Originally Posted by blagger
... would we not see floods of PPL instructors, and possible dilution of standards/instructional currency (as perhaps seen in the gliding world? not wanting to be critical there/jumped on - but there has always seemed to be loads of instructors in most clubs doing relatively few instructional hours to me).
The UK gliding world is very different from what I read here about powered flying instruction. There are almost no professional instructors (I'd guess fewer than 50) so almost all are volunteers. They also want to do their own flying, and so will inevitably have comparatively low hours.
In spite of this, I've never received poor instruction at a UK gliding club - it ranges from competent to excellent (though I'm sure there must be some poor instructors). The main reasons for this are:
1. A standardised instructing syllabus, which I believe is taken as the leading model world wide.
2. Regular checks on instructors. At my club instructors undergo structured training/checking on a regular basis with the CFI, and quite commonly fly with each other to brush up skills.
3. Hours are important, but so is what happens on each flight in instructional terms. At a winch only site, 20 hrs instructing might mean teaching 100 or more launches and landings. We pack quite a bit into each hour.
I suspect the most important of these is the standardised instructing syllabus. I've been reading the Stalling thread, and you would not find such a spread of views/techniques among gliding instructors. There is one consensus model of teaching stalling which is set out in the BGA Instructor's Handbook.