Instructor Rating Questions

[player123]

Hello,

I have a few questions about Instructor Ratings I hope you may be able to answer.
For a full time instructor rating course what exactly should I expect from the flight school & instructors?

Should I be given a demonstration of how to teach every long brief?
How exactly is the flight training in the air conducted?
Should I be taught how to conduct a flight debrief?
Should I have to create my own notes and lesson plans or should I be provided with these?
Is it ok to present on power point or should I stick to the whiteboard?

Thankyou

[Whopity]

Your location is uncertain and the way training is conducted in different countries does vary considerably.

Very few UK FTOs have more than one FIC instructor so it is usually a one to one situation, ideally with two students at the same time.

You should be given a demonstration of all major briefs, both long and pre-flight. You will then be expected to give them to the instructor prior to teaching that exercise. The course is not long enough to give every brief.

Flight training is usually broken int a "Give" where the instructor teaches you how to give a lesson emphasising the new skills being taught. There is then a "Give Back" where you give the exercise to the instructor, who will then correct any errors you make. Quite often a typical flight will involve the instructor giving you a new exercise followed by the student giving back the one received on the previous flight. That way there is time to study what you were taught, and give a brief before flying the exercise.

You will be taught how to conduct a debrief and will have to debrief the instructor when he acts as a student.

You should be given a set of notes but it is recommended that you make your own notes for use in the air. You cannot remember it all and for the first few hundred hours having a set of notes you can use in the air will be invaluable.

Powerpoint is fine, but in most flying clubs all you will find is a board so you will need to be able to present a brief in a conventional manner. It is much easier to conduct an impromptu brief to explain something on a board than to do it in Powerpoint which has to be preprepared.

The above depicts the UK way of doing things and is largely based on methods developed by the RAF. The way it is done in other JAA States appears to differ considerably.

[player123]

Thanks for the reply Whopity (http://www.pprune.org/members/99346-whopity)

I am from Australia and I am about to start looking at some schools who offer the instructor ratings.

I think it’s going to be very difficult in choosing a school however I am looking for a school with a very high reputation, who can offer structured and disciplined training with a high regard for standard operating procedures.

If there is anyone who would recommend a school worth looking at I would greatly appreciate it.

Thankyou

[Whopity]

I have no knowledge of Australian schools other than a couple of JAA schools which operated there. From what I have seen, they do things in a similar manner to the UK.

[Unhinged]

You should expect a high level of professionalism and expertise, particularly in flying, flight theory knowledge, and instruction techniques.

It would be unusual for you to be given a demo of how to teach every long briefing (I've never seen it, and it would waste some valuable time). You should expect to have a clear understanding of the structure of a long brief, which gives you a good framework for any long brief that you may encounter on the course, and any you may need to develop later on (eg. when you undertake META). I normally cover the first half-dozen briefs very thoroughly (Effects of Controls, Straight & Level, Climbing, Descending, Turning, Stalling), because that's what you will almost certainly get for a long brief on your test, and you will use them a lot in teaching. Then I deal with the next group thoroughly (Circuits, Other circuit briefs <Missed Approaches/Bounce+Balloon/Emergencies/Crosswind/Flapless/Non-standard/Short+Soft Field>, FLWOP, Prec Search, Steep Turns, BIF, Nav), because you'll also use those a lot in teaching. For any other long briefs, I make sure the candidate understands a consistent briefing structure, and has access to reference material and experienced instructors to help build any brief.

Training in the air varies from school to school of course. You will initially have a Grade 1 Instructor teach you each lesson on the ground and in the air. Then, when you have seen the way that the lessons are conducted, you practice giving the lesson back (to either a Grade 1 or as mutual practice). That isn't to say that each lesson from the G1 will necessarily take up a whole flight - For plenty of candidates, I can demo the flight and have them start an initial readback on the same flight. I don't like to rush, but I do like to make the best use of the candidate's time and money !

It would be very smart for the school to show you how to conduct a debrief - It helps with standardisation and a well-conducted debrief is obviously a critical learning opportunity in the lesson. Your debriefing is specifically evaluated as part of the FIR test.

At most schools you will be required to develop your own lessons based on the lessons your G1 uses with you, and on any others you can acquire from other instructors. Some schools will provide canned lessons, but they are very much in the minority. Developing your own lessons gives you an opportunity to pick the best out of other instructors' material, and will help you to more fully understand the material that you are going to be teaching.

Powerpoint is being accepted by CASA now, and it makes things much easier once you are actually teaching. However, for your test and with real students, you will need to use a combination of PP and the whiteboard. When real or practice students ask questions, use it as an opportunity to draw good personalised explanations on the whiteboard.

[player123]

I have seen instructors give a brief for every major lesson for the instructor rating course. I think that it is the way go. It gives the student some sort of idea of how the lessons should be conducted.

