Geoffersincornwall
9th Jul 2012, 09:55
What is 'best practice' in the world of the helicopter flight instructor and examiner? How will we ever know if we don't (a) ask and (b) discuss ideas. This is just one idea put here for evaluation and comment.
CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE SELECTION, TRAINING AND PREPARATION OF FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS.
Author’s Note - The following is an attempt to draft a Code of Practice to run alongside any relevant regulations and to guide training organisations where no regulations apply. If we want to recruit the best instructors to work in flight simulators then they need effective support and good working conditions. We must not forget that they will be passionate about flying and will give-up the world of ‘real’ flying to work inside the ‘black-box’.
This draft code is meant to be the seed of an idea rather than a definitive document. It is to be hoped that something like this will be applied generally but where training is carried out outside the regulated training world it would be essential to provide customers with some assurance that quality standards still apply.
1. To be a successful instructor requires the qualities of any teacher in any profession. In addition to the skills associated with teaching the material related to flying the candidate needs patience, good inter-personal and communication skills and the ability to apply training psychology effectively.
2. Flight instructors should hold a CPL/IR and have at least 1000 hours of recorded flight time in the previous four years.
3. The ideal pathway for pilots to become instructors will involve a selection process that seeks to determine their basic suitability for the role. If required to teach in a language that is not their first language then they must hold a qualification similar to ICAO level 5 English. Ideally the selection process should include a flight in a simulator to assess basic skills and knowledge.
4. Once selected the successful candidate will be appointed with a probationary period on the understanding that if he or she is unable to meet the performance standards expected then employment might be terminated. The training programme for each candidate may differ according to the qualifications held on joining but it is unlikely that the required instructional standards will be achieved by simply following the regulatory guidelines.
5. A new Flight Instructor will be ‘mentored’ for each and every course he/she is expected to teach even if he or she is an experienced instructor by the time the ‘new’ course is programmed. Showing the instructor the entire course and what and how to teach the syllabus material is an important part of the standardisation. Mentoring to consist of 50% observation of a senior instructor conducting the course required and 50% being observed by the same instructor whilst delivering the lessons. (Note - where two courses are so similar as to make no practical difference then these may count as a single course).
6. Experience of a task or role does not automatically convey the ability to teach it. Specific type and role training will be required to prepare the instructor for the task.
7. Experience in one type cannot be transferred to another without serious thought, contemplation and planning. Techniques need to be developed and finalised prior to passing them on to the instructor workforce.
8. A Flight Instructor will not be required to teach something he is not qualified to teach. To be qualified means that he has received formal training on what to teach and how to teach it from a senior flight instructor in a formal environment.
9. To ensure standardisation each instructor will be provided with the necessary briefing material to be used for each and every course.
10. There will be a programme of technical refresher training to ensure that the instructor is always more knowledgeable than the student he is teaching.
11. The Flight Instructor CVs will be published (internally) in an appropriate way. This will help verify any individual’s claim to experience that they do not in fact have. (It is assumed that all references are taken up during the initial stages of hiring). Every organisation suffers from the vagaries of ‘CV Inflation’ so it will be no surprise to find it in the aviation world.
12. Flight instructors will be given at least 12 hours rest between the end of one working day and the beginning of the next. Where lessons are conducted between midnight and 0400 this rest period should be extended to 14 hours.
13. Simulator instructors will be given at least one hour flying a real helicopter every 30 days.
14. Whilst the use of FSTDs will be 24/7 there will be a degree of oversight by management when scheduling the workload of each instructor to ensure that he is able to deliver the quality of training expected. Accordingly the following guidelines will regulate the scheduling of instructors:
a. No Type rating related training will take place between the hours of 2300 and 0600 although Recurrent and LOFT training is permitted.
b. When an instructor has completed a TR course with the intention of teaching on that type he will not be tasked to fly any other type or begin another TR until he has accumulated 50 hours of experience on the first type. (This ‘best practice’ is a carry-over from that used in normal flight operations and that limitation includes the requirement not to operate any other type once the TR course has begun).
15. Whilst individual styles of teaching are to be encouraged it is essential that standardisation of techniques, protocols and procedures is not compromised. To this end a programme of instructor standardisation should be in operation.
16. The training manager will provide the instructor with basic lesson-plans that include a ‘time-management’ guide showing how the ideal student will complete the required manoeuvres within the lesson time. From this information will flow the instructors’ understanding of student progress and clear understanding of the lesson designer’s priorities and intentions.
17. If a Flight Instructor is required to use the services of an interpreter to conduct any part of a lesson:
a. he will be provided with training on how to use an interpreter effectively.
b. Interpreters will, insofar as is possible, be familiar with aviation technical language and familiar with working in flight simulators and helicopters.
c. The time allocation for briefing and teaching any lesson with be extended at least by 50% if an interpreter is required.
18. Where appropriate the course structure should provide opportunities for the simulator instructor to occupy a crew seat if the demonstration of a manoeuvre will improve the student’s ability to progress quickly.
