Becoming an Instructor & related FI questions
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Internet access thanks to The Nr Fairy
Nigel,
There is a perfectly simple explanation - I'm insane. Otherwise why should I spend a small fortune putting myself through hell for the pleasure of earning far less than I do already allowing students to try to kill me?
Wed 19th Feb
Still feeling as though I can't stand another word of criticism, I drag myself to the airfield...and find we're doing instrument flying. This cheers me up slightly; it's something I've never found that hard. However, I haven't done any at all since my CPL, about 18 months ago. I say to Mark that I wonder if Mike will succeed in putting me off that, as he has with practically everything else. But it goes OK. It takes me a few minutes to get back to developing a scan, and an hour of instrument flying after a long break is hard work, but it feels like something I can do. This cheers me up amazingly; if I can do some things, I can cope with having weaknesses, but if I feel like I can't do anything.... Next we have a nav, which we've both planned like real new PPLs, since we don't know the area. But if fact it's quite painless, with Mike teaching us how he does nav, and advice on how to teach it to students. I've been taught nav so many different ways now - f/w, rotary, different schools, UK, US...I think my students will get it My Way anyway. Still, it goes quite well. I've recovered my confidence enough to be annoyed, both at myself for whinging, and at someone else for getting me in that state, since it was almost entirely counter-productive. But I guess - and I'll probably soon find out - that it's difficult for instructors to be mind readers. The Nr Fairy has invited me over for a meal, and despite the fact I should probably be studying I decide to take the evening off. I need a break, from work, and from my bedsit and the airfield. I drive across Salisbury Plain feeling like I've escaped from jail!
There is a perfectly simple explanation - I'm insane. Otherwise why should I spend a small fortune putting myself through hell for the pleasure of earning far less than I do already allowing students to try to kill me?
Wed 19th Feb
Still feeling as though I can't stand another word of criticism, I drag myself to the airfield...and find we're doing instrument flying. This cheers me up slightly; it's something I've never found that hard. However, I haven't done any at all since my CPL, about 18 months ago. I say to Mark that I wonder if Mike will succeed in putting me off that, as he has with practically everything else. But it goes OK. It takes me a few minutes to get back to developing a scan, and an hour of instrument flying after a long break is hard work, but it feels like something I can do. This cheers me up amazingly; if I can do some things, I can cope with having weaknesses, but if I feel like I can't do anything.... Next we have a nav, which we've both planned like real new PPLs, since we don't know the area. But if fact it's quite painless, with Mike teaching us how he does nav, and advice on how to teach it to students. I've been taught nav so many different ways now - f/w, rotary, different schools, UK, US...I think my students will get it My Way anyway. Still, it goes quite well. I've recovered my confidence enough to be annoyed, both at myself for whinging, and at someone else for getting me in that state, since it was almost entirely counter-productive. But I guess - and I'll probably soon find out - that it's difficult for instructors to be mind readers. The Nr Fairy has invited me over for a meal, and despite the fact I should probably be studying I decide to take the evening off. I need a break, from work, and from my bedsit and the airfield. I drive across Salisbury Plain feeling like I've escaped from jail!
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thurs 20th Feb
We get given Ex 24 , Sloping Ground, and give back a bit of it immediately afterwards. It goes OK. Maybe things are coming together, I think. Little do I know... Next we get told we're giving back Ex 20, 21, 23, and 24, all in one session. Mike sounds all enthusiastic about it, and I try to convince myself I can do it, and pretty much succeed. But it doesn't work. Precision Transitions go fine, but I have the same problems as before doing downwind quickstops, and if I can do one I can't talk about it at the same time. After a few attempts I say to Mike that this is crazy, I simply can't do it, I don't know why or what's going on but we have to sort it out. He says to go on to something else. I "teach" crosswind and downwind takeoffs and landings OK, manage a downwind transition from the hover to forward flight, and get myself all over the place with the forward flight to hover one. By this time I'm in such a state that I can't either think or fly, let alone do both at the same time. We've also had an hour, and stop. But I've made a decision. I need to talk to Mike. I can't just go blundering on, hoping it'll all work out OK when it so obviously isn't. Mark is now quite happy and things are coming together, but they're not with me. This is not just my lack of confidence; I'm not blind, and this is real. Despite having said to Nr Fairy and Mrs Nr Fairy last night that talking to Mike wouldn't help, I HAVE to do something. So I go in and ask to do just that. It goes surprisingly well. To cut a long story short, we end up agreeing that the problem is my flying, and probably caused by my early training. Since I know my early training was cr@p - and that's an understatement - and have been trying to tell anyone who'd listen for years (and hardly anyone would; they just tried to reassure me) - this is no surprise. But what can we do about it, I ask? Well, he says, the only problem is the expense, I'll need a few extra hours. Is that all? Suddenly I feel as though I've dropped a great weight. I'm not a hopeless pilot who'll never ever reach the required standard; I've not been so badly trained that the problem is insurmountable (though it's harder to break old habits than learn them right the first time)...I'll just need a few extra hours. What on earth have I been getting so upset about? I say OK, no problem; should I make arrangements for a sixth week (groan; I wanna go home 
) Mike says maybe, but maybe we can do it all next week anyway. I feel six inches taller, and the sun is shining again. In the late afternoon we get given confined areas, and I tell Mike that's the first time I've been taught a vertical letdown in an R22 in an area where you'd have to do one - my first instructor was obviously scared of them. You see the problems I'm having? I discuss PPL training etc with a friend on the phone in the evening; she went to a wellknown and respected school, but said despite emphasising that she had the time and money and wanted to learn properly (she had previously qualified on both f/w and microlights), it was till rushed, some exercises skimped over etc. Something is very wrong in the helicopter training world, IMHO. At the end of this thread I think I'll give you an account of my early training. It might help someone recognise and avoid the same thing. If you think it's just Whirly being self-indulgent (or plain wrong!) you can skip it. But IMHO someone has to speak up sometime. Anyway....
