Advice for new instructor
 

Hi I passed my FI(a) at the begining of the year and have a oppertunity to instruct at a flying club so I just wanted to get some advice for the first few students I take up. Obviously I have done all the training but just wanted some real world tips so it all goes nicely.

Thanks

Generally have fun and enjoy the flying. You will learn lots and lots in the first 100 hours. The students teach you far more than you teach them . Be prepared for the ones who are qualified, read Stumpy O'tool's post. All you need to know.

Instructing at PPL level is all about your personality.

VFE.

Be honest and professional and then you can enjoy the time! As a fresh FI, you must be prepared to say "I don't know, but I will find out for your next lesson" - or risk getting caught in a lie! Be honest and give it your best efforts, and all will work out fine!

Best of luck, and cheers,
Redbar1

Don't conduct a flying exercise without effective pre- and post-flight briefings.

Of course you will already be planning this, but your ideals can take a bashing in day to day operations when managers hustle you to keep airplanes flying. Resist at all costs.

"Effective" means, among many other desiderata, that the flying has been planned, and mutually understood, to meet the student's present learning needs, not merely to tick off a syllabus item. That means you must know as much as you can about them, the progress they have made to date, and what exact issues, goals or obstacles are germane to them specifically.

Steer the student's skills and knowledge from the known to the unknown. Otherwise they will reach neither destination.

Let them make mistakes. Essentially, they are teaching themselves, with you along for safety, and the very occasional intervention.

Be on time.

Brush your teeth and carry some mints in your pocket. The cockpit is a small place.

Force them to make decisions. They need as much practice in that vital piloting skill as possible. Bite your lip and say nothing as they head for a wall of cloud. One or two close shaves and they will get the idea.

Above all, keep your hands and feet away from the controls as much as possible. They will learn to fly mainly by flying, not by marvelling at your own skills all day. When you do fly 'hands on' though, be sure your flying is impeccable. Learning by example has far more impact than learning by being told things.

Your job is to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The latter is no less important than the others.

Don't fly for more than 45 minutes or so without giving them a break. Take the controls, tell them to rest. Point out the beauty of the clouds and the landscapes. Don't be afraid to use words like 'joy' and 'wonderful' and to remind them why we all were attracted to the practice of flight. Encourage those feelings, it will get them through difficult times later.

Make sure the front window is clean.

The very fact that you have posted here looking for input shows that you already have an excellent attitude. Frankly, you're way ahead of the pack. Keep it up.

There are many delights to be had in instructing. Savor them. Good luck.

I get the student to do that one! It may make the other instructors laugh but I don't know why - it's basic flight safety! :}

VFE.

AMEN BROTHER!! :ok:

Wish I had justanotherflyer as an instructor. Maybe I did!

just another flyer

Best post I've seen on pprune for a long time, you've summed instructing up in a few paragraph's..

:D

Let them fly as much as possible.

Dont show off how good you are Let them fly

Have some good jokes handy to help relax them Let them fly

Let them make mistakes, you will learn to recover things from deeper and deeper poo as you get more experience. Let them fly

Dont let them get away with not having to do difficult tasks, for example landing near to something or somewhere a little tight if they can always land in an open field (Talking Helicopters here) Make them fly

Break down the lesson into achievable tasks, they will feel they hav achieved more if in small chunks rather than one long task. oh yes..Let them fly

Ask other instructors for advice on problem students and exercises. Dont let them fly!

Good luck in your new career.


HB999:ok:

Get a job at somewhere that is busy. I feel an FI rating is a licence for you to learn as much as anything else and for that to happen you need repetition.

The first place I ever worked I logged 24 hours in 8 months of employment it simply wasn’t enough and I always felt rusty.

You also want a work environment where you can ask the other instructors questions and don’t get ridiculed for lack of knowledge.

Unfortunately in today’s environment you can’t really pick and choose so well done for getting a job.

Don't get complacent or too comfortable, ever. Even if the pilot is a retired airline pilot doing a flight review, don't assume he is a good pilot in a 172/152/whatever.

First off, Congratulations!

