7L) V8. She was six years old at the time in Michigan so, yeah, some rust, metallic blue with black top and interior, Cragar mags and Positraction, spent all the money I made over the summer between Junior and Senior years in HS. My uncle helped me rebuild the engine and tranny, it may not have been the fastest car in town, but it didn't lose too many arguments at the stoplight.

Kinda wish I still had it, be worth a pretty penny nowadays.
 
Driving on the "wrong" side of the road for example in NZ, biggest obstacle was turn signals and wipers. Stay there long enough and reverse mirrored issue wipers and turn signals occurred. In aircraft with sticks vis wheels one has to not rely on mechanical stick and throttle responses. This also applies to flying from a left or right seat in a crew served aircraft, a different experience...

Interestingly, some right hand drive cars sold in Australia and New Zealand used the exact same steering columns, with wiper and indicator controls, so the same thing could happen to local drivers when they got into unfamiliar vehicles.
 
Yes agree. The more gears the better. Thats why I love my rigs with a 13 speed. ( they kinda suck in heavy traffic though);)

First piece of heavy equipment I ran was an off-highway 1967 Pacific P-10 gravel truck, 24 speed: 6 on the main and 4 aux. Backing up in reverse and 4th was scary fast. Not mine......

upload_2018-10-12_7-27-41.png
 
Interestingly, some right hand drive cars sold in Australia and New Zealand used the exact same steering columns, with wiper and indicator controls, so the same thing could happen to local drivers when they got into unfamiliar vehicles.
Pretty much European vs Asian cars. European usually have indicators on the left, wipers on the right; Japanese have wipers on the left, indicators on the right.
 
First piece of heavy equipment I ran was an off-highway 1967 Pacific P-10 gravel truck, 24 speed: 6 on the main and 4 aux. Backing up in reverse and 4th was scary fast. Not mine......

That looks EXACTLY like a 10 wheel dump I used to drive at a block plant I hauled out of back when I had my own rig in the early 2000s. Only the color is different. I owned a cabover freightliner and a 40 foot flatbed and I was friends with the owner of the company. It was my main account and they let me park my rig there. When things got slow and there were no loads to haul I'd load there old dump truck up with a cat 966 frontloader they had( load it with the reject block that didn't come out right) and haul it about a quarter mile away to a dumpsite. Both the loader and that old dump truck were truly on there last legs.
 
Take your flight test in a Mixmaster, and your license says "Multi engine land, centerline thrust only".
Driver Ed teaches only in automatics these days, then the kids' first cars are old 4wd pickups or Jeeps, and they're instant road hazards. Everybody should be taught and tested ONLY on manual transmissions. Bar none. If they can't hack it, they don't belong on the road at all. When they lose it with their juggernaut machine, someone else is usually the victim.
Cheers,
Wes

Hello XBe02Drvr,
I would have to disagree with you on this point.
If you are trying to reduce the number of people that are qualified to drive, then this is an option, but I don't see it as being a particularly useful approach to teaching or testing.
You gave a specific example of a kid learning on an automatic and then inheriting something with a manual transmission.
The problem as I see it is that when one is learning to drive, there are too many sensory inputs and there isn't the experience to sort them out or know where to look for potential problems. Adding a manual transmission to the mix would not help things.
When they know the basics of navigating in traffic and can do it without white knuckles, then it makes sense to add something new.

Both my kids learned on regular sedans provided by the High School Driver Ed program. Considering where they were when they started "Behind the wheel", I don't think anyone teaching driving these days could afford to replace all the transmissions they would have busted when learning. Even after the kids pass their driving test, they are still quite dangerous for a while.

My Daughter is probably more typical of the kids in our area. She learned to drive about two years ago and now drives one of the family's mini vans. Most of her friends have more interesting cars or little econo boxes. My Son passed his driving test a month or two ago and will be getting his license at the end of this year.

I believe that my own introduction to manual transmissions was a pretty good one.
About a year after I got my license, my Dad bought a German 2000cc Capri for $200 and used it to teach me how to drive a manual. He knew the area around his workplace pretty well and picked the streets with the worst hills for me to learn on. There were a few times there was smoke coming from underneath when I was mishandling the clutch, but eventually I learned. It was a great little car. Not much for power but it handled well. Unfortunately my Dad sold it while I was off at College.

- Ivan.
 
Hello XBe02Drvr,
I would have to disagree with you on this point.
If you are trying to reduce the number of people that are qualified to drive, then this is an option, but I don't see it as being a particularly useful approach to teaching or testing.
You gave a specific example of a kid learning on an automatic and then inheriting something with a manual transmission.
The problem as I see it is that when one is learning to drive, there are too many sensory inputs and there isn't the experience to sort them out or know where to look for potential problems. Adding a manual transmission to the mix would not help things.
When they know the basics of navigating in traffic and can do it without white knuckles, then it makes sense to add something new.

Both my kids learned on regular sedans provided by the High School Driver Ed program. Considering where they were when they started "Behind the wheel", I don't think anyone teaching driving these days could afford to replace all the transmissions they would have busted when learning. Even after the kids pass their driving test, they are still quite dangerous for a while.

My Daughter is probably more typical of the kids in our area. She learned to drive about two years ago and now drives one of the family's mini vans. Most of her friends have more interesting cars or little econo boxes. My Son passed his driving test a month or two ago and will be getting his license at the end of this year.

I believe that my own introduction to manual transmissions was a pretty good one.
About a year after I got my license, my Dad bought a German 2000cc Capri for $200 and used it to teach me how to drive a manual. He knew the area around his workplace pretty well and picked the streets with the worst hills for me to learn on. There were a few times there was smoke coming from underneath when I was mishandling the clutch, but eventually I learned. It was a great little car. Not much for power but it handled well. Unfortunately my Dad sold it while I was off at College.

- Ivan.

Funny, my first car was a '76 Capri with the 2.8. The 2 liter engine was a great motor, lots of mods available and could be built quite strong.

Cheers,
Biff
 

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