Friday 21st Feb
Mike has a crisis to deal with, so Mark and I do some mutual flying. We give each other Confined Areas in detail, then bits of what we feel like. My dreaded downwind quickstops go much better...but will they when I'm with Mike. What is it about the roleplay and the instructor/student scenario that I find so hard? In the afternoon we get a briefing on how to teach instrument flying, then get given it in the air. I'm very tired after a long and stressful week, and find it hard to concentrate, but really work at it, as I may need to do it for real someday...and I may be tired. I chat to a friend who used to teach canoeing, often to people who'd been badly taught in the first place, on the best way of relearning bad habits. He's very helpful, and I have a bit of a plan of campaign...
I'll post this, then post about my early training...
I went for a trial helicopter lesson, simply to try something new after about a year with a PPL(A). I had no plans to take it any further. But I loved it, and (apparently) amazed my instructor - let's call him Joe - by (apparently) hovering with all three controls for a few seconds. The reason for all the "apparentlys" will become clear soon. Anyway, I went back for a full day, with the same instructor, who seemed a nice guy, with great interpersonal skills, interested in me, and we got on really well. It went well, and I decided to at least have a few more lessons, and told him I wanted to go solo, and possibly even get my PPL(H).
My first 20 hours were delightful. I seemed to be able to do everything easily, and Joe just kept telling me how well I was doing. We zoomed through all the early lessons so quickly I couldn't believe it; I'd struggled with my PPL(A), but I just seemed to have such an affinity for helicopters. After about 16 hours Joe caught me looking at the First Solo photos, and told me I was already well beyond that standard, but the school had a policy of not sending people solo until they'd done 20 hours. I was ecstatic, and unconcerned; I'd decided to finish the PPL anyway.
With hindsight, I realise that even then I thought things seemed a bit odd. Jope would tell me I'd done really well after some exercise, and I'd say; "But I wasn't doing it accurately". He'd say it was OK, it was good enough; it didn't matter as we'd go over it all later on for my GFT revision. I assumed it was different from f/w, and believed him - what did I know. Then, sometimes I'd hover in a difficult situation, or takeoff or land, and was sure I felt him on the controls. He'd tell me how good it was, and I'd say: "But you were helping me"; but he'd assure me he hadn't been, not at all. So both my instructor and my helicopter were giving me signals that all was going well and I was picking up the skills naturally, and I believed it. Until one day, after being told how wonderfully well the lesson had gone, I said: "So when do I get to go solo". It's unlike me to be that forward, but....well, I could obviously fly this machine, and we were well on through the syllabus. Was I imagining that Joe looked nervous, when I told him I now had over 21 hours? Anyway, he arranged for a solo check ride for the next day.
As soon as I tried to take off with...let's call him Sam, something felt different. I'd never had any problems with takeoffs or landings... or so I thought. Here, suddenly, I couldn't do them. Sam took me to the hover square to go over them, but I just couldn't do them, and clearly had no real idea of how to. I obviously couldn't go solo, and drove home disappointed...but with my mind in a whirl. What the hell had been going on?
The next time I flew, Joe said that "they" had decided that I needed a little more practice, that it was OK, we'd carry on with the syllabus, but do a little takeoff and landing practice at the end of each session. But things had changed. I was suspicious. I felt this guy had been stringing me along. I thought he'd been coming on the controls without telling me, and now I tested him; I'd freeze as I was landing, and I knew he helped me, though he still assured me he wasn't. I didn't know if it was deliberate or accidental, but I wasn't happy either way, I didn't know what to do, and was gradually ceasing to trust him. I also wondered just how bad I was. After all, I was flying the helicopter...or was I? I considered changing instructor, but was determined not to rock the boat until I went solo...and when would that be?
When I finally did my first solo it gave me enough confidence to be angry and determined. I phoned the school owner the next day, and said I no longer trusted Joe, explained briefly why, and that I wanted another instructor. I was so definite that he agreed instantly. Even then I began to wonder about what later became a constant question for me: "How do I know what I don't know?" I knew I'd been badly taught, but had things been missed out, and how would I know? I tried to ask both the school owner and my new instructor, but felt as though my fears were brushed aside; I'm not particularly articulate so maybe it wasn't their fault. Anyway, I reassured myself that maybe we'd just have to do extra GFT revision, which was indeed the case, and I got my PPL(H). I'd been overconfident during my time with Joe, and to some extent I still was. And I decided to go commercial if I could, and started to hourbuild. And I more or less forgot about my fears until I oversped an R22 some six months later, and realised that although I had indeed been responsible for what happened, perhaps it wouldn't have occurred if I'd been better trained about checks, if I'd understood better how helicopters worked, and especially if I'd had some governor off explanations and practical training. My discussions on this with the school owner having led nowhere except to anger on his part, I contacted the only other experienced instructor I knew of at that point, and got some extra training. In fact I told him of my fears, and said I wanted to go right back to the beginning! He told me it was impossible and unnecessary, obviously thinking I was over-reacting. Nevertheless I made him sit in with me for the start-up, and he did find one or two things I wasn't doing - no-one had checked after I stopped flying with Joe.
