"Flight Instruction at a Higher Level" Henriques 2022

[DAHenriques]

In the interest of the betterment of the flight instruction community and specifically with new instructors in mind I wrote the attached article last year for World Airshow News.
Basically it contains a compilation of the sum total of my experience as a flight instructor spent over a lifetime involved with instruction and flight safety.
I'm posting a copy of the article here in the hope that what it contains might be of help to new instructors.
Since all my articles written for the professional aviation community are done pro bono if you, as instructors find the article of some use please feel free to copy it and use it wherever you feel it might serve the general good.
Dudley Henriques
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vDLMJ3fXJP6lKx8EpSxocKJbwey944WD/view?usp=drive_link

[markkal]

In the interest of the betterment of the flight instruction community and specifically with new instructors in mind I wrote the attached article last year for World Airshow News.
Basically it contains a compilation of the sum total of my experience as a flight instructor spent over a lifetime involved with instruction and flight safety.
I'm posting a copy of the article here in the hope that what it contains might be of help to new instructors.
Since all my articles written for the professional aviation community are done pro bono if you, as instructors find the article of some use please feel free to copy it and use it wherever you feel it might serve the general good.
Dudley Henriques
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vDLMJ3fXJP6lKx8EpSxocKJbwey944WD/view?usp=drive_link

Brilliant as always :-)

[Rho Tarbled]

A great read, thanks.

It seems to me that the difference between Type A and B instructors is experience - when you have just become AFI you tend to be Type A, once you have more experience with more students and hopefully some mentoring from more experienced instructors, it should be a natural progression to Type B.

[djpil]

Thanks Dudley, I will pass it on to all my instructor trainees from now on.
(I’ll include some of your cat pictures too!)

[DAHenriques]

A great read, thanks.

It seems to me that the difference between Type A and B instructors is experience - when you have just become AFI you tend to be Type A, once you have more experience with more students and hopefully some mentoring from more experienced instructors, it should be a natural progression to Type B.
At first glance this would seem to be true and in some cases it is. In researching flight instruction over a vast time span and through my interviews with CFI's the actual picture for many flight instructors follows a different path.
Generally speaking what happens to a new instructor is that regardless of the books read and the preparation for the job, the experience for the instructor as he/she begins giving dual seems to follow a general pattern.
Unless the instructor is actively thinking about HOW the teaching is being projected to the student which is extremely rare, there is a reflex action for the instructor where regardless of the lesson plan the MANNER in which the instruction progresses reverts down to where the instructor feels COMFORTABLE. The key here is that this level of comfort is usually found at the Type A level.
This single word seems to be the key that can either open or close the door on how a given instructor develops into the job of teaching people to fly airplanes.
Generally, if the instructor follows this initial path without active self evaluation and close examination of the pedagogy, this instructor will fit the type A definition and remain basically within that definition without much change throughout the instructor's tenure in the job
Transition into a type B instructor usually requires a concentrated effort, a deep interest in teaching and how it is performed, and a self imposed regimen of constant improvement in the profession.
As much as it pains me to say it, my research over time has revealed that a large percentage of flight instructors are type A and remain type A.
This doesn't mean that a type A instructor can't teach someone to fly. It does mean however that student pilots taught by Type B instructors tend to emerge from their training with better retention, comprehension, and attitude.
Dudley Henriques

[Rho Tarbled]

Dudley - then any good training organisation should have some type B instructors to help mentor and transition type A to type B. I appreciate that there will be some who will never make the transition but the majority should with the right mentoring and tutelage.

It would seem some just cannot grow in the instructional role but rely on the basic tools of the trade regardless of how they suit different students - a sort of one-size-fits-all approach.

People are individuals, instructors should be able to tailor their techniques and methods to get the best from the student.

