Question from my student...

[Ian J]

After a particularly frustrating flight for one of my students yesterday, he sent me an email posted below. He is at about 5 hours now, and hasn't found the talking, thinking, and flying at the same time button. He has a problem fixating (not just on an instrument, otherwise I'd just cover it up)... pretty much on anything. For example, if I say use outside references to maintain heading or the proper pitch attitude while occasionally glancing at the instruments to confirm, he'll look only outside the aircraft (can't cover up the wind screen!). And anytime he is asked to speak or explain how to transition from a climb to cruise, or say he's low and off airspeed, how to correct, he'll just lock up, make no corrections, and won't speak.

I have some ideas how to help him, but I wanted to throw it out there to the masses to get other ideas. Below his his email:

Let me know if you think differently, but it seems like whenever I'm asked to verballyexplain what I am doing in the cockpit, thats when I start thinking too much or concentrating on one thing. And I end up getting tense. But when I'm not trying to verbally explain I think I perform a little better. Do you see the same thing, or do you think it's something else? And if this is the problem, will a whole lot of practice fix that or do you know of any other tricks that may help? I ask because I feel like I can do everything you've taught me, but I have alot of trouble verbalizing it, probably because I don't know the terminology that well. So when I'm asked something, I spend so much time trying to figure out what to say and how to say it properly, that I lose track of what I'm doing.

[BoilerPilot2007]

Seems to me like he might think you're expecting too much (at this point) when asking him to verbally explain what he's doing. I remember focusing so hard on WHAT I was doing that I didn't have time to explain it as I was performing the task. I could do the task, then explain it or explain it, then do it.

See if that makes it any easier at first.

Also, when I ask my students to explain something when there's "a lot" going on, I make sure to tell them to use "plain English." A lot of the time, they may just be looking for the right words.

Good luck!

[DCApilot2006]

Private student right? He's obviously very nervous about just "being" in the airplane. It's up to you to treat his conditions as normal right? He doesn't actually need to tell you much of anything in this stage of the game IF he can perform what is being asked. Walking, talking and chewing gum comes later.

IF he can't perform, then try to put him at ease as much as possible, If each time this guy flys he sprouts another 5 gray hairs, flying might not be for him.
Riding his ass in the airplane will only make matters much worse. You say you've already done 5 or so hours. If things don't improve in the next few, I'd have him go up with a pal of yours. Might just be a personallity conflict. Might not be the issue, but you never know. Good luck. These are the students that make YOU better at instucting. Your off to a good start asking others to share opinions on what will help your student. This shows you care!

[Ian J]

Thanks guys...

Yeah, I treat his condition as "normal" and I really don't ride his ass. When I ask him to explain something, I mean this: say he has decended 300 ft while doing slow flight - I simply ask "how do we correct for this, and what are you going to do to get us back up?" And I emphasize plain language, like "give it some power and pull the nose up." Hell, I don't care if he says "nose... higher... engine... loud!" And then again, I'm not so concerned with him verbalizing it if he would actually make the corrections after I point out the problem. But he freezes.

I know he's new, but he knows the pitch/power relationship. On the ground he's got it. The airplane stresses him out, I think.

What I think I need to do next flight is really emphasize the fun of flying. Let him relax, let him fly the plane for fun, and just get him more comfortable.

Has anyone sort of taken the day of from a lesson and allowed your student to zip around the sky a little to help them relax and have fun?

[RynoB]

When I was training for the private pilot, my instructor could see when I was getting board or frustrated with training. Then, we would just go up and have fun. The next flight I was ready to train again. It's a good idea in my opinion.

[gtpilot]

Originally Posted by ChinookDriver

What I think I need to do next flight is really emphasize the fun of flying. Let him relax, let him fly the plane for fun, and just get him more comfortable.

Has anyone sort of taken the day of from a lesson and allowed your student to zip around the sky a little to help them relax and have fun?

For some students, this is a must! When I get a student who is having this type of trouble, we do an easy flight to another airport or we go fly over the lake and sight see. We both relax and have fun with the flight - no standards or radio calls, just flying for them. Then next lesson is usually much better because they're happy and motivated again.

Good luck!

[fish314]

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. The program that I teach is quite a bit different than the usual private course (teaching military pilot training in jets), but on our first lesson, we go out to the area and teach a little (straight and level, level turns, trimming, etc.) and then we just do loops and aileron rolls and stuff. The program gets tough pretty quick, but its important to do some fun stuff in the airplane just to remember why you're there.

[jrh]

To me this sounds like a classic case of simply being overloaded. A person's mind can only handle so many different tasks at the same time before becoming saturated. It's the same reason new instrument students have a hard time briefing an approach, talking to controllers, and physically controlling the plane, all at the same time. It's also the reason why CFIs-to-be have a hard time talking and demo'ing a maneuver at the same time.