So I carried on. I went to a new school, with whom I did my CPL. There it became clear that parts of the PPL syllabus had been missed out, or skimped over. Having wondered before if I'd got it all wrong, I became more certain that I'd been absolutely right.
Now I'm doing it again in far more detail for the FI course. I'm finding out how helicopter flying should be taught...and it's certainly not how I was taught, far from it. Even allowing for individual differences, my early training was cr@p. I was strung along, patronised, made to feel good and happy - but not taught to fly properly. I'm fairly certain some of the instructors at that school were fine, but why did no one check on me till my abortive first solo attempt? And why didn't they attempt to rectify things afterwards? It was, as I see it now, a complete cover-up - and never mind the consequences to me, the paying customer.
I saved a few hundred quid at PPL level by going to a cheaper school; it's costing me a lot more than that at CPL and instructor level. And I worry as to whether it can even be rectified. To anyone else going this route, please please please check and ask around first!
Don't ask me to name and shame; I've thought about it, but I won't. Firstly, I still could be wrong about what happened. Secondly, the published word appears to have a truth and reality beyond just opinion - and this is of course just my opinion. But if anyone wants to send me a pm about any of this, feel free. I'd be happier if you explain roughly why you want to know. And I'll emphasise again, it'll be purely my opinion.
We get given Ex 24 , Sloping Ground, and give back a bit of it immediately afterwards. It goes OK. Maybe things are coming together, I think. Little do I know... Next we get told we're giving back Ex 20, 21, 23, and 24, all in one session.
Mike sounds all enthusiastic about it, and I try to convince myself I can do it, and pretty much succeed. But it doesn't work. Precision Transitions go fine, but I have the same problems as before doing downwind quickstops, and if I can do one I can't talk about it at the same time. After a few attempts I say to Mike that this is crazy, I simply can't do it, I don't know why or what's going on but we have to sort it out. He says to go on to something else. I "teach" crosswind and downwind takeoffs and landings OK, manage a downwind transition from the hover to forward flight, and get myself all over the place with the forward flight to hover one. By this time I'm in such a state that I can't either think or fly, let alone do both at the same time. We've also had an hour, and stop. But I've made a decision. I need to talk to Mike. I can't just go blundering on, hoping it'll all work out OK when it so obviously isn't. Mark is now quite happy and things are coming together, but they're not with me. This is not just my lack of confidence; I'm not blind, and this is real. Despite having said to Nr Fairy and Mrs Nr Fairy last night that talking to Mike wouldn't help, I HAVE to do something. So I go in and ask to do just that. It goes surprisingly well. To cut a long story short, we end up agreeing that the problem is my flying, and probably caused by my early training. Since I know my early training was cr@p - and that's an understatement - and have been trying to tell anyone who'd listen for years (and hardly anyone would; they just tried to reassure me) - this is no surprise. But what can we do about it, I ask? Well, he says, the only problem is the expense, I'll need a few extra hours. Is that all? Suddenly I feel as though I've dropped a great weight. I'm not a hopeless pilot who'll never ever reach the required standard; I've not been so badly trained that the problem is insurmountable (though it's harder to break old habits than learn them right the first time)...I'll just need a few extra hours. What on earth have I been getting so upset about? I say OK, no problem; should I make arrangements for a sixth week (groan; I wanna go home ) Mike says maybe, but maybe we can do it all next week anyway. I feel six inches taller, and the sun is shining again. In the late afternoon we get given confined areas, and I tell Mike that's the first time I've been taught a vertical letdown in an R22 in an area where you'd have to do one - my first instructor was obviously scared of them. You see the problems I'm having? I discuss PPL training etc with a friend on the phone in the evening; she went to a wellknown and respected school, but said despite emphasising that she had the time and money and wanted to learn properly (she had previously qualified on both f/w and microlights), it was till rushed, some exercises skimped over etc. Something is very wrong in the helicopter training world, IMHO. At the end of this thread I think I'll give you an account of my early training. It might help someone recognise and avoid the same thing. If you think it's just Whirly being self-indulgent (or plain wrong!) you can skip it. But IMHO someone has to speak up sometime. Anyway....Friday 21st Feb
Mike has a crisis to deal with, so Mark and I do some mutual flying. We give each other Confined Areas in detail, then bits of what we feel like. My dreaded downwind quickstops go much better...but will they when I'm with Mike. What is it about the roleplay and the instructor/student scenario that I find so hard? In the afternoon we get a briefing on how to teach instrument flying, then get given it in the air. I'm very tired after a long and stressful week, and find it hard to concentrate, but really work at it, as I may need to do it for real someday...and I may be tired. I chat to a friend who used to teach canoeing, often to people who'd been badly taught in the first place, on the best way of relearning bad habits. He's very helpful, and I have a bit of a plan of campaign...
I'll post this, then post about my early training...
I went for a trial helicopter lesson, simply to try something new after about a year with a PPL(A). I had no plans to take it any further. But I loved it, and (apparently) amazed my instructor - let's call him Joe - by (apparently) hovering with all three controls for a few seconds. The reason for all the "apparentlys" will become clear soon. Anyway, I went back for a full day, with the same instructor, who seemed a nice guy, with great interpersonal skills, interested in me, and we got on really well. It went well, and I decided to at least have a few more lessons, and told him I wanted to go solo, and possibly even get my PPL(H).
