In all fairness

[t-cart]

Ok,So We have the thread right now about the things that line crew members do or do not do.Then,just a few weeks back,we had the pet peeves of the instructors.Now,The big question.As a student,What did you not like about your instructor,What are your pet peeves as a student?Lets hear em,

[killbilly]

I've only very limited experience with a few CFIs, and I can honestly say that my CFI doesn't do anything that hits a pet peeve of mine. He can be a little sarcastic sometimes, but in a funny way which helps me. The banter goes something like this:

"Bill, I didn't know you believed that the tower controllers were infallible, because you never, ever check final when you're turning base. That's a whole lotta faith right there."

"Did you ace that part of the CFI PTS? Y'know, the part where it calls for "sarcastic wanker?"

And we both laugh. And then I remember to check final. It was a little strange at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly and now kind of enjoy it. Later, we have a discussion about why I wasn't checking final and how it's important and how to incorporate it into my landing procedures. I can see where other students might not like it but it works for me.

Okay. I did think of one. He's slightly techno-phobic. Rarely uses e-mail, doesn't text, etc. If he used his cellphone and email a little more we could communicate a little better.

Now - there are a BUNCH of things he does that I really LIKE - teaching styles and methods that I hope to emulate some day. But we can get into that in another thread, I suppose.

[bdhill1979]

I had five different instructors through my PPL

Instructor 1: Was clueless. I would ask him questions and he obviously was making up the answer. He also was trying to milk me for hours.

Instructor 2: Also clueless. I only flew with him twice, I got the feeling that he was only instructing to get him to the next job. He also made up answers to questions and when I did something wrong, he would demonstrate, but not explain anything.

Instructor 3: Seemed really sharp, I flew with him three times, then he quit that job and moved on.

Instructor 4: No showed on our first scheduled flight. When I finally got him on the phone he told me that he did not have time in his schedule to take me on.

Instructor 5: Pro Ball. Knew what he was doing, knew how to teach, and actually enjoyed his job. I still talk to him about every other week or so.

[jrh]

I've had mostly good instructors over the years.

The one guy who I had mixed feelings about was a high time, experienced, professional, sharp CFI. He had a lot going for him, but we never clicked as well as I would have liked.

He had a very "type A" personality. Very perfectionistic and set in his ways, and kind of condescending the way he would say things to me. To be fair, he knew his stuff and made me a better pilot, but it wasn't much fun in the process. His attitude always came across as though my flying was never quite good enough no matter what I did. A lot of negative criticisms without much positive reinforcement to balance it out. He'd say things like, "Come on, you *are* a licensed pilot, aren't you? You need to start acting like one. Do it better." It made me tense up and I think my performance suffered as a result.

Some people learn better when under pressure, but I'm not one of them. I left most lessons thinking to myself, "I can do this, right? I can hack it...right?" and not, "Sweet, I made progress today! What comes next?"

Then, to top it off, he was very much a "stick and rudder" kind of guy and I'm very much an "academic" kind of guy. I can do the stick and rudder thing if I have a good understanding of why I'm doing it, what forces are involved, what's happening to the angle of attack, the center of gravity, etc., but this instructor was all about "Come on, feel it, just feel it! Can't you feel that?" I'd ask him to explain what was happening, step by step, when I'd make a mistake, and he simply couldn't. He told me I was over-analyzing things and to just do it.

So, like I said, the content of what the guy taught was mostly solid. I can't say he was ever straight out wrong with anything he ever taught me. His teaching style and my learning style just never lined up.