What benchmark defines an experienced pilot?

[dronerdave]

I'm sure the OP means only drone flying.

Yeah I agree. I could be wrong but to add, I'm thinking the poll is about typical DJI stabilized drone platforms.

I think the term "experienced" incorporates several factors of operation, some of which overlap. You can be good at some parts and suck at others and still be experienced. Also while a majority of RC pilots might be highly rated in different categories when flying a typical DJI drone, they might never be able to fly something like a racing drone for a number of reasons. I've never applied for a waiver so I'm lacking in that category to be considered proficient in that aspect but am somewhat experienced in flying my equipment.

 

[Chaosrider]

I voted for 50 but, for drones, it's probably fewer. These aren't airplanes, modern drones require FAR less skill and knowledge to effectively and safely fly.

True enough, all of my bonehead crashes were when I had under about a dozen hours. Maybe under 10 hours.

I have about 75 hrs of drone time now, and while I'm certainly experienced compared to a newb, I fell like I've got more to learn before I would define myself as "experienced" in a general sense.

Of course, all the new things I'm having to learn with my FPV probably influences that impression on my part!

I'm going to stick with my 100 hrs for general definition of experienced.

Now that I'm able to fly a lot, six times on one day this weekend, my skill level is increasingly rapidly. It was the same way when I was learning to fly airplanes, when I could do a lot of flying in a short period of time, my skill level increased at an accelerated rate.

 

[mcarlsen111]

I'm with you Chaosrider, I'm sure the OP means only drone flying.

I agree with your assumption, but we all know where that gets us...I realize this was an innocent poll/post, but I have to throw this out there because I see this attitude throughout the aviation industry.

Anyone can pass a multiple choice test and figure out how to fly, heck the part 103 sector doesn't even require a certification or training nor are required to report a crash, you can fly under 254lb with lawnmower and crash it anywhere you want. There are many pilots with lots of flight hours that couldn't explain the definition of density altitude or AGL vs MSL. Flight time doesn't make them experienced, how they demonstrate piloting, proficiency and knowledge does. The fact that there is no remote pilot proficiency standards or flight test should be evidence of the eventual push into part 103 and to move the rest of commercial ops to standard pilot proficiency testing and requirements. I would argue that there wouldn't even be half of the waiver/exemptions if there were flight tests and proficiency training. The hazardous attitude of not considering a UAV an aircraft is not a safe piloting attitude. Piloting is held to a standard of proficiency, knowledge and recurrent proficiency assessments by other pilots. The lack of this has led to statements such as drones shouldn't be considered aircraft which is a very hazardous statement to proliferate in my perspective. Obviously, this is my interpretation of what piloting means to me, but it was instilled by pilots that are passionate about being a good pilots.

 

[Chaosrider]

4 years flying without a crash with two different drones.

That's pretty impressive. How much flight time did you put in during that period?

With my first little low-end trainer, a Snaptain S5C, it seemed that all it knew how to do was crash, unless the wind was completely dead calm, which doesn't happen here often. It eventually was Gone With The Wind, not to be seen for 10 months!

I got the DJI Care Refresh with all of my Minis, except the Mini-1, which I bought used a couple of months ago. I never crashed on purpose, but I did decide that I would learn faster if I didn't obsess about crashing. So I crashed a few times, and learned really fast.

After that initial "Elon Mush Approved Training Regime", which was fast and intense, I haven't had to send a drone to the hospital in almost a year.

A good trade, from my perspective, but YMMV.

 

[Gringorio]

Aside from knowing the rules and technical aspects of the drones abilities, having 500 hours of flying from a driveway over fields and forests is quite different than say 200 hours flying through canyons, up and down mountain sides, from moving ships, in sketchy wind conditions to capture desired video/photos. Experience doesn't necessarily come from time, but also from rising to a challenge and knowing what to do when things don't go to plan.

 

[Chaosrider]

111: I agree with your assumption, but we all know where that gets us...I realize this was an innocent poll/post, but I have to throw this out there because I see this attitude throughout the aviation industry.