My first 20 hours were delightful. I seemed to be able to do everything easily, and Joe just kept telling me how well I was doing. We zoomed through all the early lessons so quickly I couldn't believe it; I'd struggled with my PPL(A), but I just seemed to have such an affinity for helicopters. After about 16 hours Joe caught me looking at the First Solo photos, and told me I was already well beyond that standard, but the school had a policy of not sending people solo until they'd done 20 hours. I was ecstatic, and unconcerned; I'd decided to finish the PPL anyway.
With hindsight, I realise that even then I thought things seemed a bit odd. Jope would tell me I'd done really well after some exercise, and I'd say; "But I wasn't doing it accurately". He'd say it was OK, it was good enough; it didn't matter as we'd go over it all later on for my GFT revision. I assumed it was different from f/w, and believed him - what did I know. Then, sometimes I'd hover in a difficult situation, or takeoff or land, and was sure I felt him on the controls. He'd tell me how good it was, and I'd say: "But you were helping me"; but he'd assure me he hadn't been, not at all. So both my instructor and my helicopter were giving me signals that all was going well and I was picking up the skills naturally, and I believed it. Until one day, after being told how wonderfully well the lesson had gone, I said: "So when do I get to go solo". It's unlike me to be that forward, but....well, I could obviously fly this machine, and we were well on through the syllabus. Was I imagining that Joe looked nervous, when I told him I now had over 21 hours? Anyway, he arranged for a solo check ride for the next day.
As soon as I tried to take off with...let's call him Sam, something felt different. I'd never had any problems with takeoffs or landings... or so I thought. Here, suddenly, I couldn't do them. Sam took me to the hover square to go over them, but I just couldn't do them, and clearly had no real idea of how to. I obviously couldn't go solo, and drove home disappointed...but with my mind in a whirl. What the hell had been going on?
The next time I flew, Joe said that "they" had decided that I needed a little more practice, that it was OK, we'd carry on with the syllabus, but do a little takeoff and landing practice at the end of each session. But things had changed. I was suspicious. I felt this guy had been stringing me along. I thought he'd been coming on the controls without telling me, and now I tested him; I'd freeze as I was landing, and I knew he helped me, though he still assured me he wasn't. I didn't know if it was deliberate or accidental, but I wasn't happy either way, I didn't know what to do, and was gradually ceasing to trust him. I also wondered just how bad I was. After all, I was flying the helicopter...or was I? I considered changing instructor, but was determined not to rock the boat until I went solo...and when would that be?
When I finally did my first solo it gave me enough confidence to be angry and determined. I phoned the school owner the next day, and said I no longer trusted Joe, explained briefly why, and that I wanted another instructor. I was so definite that he agreed instantly. Even then I began to wonder about what later became a constant question for me: "How do I know what I don't know?" I knew I'd been badly taught, but had things been missed out, and how would I know? I tried to ask both the school owner and my new instructor, but felt as though my fears were brushed aside; I'm not particularly articulate so maybe it wasn't their fault. Anyway, I reassured myself that maybe we'd just have to do extra GFT revision, which was indeed the case, and I got my PPL(H). I'd been overconfident during my time with Joe, and to some extent I still was. And I decided to go commercial if I could, and started to hourbuild. And I more or less forgot about my fears until I oversped an R22 some six months later, and realised that although I had indeed been responsible for what happened, perhaps it wouldn't have occurred if I'd been better trained about checks, if I'd understood better how helicopters worked, and especially if I'd had some governor off explanations and practical training. My discussions on this with the school owner having led nowhere except to anger on his part, I contacted the only other experienced instructor I knew of at that point, and got some extra training. In fact I told him of my fears, and said I wanted to go right back to the beginning!
He told me it was impossible and unnecessary, obviously thinking I was over-reacting. Nevertheless I made him sit in with me for the start-up, and he did find one or two things I wasn't doing - no-one had checked after I stopped flying with Joe.So I carried on. I went to a new school, with whom I did my CPL. There it became clear that parts of the PPL syllabus had been missed out, or skimped over. Having wondered before if I'd got it all wrong, I became more certain that I'd been absolutely right.
Now I'm doing it again in far more detail for the FI course. I'm finding out how helicopter flying should be taught...and it's certainly not how I was taught, far from it. Even allowing for individual differences, my early training was cr@p. I was strung along, patronised, made to feel good and happy - but not taught to fly properly. I'm fairly certain some of the instructors at that school were fine, but why did no one check on me till my abortive first solo attempt? And why didn't they attempt to rectify things afterwards? It was, as I see it now, a complete cover-up - and never mind the consequences to me, the paying customer.
I saved a few hundred quid at PPL level by going to a cheaper school; it's costing me a lot more than that at CPL and instructor level. And I worry as to whether it can even be rectified. To anyone else going this route, please please please check and ask around first!
Don't ask me to name and shame; I've thought about it, but I won't. Firstly, I still could be wrong about what happened. Secondly, the published word appears to have a truth and reality beyond just opinion - and this is of course just my opinion. But if anyone wants to send me a pm about any of this, feel free. I'd be happier if you explain roughly why you want to know. And I'll emphasise again, it'll be purely my opinion.
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Harwich
Age: 65
Posts: 777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The FI Course - an occasional diary
I cried half a dozen times during the time it took me to read this thread.
How DARE you ever contemplate giving up. I remember when I came into a little money and could afford three (count them) hours flying over two days. I turned up and could see through the Ops room windows the H300 waiting to go. Can anyone imagine the thrill of excitement I felt? I wouldn't be going home until I'd flown in that machine, twice! And I'd do the same again next day!!
