Training Program Features
I make a practice of having prospective students come to my home (office) for a couple of hours to discuss flying. I request that a student arrive on time with a tape recorder. Few people today are being taught that being late for an appointment is a sign of disrespect. Too much information is covered to be remembered, otherwise. We begin by discussing their needs, motivation, prior experience, requirements, and background. Sometimes, the specific future flying plans of the a student requires somewhat different instruction. I advise getting
any insurance and appropriate flight medical before beginning training or making any purchases.
A student is not expected to know much in the beginning. Often a little bit of knowledge can make the situation more difficult. As an instructor, I will ask many questions. It is not my intention to demean the student. I need to find out the student's limits of knowledge. I need to know what you don't know. When I get a wrong answer, it probably means that I asked the wrong question. A major part of teaching is knowing the question to ask that will enable the student to identify the upper limit of his knowledge. The correct question and answer combination leaves the student with a sense of accomplishment. It allows the instructor room for further extension of that knowledge. Questions are a learning/teaching tool.
The study process is just beginning with the completion of traditional ground and flight readings. The initial information package is just the foundation upon which to build. I set up a flight and study program according to the situation as I see it. I explain how the success of any teaching I may do depends on their background. The better the student understands the value and necessity of the study program, the more likely I will find a well-prepared student for each flight.
Thanks to the use of the tape recorder much greater instructional efficiency can be obtained. More time can be spent on the ground both in preparation for the flight and in flight review. The student knows that the information is available for review. The tape recorder in the air gives the student an opportunity to re-fly the exercise. The student will hear directions over the intercom system that he responded to without thinking. Things will be said on the radio tape that never reached his consciousness during the actual flight. It is suggested that the student playback the tapes initially while driving and then during study periods where notes and outlines of information should be compiled on 4 x 6 cards or a computer file. This information can be a valuable review program later. Just because information is on the tape does not mean that the instructor can assume it is understood and capable of being applied.
I am now (2004) using a digital recorder to record all ground and flight instruction. This allows me to play the voice back on my computer while I take notes to see what I think I taught. I ask the student to do the same so we can compare what he thought he learned with what I thought I taught. Interesting results.
The best time to begin flying lessons is in the late fall. This is the time of the year when weather will allow development of go/no-go judgment in the student. It also allows the exposure of the student to SVFR (Special Visual Flight Rules) and other adverse weather under the guidance of the instructor. Weather will help determine the spacing of instruction. Cross country flight conditions will provide a desirable mix of winds and weather. Night flight requirements can be met well before midnight. By late spring the student should finish his requirements and complete the flight test just in time for the good weather of summer. The summer is used to develop hours and experience. By winter, selective flying can continue secured by the knowledge acquired the previous year. Too many students give up flying when faced with winter weather unlike any they experienced during a summer of instruction.
In recent years the "total immersion" method of flight instruction has come into vogue as an efficiency/cost saving mechanism. It works, at a cost in experience. A certain amount of seasoning experience that is acquired by extending the instruction over varying weather conditions is lost by such concentration.
Compressed training both in ground and flight training makes it possible to produce an educated fool who flies. I would like my students to grow in experience by enjoying flying. As a pilot advances up the flying ladder, he will find that ratings and knowledge are expected but experience is preferred. Experience is an unpleasant teacher since it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards.
The ideal is any teaching program is a plan that gives maximum positive transfer of a selected learning skill to a progression of tasks with a minimum of interference between skills learned in separate tasks. What this means is that the making of 30-degree banks in basic flight maneuvers in level, climbing, and descent will be applied to the traffic pattern as they are performed with variations in flap configuration. This is a complex process where the instructor and student are seeking consistency, smoothness, anticipation, and safety awareness.
Instructors begin to customize of their training program before the first flight. For the individual's motivation, background and time the instructor must invent different way to present ground, flight and post flight instruction. The instructor's program should expose the student with the full field of required knowledge but familiarize him with the local situation. The very first flight lesson must have planned objectives both immediate and of longer range. The student must be aware of the immediate and perhaps of the longer range ones as well. The best way to waste the time and money devoted to flying is to not know what is to be accomplished. Every lesson has stated or written objectives and measurable results. A properly integrated flight/ground program will bring the student to
the airplane prepared for that lesson, expectant of a partial review and eager to be prepared for the next flight.
I often believe I became a flight instructor to get even. Much of my own instruction was excessively wasteful of time and money. A student is under considerable physical and emotional stress when learning to fly. If cost is contributing to the student's stress, it would be best to stop flying until funds are acquired. Learning to fly is expensive, and no amount of anxiety is going to change the cost. Don't waste time trying to change things that can't be changed. Use of the correct terminology is an essential part of flying. Vocabulary development is a must. An instructor must be a good at making any explanation fit into the student's level of comprehension. The best explanations take place on the ground; the best demonstrations take place in the air.