TCS: What attitude is that?

111, Quoting Chaosrider: Anyone can pass a multiple choice test and figure out how to fly, heck the part 103 sector doesn't even require a certification or training nor are required to report a crash, you can fly under 254lb with lawnmower and crash it anywhere you want. There are many pilots with lots of flight hours that couldn't explain the definition of density altitude or AGL vs MSL. Flight time doesn't make them experienced, how they...

TCS: I didn't say any of this. Must have been someone else.

 

[Chaosrider]

Aside from knowing the rules and technical aspects of the drones abilities, having 500 hours of flying from a driveway over fields and forests is quite different than say 200 hours flying through canyons, up and down mountain sides, from moving ships, in sketchy wind conditions to capture desired video/photos. Experience doesn't necessarily come from time, but also from rising to a challenge and knowing what to do when things don't go to plan.

Well, sure.

I fly from my driveway and back deck over forests, and through canyons, and up and down mountainsides, under sketchy wind conditions, because it's very cool! Oh yeah, I take vids too...

;-)

Sure it's different, but on average, it averages out. Which is fine for a poll that's not intended to have fine resolution.

Sometimes, details really just don't matter much...

 

[KLRSKIR]

I started flying manned aircraft back in the 1970's and when I earned my private pilot's certificate my check pilot told me "there, now you have a license to LEARN!" I was taken aback by her comment as I thought by then that I "knew it all." But she was absolutely correct. There's rarely a flight, airplane, drone or otherwise, that I don't gain valuable knowledge. The same can be said for flying drones, there is rarely a flight that I don't learn something new or different, so in my mind "experienced" means that the flight is conducted safely iaw all applicable FAA regulations and I land in one piece and caused no harm!

My wife is W.T. Piper's great great grand daughter. No words are more true in the Piper family! There is no way to post a vote in this poll.

 

[RussOnTheRoad]

I would say the question advances a false premise that a clear demarcation between experienced and inexperienced exists at a certain number of hours of flight time. In reality the level of experience is a continuum with any demarcation between experienced and inexperienced being of necessity rather an arbitrary and artificial distinction. 50 hours of experience is 50 hours of experience, 100 is 100, etc. and that's all.

 

[LA 2020]

How much flight time should a pilot have to be considered "experienced"?

The problem with this poll is there are different levels of experience. If you are Part 107 licensed and going to do commercial work, you must be a lot more experienced than someone flying for fun. Also, I think there are 2 different categories: flying the drone is one and videography is the other

 

[EpicFlight]

As the others had pointed out, this is not a simple question to answer.

One measure I think is very important is getting to the point where you have 1st person perspective in your flying… that means when the drone is flying toward you, you don't get confused and mix up left and right.

 

[skycam509]

According to DJI, I was in the 96th percentile for flight hours logged among DJI pilots worldwide last year. I feel like I'm still constantly learning. I try to learn something new any chance I get. I guess I feel fairly experienced, but I'm not sure there's any benchmark that determines that. I like the "lifelong student" analogy.

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

I really didn't mean to open such a huge can of worms. Everyone who has commented has valid points. I guess I should have asked how many hours do you feel "You" need to consider yourself an experienced pilot with the understanding it is a subjective opinion.

 

[Kilrah]

I guess I should have asked how many hours do you feel "You" need to consider yourself an experienced pilot with the understanding it is a subjective opinion.

The Dunning-Kruger effect would ensure that is the worst possible way to gauge the matter

 

[EpicFlight]

The Dunning-Kruger effect would ensure that is the worst possible way to gauge the matter

I have found the all-time, cosmic universal description of the internet:

"the effect [internet –EF] is explained by the fact that the metacognitive ability to recognize deficiencies in one’s own knowledge or competence requires that one possess at least a minimum level of the same kind of knowledge or competence, which those who exhibit the effect have not attained."​

​

Dunning-Kruger effect | Definition, Examples, & Facts

Dunning-Kruger effect, in psychology, a cognitive bias whereby people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of...

www.britannica.com

 

[Rich QR]

The issue is, two pilots might both have, say, 50 hours logged on their drones. One has 50 hours of varied experiences under his belt, with countless different lessons learned. The other has experienced the same half-hour flight 100 times.

