CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2 | Issue 1 - 3

ASI Online
“I never soloed before because my last instructor scared the pants off me. It was a challenge to overcome the fear my other instructor had given me.” The last instructor had, without any ground briefing, put Hubert, unsuspecting, into a fully rotational spin and expected him, the novice student, to recover. One instructor, trying to prove how macho he was, almost terminated the interest of a trusting student. The moral to the story is that we tend to lose the priority of being an instructor. We look to the profession as a means to an end; a way to earn hours, so that we can earn a real living as a corporate or airline pilot. Whom do we think we are kidding?— certainly not our students. Eventually they find out and quit. When we set out to become flight instructors our primary desire should be to instruct to the best of our ability— with as much enthusiasm, commitment, and dedication as we can muster. If we give any less we are not only cheating the student, we are not being true to the instructor we know we can be. Desire to fly, ability to learn, money, aircraft availability, and flight instructor compatibility are major hurdles to be vaulted. The desire to fly is nurtured by the instructor, who encourages the student to continue—even when the student becomes discouraged—lifting the student’s morale and confirming and rekindling that desire. Students’ ability to learn is fostered by instructors reinforcing good habits and helping them change bad habits. People all learn at a different pace. Take it easy, enjoy, and let them have time to absorb. Money is an important factor in regulating the frequency of lessons. Students who can fly two or three times a week will benefit more from each lesson than those who fly once a week or less. Short term memory frequently fades over a week or so; tasks need to be repeated to refresh memory before each lesson, using valuable time and money. This should be pointed out to the prospective student at the onset of lessons. Aircraft have to be available and in good working order for each lesson. If a student arrives for a lesson motivated and ready to go and the aircraft is inop, a very discouraged student goes home. If this happens too many times....goodbye student. Last but not least is the ability of the instructor to communicate with that particular student. Everyone doesn't have to like everybody. A prudent instructor prefaces the initial interview with the new student with this caveat: It will not hurt his feelings if the student feels the need to change instructors during the course of his training. This reinforces that the instructor sees the student as a person and not a dollar sign. I tell you this not as a lecture but from lessons learned the hard way. I dearly love my time as a flight instructor: the look of recognition that crosses the face of the new student when they master a difficult task; the satisfaction of sharing what I have learned with another human being; and, the hope to make their aviation career as satisfying as mine has become. Patricia Mattison, a retired FAA Inspector with ATP, CFII, and MEI ratings, has more than 4,000 flight hours.

Accident forgiveness
BY MACHTELD SMITH
ARE YOU AWARE you and your students

Safety Quiz: FAR Part 91
If you’re looking for interesting ways to teach FAA regulations and test your students, the Air Safety Institute may just have the ticket in the form of a Part 91 quiz (www.airsafetyinstitute.org/part91quiz). Match gun light signals with respect to aircraft in flight and answer questions pertaining to oxygen use. Answers include links to FAR paragraphs. The quiz is underwritten by the AOPA Insurance Agency, Inc.

can take an ASI full-length online course, which qualifies for AOPA Accident Forgiveness and the FAA Wings program? That’s great, don’t you think? But wait, things get even better! ASI's online mini-courses now also qualify toward this great program (www. airsafetyinstitute.org/online_courses/). However, you must complete two minicourses every six months instead of one, and provide a certificate, if requested. So, which mini-courses qualify? Here’s the current list: Accident Case Study: Airframe Icing; Accident Case Study: VFR into IMC; A Pilot's Guide to Flight Service; Chart Challenge: VOR Approach; Chart Challenge: ILS Approach; Chart Challenge: RNAV Approach; and Pneumatic Systems. Get started right now with Accident Case Study: Airframe Icing (www. airsafetyinstitute.org/acs_icing). This story of a tragic 2005 accident in California, which illustrates the unrelenting power of structural icing, puts you in the lonely cockpit of a Cirrus SR-22 as its pilot struggles to escape ice-filled clouds high above the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Actual ATC audio and dramatic Microsoft Flight Simulator re-creations provide a gripping look at the perils that lurk in cold winter clouds. Machteld Smith is a senior aviation technical writer for the Air Safety Institute. She holds a commercial pilot certificate with multiengine, instrument, and seaplane ratings. www.airsafetyinstitute.org | 3

http://www.aopa.org/asf/accidentforgiveness/ http://www.aopa.org/asf/accidentforgiveness/ http://www.aopa.org/asf/accidentforgiveness/ https://www.faasafety.gov/wings/pppinfo/ http://www.aopa.org/asf/accidentforgiveness/ http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/online_courses/ http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/online_courses/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/acs_airframe_icing/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/acs_airframe_icing/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/acs_vfrimc/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/acs_vfrimc/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/flightservice/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/flightservice/ http://flash.aopa.org/asf/chartchallengevor/swf/flash.cfm? http://flash.aopa.org/asf/chartchallengevor/swf/flash.cfm? http://flash.aopa.org/asf/chartchallengeils/swf/flash.cfm? http://flash.aopa.org/asf/chartchallengeils/swf/flash.cfm? http://flash.aopa.org/asf/chartchallengernav/swf/flash.cfm? http://flash.aopa.org/asf/chartchallengernav/swf/flash.cfm? http://flash.aopa.org/asf/pneumatic_systems/swf/flash.cfm? http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/acs_icing http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/acs_icing http://flash.aopa.org/asf/acs_airframe_icing/ http://www.aopa.org/asf/asfquiz/2010/100924part91/index.html http://www.aopa.org/asf/asfquiz/2010/100924part91/index.html http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/part91quiz http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/part91quiz http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2 | Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2 | Issue 1