how "good" was ur instructor?

[richie-rich]

hey there fellow pilots
i am curious to know how ur instructor was when u were training to be a pilot.....was he rude? competent? informative? etc etc

mines alright.....but his "age" has some bearing over his emotion......

richie rich

[Ref + 10]

Howdy Richie Rich,

I was somewhat sceptical about being taught by a guy who was only months older than me (I was 18) and had completed his instructors rating a month before but was pleasantly surprised by his conduct towards me. he was very professional and I felt that I was taught well.

I had a few problems caused by the boss instructor which seems ironic to me cause I would have expected the most experienced to be the most helpful. In actual fact the boss who cost me the most money overall.

That is just me. I have heard a few horror stories from mates of mine that make my training seem like a journey through heaven.

Ref

[richie-rich]

wassup Ref + 10?
i am decent...thanx for askin......


yea......i guess we r birds of the same branch.....my instructor is 3 months older than me and i really am surprised by his professionalism.....however, as i said, he needs to work on his emotion ... .....if he expects me to b as good as a 737 pilot, then much praise goes out of the window.....

some other experiences u wanna share, guys?

enjoy
richie rich

[OzExpat]

You all have the same instructor all the way thru yer training? I'm amazed... I had several in the course of my training for my various qualifications, some better than others, some of the rest were the examples I used in my own instructing career - examples of what I would never do to any trainee of mine.

Everyone's human so you're bound to find a few of the more forgettable types during your training. Soon as I found myself with one of those, I'd get another instructor.

[Earthmover]

I was very, very lucky. He was a true Scottish gentleman - ex wartime Navy, three times my age and rather eccentric . He was a gentle, understanding soul, kindly and encouraging and full of fun. This was precisely what I needed because I was desperately, hopelessly under-confident. I owe him an awful lot, God rest him.

34 years on I am still unashamedly trying to emulate him.

[Flash2001]

Instructors I met were mostly indifferent instructors but excellent pilots. Had one who was a lousy pilot. Turned him in to the CFI and declined to fly with him again.

[Yarba]

My first instructor (military) used to smack me over the head with a rolled up newspaper every time I made a mistake. As I was very underconfident, this did nothing to improve my performance. He was unwilling to stop even after I told him that I did not like it, but after I started putting the aircraft into unusual attitudes every time he hit me, he eventually relented and we subsequently got on very well. My second instructor was the worst I have ever had - a rude, arrogant, hectoring bully who gave little in the way of instruction and seemed to think that he needed to prove his flying superiority to me at every opportunity. I eventually asked for, and got, an instructor change. My last instructor was really good. He was newly qualified and always made it seem as if he barely knew any more than I did - maybe it was true! - but at least with him my confidence started to improve, as did my flying. The damage done by my second instructor lasted for years and it was a very long time before I started to develop any confidence in my abilities as a pilot. I used him as my role model of how not to be an instructor when I eventually became an instructor myself.
In subsequent years I have found the same to be true of training captains - there are some real monsters out there and a very few really good ones who really are 'training' captains who genuinely try to train and help people.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Yarba:

It is truly amazing how many times I have heard about instructors hitting the student when they make a mistake.

Not only is it unprofessional it is assault and you have every right to cold cock the S.O.B.

Cat Driver:

[MJR]

My PPL instructors were very poor, the school, not surprisingly doesn't exist any more. Being naive I trained where it was cheapest and when it came to BCPL training I really struggled as the foundation for flying at a higher level just wasn't there. I got there in the end and past the GFT first time but at the cost of a few more hours than my peers at the time.

I guess the moral of this story is dont always opt for the cheapest as you will ultimately pay the price.

MJR

[Andy_R]

Mine was excellent .............. up until she and her hubbie went to the airlines!!! Don't blame her for that one iota, but it only then became apparent how good she was.

Right from the start it was rammed home to fly safely and professionally, but without removing the fun element. Getting nagged at in my second lesson for busting my requested altitude by 50' was good for me and I missed it later on, when the following instructor often didnt comment on a 200' slip away from the desired altitude, though he was hot on direction.

So bit of both ... good and bad

[pilotwolf]

Mine taught me to ...

FLY LIKE A BIRD,
DRINK LIKE A FISH,
PULL LIKE A TUG,
PARTY LIKE AN ANIMAL,
ENJOY LIFE!



Seriously though he was calm, well practised, knowledgeable, confident, capable and has 1000s of hours on type. I have never used anyone else from 0 to CPL(H), nor am I likely to.

[SKYYACHT]

My very first flying instructor was at an RAF gliding school. He was patient, and an excellent pilot. At the age of 15 or so I was totally in awe of this elderly man (who must have been about 40!)

When I learned to fly at Meacham Field, Texas, with the now defunct Pegasus Flight School, my PPL instructor was ex-Royal Navy, Sea Kings etc, and was a geordie with a good sense of humour and scathing sarcasm when necessary! He taught me a lot, and I understand that he now works for Continental....so if you are out there Bill Davidson, THANKS

Subsequently, I have flown with many instructors, and have never had a truly bad one. I have had some indifferent ones.
One had a superb teaching technique.....he would plug a small cassette recorder into the intercom, and would record the entire lesson onto tape........Harry - you know who you are!

I am now an instructor myself, and I always try to give the student a good learning experience, regardless of the question or the technique being shown.

Blue Skies

[Chocks Wahay]

I flew with four instructors during my PPL, three of them in the first ten hours! The first was very good, an excellent pilot and a good instructor to boot. Used to hit me and swear at me occasionally, but I'm big enough and ugly enough to handle it. Second guy was borderline dangerous (now retired), third guy was dead keen but lacked experience. Fourth guy was a girl, good pilot, good instructor and light enough not to affect the performance of a C152 Did most of my PPL with guy #1. Post-PPL I've flown with three instructors for various purposes.

Seven instructors in total, more than I realised. If I had to nominate the best it would be difficult to choose between two of them. They're both PPRuNers, so I wouldn't want to embarrass them ....

[lostcomm]

I think we all remember the first instructor the best. The rule of primacy I guess.Well mine was an ex Yugoslav Mig 21/29 pilot with a couple of combat missions under his belt. We had a blast.
All the rest-well all the rest that followed were OK.Some of them better then others.

The first instructor tought me that out of the three things( brain altitude and airspeed) you need at least two to live trough the flight.Thats why he kept me high and fast all the time I think.

lostcomm

[VIKKI]

I have only ever flown with 1 guy and he's brill


great pilot
great instructor

he nags me like hell but it gets the point home.