19. The instructor will have the discretion to vary the pace and if necessary the content of each lesson according to the needs and performance of the student.
CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE SELECTION, TRAINING AND PREPARATION OF FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS.
Author’s Note - The following is an attempt to draft a Code of Practice to run alongside any relevant regulations and to guide training organisations where no regulations apply. If we want to recruit the best instructors to work in flight simulators then they need effective support and good working conditions. We must not forget that they will be passionate about flying and will give-up the world of ‘real’ flying to work inside the ‘black-box’.
This draft code is meant to be the seed of an idea rather than a definitive document. It is to be hoped that something like this will be applied generally but where training is carried out outside the regulated training world it would be essential to provide customers with some assurance that quality standards still apply.
1. To be a successful instructor requires the qualities of any teacher in any profession. In addition to the skills associated with teaching the material related to flying the candidate needs patience, good inter-personal and communication skills and the ability to apply training psychology effectively.
2. Flight instructors should hold a CPL/IR and have at least 1000 hours of recorded flight time in the previous four years.
3. The ideal pathway for pilots to become instructors will involve a selection process that seeks to determine their basic suitability for the role. If required to teach in a language that is not their first language then they must hold a qualification similar to ICAO level 5 English. Ideally the selection process should include a flight in a simulator to assess basic skills and knowledge.
4. Once selected the successful candidate will be appointed with a probationary period on the understanding that if he or she is unable to meet the performance standards expected then employment might be terminated. The training programme for each candidate may differ according to the qualifications held on joining but it is unlikely that the required instructional standards will be achieved by simply following the regulatory guidelines.
5. A new Flight Instructor will be ‘mentored’ for each and every course he/she is expected to teach even if he or she is an experienced instructor by the time the ‘new’ course is programmed. Showing the instructor the entire course and what and how to teach the syllabus material is an important part of the standardisation. Mentoring to consist of 50% observation of a senior instructor conducting the course required and 50% being observed by the same instructor whilst delivering the lessons. (Note - where two courses are so similar as to make no practical difference then these may count as a single course).
6. Experience of a task or role does not automatically convey the ability to teach it. Specific type and role training will be required to prepare the instructor for the task.
7. Experience in one type cannot be transferred to another without serious thought, contemplation and planning. Techniques need to be developed and finalised prior to passing them on to the instructor workforce.
8. A Flight Instructor will not be required to teach something he is not qualified to teach. To be qualified means that he has received formal training on what to teach and how to teach it from a senior flight instructor in a formal environment.
9. To ensure standardisation each instructor will be provided with the necessary briefing material to be used for each and every course.
10. There will be a programme of technical refresher training to ensure that the instructor is always more knowledgeable than the student he is teaching.
11. The Flight Instructor CVs will be published (internally) in an appropriate way. This will help verify any individual’s claim to experience that they do not in fact have. (It is assumed that all references are taken up during the initial stages of hiring). Every organisation suffers from the vagaries of ‘CV Inflation’ so it will be no surprise to find it in the aviation world.
12. Flight instructors will be given at least 12 hours rest between the end of one working day and the beginning of the next. Where lessons are conducted between midnight and 0400 this rest period should be extended to 14 hours.
13. Simulator instructors will be given at least one hour flying a real helicopter every 30 days.
14. Whilst the use of FSTDs will be 24/7 there will be a degree of oversight by management when scheduling the workload of each instructor to ensure that he is able to deliver the quality of training expected. Accordingly the following guidelines will regulate the scheduling of instructors:
a. No Type rating related training will take place between the hours of 2300 and 0600 although Recurrent and LOFT training is permitted.
b. When an instructor has completed a TR course with the intention of teaching on that type he will not be tasked to fly any other type or begin another TR until he has accumulated 50 hours of experience on the first type. (This ‘best practice’ is a carry-over from that used in normal flight operations and that limitation includes the requirement not to operate any other type once the TR course has begun).
15. Whilst individual styles of teaching are to be encouraged it is essential that standardisation of techniques, protocols and procedures is not compromised. To this end a programme of instructor standardisation should be in operation.
16. The training manager will provide the instructor with basic lesson-plans that include a ‘time-management’ guide showing how the ideal student will complete the required manoeuvres within the lesson time. From this information will flow the instructors’ understanding of student progress and clear understanding of the lesson designer’s priorities and intentions.
17. If a Flight Instructor is required to use the services of an interpreter to conduct any part of a lesson:
a. he will be provided with training on how to use an interpreter effectively.
b. Interpreters will, insofar as is possible, be familiar with aviation technical language and familiar with working in flight simulators and helicopters.
c. The time allocation for briefing and teaching any lesson with be extended at least by 50% if an interpreter is required.
18. Where appropriate the course structure should provide opportunities for the simulator instructor to occupy a crew seat if the demonstration of a manoeuvre will improve the student’s ability to progress quickly.
19. The instructor will have the discretion to vary the pace and if necessary the content of each lesson according to the needs and performance of the student.