Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You have a whole lot more PIC time than I ever will and you have the skills and quals to have built your C177.
You have also had plenty of exposure to high performance aircraft in the course of you vocation.
Do you think that you could just step into one of these aircraft and fly it?
I know I couldn't.
For all of the guy's inexperience, he did operate this big, fast, heavy aircraft under control for quite a long time.
I find it hard to believe that he had no experience as a pilot.
Without some level of instruction, observation or sim time, it would be impossible to be instantly competent, to step in and fly, as you say. Aircraft specific things need to be known. Could I start and fly it, of course, given enough time to follow the checklist and find switches. Would I? Not a chance, I know my limitations and I am not qualified.
Conversely, our PC-12/47 turboprop is a cinch to operate, and has a far more complex cockpit. I get to fly it occasionally.
Most modern aircraft have somewhat similar start procedures, depending on whether there is an electric starter motor or an air powered starter. And most engines are FADEC (digital engine controls) today, which provide risk free starting and operation.
Some aircraft, like the Gulfstream G650ER, have at least a few "secret handshakes" that prevent unqualified people from ever getting past the engine start. Fly by wire flight controls won't work unless certain things are known. Nor will pressurization, airspeed indication and altitude displays function unless proper procedure is followed. A Gulfstream GIV pilot cannot walk into a G650 and fly it.
