Private Pilot Flight Training and Instruction Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM A Training Program I make a practice of having prospective students come to my home (office) for a couple of hours to discuss flying. I request that the student arrive on time with a tape recorder. Too much information is covered to be remembered, otherwise. We begin by discussing their needs, requirements, motivation, background and prior experience. 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 supposed to know very much in the beginning. I will ask many questions as an instructor. 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. 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. Aviation skills are composites of several fundamental elements. The single elements are introduced, learned, and mastered on at a time through practice. Practice of the right kind that is. Each element is then combined with another element. The aggregate of the single elements is harmonized through practice and anticipation until they produce a continuous flow called a maneuver. A maneuver is not mastered as an entirety until the basic elements are mastered and sequenced. The success of a maneuver is based on the performance of each basic element. Any defective element will affect the maneuver and can be the precipitating cause of an accident. 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° 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, anticipation, and safety awareness. 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 experience, required of an instructor, can only be built up by operational time. Unfortunately, it is time that causes a reduction in experienced instructors. Instructors begin to customize of their training program before the first flight. For the individual's motivation, background and time the instructor must have 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, familiarize him with the local situation and lay the groundwork for the next higher phase of training. 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. (What, again.) 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. Flight instruction is a behavior forming and modification process. You are working in an extremely precise and unforgiving profession. Behind every major flight performance there is a multiplicity of small movements and skills required in making a safe result possible. Students learn their attitudes toward flying from the instructor. Attitudes affect behaviors. The teaching of a safe flying attitude is even more important than a high skill level. I will try to remember to always give the "why". If I forget, ask. The reason behind doing a particular act makes the act more meaningful, more likely to be remembered, and more acceptable to the student. The instructor should have given some idea as to what to expect on the next flight. This information is basic to any preparation required. My students are expected to follow up with a phone call the night before a flight so that in addition to discussion of the planned flight alternatives caused by weather or time can be covered. As a student, you can reduce the stress of a lesson by being prepared. Your first instructor will set your standards of expectations and preparation. The biggest problems will be scheduling. Most of the expense of learning to fly is due to a poor scheduling program. Prior to every flight I will spend at least 30 minutes discussing the skill building blocks upon which the coming maneuvers will be based. I will walk through, diagram, and 'handee' so that the student understands both the maneuvers and the performance parameters. I will depart up wind if possible to make the flight less costly. I use the climbout to teach skills such as Dutchrolls. I plan the entire lesson so that when completed we will be in position to contact our home base. We make a sequential listing of the expected radio frequencies we will need. We review the universal frequencies that we should know. According to our experience we will mentally, orally, or write the expected communications to accompany the frequencies. The night before we will check with the FSS for the forecast that applies to our expected flight time. An hour before leaving home we will make another weather check with the FSS and perhaps even make a phone call to our destination if no weather is available. I help in arrival planning to know the runway in use and wind conditions. You will save far more than the cost of the phone call by being able to make an efficient arrival. The final flight preparation should be a check with the instructor if you have any unanswered questions. Instructors who enjoy flying respond to the student who is inquisitive and makes available the extra effort and time to learn more. A good student helps the instructor do a good job. Don't wait until you get into the airplane to ask the "What if...," questions. During the post flight debriefing it is beneficial if the student is able to make a self analysis of how he performed. It is important that the student recognize good, satisfactory, and poor performances. This means that the student must know what the tolerances of acceptability are. It is even more important that the causes be determined. If, for whatever reason, his solo performance is outside these limits he must so advise his instructor and plan for a corrective lesson. Every student flight should have its parameters designed to meet requirements for the flight examination. To fly otherwise is a waste of time and money. Written by Gene Whitt Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM