Flying Instructors & Examiners A place for instructors to communicate with one another because some of them get a bit tired of the attitude that instructing is the lowest form of aviation, as seems to prevail on some of the other forums!

New instructor.

Old 8th Feb 2012, 06:30
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New instructor.

I'm new to instructing. Right now I'm just doing ground subjects, but soon it is going to be flight as well. Any and all advice is welcome. I'm very passionate about teaching my students to the highest standard I am capable of. I'm feeling a little nervous at the task that lies ahead of me. Also how do you deal with students that are older than you? Please help! I want to continue to grow and develop as an aviator and impart that passion to the students I come in contact with as well. It's not a job to me, it much more.
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Old 8th Feb 2012, 08:25
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Just keep the spirit you already have, learn from each student, and all will be well. Enjoy your new career, instructing is the best job you can have.
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Old 8th Feb 2012, 08:30
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Approach the job in a confident and professional manner and do it as you have been trained to do - you have the qualification, so those who examined you were confident in your ability or you wouldn't have passed.

Don't worry about older students. You are a "sky god" to them.

You will learn a lot of course in your journey to being the best instructor that you can be. Good luck.

H
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Old 8th Feb 2012, 08:56
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In my experience the older students respect you more, and listen to your advice carefully. I've never had a problem telling someone twice my age what they were doing wrong.

The students to watch are the 15 - 17 year olds who are avid flight sim experts. A rare few of these thinks they know it all, and if they have some natural talent to back this up their confidence soon surpasses their ability. Sometimes, these need to be brought down a peg or two by applying the pressure a bit, or a particularly pronounced stall recovery to show things will bite if they don't pay attention.

On the whole, it's an absolute joy, whether it's someone's first experience on a trial lesson or sending someone solo.
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Old 8th Feb 2012, 09:34
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Smile

Thank you for the encouraging replies.
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Old 8th Feb 2012, 11:40
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IFbrat nice attitude, well done.

Watch and listen to every instructor you come across, take something from all of them (bad and good) and use it to be a better instructor tomorrow than you were today.

Read everything you can about instruction and flying.

Remember that you are selling flying as well as teaching it, so learn about customer service and salesmanship too.

Keep yourself up to date-leave folk lore were it belongs, in the past

When you have done all that and know it all-raise the bar higher and start again

Good luck
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Old 9th Feb 2012, 00:27
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For ab initio instruction the student is a blank sheet. You are their only frame of reference and they will emulate you. Everything you do will at its foundation be an example of good airmanship or bad airmanship. It is absolutely vital that you don't cut corners, rush, or let your standards slack off because that bad example will infect your student.

If you are in a big rush to do the walk around, have your stuff in a disorganized mess in the aircraft rush/disregard the checklists, taxi too fast, didn't make a point of watching your prop wash, blocked a taxiway because you did your run up in a poor spot, have lots of UMMs and AHHs in your radio calls because you started talking before the brain got engaged or stepped on somebody transmitting because you did not listen out, etc etc then you are contributing to the next generation of crappy PPL's

If you say to your student that cruise altitude is 2000 feet yet let the aircraft stabilize at 2100 feet and don't immediately correct then you are saying to the student + or - 100 feet is OK. If you brief final approach speed is 65 and fly the approach at 70 then you are saying speed control + or - 5 knots is acceptable etc etc then then you are contributing to the next generation of crappy PPL's.

You are probably thinking that "Oh I will never do those things", but the test will be when you are on your 6 th student of the day and have already missed lunch. Or you haven't flown in a week and the weather isn't really quite good enough for a proper lesson.

Good instruction is a choice. Be hard on yourself and demanding of your students.
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Old 9th Feb 2012, 02:43
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I am not an instructor, though I have done a lot of type familiarization training.

I was young when I started, and learned very quickly that the pilot I was to mentor, could afford this many hundred thousand dollar aircraft, and was a successful businessman, but that did not automatically make him an adequate or safe pilot. I was sharply jolted out of my complacency a couple of times, until I realized never to be complacent when my role is to familiarize a new pilot with a new type.

Some of the "older" pilots I flew with, came to me with "attitude". They were successful in most other aspects of life, hence the excess time and money with which to fly. They seemed to presume that if they could succeed in business, they would succeed in flying. They had an air of entitlement to bypass the more basin steps. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and this is particularly true in piloting. The corporate giant has to really suck it up to surrender his attitude of master, to become learner.

I found that when I got attitude, it was time to demonstrate some skillful flying. A greased on spot STOL landing would always do it - but you gotta be smooth, and get it right. Once you've done one from the right seat of an amphibian, and they realize they haven't a hope of matching it, it sets the tone, for the master/learner relationship, you need. It's what you're supposed to be able to do as an instructor. You're not saying in a brag "watch this!!!", you're saying calmly, "this is how I'd like to see it done", while you apply every molecule of skill you can, but don't look like you are....

As Big Pistons correctly says, do it right, and show it right. If you miss the mark, say that you did, so both you and the student know that the standard is higher.

Pretend that you are trying to sell them the plane, and you want it to appear to be amazing, and very easy to fly well. If you make it look good, they like it, feel confident in the plane, and your skill.

On the other hand, I was asked to check out the new owner in his newly purchased Bellanca Viking a few years back. I had not flown a Viking before, so I flew a few hours to polish my skills, before flying it with him. The Viking is amazing to fly, but demands skill and precision, or you look bad in it. Though and older, and very successful fellow, he had poor skills as a pilot, and the more I flew with him, the more I worried. For the experience he told me he had, it should have taken 5 to 10 hours to bring him up to skill on that type. After 19 hours, I told him I would not sign the recommendation for him to be insured. he was a nice guy, and it was difficult. He took the plane home anyway.

That was a situation where he and I did no agree on his skills. His attitude prevailed over his willingness to learn. He seemed to think that if he was good at everything else, he was good at flying. He just could not appreciate the difference between my "this is how I'd like to see it done" techniques, and his "anything will do" approach. Though he might meet the mark of minimum safe, it is a certainty that if Swiss cheese holes start lining up, he's in big trouble.

If you demonstrate consistant skill and precision, the people with the right attitude will see that, and place themselves as the learner to your teaching.
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Old 10th Feb 2012, 16:17
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Useful maxim taight in gliding circles:

Rule 1 - Beware. P2 is trying to kill you
Rule 2 - The more experienced P2 is, the more creative they'll be at applyng Rule 1
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Old 10th Feb 2012, 16:43
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i like gpn01
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Old 16th Feb 2012, 05:57
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What gpn1 said, especially number two!
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Old 22nd Feb 2012, 22:35
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Well, though I know that gpn01's remark is to some degree tongue in cheek, I would hope that we could agree that a student or lesser experienced, or out of currency, or incipiently senile pilot is not really trying to kill you, any more than the weather, maintainer, or the aircraft itself is trying to kill you.

It is of course wise to be constantly alert to the hazards presented by all of the above. But, remembering that the pilot you're flying with (by your choice, we'll presume) is there to receive your wisdom, and presumably paying you for the privilage. We more experienced pilots owe it to the newer pilots to afford them respect, and a welcome to our industry which kept us flying when we were new.

It's your job to not only manage safety, but to present what we do as being safe and fun. If students reading this think that they are perceived as a part of the problem, they would rightfully feel insulted. They are a part of the solution to the growth of our industry.....
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Old 22nd Feb 2012, 22:57
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Originally Posted by Pilot DAR
Well, though I know that gpn01's remark is to some degree tongue in cheek, I would hope that we could agree that a student or lesser experienced, or out of currency, or incipiently senile pilot is not really trying to kill you, any more than the weather, maintainer, or the aircraft itself is trying to kill you.

It is of course wise to be constantly alert to the hazards presented by all of the above. But, remembering that the pilot you're flying with (by your choice, we'll presume) is there to receive your wisdom, and presumably paying you for the privilage. We more experienced pilots owe it to the newer pilots to afford them respect, and a welcome to our industry which kept us flying when we were new.

It's your job to not only manage safety, but to present what we do as being safe and fun. If students reading this think that they are perceived as a part of the problem, they would rightfully feel insulted. They are a part of the solution to the growth of our industry.....
I agree with much of the sentiment. In fact my initial briefing with a new student was along the lines of "the two most important things about gliding are safety and fun. My job is to make sure there's plenty of both for you as you're learning and to ensure it's done it that order...safety comes first, then fun". That seemed to work really well as an icebreaker and instilled some basic principles right from the outset.

Where Pilot DAR and I may differ is that I didn't present flying as safe...I explained that flying is, in principal actually potentially dangerous. What makes it safe is that we recognise the dangers and mitigate accordingly through processes, procedures, techniques, etc. For those who remained uncertain I'd give a simple example of how crossing a busy road is inherently dangerous because of the risk of being knocked down. Because we recognise the risk, we mitigate by looking both ways and keeping our eyes and ears peeled for traffic. Personally I've always believed that activities are often dangerous because we fail to recgnise the risks. By identifying, acknowledging and mitigating against what could go wrong we make something that's intrinsically unsafe, "safer".
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Old 23rd Feb 2012, 07:57
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The fact that you are asking for help shows that you are willing to improve and therefore have the makings of a really good instructor.

You will learn as much from your students as you will teach them.

Try to relate what you are teaching them to something in there "Normal" life.

You MUST fly perfectly ALL the time. The students will see you mess something up and think that its ok for them. the "Do as I say not as I do" way of teaching doesnt work in the long run.

Learn to judge when a student is reaching over load. They are not learning anything after that so dont waste their time and money. Go back to more simple exercises to get them relaxed again.

Learn some decent jokes and stories to relax them.

Always carry strong mints in the cockpit. Its a small office and bad breath is off putting to either party.

Decent deodourant every flight.

Learn from other instructors and ask questions.

Stay consistant with your terminology.

Try to film at least one of your cockpit lessons with sound if possible. You will learn a lot from watching what you say and do. In fact you will be amazed!

Does not matter how bad a day you are having, the flight you are doing with the student is the best experience ever for you. Negative thoughts in the cockpit are bad for teaching.

Do not Bull **** students. If you dont know, say so and ALWAYS go and find out and tell them. They will catch you out later as they gain more experience and knowledge.

We dont get on with everyone so if you have a student that is just not progressing YOU suggest that they try another instructor. They will respect you later for it.

Just because they say they have understood what you are asking them do not presume, CHECK their understanding.

Do not discuss their progress or lack of progress which other students. Its un-professional.

Enjoy it, its the best experience in the world when your student goes Solo or passes their test and its all down to you.

HB999
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Old 23rd Feb 2012, 10:26
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Very helpful Helliboy.

I'd just emphasise that it's really important the student enjoys it. You're teaching a PPL so it's for leisure and there's a shocking number of students that get the PPL and rarely much thereafter. Therefore I think it's really important that the student enjoys each lesson.

There seems to be an increasing number that you'd think were waiting to see the dentist! Often the ones that are desperate to do the PPL in min hours..

Equally, so true about being relaxed and positive, the latter point being a particular problem for FIs that are just waiting for the airlines.
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