Having been an FI and fairly obviously the recipient of flight training I have to say that there is a wide dichotomy between the academic world of FI training and the real world. Particularly in the realm of briefing / debriefing. While many hours may be spent on an FIC practicing prepared briefs, colour coordinated etc, the reality could be and often is a rush out to the airplane with minimal or no preparation. The nadir for me was some years ago for a C172 checkout at a well known central Scotland flight school. Running late due traffic although phoned ahead I arrived to be hurried straight through to the aircraft sans any kind of brief. I asked how long would this checkout take and was told by the visibly hacked off FI ‘as long as I can be sure you won’t kill me’. While I make no claims to being an ace, I do have 20,000 hours, predominantly airline but still somehow an enthusiasm for general aviation albeit waning due experiences such as this. It doesn’t really matter how much flying time I have but the point is that this hapless and useless FI did not take the time to ask my background and therefore tailor the sortie. We had a little tense chat while I conveyed my views…
Last edited by olster; 2nd Jan 2024 at 23:33.