Originally Posted by
Clare Prop
If he was drifting off the centreline then he wasn't "able to conduct take offs" to the standard required in the Part 61 MOS. OK I know they were using RAAus rules and I'm not familiar with those, but if they can't correct the yaw you get from application of power, which is something they should learn in Effects of Controls, then they are not "ready for solo flight"...
It does sound like it was crosswind related, not necessarily related to power application. That being said the pilot does not need to decide what is causing an aircraft to yaw left or right, they need to just apply controls to achieve the desired path. If the deviation appears excessive, abort the take-off and consider why. I've seen students do their head in before take-off trying to decide which rudder they should use, right rudder to stop power related yaw, but the crosswinds from the right so I'll need left rudder... fark, empty that head and just apply power slowly, look down the runway and apply corrections as needed. This comes to a head especially when they fly multis and have to react to an engine failure.
Things like the MOS completely over complicate the endeavor for students, instructors need to keep it as simple as possible for actual training. Which is why IMO standards have declined, flying is simple, with dire consequences when it goes wrong. Simple techniques and simple rules make for safe aviating, complicate everything and the simple safety rules get lost in the mush of tolerances and theory. The instructor needs to be skilled, knowledgeable and know what is needed from a standards point of view, however they should be teaching simple techniques that achieve this and the student need only know the basics of when an instructor will interject. Numbers and rules mean nothing, just basics. Keep to the center of the runway on take-off and landing, land in a safe area at the start of the runway, maintain heading and altitude as accurately as possible, maintain speed as accurately as possible, be cautious at low speeds, use lower bank angles at low speeds. No numbers, no ifs, buts or complications. If the student has the right technique they will fall within the tolerance required.
I hear the story of this student and the drifting left of center and see an individual overloaded, not able to see the big picture, fixated or lost in their own mind and not able to see the deviation, until it is quite large. Which is more evident when they randomly over reacted to the sudden movement. That means the last thing they need is to be thinking more about numbers, tolerances and so on, that will just result in more mental lock. Probably told to look at the far end of the runway, not the path in front as with driving a car where you look at a position relative to the speed you are travelling. Look too far ahead and you will not notice small deviations up close, made more complicated when you are thinking about how much rudder is needed rather than just applying until the deviation is held and corrected.