The latest issue of FAA Safety focuses on aviation educators. Among the articles is one that caught my eye: “Words of Wisdom from Flight Instructors,” by Nicole Hartman and Rebekah Waters.
The article has a lot of interesting information, but the two things that caught my attention were:
What questions do you wish more students would ask?
Marcel Bernard, an aviation safety inspector with the FAA’s Training and Certification Group, shared his answer:
There are four:
- Do you use a formal training syllabus, and do you use a flight simulator as part of your training program?
- Are you able to fly at least three lessons a week with me?
- Are you available to conduct flight training full-time, and will you be available for the next six months?
- And finally, is there a chief flight instructor, and if so, can I meet them?
Becoming a pilot takes a certain level of determination and dedication. Getting questions like these demonstrates a student’s drive and commitment to achieving their goal.
What can I do to become a better student pilot?
Allan Kash, an aviation safety inspector with the FAA’s Training and Certification Group, answers: Accept/complete all homestudy assignments. Always be prepared for your next flight lesson. Fly two to three times a week, and train for high proficiency, not just to pass the test.
Check out the full article here, then post your flight training tips — from your perspective as a CFI or as a student — in the comments below.
My tip: be prepared for each lesson. Do the homework, study. Flight instruction requires hard work on the part of both the instructor and the student.
Amen! Moo
If a potential student asked me if I had a chief pilot and could he meet them, I would quickly retort, “Well, we only have one.”
Flight instruction in the United States is a feudal enterprise .. provided by the lowest experience, lowest paid pilots, in the ‘professional’ system.. just biding time to get to a better paying job..
Most are not even ’employed’ by their ‘school’, they are ‘contractors’ so as to let their employer evade state and federal fair pay and benefit laws and many CFI’s are ‘flying naked’ without insurance, or enough insurance, thinking their flight school or FBO cover them… even experienced independent ‘old heads’ don’t understand aviation insurance and think they are covered in the open pilot clause of their buddies policy when he goes out to do ‘Bobs’ flight review… which of course.. he is not covered, the aircraft owner is covered, the insurance company will sue and recoup whatever is paid though subrogation buy suing the CFI and/or their estate if they too didn’t live through the ‘incident’.
Until the system changes, the FAA desire to increase flight safety though repeated contact with a CFI wont bear fruit until those said CFI’s have more hours than their students AND get compensated more than 15 bucks and hour and flight hours flown..
I spend 20 years in the AF, and flew the last 8 in a space suite, and I wont instruct in this system with my CFII due to exposure risk, low pay, incoherent and often incompetent FAA regulations, and the vast majority of students today have the wrong attitude.. a combination of reckless behavior, not taking responsibility for either their own training nor actions, constant need for spoon feeding, and a aggressive rejection of authority and rules..
Its a disaster.. just take a look at the headlines above.. drunk student pilot flies plane out of fuel and refuses to give statement, commercial airline pilots bereft of experience making rookie yet fatal errors practically daily.. flight safety continues to devolve and soon it will be as dangerous as the ‘golden age’ of flying when wings were covered in fabric and built by bicycle shop owners… flown by pilots with no training.. because bad training is worse than no training at all giving the ‘student’ the illusion they are qualified or have learned anything…
So until those wanting to learn how to fly begin to treat and respect the instructors they need and compensate them more than what they would pay a teenage babysitter … the system is lost…
Sounds like the ski instruction industry. Steve. Instrument pvt pilot.
RM,
In the UK back in the 90’s instructors were gods in my eyes, I paid deference and utmost respect to their skill and knowledge. The RAF paid for my ab initio training with a private school and I am certain they handpicked the best.
I did my PPL in the US 20 years ago with a lovely guy who had 250 hours and felt dissatisfied with how much I had paid for someone who’s ability to train didn’t match my ability to learn. I was fortunate to get my CPL in Canada with highly experienced float plane pilots and have had the opportunity to learn skills and wisdom from seasoned experts.
When I became an instructor 5 years ago I was astonished at the attitudes some of the students had. The privilege of being in aviation seems to be lost on some of the entitled arrogant kids who think they know it all already and refuse to accept training. I’ve had snotty spoiled students with less than 10 hours flight time (who have always been told how perfect they are by their doting parents) disagree and argue with me when I have told them they performed a manoeuvre incorrectly, not seeming to realise that is what they are paying me to do and that is how they learn. Aviation is what it is, not what they want it to be, the sooner they realise that the sooner they develop the attitude needed to be a pilot. The truth is not everyone is cut out to fly but unfortunately it is probably too easy to get a license making absolute beginners ‘think’ they can call themselves pilots.
There is also a macho cavalier attitude proliferating in GA and I don’t like it one bit. The old adage is true that all our knowledge is paid for in blood, I make damn sure that when a student complains about having to learn something that does not appeal to them they respect who has gone before (and not come back) for the privilege of that knowledge or I am done with them. We are not just teaching them how to fly aircraft, we are teaching the attitude that makes pilots. The only student I really want to fly with anymore is one who thanks me when I ask them what they did wrong. I’m happy to wash someone out who doesn’t get it, but I am also thrilled when I can make a student realise why I teach the way I do. Being thanked for being a hard ass because they have learnt it was in their best interest is rewarding. I have a speech I make to beginners about needing a thick skin, if they don’t have it then they are free to leave and they won’t be missed, aviation is not for them. Setting a precedent for toughness amongst a group of new students creates healthy competition and camaraderie, they learn to push each other rather than needing my boot, it’s worked in the military for quite some time.
A PPL is just permission to learn by yourself, A CPL is permission to keep learning whilst you get paid. Sadly the majority of instructors who use teaching as a stepping stone to the airlines don’t have the wisdom or ability to teach effectively or they just don’t care. It is a vicious cycle that rookie instructors are making students less and less capable of being smart pilots. It’s like the blind leading the blind. I have flown with a number of CPL candidates trained by these instructors whose flying abilities are weak and attitude is poor and when they become instructors the bad habits snowball, I had one guy at 150hrs I did a pre CPL flight check with using ailerons to correct wing drops, so disappointing.
More disturbing I know flight school CEO’s and chief flight instructors who let standards slip because they are more interested in their bottom line than promoting aviation safety standards. I could write a very long article about some of the appalling behaviour I have seen from ‘professionals’ who ought to know better but who don’t care about students or our industry at all. I’ve quit jobs because of poor maintenance and primacy nightmares that my ‘peers’ hadn’t recognised.
I plan to be an instructor for many more years as I feel a duty to aviation to make it all we know it can be. I don’t like the idea of guys with 500hrs on the flat lands turning up in British Columbia thinking they can be now professionals in the mountains. Reduced hour minimums, less experienced chief pilots, CPL pilots trained by rookie instructors and box ticking examiners are a recipe for many disasters that will damage our industry as a whole.
It is the responsibility of the conscientious instructor to do the best we can with what we’ve got. The joy of seeing someone you have taught skills and the right attitude to, who deserves it and finally makes it into their chosen profession is unmatched. I’m not in it for the money I do it for the lifestyle and the love of it. Anyone who became a pilot to make money did it for the wrong reason.
I am sorry you have had such a bad experience down there and it is sad that a man of your experience won’t teach because of a broken system and generational disparity in respect for our profession. There are good students out there and if you don’t like the way flight schools operate make your own, that’s what I’m doing. The world has gone to the dogs over greed and instant gratification, we can at least try and keep our corner of it driven by people with higher moral fibre.
If you ever wanted to come north of the border and see how we do things up here you will always be welcome.
The question I wish students asked more is: “What did I do wrong? How can I fix it? (please and thank you!!!)