Hey guys I was gona call the AMA today but ran out of time.

Is there any qualifications or anything like that that's needed to take someone up at the club?

Reason I'm asking is the so-called instructor at the field keeps crashing my friends plane. He totally sucks. Don't get me wrong he's an extremely nice guy and I like him and I'm grateful for everything he's doing for everyone in the club but his flying skills are seriously lacking. My neighbor's son is 16 and is pretty decent at flying but he's not certified by the club to fly by himself yet. I feel he's pretty comfortable with me but the guy that is teaching him told me that I can't take him up because I'm not certified through the AMA. Is this true or is he just BSing us?

Sounds like BS,but who knows anymore.What are the chances of the buddy box cops catching you anyways.

All depends on your club’s by-laws and how you handle it locally. There’s no AMA certification per se, it’s only an endorsement on your membership card that designates you as an intro pilot. Usually people are asked to be instructors by club leadership if they show a good attitude towards learning and proficient piloting skills. No course that I know of or exam that you have to pass. So you should be ok to take him up as long as there isn’t a stipulation in your club rules.

When I was instructing, buddy boxes were just coming into use. When I was learning, we played, pass the radio. You didnt screw up too much, them days. But we were also flying nitro airplanes and also at 400' altitude!

But, anywhos, when the instructor feels confident in your skills, is basically when you were signed off, flying solo, on your own etc... I would even go as far as killing the engine, and having the student do a dead stick landing. He never knew it was coming. Shock n awe!! Then subsquent flights after, I would keep an eye on the student for 2 weeks or so, andlet them have at it!

Thanks guy that's what I figured I never heard of it either.

I'll look into the bylaws and ask the president if I ever catch up with him.

The "Intro Pilot" thing on your AMA card allows you to take up people who aren't yet AMA members and still be insured. If the student has AMA, then it just depends on the local club rules.

Be careful though, if you started buddy boxing like that at our club, we'd start asking you to train other new members.

Out here in Western SD. I just go to a local abandoned Soccer field and start inst. I have the AMA Intro Pilot status So I have my students get an AMA Membership while we are on the wireless buddy system, Local Club has to many needless rules