Originally Posted by
Chronic Snoozer
They are better read in context.
I managed to track down “The Five Commandments of Instruction” from “The Book of Muff”.
1. Demonstrate, direct then monitor.
2. You are a teacher - not a tester.
3. Teach how - not what.
4. He will learn in spite of you.
5. Never fly the first circuit.
In my day, (a good 30+ years after Centaurus) it wasn’t so much the yelling that was prevalent, although certainly extant, but the swift punishment metered out for airspeed infractions on final, failure to maintain glide path or lip service to checks. Often, teaching points were delivered with sarcasm and ridicule, withering critique being no less scarring on the hapless trainee than a yelling session. Troublesome trainees were fit from frequent visits to the sight boards.
In those days at Point Cook the grass "runways" were grass strips. At the end of each strip was erected a sight board with the strip direction on it. 13/31 etc. It a student stuffed up he was made to visit the sight board and write on it remarks such as "I must remember to check all clear left and right before turning". . He then signed his message. This had been going on for years. Then the time came for the RAAF to remove all the sight boards as a new CO considered them unnecessary. I thought there was real history in these sight boards and convinced the RAAF museum to leep one for future generations to see. I believe one sight board has been kept in one of the musem hangars