The Pinch Hitter at AOPA Summit

[Keith Smith]

Their pieces for AOPA Live are generally pretty short to keep things moving. This conveyed the message, I think, and is definitely something we can show to a school that offers a Pinch Hitter course.

Edit: what it IS missing is any reference to the service that enabled the entire interaction to happen (PE), or the sim manufacturer that provided the equipment for the experiment (PFC).

Anyone watching the video wondering, "hey, what was that ATC thing?" has literally no way of finding out any more information.

[Alex Stjepanovic]

Oh it goes without saying. I was just hoping to watch the whole thing from the other end for pure enjoyment

[Simon Ambrose]

Their pieces for AOPA Live are generally pretty short to keep things moving. This conveyed the message, I think, and is definitely something we can show to a school that offers a Pinch Hitter course.

Edit: what it IS missing is any reference to the service that enabled the entire interaction to happen (PE), or the sim manufacturer that provided the equipment for the experiment (PFC).

Anyone watching the video wondering, "hey, what was that ATC thing?" has literally no way of finding out any more information.

Nothing to stop PE from making their own promotional "Pinch Hitter" Video, at some time in the future, that shows both the pilots side, as well as the Controller's side, and the appropriate promotion and credits for PE.

The "Pinch Hitter" program raises an interesting question for PE.

If I, as a pilot, am a subscribing member of PE, can my unlicensed-pilot spouse fly with me on PE (in same plane), and take over from me, should the need arise. ?
When she started to fly with me in real life, we spent some time on MS FS, where she practiced the basics, including flying a pattern and landing in the C172, so that she (and I) were far more prepared, should the need arise in real flight.

Simon

[Keith Smith]

Simon,

Sure, anything can be produced with time and money. We were hoping for just a little bit more out of that piece given the quality of the equipment (the cameras probably cost more than my car), lighting, sound, editing crew, etc. It's a start, though.

Remind me to get back to you regarding random pinch hitter events on the network with retail subscribers. That's not something we've considered. We will definitely handle it on a scheduled basis with commercial customers (flight schools), but I'm not sure we can accommodate them on a regular basis with retail customers. It just doesn't scale, and it ties up ATC resources more than any scenario that you could possibly imagine.

[Brian Ratledge]

As has already been said, I wish we could have gotten at least some mention from the piece. It really did attract a large audience at the show.