We came down to the hover from the trip round the fine city of Norwich and used the Tower as a reference. Aiming point, parallax, look in the distance, now the ground in front. I "get control". Pause. "Am I doing this?" "Yes, look," and he waves his hands about. "But we're not moving!" I'm glad I don't have a video of that trip. I would sob my heart out every time I saw it.
False confidence. I've flown R22s half a dozen times. I always got praised to the skies (tee hee). I just didn't lose sight of the fact that I could always make a tit of myself on the next ride, or indeed during the one I was having. I asked questions. I asked about inflow roll before the instructor got round to mentioning it. I'd phone up once I got back to the office to clear up some detail I hadn't got clear in my mind ("what have you thought of now?"). Modesty thrown to the winds, I think I have the talent. But I'm perfectly prepared to be made to look like a pillock, because in some circumstances I am. We all are.
The most exciting line in Robert Mason's book Chickenhawk is "I was finally getting my chance". So many of us haven't. You have. I wish you the very best.
How DARE you ever contemplate giving up. I remember when I came into a little money and could afford three (count them) hours flying over two days. I turned up and could see through the Ops room windows the H300 waiting to go. Can anyone imagine the thrill of excitement I felt? I wouldn't be going home until I'd flown in that machine, twice! And I'd do the same again next day!!
We came down to the hover from the trip round the fine city of Norwich and used the Tower as a reference. Aiming point, parallax, look in the distance, now the ground in front. I "get control". Pause. "Am I doing this?" "Yes, look," and he waves his hands about. "But we're not moving!" I'm glad I don't have a video of that trip. I would sob my heart out every time I saw it.
False confidence. I've flown R22s half a dozen times. I always got praised to the skies (tee hee). I just didn't lose sight of the fact that I could always make a tit of myself on the next ride, or indeed during the one I was having. I asked questions. I asked about inflow roll before the instructor got round to mentioning it. I'd phone up once I got back to the office to clear up some detail I hadn't got clear in my mind ("what have you thought of now?"). Modesty thrown to the winds, I think I have the talent. But I'm perfectly prepared to be made to look like a pillock, because in some circumstances I am. We all are.
The most exciting line in Robert Mason's book Chickenhawk is "I was finally getting my chance". So many of us haven't. You have. I wish you the very best.
Send me a private message you old dog.
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Harwich
Age: 65
Posts: 777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Whirlybird
Because you were describing so well what it was like to get your chance, and I haven't had mine.
I once had this footling medical problem, it really was three-fifths of nothing at all, but my GP happens to be the AME for this area, so..."the guidelines are to wait ten years and see how you are after that."
Sort of knocks one back a bit.
Thanks for a fascinating thread.
Because you were describing so well what it was like to get your chance, and I haven't had mine.
I once had this footling medical problem, it really was three-fifths of nothing at all, but my GP happens to be the AME for this area, so..."the guidelines are to wait ten years and see how you are after that."
Sort of knocks one back a bit.
Thanks for a fascinating thread.
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: UK
Age: 71
Posts: 1,364
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hilico,
You don't necessarily need to accept the view of that AME. I am aware of a number of cases where medical problems have been shown to be OK, following appropriate enquiry. Most of the cases that I am aware of have been guided through to a successful conclusion following the advice of a particular AME who is a real specialist in this area.
If you send me a PM, I can provide the details to allow you to contact him.
You don't necessarily need to accept the view of that AME. I am aware of a number of cases where medical problems have been shown to be OK, following appropriate enquiry. Most of the cases that I am aware of have been guided through to a successful conclusion following the advice of a particular AME who is a real specialist in this area.
If you send me a PM, I can provide the details to allow you to contact him.
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
muffin,
The idea of doing EOLs without an instructor next to me absolutely terrifies me!!!! Though I suppose that could change. We'll see...
Mon 24th Feb
Fog, so no flying. We have a mammoth briefing session; I do Ex 5, Mark does 6, I do 7, he does 10. We both agree that we're getting much better at this, and so does Mike. Actually I rather enjoy it. It takes us to mid-afternoon, and the wx has improved, but we still don't get to fly; we go over bits of Met and emergency procedures and so on. Either due to having done some revision, or because I've relaxed somewhat, I seem to remember a lot more than I did earlier in the course. Maybe, just maybe, things are going to start coming together. And it looks very much like I have a job to go to afterwards.
The idea of doing EOLs without an instructor next to me absolutely terrifies me!!!!
Though I suppose that could change. We'll see...Mon 24th Feb
Fog, so no flying. We have a mammoth briefing session; I do Ex 5, Mark does 6, I do 7, he does 10. We both agree that we're getting much better at this, and so does Mike. Actually I rather enjoy it. It takes us to mid-afternoon, and the wx has improved, but we still don't get to fly; we go over bits of Met and emergency procedures and so on. Either due to having done some revision, or because I've relaxed somewhat, I seem to remember a lot more than I did earlier in the course. Maybe, just maybe, things are going to start coming together. And it looks very much like I have a job to go to afterwards.
Whirly, whilst I cannot condone the actions of your first instructor, I think once you become a QHI and teach your own students you will probably understand why he did things the way he did.
Being a QHI is about building and maintaining your student's confidence (just as you are experiencing at the moment during your course), if a student cannot perform a particular exercise even after several attempts, then frustration builds and their performance gets worse; it is often better to move on to something else (not neccessarily easier, just different) that the student can do in order to maintain his/her confidence in their own abilities, and return to the difficult exercise at another time.