You set the tone so be professional, and that ain't easy when you're making peanuts.
Demonstrate the preflight and make student eyeball the gas tank.
ALWAYS USE THE PAPER CHECKLIST, this can't be stressed enough, your students will thank you, even if others use GUMP and that other crap.
Teach precise and correct radio procedures. I've flown on heavy jets with guys who sound like they were in grade school.
Mark your speeds for rotation, landing, etc. I know this probably sounds crazy for small a/c but someday you and the people you teach want the job I just retired from.
Realize that flying is constantly making small changes in flt path, speed, trim, power, config, so no BIG changes are needed.
Bore the sh@t out of your students by making him fly slow flight everyday, then spice it up with sf and 500 fpm climbs and descents and timed standard rate turns. (they must be further along for this but challenge them)
Never yell or show frustration, trust me after 3/4 years it'll come by itself!
Flying is hand eye coordination skill so if you get a choice between teaching a doctor or a backhoe driver, take the bh driver.
You will push yourself beyond your limits someday and it will scare you, so learn from those days and respect your limits. Stay safe

Sorry, cannot agree here - yes, any checks on the ground should be done from the paper checklist, but in the air they should be done from memory - head down doing downwind checks from a paper checklist with 5 in the circuit has got to be wrong!:uhoh:

Sorry foxmouth, but on this you are dead wrong. Memory does not cut it on any airplane. Remember, some of these students have dreams of airline flying and there all things are done with checklist. All manufacturers make their checklists in order, and not many items to be covered depending on sophistication. Bottom line is to start with good habit patterns early in training.

Single pilot - Checks on the ground done from a checklist - checks in the air done from memory - You can't be doing checks from a piece of paper when you should be looking outside the aircraft.

Airliner flying - There are two of you - Pilot flying and Pilot not flying. PNF reads the checklist and the PF responds or the PNF just reads and does which on some checklists is merely a confirmation that everything has been done.

Checklists are not 'to do lists' they are checklists - i.e. checking everything has been done.

Certainly in areas of high density traffic at busy GA fields, the last place your head should be is trying to pick the checklist up of the floor. So IMHO and the way I was taught and the way I teach is on the ground by checklist in the air from memory.

I teach checklist on the ground as read-and-do, in the air do-and-verify.. when, and only when, traffic and altitude permits. Certain flights, like the traffic circuit, their is no time to grab the checklist from the floor. Why does it always end up on the floor btw???

I started flying relatively recently so can remember it fairly well!

We are all different (thankfully) so different students can need slightly different teaching styles. Of the several instructors who had major input into my flying, the best for me always found something positive about each and every flight. I was never left feeling deflated and that I had gone backwards and since for me at least flying is very much a confidence game that was really important. One of them often gave positive feedback during the flight - it meant I had no doubt what I had just done really well, and giving it helped him to remember it I think for the debriefing!

The best instructors for me also helped me to relax in the cockpit and enjoy myself, and were prepared to think laterally when I was having real problems learning to land.

But, what relaxes one student might wind another up! Especially jokes - senses of humour are very individual. Tread carefully at first.

Student's needs from their instructors can change. If you think one of your students is getting stuck don't hesitate to suggest they try a few flights with a different instructor.

Try to remember your own ab initio experiences. I have felt that some instructors (especially the real naturals and/or who had learnt in their 'teens or 20s) either never knew what it was like to find anything difficult about flying, or had forgotten. Obviously making out that something is really difficult to do (or do well) won't help, neither does not listening to the student explaining what their difficulties are. Sometimes explaining why one can't do something leads to an 'ah ha' moment where the light goes on - and that applies to all learning, not just flying.

Finally, maybe most importantly, remember you are both there because you want to be, and to have fun. Especially your student should have fun!

Well you are obviously an aspiring Airline pilot (certainly not a proper light aviation pilot if you cannot get FoxMOTH - ahh, deHavilland - correct!)- I am one already, and even flying with an incapacitated pilot you are not recommended to read the checklist as PF - you get a CC member to do it, so is certainly not an excuse for this.

Jokes
 

I love to joke around but in cockpit when student is flying is not the time.

In a good case they dont have capacity to understand at all, in a bad case they understand something completely different than meant.

If you want to do it, keep it very basic and easy to understand.

Or maybe im just dry :8