Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Pilot training for subs

[Jon Wallace <jonw@psubs.org>]

I agree with this from the perspective of experience. I suspect that if 
we were to rate a sub-pilot, we would do so by placing much more 
emphasis on the number of hours experience they had underwater rather 
than any paper certificate they held. Mark offers a great opportunity to 
dive a real submersible and get some experience that you'd have to wait 
for until you had already invested tens of thousands of dollars into 
your own. Imagine spending all that money only to find out that you 
really are claustrophobic after all. I'm guessing that in terms of 
function, the differences between the K-250 that he uses and most of the 
custom subs of the same size/weight class, are fairly minor.

I think there's room for debate regarding the concept of being a 
"certified" sub-pilot at the end of his course, even a certified K-250 
pilot. At most, you could probably claim that you are certified by Mark 
Ragan to operate his submersible. Without a certifying authority 
ensuring the course complied with a common set of standards or 
guidelines for recreational submersibles, I think the concept of being a 
certified recreational sub-pilot is fairly meaningless.

Jon


bottomgun wrote:
> I might differ with Sean’s opinion of Mark’s underwater pilot’s 
> course. After following the history of the program through when Mark 
> started hosting the course, there has been real value added with what 
> he offers. Spoke with him at length during the Raystown Lake PSUBS 
> Conference and you really get a lot of time to learn the ends and outs 
> of not only the /K-250/ but also sub operations in general. Even after 
> spending years on military subs, the same amount of time at EB as an 
> engineer, and time in a /K-250/ years ago at George’s facility in 
> Maine, I would still spend time with Mark and his course not only as a 
> refresher but to get a different perspective on sub ops. Hopefully he 
> is still offering the course as I would like to attend it in the near 
> future and take my brother with me (some of you have met him at 
> previous PSUB Conferences) so that he could attend the pilot’s course. 
> There is a lot to be learned here that will apply to a lot of other 
> PSUB operations.




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