If you insist that a student does not progress until they have mastered a particular skill and keep on making the practise it over and over again you run the risk of demotivating them completely.
You said yourself that you struggled during fixed wing training and it maybe that your QHI was just trying to be too nice in keeping your confidence running high by telling you that you were doing OK when you weren't. He did neither himself nor you any favours instructing this way but he was probably under commercial pressure from the boss to make sure you kept coming back for more - if he had been brutally frank and said you were unfit solo after 20 hours would you have quit?
The more empathy you have with your student's problems, the better QHI you will be - remember the emotional highs and lows you are experiencing on your FI course as you struggle to learn and perfect new skills - your future students will be feeling the same way.
Don't feel embarrassed by needing extra hours to get your own flying up to speed, every QHI student ends up learning to fly all over again because you inevitably fall into bad habits (just like driving) until someone scrutinises your skills and points out how you should be doing it. Out in the real world of GA, how many pilots actually fly an academic downwind quickstop? Like any skill, if you don't practise it you will lose it.
I don't suppose a civilian QHI course involves quite as much drinking as the military one does (although I might be wrong) but enjoy it to the full and the best of luck Whirly as a QHI.
Being a QHI is about building and maintaining your student's confidence (just as you are experiencing at the moment during your course), if a student cannot perform a particular exercise even after several attempts, then frustration builds and their performance gets worse; it is often better to move on to something else (not neccessarily easier, just different) that the student can do in order to maintain his/her confidence in their own abilities, and return to the difficult exercise at another time.
If you insist that a student does not progress until they have mastered a particular skill and keep on making the practise it over and over again you run the risk of demotivating them completely.
You said yourself that you struggled during fixed wing training and it maybe that your QHI was just trying to be too nice in keeping your confidence running high by telling you that you were doing OK when you weren't. He did neither himself nor you any favours instructing this way but he was probably under commercial pressure from the boss to make sure you kept coming back for more - if he had been brutally frank and said you were unfit solo after 20 hours would you have quit?
The more empathy you have with your student's problems, the better QHI you will be - remember the emotional highs and lows you are experiencing on your FI course as you struggle to learn and perfect new skills - your future students will be feeling the same way.
Don't feel embarrassed by needing extra hours to get your own flying up to speed, every QHI student ends up learning to fly all over again because you inevitably fall into bad habits (just like driving) until someone scrutinises your skills and points out how you should be doing it. Out in the real world of GA, how many pilots actually fly an academic downwind quickstop? Like any skill, if you don't practise it you will lose it.
I don't suppose a civilian QHI course involves quite as much drinking as the military one does (although I might be wrong) but enjoy it to the full and the best of luck Whirly as a QHI.
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
crab,
Thanks for putting the other side. However, I wasn't struggling, didn't find it difficult, and looking back in my logbook, we rarely spent more than one session on each exercise, far less time than most other people were doing. I thought helicopter flying was really really easy!!! And he praised me to the skies; I mean, no-one's that bloody good!!! By the time I went solo, we'd covered virtually the whole syllabus in minimal hours - but had to go over loads of it again before my GFT. So while his intentions may have been good, and I take your point, it was way over the top. Anyway...
Tues Feb 25th
Mike is busy, so we give back parts of Ex 27 - instrument flying - with another instructor. I'm surprised at how difficult this is. You have to talk, scan the instruments, and work out from what's happening to the instruments just what the student is doing wrong; I mean, I'd never seen flapback on the the AI before! It makes instrument flying by itself seem like low workload. Later we go out with Mike and give back Ex 15 and 19 - Vortex Ring and Steep Turns; relatively easy stuff. I work it out, and we've covered everything except a bit of instrument flying, and EOLs, both as student and instructor. Having talked to a few people who've been through the course (thanks Helimutt!!!) I'm realising I'm not that bad, that it IS all coming together, and that my main problem is my lack of confidence. Mike's still talking of finishing the end of this week. But we have a new problem - one R22 is off line, leaving us only one.
Wed Feb 26th
Despite having only one R22, we both get some more instrument flying, and go over Advanced Autos again. It goes better, but Mike comments that I seem to have a block about them. I do, but I never used to. I think I'll spend an hour doing them with my old instrutor when I get home; I used to like them; what happened? Then we have a mammoth session on P of F. I didn't realise the depth we needed to know things, and get annoyed at apparently being ridiculed. I say no, I can't tell him what he's asking, but since I now know I need to learn it, I will, OK? I get the feeling I'm deliberately being given a hard time, and I don't like it. But it's finally dawned on me that no-one can make me feel inferior without my consent!!!!
Anyway, the examiner can't make Friday, so we have our tests booked for next Tuesday. We'd hoped to finish this week, but what the hell. I'm off to my room to do some P of F. Despite feeling as though I'm constantly being criticised, I realise just how much I've learned in the last very very long 5 weeks. Anyway, I shouldn't complain; I who know what it's like to have an instructor who tells you you're wonderful when you're not. And I guess I wouldn't be being put in the for the test if I couldn't pass it...at least I hope that's the case.
Thanks for putting the other side. However, I wasn't struggling, didn't find it difficult, and looking back in my logbook, we rarely spent more than one session on each exercise, far less time than most other people were doing. I thought helicopter flying was really really easy!!! And he praised me to the skies; I mean, no-one's that bloody good!!! By the time I went solo, we'd covered virtually the whole syllabus in minimal hours - but had to go over loads of it again before my GFT. So while his intentions may have been good, and I take your point, it was way over the top. Anyway...