There are only two types of flight instructors; those who are trying to get out of instructing and those who are trying to stay in instructing. I am trying to remain an instructor because I see a need. The treasure of valuable experience, required of an instructor, can only be built up by operational time. Unfortunately, it is time that causes a reduction in experienced instructors.
Little Things That Make a Better Pilot
Preflight:
Opening both doors to the aircraft. Drain the left wing sump and put cup and oil rag on seat so that it will be available when you get to the other side. You don't need to carry them all around the aircraft.
Don't pour the gasoline in one spot on the tarmac. By giving it a flip downwind it will evaporate in seconds.
Note setting of trim wheel and then trim tab. Discuss the effect that the trim setting could have had on the resulting landing. For a C-172 the trim setting tells a great deal about the aircraft loading during the last landing.
Avoid being all ready to start the airplane, only to find that the key cannot be retrieved from the front pocket without getting out of the plane. Put key on floor in front of seat.
Preset seat and block into position to protect against unexpected seat movement.
Carry your pre-flight checklist hanging from the bottom on a necklace. It allows you to have both hand free and is readily available just by looking down.
Break oil cap loose with left hand but remove with your right. If you clean off oil between thumb and forefinger of the left hand you can wash oil off when you pull engine sump strainer. Propeller makes nice place to hang dip-stick while adding oil. Be careful.
Discover the reality of P-factor by noting the horizontal propeller blade angles as tail is lowered to the ground. It makes clear the different control inputs required for left and right climbing turns.
Rolling the tires 30-40 inches is a required procedure in preflight. Bald is beautiful only on flight instructors. At what point is a tire unsafe for flight? Get tires across cable, if any, to reduce initial rolling power required to taxi.
Use overflow tube to demonstrate the wastefulness of having full fuel tanks in an airplane that is going to sit in the sun. Present real time airborne vs. POH figures.
Starting and taxiing
Verbalize all clearing as well as a swivel neck on the ground and in the air. The life you save may be your own.
Make all yoke movements using one finger and the thumb. If you need more than two fingers you're doing something wrong. Remember, the yoke moves both back and up.
Make learning to taxi a priority. Begin by explaining/knowing how rudder/nose gear geometry is configured. No brakes except for sharp turns and stopping. Make some 360s to headings then add yoke positions 90 degrees at a time. The first clue to a competent pilot is the way he taxies
Control check uses 'thumbs up'. Thumb always points to up-aileron. Turn head to check that other aileron is down before reversing control.
Teach/make throttle control movements with forefinger as a measure. From 800 rpm to 1700 rpm is one fingernail length. Practice until you can do it every time without looking. Learn the sound and feel of every power setting.
It is not enough to clear final going from the runup area to the runway. Turn enough to protect yourself from an aircraft on close-in base.
When taxiing on a runway, always taxi far to one side. This makes the runway still useable by and aircraft having an emergency.
Takeoff and Climb
Except for x-winds, get the nose wheel off the ground and let the airplane fly itself off the runway. Don't force a takeoff. Note the nose attitude that gets you airborne at 60 knots will just touch the end of the runway. Pre-plan heading to be used for any x-wind runway alignment and options selected for engine failure on takeoff.
Look back at runway above 300' to confirm that you are aligned and not drifting over adjacent runway. Make ten-degree cut away from adjacent runways at the departure end of the runway.
Trim for hands-off climb, not within the range of speeds given in the POH, but on an exact Va speed. Practice holding that speed while moving the trim through its full range of movement. Lock your elbow against the door panel to do this. If you ever fly with some out-of-trim yoke pressure a distraction will create a problem.
Use climb-out as practice time for Dutch rolls. It helps you clear the flight path and gives x-wind skills you will need for landing.
Always make your first airwork turn to the left. Any following traffic should be passing to your right. Fly at altitudes other than even thousands or five-hundreds when within 3000' of the ground. Select your area to be clear of common air routes and airways.
Practice left/right climbing turns only at 30 degree bank. Take feet off rudder during entry and while in left climbing turns. Note that ball stays centered. P-factor. Practice using the right rudder to come out of a left turn with very little aileron. Practice making right climbing turns using right rudder for your entry. Note that at 30 degrees of right bank your yoke is held as though in a left turn. To level wings from a right climbing turn relax on the right rudder and use the aileron.
Continue To Next Page