[DAHenriques]

At first glance this would seem to be true and in some cases it is. In researching flight instruction over a vast time span and through my interviews with CFI's the actual picture for many flight instructors follows a different path.
Generally speaking what happens to a new instructor is that regardless of the books read and the preparation for the job, the experience for the instructor as he/she begins giving dual seems to follow a general pattern.
Unless the instructor is actively thinking about HOW the teaching is being projected to the student which is extremely rare, there is a reflex action for the instructor where regardless of the lesson plan the MANNER in which the instruction progresses reverts down to where the instructor feels COMFORTABLE. The key here is that this level of comfort is usually found at the Type A level.
This single word seems to be the key that can either open or close the door on how a given instructor develops into the job of teaching people to fly airplanes.
Generally, if the instructor follows this initial path without active self evaluation and close examination of the pedagogy, this instructor will fit the type A definition and remain basically within that definition without much change throughout the instructor's tenure in the job
Transition into a type B instructor usually requires a concentrated effort, a deep interest in teaching and how it is performed, and a self imposed regimen of constant improvement in the profession.
As much as it pains me to say it, my research over time has revealed that a large percentage of flight instructors are type A and remain type A.
This doesn't mean that a type A instructor can't teach someone to fly. It does mean however that student pilots taught by Type B instructors tend to emerge from their training with better retention, comprehension, and attitude.
Dudley Henriques

Dudley - then any good training organisation should have some type B instructors to help mentor and transition type A to type B. I appreciate that there will be some who will never make the transition but the majority should with the right mentoring and tutelage.

I totally agree for the ideal world, and indeed we have such operations out here now who employ such people. I only wish we had more of them.
You find the Type B instructors scattered throughout the industry and when you find one they are usually very good instructors.

It would seem some just cannot grow in the instructional role but rely on the basic tools of the trade regardless of how they suit different students - a sort of one-size-fits-all approach.

You have made a very astute observation here as this describes the Type A instructor almost to a T. These instructors arrive with a new rating and the sum total of what they needed to pass the written and the flight test. They have good intentions but with a caveat. They feel they have demonstrated what is needed to perform the job and have passed the scrutiny of the FAA........which of course is all true. Unfortunately for many of this description the learning stops as they begin teaching. Without even possibly realizing it what they do is revert to teaching what THEY themselves had to learn to obtain a rating.
With these instructors there might be very little in their "bag of tricks" that they arrive with when they take a student out to fly with them. They "teach" with their hands on the controls much of the time and their student mimics what they see the instructor doing until they eventually fly the airplane mechanically with no real comprehension of the peripherals around them.
These are what I refer to as "ROTE STUDENTS". Tell them to do something and they can do it without really understanding why. In other words they become parrots of the answers without ever really understanding the questions.

People are individuals, instructors should be able to tailor their techniques and methods to get the best from the student.
I couldn't agree more. This is one of the foundations of the Type B instructor.
I can tell you this in all honesty.
There is no pat one answer fits all solution to these questions. There are simply too many variables in the equation.
I tried to give the community a basic understanding when I wrote "Flight Instruction at a Higher Level". I know SAFE (The Society of Aviation and flight Educators) picked it up and has distributed it widely. There are other instructors like myself out here who have taken an interest in the training pedagody issues. These people are fine instructors. We keep plugging away.
I hope we succeed making a difference.
Dudley Henriques

[EXDAC]

I have never instructed to make money or build hours. Most of my instruction has been at clubs or given for a couple of beers per flight hour to friends and partners in aircraft ownership. When I had 150 hours in gliders, and had earned a Gold and 2 diamonds, I though I knew enough to pass something on. That glider CFI rating later became a CFII but never a multi CFI as I simply did not have the experience I thought I needed in MEL.

I probably don't fit neatly into the type A or type B box. However, one of the most satisfying experiences I had as a flight instuctor was to talk a a glider intro ride "student" down to touchdown on his first flight in any aircraft. Sometimes the student and instructor just click and the instructor has confidence the student will respond to instructions.

[DAHenriques]

I have never instructed to make money or build hours. Most of my instruction has been at clubs or given for a couple of beers per flight hour to friends and partners in aircraft ownership. When I had 150 hours in gliders, and had earned a Gold and 2 diamonds, I thought I knew enough to pass something on. That glider CFI rating later became a CFII but never a multi CFI as I simply did not have the experience I thought I needed in MEL.

I probably don't fit neatly into the type A or type B box. However, one of the most satisfying experiences I had as a flight instuctor was to talk a a glider intro ride "student" down to touchdown on his first flight in any aircraft. Sometimes the student and instructor just click and the instructor has confidence the student will respond to instructions.

Well..........without an in depth interview and some additional background I'd say you are leaning heavily in the Type B direction.
Hope you are still instructing.
Dudley Henriques

[Rho Tarbled]

There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your instruction pay dividends and create another pilot who can think for themselves and be self-critical and self-aware.