[Rhino1]

I'm currently in CFI training myself and my instructor, who I selected out of a number in the area, has a different approach. This is what he's teaching/taught me. Basically, as an instructor candidate, you already know how to fly, so now the idea is to take that knowledge you (hopefully) already have, and learn to communicate it to your student. Some demonstrations from the instructor are helpful, obviously, but essentially it is a skill you will have to study, develop, and demonstrate yourself, as you do not want to merely be a parrot of your instructor. He has a different background than you and may have significant differences in style, taste, etc. What a good instructor will help you with, is to learn what you do well, critique what you do poorly and help you figure out how to further develop your skills. Basically, you should be memorizing the maneuvers and airwork that you will be teaching. Then you need to have a plan for how to teach the student in the air, and become comfortable talking through it as you demonstrate it. Also critical is to learn the common errors and perhaps even be able to demonstrate them, as well as their remedies.
You can get pre-made lesson plans, but you won't know the regulations / books / tools as well if you do. As an instructor, knowing where things are and having the knowledge in your head, as opposed to looking at a pre-made lesson plan, is worth the trouble. I personally think that making my own lesson plans has been a valuable experience.
I would stick to the whiteboard for teaching, personally, unless you're going to be doing a LOT of classroom groundschools. It'll be easier to develop the power points for larger classes later on, after you've learned what you like and don't like from experience. For now, having simple outlines with the elements you want to teach and references handy will probably be easier to use with the individual students. After all, most of the really important training is one on one with your student, and to me, powerpoint is waaay overblown for that kind of application.

Rhino

[Tinstaafl]

I used to be a Multi Gr.1 and the CFI of an instructor school in Oz so here are my thoughts. What I think is not the only way to skin the cat so with that in mind...

* You should have at least the first half dozen or so briefs demonstrated to you as a model. During these briefs you're not only learning how to give those particular long briefs but also what sort of things are relevant to writing a lesson from scratch. Those ones you will be given will act as a template or model for your own.

Remember, even though your Gr.3 test will - and can - only cover a limited set of instructional scenarios, you will be qualified to teach a much larger range of topics eg the entire CPL syllabus + various other bits & pieces immediately and then more stuff when you gain the appropriate experience. You need to be able to develop your own briefs from the ground up.

* Learn to give your briefs using the most basic of facilities but also be able to supplement with more technological devices if you wish. You won't always have the electronic pre-prepared trickery that can that add heaps to the quality of your instruction but will still be expected to be able to instruct. As you gain experience & advance through the higher levels of instructor rating you will be expected to be able to pull a half way decent brief pretty much out of your arse, sometimes at short notice, about any topic your instructor rating will let you teach i.a.w. your current experience level & endorsements.

* A debrief model should be provided but once you get the idea the template is fairly static eg get the student to self critique** then you give a sequential sketch of what occured, what standard was the target and how the student performed compared to the standard, anything else significant that happened during the flight including unexpected stuff. Finish with what the student needs to study for the next lesson & what the exercise will include (including any remedial stuff, if applicable).

* In the air your instructor will model each lesson then you'll practice on him/her. On later flights you'll practice those items against another trainee in mutual flying or against another instructor.

**You'd be surprised what strikes the student as important + they often raise stuff you forgot about or didn't notice at the time!

[AngelOfMusic]

So is it normal for the course to take forever??

I want to do an instructor rating, but the students at my school who are doing theirs now are taking forever... I am friends with them and so far its been five months and all they are doing is about one or two briefings a week.

Apparently they havent actually done any of the flying for it yet..... I think this is way too slow, so when I get my CPL and want to do my instructor rating... should I go somewhere else, or is it going to take this long no matter where I am?

Im in Australia BTW.

[Rhino1]

Forever is a long time. Depending on how much time you have to spend on it it could last a few weeks (only if you are REALLY good, are prepared, and go to a school that specializes in CFI training and get good weather, etc...) or several months. I know several folks who've spent several months on it. I'm working part time and hoping to finish up within the month, I've been working on it part time for 8 months, but am seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Rhino

[AngelOfMusic]

Oh thats good that 8 months is normal, but my school runs them full time.

Now i need to get my CPL so I can do my own rating :ok:

[Tinstaafl]

In Oz, 6-8 weeks full time is fairly normal for 2 students learning together provided an aircraft & Grade 1 instructor is available. More time taken if part time, lack of aircraft or instructor, of course. By full time I mean 0800-1700 5 or 6 days per week. Remember, in Oz, it's a 50 hr course for each trainee, slightly less if mutual with another trainee is available + 12 classroom hours for Principles & Methods Instruction + a *lot* of time for the briefing demonstrations, preparation & subsequent practice. If each student flies 3 hrs/day thats still around 25-30 days ie four to six weeks just for the flying, depending on scheduling/availability/mutual practice efficiency and the like.

I used to find that there would be no flying for the first couple or few weeks when covering the 12 hrs PMI, having the trainee(s) sit the Gr.3 theory exam & then getting stuck into demonstrating, preparing & practicing the first several long briefs, pre- & post-flight briefs.