Plankbender
You are right about the value of excellent instructors and I think we all remember our favourite teachers from School, too.
There is a difference between School and Flight training, especially Commercial flight training - although both are taught to a syllabus, CPL training is
VOCATIONAL TRAINING.
I can't remember quadratic equations and the products of a reaction between a metal and a base are lost in the mists of time.
Rules for descent below MSA, the workings of a density controller, the paperwork required for a flight and the most efficient way of planning etc are things I need to do my job and to
STAY ALIVE.
The Syllabus needs to be taught but it needs to be put into a real-world context. On another thread someone made the point that the CFI or standards manager at a school should have
extensive experience at the level they are teaching to - and if a school claims to teach Airline pilots, then the experience level at the top should be relevant.
When I left Commercial school I could pole it about OK but I had crap checklist skills, crap flight planning skills, and after an instructor rating at the same school I had crap instructor notes that meant my first students had a crap instructor, too.
Fortunately I left instructing for many years before coming back to it with a bit more of a clue.
It is bad enough that commercial students get lumbered with a seat-warming hour-counting skypig junior Grade 3 - Now we lower the bar for the bloke who keeps the seat-warmers in line.
The great
W.R. Evans once said to me (and has said it many times to many others) "Most students learn to fly.....
despite their instructors."
Now more true than ever...
