About what percentage do pilots "forget" of their learned knowledge in becoming a pilot?

Question

for myself, i am only a private pilot, and i must admit that i have the license about one year now, but i think i might have forgotten the one or the other thing. However, i heard from ATPL pilots that they also forget a lot of things during their career (such thing like "what is the aerodynamic center", which of course is not really a needed knowledge to fly a commercial plane, however, they know of course the real important things), so I would like to know if that's really true?

Answer 1

Avio is very right. It depends on the pilot. It can even depend on a pilot's emotional state!

I once went back into an airplane after 10 months of not flying and was able to operate the airplane correctly in EVERY essential aspect (almost perfect and certainly not hazardous).

By comparison, there was another instance where merely 6 weeks passed but in doing my preflight i just 'didnt feel right'. I didnt seem to have a grasp of the aircraft as usual, so i asked another pilot to accompany me. Doing so saved my life. Literally.

Each pilot has to be HONEST enough to constantly re-assess their own competence. You have to be honest enough to know when you have a failing (or hazardous) grade.

Answer 2

I can't put a number on it, but a certain percentage is normally lost. Maybe 20%? Some people just have better memories than others, but the things you use frequently you tend to remember, while the things you learned once but never use afterward, you tend to forget. That's human nature. However, once learned, those things that get lost in the back of the brain are fairly easily refreshed. I've also found that those who have taught flying extensively, particularly ground school, tend to remember theory, regs, etc. better than those who have never worked as an instructor.

Speaking just for myself, it seems that things I learned and had to remember at least long enough to pass a test (or several) but have "forgotten" are quite easily brought back to working memory with a little review, but things I didn't need to remember for any particular reason have generally been wiped away. For instance, when I am flying the same half-dozen routes several times per week, month after month, I can remember every single com and nav frequency along the way (this numbers in the dozens, if not hunfreds), yet within a week or so after changing to new routes in a different part of the system, that knowledge seems to get completely eliminated from my memory.

A different example is that even though I haven't flown it for about 10 years, I can remember every single one of maybe 75 normal checklist items for an airplane I flew about 5,000 trips in, simply because I did those checklists so many times. I do not even have to think about them for a second in order to recite them. That's the power of repetition, coupled with the physical motions of looking at and / or touching the instruments, switches and controls.

This type of visualization is a very powerful tool. Competetion aerobatic pilots use it to visualize and practice the nuances of every maneuver so that when actually flying them the actions become almost automatic. Downhill skiiers, acrobats, gymnasts, martial artists and others all do a similar thing.  I don't even recall where I learned the technique, but when I was a student pilot I'd sometimes lie in bed and visualize every detail of an imagined checkride, from the items on the pre-flight checklist through all the maneuvers (airspeeds, emergency items, etc) right through tying down the aircraft and walking away. I still do that today before a checkride, and its great practice.

Try it. Studies have shown that visualization exercizes, being a form of deep meditation, are nearly as good at keeping you sharp as doing the real thing. I've had to cope with a few emergencies in my career, which I apparently practiced and visualized at some point, because right after these emergencies were resolved, I was amazed at the things my hands did yet I can't remember doing them!

Answer 3

Its about practice and repetition.If you practice something daily you don't forget easily if you are normal.Like the first pilot said....don't fly with someone who claims to of never made a mistake,never been scared or is forgetful.

Answer 4

I once heard a safety trainer say "90 percent of pilots forget 40 percent of their aeronautical knowledge."

In my humble, mud-faced opinion (IMHMFO), it varies widely with the pilot.  Some work hard at keeping their memories sharp, while others never really understood the importance of their knowledge, and drank it away as soon as they could, keeping just enough to get themselves into trouble.

But there is a lot to know, especially in complex aircraft and flight environments.  That's why the airlines are required to enforce so much recurrent training.

I have been out of the left seat of the 747 now for almost two years, and I would probably not be able to find the rest rooms, much less start the thing up and fly.

But I do okay in the Cherokee or the Aeronca Chief in bright, sunny VFR conditions.  I have a contract with myself that the first time I forget something really important or make a really dumb mistake, I am grounded.

Here's hoping that will not happen for a long time.  In the meantime, never fly with a pilot who seems confused or forgetful.  Also, never fly with a pilot who claims never to have forgotten anything or never to have been afraid in an airplane.  Honesty counts in this game, too.

Answer 5

Think about it.  You remember what you do the most, and the less you do anything, the quicker you lose it.

If you are unsure of what you know, read a book or take a refresher course.  Fly safe or stay on the ground!

Answer 6

I don't know.  I forgot.