Originally Posted by
effortless
I suppose I was talking about GA instruction. I do talk to the odd stude and they say they the curriculum is quite tight. I guess that, as they are paying, the schools feel that they should be pushed through in a certain way. The complaît i hear from potential hobby fliers is that they are thought by hours builders as though they are expected to get a CPL.
There is a syllabus for ppl students with defined standards. Instructors do diverge from it from time to time with the student's agreement, so they can cover other stuff. After several lessons bashing circuits it's good to go off and do something else.
Part of the GA instructors job is to keep the student engaged, interested and excited by the process of learning to fly. If they get bored or disillusioned with lack of progress they might throw in the towel and buy a boat instead (or even take up golf!).
On the other hand we don't want to waste their money so we need to keep pushing on. Don't want you to think it's a sausage machine. Instructors who treat GA students like that are not doing a good job - you're right about that.