What's the solution? I think for most people time is the biggest help. The more time they spend doing task X, the more comfortable they get doing it, so then it becomes second nature and they can focus more on task Y.

Flying is more of a juggling act than most of us appreciate anymore because we're so used to it. At five hours a person is just scratching the surface of learning how to juggle. Like others have already suggested, I'd keep it relaxed and just fly around for a bit, getting more comfortable in the plane. Don't focus on standards at all, just play with the plane and have fun. The more your student is exposed to the environment, the easier things will get.

When I'm on the first few flights with private students, I don't mess with deep explanations of anything. For steep turns, I just say, "We're going to do some turns, but we'll make them a bit steeper than usual." For slow flight, I don't care about heading or altitude at first, I just say, "We're going to fly around slower than usual." They can wander all over the place and I don't care, because they need to get comfortable at the most basic elements before they can focus on the details.

[MidlifeFlyer]

Originally Posted by ChinookDriver

Has anyone sort of taken the day of from a lesson and allowed your student to zip around the sky a little to help them relax and have fun?

you betcha!

BTW. Another option. You fly a bit.

I know that sometimes comes across as the CFI flying at the student's expense, but there is a place for demonstration, even after the first few lessons. You can make his normal errors and correct them and verbalize them.

Think, for example, how you flying through light-to-moderate turbulence with a light grip on the yoke, making small but immediate corrections shows your student how to do it better than any explanation possibly could.

[Ian J]

Thanks... a big help from all. Will take your advice.

[gtpilot]

Originally Posted by MidlifeFlyer

I know that sometimes comes across as the CFI flying at the student's expense, but there is a place for demonstration, even after the first few lessons. You can make his normal errors and correct them and verbalize them.

How about your own errors? I had a student this week who was having trouble with x-wind correction so I suggested a demonstration. Perfect approach, perfect correction, zero drift. And I bounced it. 700+ dual and I bounced a landing.

X-wind problem aside, my student was so excited that her landings were smooth (although nearly in the grass and slightly angled) and my demo bounced. She could even accurately explain why I bounced (airspeed). Helps them to see we're human and will make mistakes too!

[deserteaglle]

Originally Posted by gtpilot

How about your own errors? I had a student this week who was having trouble with x-wind correction so I suggested a demonstration. Perfect approach, perfect correction, zero drift. And I bounced it. 700+ dual and I bounced a landing.

X-wind problem aside, my student was so excited that her landings were smooth (although nearly in the grass and slightly angled) and my demo bounced. She could even accurately explain why I bounced (airspeed). Helps them to see we're human and will make mistakes too!

I remember I had a real problem with holding airspeed when just starting pattern work. When he put the stickys over the AI I would check every once in a while and have my airspeed dead on, but when they were off I was bouncin' around again. I did feel a lot better when he took the controls for one circuit around the pattern after a VERY long day, and I saw that his airspeed was 85 instead of 80. That kinda made me stop worrying about it so much, so of course I stopped zeroing in on the AI, and then I held target speeds alot better. Though I have a lot of confidence in my instructor, it makes me feel better to know he ain't god.lol.

[MidlifeFlyer]

Originally Posted by gtpilot

How about your own errors? I had a student this week who was having trouble with x-wind correction so I suggested a demonstration. Perfect approach, perfect correction, zero drift. And I bounced it. 700+ dual and I bounced a landing.

Whenever I demonstrate a landing I tell the pilot I'm probably going to screw it up. A little CYA and we're both surprised if I do it right.

The stories get worse. I received a call from a CFI last year who was demonstrating a soft field landing as part of an owner's new airplane checkout, ran out of airspeed and broke the plane.

[roundout]

a pre-requisite for my students soloing is that they have to make a better landing than me that day. some days this is easier for them than others.

[greaper007]

I started out like that, now I'm an MEI CFI CFII. Some people just take longer to learn than others do. I've always been like that, my Dad was like that also. He went on to fly F-14s and now he's a 737 Capt.

Just let him know that he'll get it but it may take him longer than other people.

[Joekster]

Originally Posted by MidlifeFlyer

you betcha!

BTW. Another option. You fly a bit.

I know that sometimes comes across as the CFI flying at the student's expense, but there is a place for demonstration, even after the first few lessons. You can make his normal errors and correct them and verbalize them.

Think, for example, how you flying through light-to-moderate turbulence with a light grip on the yoke, making small but immediate corrections shows your student how to do it better than any explanation possibly could.

I don't think is done enough, and one of the reasons is that I think the CFI is worried they are gonna mess it up, which in reality is sometimes good.

When a student is getting frustrated and overloaded, THE best thing in my mind is for the instructor to demonstrate, It lets the student pause, refocus and watch somebody else do it. Not once when an instructor has done this have I viewed it flying on my money.

BTW I'm not a CFI yet, I'm just relating what I view as helpful in my own training.