Things I Learned as an Instructor

[GaTechKid]

Lately there seems to be a significant amount of hesitation about the value of going the CFI route, so I thought I'd list a few tricks that I learned when I started instructing. I'd really like to know what other tricks or tidbits of knowledge other instructors gained over their time in the right seat.

One of the most useful skills I acquired as an instructor had to have been what is commonly called "working the system." This is where you use both the ATC and IFR systems to your advantage. Examples:

1) The ceiling is high enough to go practice landings and some maneuvers but it's too low to conduct practice approaches VFR. Solution: Before you depart, file an IFR flight plan from a fix in the practice area to whatever airport you want to practice approaches. After completing the maneuvers you need to get done, contact the appropriate ATC facility and pick up the IFR flight plan. Then coordinate with them to accomplish what you need to get done.

A variant on the above is to obtain a pop-up IFR clearance from the appropriate ATC facility in the sector you're in. However, places such as Chicago Approach aren't particularly kosher with this method in order to get practice approaches. So a variant upon this variant is to file a flight plan with a FSS in the air and then pick it up with ATC.

2) The ceiling is too low to depart VFR, the tops are at 3,000', and maneuvers need to get done. Solution: File 2 flight plans. One to get your out of the airport and on top of the clouds where you can accomplish your VFR maneuvers. Another gets you back into your home airport. File it from a fix to your home airport. Pick it up from ATC when you're ready to end the lesson.

3) It's going to be IFR all day long with no hope of climbing to VFR conditions to practice maneuvers. Solution: OK, this one is pretty unique because I used this solution to get maneuvers done for my ATP candidate. The entire ATP checkride is done under the hood so it didn't matter if it was VFR or not. To get the maneuvers I requested a block of airspace around a VOR. We were granted a 2000' block of airspace in one quadrant off the VOR. I cheated with the GPS in order to stay within the quadrant, but if you want to be uberman and set up the radials with both VORs then be my guest! We were able to accomplish every ATP maneuver with this method save the Vmc demo. It was out of my comfort zone in IMC, but your results may vary.

[jrh]

Great post.

I've learned tons as an instructor. Their are two big ones that just popped into my head though:

First, I've mellowed out, and realized there is a lot more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to a lot of things with flying. During my training, I unknowingly had a rigid mindset of, "This is the way the maneuver should be set up, this is the solution to this particular problem, this is what's dangerous, this is what's safe, these are the items that should be on the checklist, blah blah blah."

After I started instructing, it made me think critically about why I did things a certain way, and if it would be ok to change. Is that truly unsafe, or is it unsafe in my mind because I don't know any different? Under what circumstances could I do XYZ safely? Why? Basically, I started seeing more of the "big picture" of flying. When I was flying with students who had previously trained at a different flight school, or even a different instructor, and were taught a certain way different from my teaching, I had to decide if what they were doing is acceptable, or if it was an issue that I absolutely had to re-train them on.

Secondly, I truly learned the limits of the aircraft I was instructing in. Want to hear something scary? When I became an instructor, I was very uncertain of my judgement when it came to gliding into a field for an emergency landing. I'd always come in too high or too low. When I started teaching, I'd pull the power to idle, the student would be gliding, and they'd ask, "Do you think I'll make that field? Do I need flaps?" I'd confidently answer, "I don't know. Play with it. Try it out, see what happens." I always gave the impression that I was playing dumb for the sake of being a teacher, but the reality was, for the first 20 or 30 simulated engine failures, I really *wasn't* sure exactly where we'd end up.

It wasn't until I had a couple hundred hours of dual given that I honestly felt like I could make the plane do exactly what I wanted, when I wanted. Sure, I could pass checkrides in my training, but I didn't have the 100% certain, rock solid confidence in my stick and rudder abilities that instructing gave me. Instructing allowed me to see other people make mistakes, and I learned from those mistakes. Instructing forced me to think further ahead of the plane, because, well...if I didn't, I would have crashed. I had to stay ahead of the student. I had to make the decisions about how far down a particular path I wanted to go in order to let the student learn, yet not compromise safety. Although I believe I've always had good decisionmaking skills and a "PIC mindset," instructing took those skills to a new level.

There's plenty more that instructing has taught me, but I don't feel like writing more. Maybe later. I hope lots of others chime in with their ideas.

[Ian J]

I love instructing. If I could make a living doing it, I'd make it a career. Some of my thoughts...

Like JRH said, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I learned this early on in my piloting career with helicopters. Before I was a PC, there were too many times the IP or PC I was flying with confused procedure with technique. They all swore their way to do it was right. This is very aggravating when your first 400 hours are flown as essentially an SIC and you don't get to make decision one. (I assume 121 guys/ multi crew guys know what this feels like!) Once I became a PC, I really tried to instill in them decision making abilities, and really tried to differentiate between my technique and acceptable procedure.

As an airplane flight instructor, the WINGs guys, the BFRs, and flying guys as a favor to other instructors has once again opened up the world of different techniques. There's this one guy whose traffic pattern technique really annoyed the crap out of me. I thought his power settings, flap settings, and turn locations were retarded. But, was it unsafe? No. Outside the PTS? No. I showed him my technique, but he declined to adopt it. No problem. Another guy did all no-flap landings. Every single one. Why? I have no clue. He said he liked them. And all his landings were as soft as down pillows. I couldn't complain. (I did advise him that all runways weren't 5000 feet long and he might want to practice full flap landing just in case.)

I think I went on too long with the above.

Anyways, what I REALLY love about instructing is the teaching aspect. I love imparting knowledge, and really enjoy the sense of satisfaction when I see a student progress from rote, to understanding, application, and correlation. I get heavily involved in their success. Not to long ago a student failed his PPL oral. I was crushed, probably worse than he was. Then I had a student get a 98 on the written. That made things a lot better.

There's nothing quite like sitting in the plane when a student makes his first unassisted landing.

And I love being an "expert." And before I get crusified, I know I'm no expert. But in a student pilot's eyes, we are. We are all knowing, and never failing. I tough and impossible expectation to live up to, but a challenging one. As an instructor I'm in the books far more often than I was before. You have to try and try to make sure you get things right, and that you teach things right the first time. There's always that student who reads ahead and asks you some off the wall question you weren't prepared for. Sure, it is perfectly acceptable to say you don't know and go look it up, but how cool is it when you know the answer?

And now I know this has gone on too long. Anyways, those are some of my thoughts on the subject.

[BobDDuck]

Originally Posted by GaTechKid

We were able to accomplish every ATP maneuver with this method save the Vmc demo. It was out of my comfort zone in IMC, but your results may vary.

When I was working in the office in JAX still we got a briefing by one of the people there (who will remain nameless) about doing manuevers in IMC. They said that if it needed to get done then that is what you had to do. Of course, most of us agreed that a Vmc demo in the clouds is not a great idea and said as much. The response we got was the normal "well if you can't somebody else can" threat.

Anyhow, me and another guy (atlantic city pizza guy if anybody knows him) were going to make up shirts that said "Realy Men Do Vmc Demos In Da ####"

[moxiepilot]

Frankly, lately I've found the pilots I've been flying with who have not gone the CFI route are lacking in multiple areas. I am including CFI's who haven't taught students or have just given a BFR here and there.

I am too tired (from being on the road 3 weeks now) to go into detail, but, I highly recommend TEACHING as a CFI.