knobbygb
9th May 2002, 09:38
Now the weather has finally improved and I’m actually managing to fly fairly regularly, a question has occurred to me. How many different instructors does the average student have during a PPL course? The reason I ask is that my log book currently reads something like this: total hours 12, total lessons/flights 14, different instructors 9 :eek:
Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy with the way things are going; I seem to be progressing at a good rate and it’s not causing me any particular problems as such (not that I’m aware of anyway), it’s just that all the advice I’ve read here in the past recommended sticking with either one instructor or certainly a smaller number that nine.
Part of the problem was caused by me - I had a six month lay-off from training for financial reasons and two or three instructors have moved on since. I now work shifts so fly on different days/times each week, but even taking this into account… nine!
I’ve not named the school in question because I don’t want to appear to be having a go at them and am happy with the service I’m getting – after all, if I had a problem with the club I could always vote with my wallet and go elsewhere, so no advice needed on that front.
There are times when I have to remember to do things different ways with different instructors, but I’m now learning to assert myself and say “xxxxx told me to do it the other way and that works for me so I’d like to do that please” and they’re usually OK with it. On the ‘up’ side, I’m getting the benefit of hearing the professional views and methods of lots of individuals of differing experience and outlook and as long as it’s not causing any major problems with regards to continuity etc, I don’t see a particular problem.
Am I doing the right thing? In particular, is the continuity issue likely to be more important when I start doing navigation and the more advanced stuff? Has anyone else been through this scenario and regretted it later?
Thanks in advance.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy with the way things are going; I seem to be progressing at a good rate and it’s not causing me any particular problems as such (not that I’m aware of anyway), it’s just that all the advice I’ve read here in the past recommended sticking with either one instructor or certainly a smaller number that nine.
Part of the problem was caused by me - I had a six month lay-off from training for financial reasons and two or three instructors have moved on since. I now work shifts so fly on different days/times each week, but even taking this into account… nine!
I’ve not named the school in question because I don’t want to appear to be having a go at them and am happy with the service I’m getting – after all, if I had a problem with the club I could always vote with my wallet and go elsewhere, so no advice needed on that front.
There are times when I have to remember to do things different ways with different instructors, but I’m now learning to assert myself and say “xxxxx told me to do it the other way and that works for me so I’d like to do that please” and they’re usually OK with it. On the ‘up’ side, I’m getting the benefit of hearing the professional views and methods of lots of individuals of differing experience and outlook and as long as it’s not causing any major problems with regards to continuity etc, I don’t see a particular problem.
Am I doing the right thing? In particular, is the continuity issue likely to be more important when I start doing navigation and the more advanced stuff? Has anyone else been through this scenario and regretted it later?
Thanks in advance.