Tues Feb 25th
Mike is busy, so we give back parts of Ex 27 - instrument flying - with another instructor. I'm surprised at how difficult this is. You have to talk, scan the instruments, and work out from what's happening to the instruments just what the student is doing wrong; I mean, I'd never seen flapback on the the AI before! It makes instrument flying by itself seem like low workload. Later we go out with Mike and give back Ex 15 and 19 - Vortex Ring and Steep Turns; relatively easy stuff. I work it out, and we've covered everything except a bit of instrument flying, and EOLs, both as student and instructor. Having talked to a few people who've been through the course (thanks Helimutt!!!) I'm realising I'm not that bad, that it IS all coming together, and that my main problem is my lack of confidence. Mike's still talking of finishing the end of this week. But we have a new problem - one R22 is off line, leaving us only one.
Wed Feb 26th
Despite having only one R22, we both get some more instrument flying, and go over Advanced Autos again. It goes better, but Mike comments that I seem to have a block about them. I do, but I never used to. I think I'll spend an hour doing them with my old instrutor when I get home; I used to like them; what happened? Then we have a mammoth session on P of F. I didn't realise the depth we needed to know things, and get annoyed at apparently being ridiculed. I say no, I can't tell him what he's asking, but since I now know I need to learn it, I will, OK? I get the feeling I'm deliberately being given a hard time, and I don't like it. But it's finally dawned on me that no-one can make me feel inferior without my consent!!!!
Anyway, the examiner can't make Friday, so we have our tests booked for next Tuesday. We'd hoped to finish this week, but what the hell. I'm off to my room to do some P of F. Despite feeling as though I'm constantly being criticised, I realise just how much I've learned in the last very very long 5 weeks. Anyway, I shouldn't complain; I who know what it's like to have an instructor who tells you you're wonderful when you're not. And I guess I wouldn't be being put in the for the test if I couldn't pass it...at least I hope that's the case.
High Flying Bird
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Old Sarum ish
Posts: 2,297
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It sounds like things are starting to come together Whirly, keep the good work up! Good news the examiner can't make it until Tuesday - it takes the pressure off. I know it's another few days, but what does that matter in the long run? This is a long-term investment, spend the time getting it right now. Erm, that wasn't meant to sound so patronising. 
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The best laid plans....
Aerbabe, don't worry; it didn't sound patronising. Anyway, I'm past caring what anyone says or what it sounds like...
Thur 27th Feb
We finish our instrument flying, then give back Ex 6. this is a common one to have to do on the test, and it goes reasonably well. Then we hear from the examiner, who was phoning to tell us which exercise we'll be doing. Let me explain first. There has always been a panel of examiners, one of whom does the test. You virtually always get Ex 4, 5, 6 or maybe 10 - Effects of controls, speed and power changes, straight and level etc, or transitions, ie the basic lessons you give to a student. Well, it's all changed. Fred Cross of the CAA, who's recently taken over from David Patterson, will now be doing all the tests. We get told he can't do both on Tues, so mine will be on Wed, and one of us will do Limited Power, the other Sloping Ground!!!! Now, although these aren't that difficult, they're difficult to do, and teach, well. They're also short....so what's he going to spring on us after that? And we now realise the "rules", as it were, no longer exist; we could get anything, ie no point in asking people who've done it before; we're the first and things have changed. Anyway, we go out and give back Limited Power, and I can't manage a zero-zero landing (can anyone?) but it's otherwise OK. We going over Sloping Ground tomorrow. I think that one's mine, and though it's usually fine, if I'm nervous my feet freeze up first. But actually I'm now too fed up, annoyed, and pissed off to be nervous. I hope that lasts. We've done nearly all the flying, I have loads of revision over the weekend, then...well, we'll see....
Thur 27th Feb
We finish our instrument flying, then give back Ex 6. this is a common one to have to do on the test, and it goes reasonably well. Then we hear from the examiner, who was phoning to tell us which exercise we'll be doing. Let me explain first. There has always been a panel of examiners, one of whom does the test. You virtually always get Ex 4, 5, 6 or maybe 10 - Effects of controls, speed and power changes, straight and level etc, or transitions, ie the basic lessons you give to a student. Well, it's all changed. Fred Cross of the CAA, who's recently taken over from David Patterson, will now be doing all the tests. We get told he can't do both on Tues, so mine will be on Wed, and one of us will do Limited Power, the other Sloping Ground!!!! Now, although these aren't that difficult, they're difficult to do, and teach, well. They're also short....so what's he going to spring on us after that?
And we now realise the "rules", as it were, no longer exist; we could get anything, ie no point in asking people who've done it before; we're the first and things have changed. Anyway, we go out and give back Limited Power, and I can't manage a zero-zero landing (can anyone?) but it's otherwise OK. We going over Sloping Ground tomorrow. I think that one's mine, and though it's usually fine, if I'm nervous my feet freeze up first. But actually I'm now too fed up, annoyed, and pissed off to be nervous. I hope that lasts. We've done nearly all the flying, I have loads of revision over the weekend, then...well, we'll see....
Whirly, it seems that the ex-AAC mafia have a stranglehold on QHI testing now - David Patterson is an ex-CFI of Middle Wallop and Fred Cross an ex- Aviation Standards Officer.