 

[devellis]

It seems to me that experience and competence are two different things that need to be differentiated. if I fly a drone for 10 hours, I have 10 hours experience. How much competence do I have? That's an open question. I think experience can be quantified pretty easily while competence is tougher to assign a number. Some performance based criteria are necessary for quantifying competence. But experience, I think, is just time put in.

So the OP's question could perhaps be restated as, "how much experience is necessary to develop competence?" And, the answer, is "it all depends."

Motivation, type of experience, recency of experience, breadth of experience, repetition of skills, performance under varied circumstances, motor coordination, patience, risk aversion, inquisitiveness, expert instruction, feedback, and a host of other factors can all play a role in how experience translates into competence. if I repeatedly take off, hover until my battery gets low, and land for a total in-air time of 10 hours, I have 10 hours of of flight experience but very limited competence in the wide range of skills that are a part of drone flying. Someone who has hundreds of hours "flying" on a simulator and a couple of hours of actual flight would have only a fifth as much actual flight experience but might be far more competent. That is, given a set of flight tasks (e.g., flight control, obstacle avoidance, maneuverability, etc.), they might far outperform me. In this imaginary situation, I have more experience but the other gal or guy has more competence.

Under normal circumstances, competence will grow with experience. But they're not literlly the same thing.

 

[Chaosrider]

I would say the question advances a false premise that a clear demarcation between experienced and inexperienced exists at a certain number of hours of flight time. In reality the level of experience is a continuum with any demarcation between experienced and inexperienced being of necessity rather an arbitrary and artificial distinction. 50 hours of experience is 50 hours of experience, 100 is 100, etc. and that's all.

You're assuming a need for precision that vastly exceeds the intent of the poll.

Averages are meant to measure...averages. The fact that they don't accurately describe any individual sample element, is irrelevant.

It's about statistics, not the discrete data points. The higher the number data points, the more "accurate" the statistical conclusions will be.

 

[Rich QR]

I voted for 50 but, for drones, it's probably fewer. These aren't airplanes, modern drones require FAR less skill and knowledge to effectively and safely fly.

I think you're mostly right. A computerized, GPS equipped drone with IMU can be super easy to hover, or to move from one spot to another.

Until it suddenly doesn't behave the way you expect.

The very same automation that makes it so easy to fly will hide things from the pilot. It's easy to miss the effect of the wind while the autopilot can compensate for it, but that fact may increase a pilot's surprise when the wind becomes too strong for the autopilot to hide its effect.

The "crash and flyaway assistance" forum has plenty of stories that say something like "My drone has always behaved perfectly, until yesterday, when I took off and it suddenly spiraled away from me at high speed!" When everything's working right, it's easy to fly without understanding the coordination between the magnetic compass, IMU, GPS, and autopilot. But if the IMU is initialized in a magnetic field that causes the compass to have a heading that's way off, things will quickly spiral out of control when flight starts, and many pilots won't have a clue.

Similarly, the first time a pilot experiences ATTI mode can be quite a surprise.

For these situations, it's not skill developed through many flight hours that will avoid disaster, because one can fly many, many hours without experiencing these problems. But safety from these sorts of issues is more a matter of education, most of which can happen when you're indoors without your drone.

 

[EsaT]

The very same automation that makes it so easy to fly will hide things from the pilot. It's easy to miss the effect of the wind while the autopilot can compensate for it, but that fact may increase a pilot's surprise when the wind becomes too strong for the autopilot to hide its effect.

When did planning ahead stop being requirement for pilot?
Backup plan in case of wind causing problems should be always thought out before taking off.