Alister,
How do you debrief a student after each circuit?
I don't. It can't (and should not) be done. De-briefing is for the end of the exercise.
then I'll give them some quick feedback at the next convenient time whilst in the air
Now that is more like it. A short quick simple pointer regarding one aspect that needs to be corrected and try again. If you do 5 circuits and correct one item each circuit then you will have improved 4 items for the next time.
Landing is the challenging part for the majority of student pilots.
No. being in full control of the aircraft and realising what is happening when close to the ground is what people have problems with. Solve that and landing is a piece of cake.
DFC - How many students do you know who have a problem taking off and climbing?
Most if not all. There is a difference between completing a safe take-off and initial climb and the usual case of careering down the runway, pulling back on the stick and establishing the aircraft in a climb
with the brain still back at the threshold.
Ask your student next time to
safely level off as soon as possible once airbourne and fly level just above the runway..........if they manage to level off below 50ft I would be surprised....because in the initial take-off and climb, they are mostly just there for the ride.
Think about all the students time and money you are wasting from terminating a lesson early. They'll end up paying more taxi time then air time.
I don't know what your organisation's system is but most places these days charge take-off to landing plus a fixed figure eg 10 minutes or 0.2
Landing and taxiback to try again a few times is going to count as flight time for as long as it takes while ending the exercise simply costs the fixed taxi time which was part of the lesson anyway is also part of the required training. Briefing a problem in the air to fix it is mostly a waste of time because of the situation, the distractions and the fact that the student is there to fly as much for their money as they can - not for you to fly and talk at them.
This is just as bad as the instructor who sits there yacking on and on and on with little bits of encouragement, hints, corrections. Far better to tell the student what they need to do and then see what they do, let them do it without input from you (other than safety) and then you have the ideal situation;
The student has done it "their way".
You either say that is OK or "their way" need to be changed by x.
Now they can relate to something that they have done compared to what they need to do and can try again.
People learn better by making mistakes and then when they are made aware of the mistake, trying it again without making the same mistake.
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Whirlybird,
Thanks for showing us a good eample of the fact that often, students are their own worst enemy i.e. your "gritting your teeth".
Makes me wonder how it had to get so bad when someone should have picked up on it much earlier i.e. phase checks. If you were progressing normally at 5, 10, 15 hours, how did you end up at 20 or 30 hours without a major investigation no matter how much you were gritting your teeth?
You have demonstrated the failing of the idea that the student chooses the instructor / one student one instructor. The school was probably (incorrectly) waiting for you to ask for a change or complying with your request for no change (incorrect again).
The great thing about a student flying with 2 or 3 instructors is that eventhough all 3 may be 100% great instructors, the student will usually latch onto one in a certain way and while that does not mean that instructor should then become exclusive to that student, they should realise the situation and use it to manage the overall training.
Nothing better than a quiet moment straight and level during which some general chat comes round to something that effectively gets an answer to "how do you like flying with Bob?".........and being able to measure the true effect of the "Sure ........I don't mind flying with Bob".