The normal modus operandi of a military QHI check is a pre briefed exercise like limited power that you give a full briefing on and then fly, fault analysing your 'student' as you go. The rest of the trip will be spent carrying out cold exercises - he might ask you to patter a quickstop or an auto or even teach him an emergency. What ever happens, you are almost guaranteed to come back to base for an EOL - ensure you know whether he wants you to teach it or just fly it!
Unless the CAA dictates otherwise I fully expect Fred to follow the above format. I suggest you make sure you are on top of the local procedures at Thruxton though, especially around the Middle Wallop area as Fred knows the area extremely well.
Don't panic though, he is a good chap and very fair so unless he makes you land on and walk home, the sortie is probably going OK!!!!
Best of Luck
The normal modus operandi of a military QHI check is a pre briefed exercise like limited power that you give a full briefing on and then fly, fault analysing your 'student' as you go. The rest of the trip will be spent carrying out cold exercises - he might ask you to patter a quickstop or an auto or even teach him an emergency. What ever happens, you are almost guaranteed to come back to base for an EOL - ensure you know whether he wants you to teach it or just fly it!
Unless the CAA dictates otherwise I fully expect Fred to follow the above format. I suggest you make sure you are on top of the local procedures at Thruxton though, especially around the Middle Wallop area as Fred knows the area extremely well.
Don't panic though, he is a good chap and very fair so unless he makes you land on and walk home, the sortie is probably going OK!!!!
Best of Luck
Whirly, trust me, you don't know how much you are learning. It's like watching your kids grow up, you don't notice the changes in them because you see them every day, it is a gradual progression. Friends, relatives etc. who only see them occasionally see huge changes.
Once the test is out of the way, and you get a chance to fly without someone pushing you all the time, you will realise how much you have improved. The good news is, you will get better all the time you are instructing. Picking out where your students are making mistakes and explaining how they can correct them, improves your own standards.
All the effort will be worthwhile when you see your first student return from their first solo!!
Enjoy
TeeS
Once the test is out of the way, and you get a chance to fly without someone pushing you all the time, you will realise how much you have improved. The good news is, you will get better all the time you are instructing. Picking out where your students are making mistakes and explaining how they can correct them, improves your own standards.
All the effort will be worthwhile when you see your first student return from their first solo!!
Enjoy
TeeS
The best eye-opener will be when you are teaching a real student how to hover. Up till now, your Bloggs is an instructor, who will never put in the control inputs that a dopey student will try.
The same goes for engine failures in the hover - Bloggs has never let one truly get away from you, but Dopey will!
Good luck! Enjoy! And your liver is looking forward to some nerve-settling Gin-and-Tonics after a hard day instructing.
The same goes for engine failures in the hover - Bloggs has never let one truly get away from you, but Dopey will!
Good luck! Enjoy! And your liver is looking forward to some nerve-settling Gin-and-Tonics after a hard day instructing.
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
crab,
That is incredibly useful to know; thankyou. I'll spend the weekend learning how to teach all 27 exercises..and revising all my Met and P of F and emergencies and......Arggghhhhhh!!!! OK, I'm not really panicking.
TeeS and Ascend Charlie,
Thanks, and what I find encouraging is that ALL of you seem to be assuming I'll pass.
I might even get to believe it myself at this rate.
Anyway....
Fri 28th Feb
We were supposed to be doing Sloping Ground, but the wx had other ideas. I 'A' checked the helicopter in drizzle and wind, and we managed to make our way over to the sloping ground in ever decreasing visibility. But I really struggled to do the exercise, never mind teach it; it was getting foggy, and was so damp that the demister just wouldn't clear the left hand side of the windscreen at all. Sloping ground landings in semi IMC!!!! After about 10 minutes Mike said to forget it; I wasn't learning anything. I asked if it was the conditions or me, and he said the conditions of course; it was atrocious. It's beginning to dawn on me that I'm harder on myself than anyone else is on me; Mike could do it, so I thought I should be able to - but he has 15,000+ hours to my 330!!!!!! Anyway, we came in and cancelled Friday. Just as well our test wasn't today; the wx was worsening by the minute. I drove home, and I'll spend the weekend revising...and maybe getting a bit of a rest too. Whatever happens, it'll all be over in a week.
That is incredibly useful to know; thankyou. I'll spend the weekend learning how to teach all 27 exercises..and revising all my Met and P of F and emergencies and......Arggghhhhhh!!!! OK, I'm not really panicking.
TeeS and Ascend Charlie,
Thanks, and what I find encouraging is that ALL of you seem to be assuming I'll pass.
I might even get to believe it myself at this rate.Anyway....
Fri 28th Feb
We were supposed to be doing Sloping Ground, but the wx had other ideas. I 'A' checked the helicopter in drizzle and wind, and we managed to make our way over to the sloping ground in ever decreasing visibility. But I really struggled to do the exercise, never mind teach it; it was getting foggy, and was so damp that the demister just wouldn't clear the left hand side of the windscreen at all. Sloping ground landings in semi IMC!!!! After about 10 minutes Mike said to forget it; I wasn't learning anything. I asked if it was the conditions or me, and he said the conditions of course; it was atrocious. It's beginning to dawn on me that I'm harder on myself than anyone else is on me; Mike could do it, so I thought I should be able to - but he has 15,000+ hours to my 330!!!!!! Anyway, we came in and cancelled Friday. Just as well our test wasn't today; the wx was worsening by the minute. I drove home, and I'll spend the weekend revising...and maybe getting a bit of a rest too. Whatever happens, it'll all be over in a week.