Scary day for instructor and student...

[Ian J]

Kind of...

I have a foreign student who seems to take just a little bit longer on things than others. Anywho, today, after 4 dual cross countries, I was finally able to sign him off for solo x-c priviliges. The weather today wasn't great, but was within the 4000 ft ceiling/ 5SM vis/ 12 knt headwind/ 7 knt x-wind limitations I set for him. The biggest thing I was worried about was ATC not understanding him with his thick, russian accent.

Off he went, and I was proud of him.

About 30 minutes before he was due back, a bunch of guys landed from the SE... the general direction my student was to return from. They had stories of low ceilings and low vis... so much so, one of the guys filed for a pop-up IFR on the way home.

Crap. This stuff wasn't forecasted! What would my student do?

A little bit later as I was fearfully listening to a handheld on the approach freq, I heard him check in, inquire about the weather, and proceed inbound. A bit later, he freq changed to tower, and I felt an enormous relief.

After he landed, I asked him how it was, and he went through his account of a pretty fabulous decision making process when he encountered the unforecasted weather. He compared weather at nearby airports, considered diverting, but learned that our home airport had the best options and decided on that. Sometimes when you think everything you teach someone goes in one ear and out the other, you get surprised. All in all... he did great.

His biggest mistake? When given the local altimeter setting, he, for some reason, entered it in his transponder. He knew something was wrong when approach asked why he was squawking 3001. Ha!

My final thought about all this? Phew....

[meritflyer]

Wow! I bet you needed a clean (or cleaner ) pair of shorts after that!

[M.L]

I would have been scared too. Good to see that he had a good flight overall.

[GAPILOT]

I've been there before. That's the worst thing about instructing. Glad it all worked out.

[PanJet]

Must have been very encouraging to see him make good decisions like that. I love to be able to sit back and see if a student has learned something as simple as deciding when and how much to reduce power on landing approach depending on their angle. Makes me feel good when they do it without me saying anything.

On another sort of unrelated note, I once saw an instructor sign off a solo XC student when there was forecast (and quite obviously active) convective activity because the instructor was in a hurry to get out the door. Luckily the student had better ADM than his CFI and decided not to go. Some people like that CFI just baffle me how they get through and survive, but they also motivate me too believe it or not. If I ever get discouraged, I just say to myself, "If he can do it, I can do it too; and better!"

[aviatorrbt]

The same thing happend with my solo XC. Ceilings were like 1500 or so I thought. I got out of the worst of it and everything went smooth after that.

[PWMURPHY]

I think decision-making is one of the most important skills to teach many foreign pilots. And as we all know, one of the most difficult skills to learn. Sounds like you did a great job with this student. Keep up the good work.
Pat Murphy

[tgrayson]

Originally Posted by ChinookDriver

His biggest mistake? When given the local altimeter setting, he, for some reason, entered it in his transponder. He knew something was wrong when approach asked why he was squawking 3001.

An acquaintance of mine did the same thing, but the altimeter setting was 29.90. He realized his mistake when he asked ATC for a new squawk code because his transponder didn't have any 9's.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by PWMURPHY

I think decision-making is one of the most important skills to teach many foreign pilots. And as we all know, one of the most difficult skills to learn. Sounds like you did a great job with this student. Keep up the good work.
Pat Murphy

Thanks... you always have your doubts if you taught them enough though.

As a follow-up, he did his long XC the other day and came back all excited about how great the flight went. He then mentioned how the winds were gusting in Ithica and he made a pretty good landing despite it.

"The winds were gusting?" I ask. "How much?"

"Oh I don't remember, but they were pretty strong!" He's still excited.

"Stronger than the 12knt headwind and 7 knt crosswind limit I put on your endorsement?"

His excitement fades... "Uh... probably not."

Then we proceeded to have a little talk about standards and professionalism.

Originally Posted by tgrayson

An acquaintance of mine did the same thing, but the altimeter setting was 29.90. He realized his mistake when he asked ATC for a new squawk code because his transponder didn't have any 9's.

Now that's funny! Come to think of it, our transponders don't have any 9s either...

[ZUKO]

You sound like a good instructor. Good work.