CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 2 - 4

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even the masters have masters
BY ROD MACHADO
Those old enough To remember

Bruce Lee know that he was a master martial artist and the creator of his own fighting style known as Jeet Kune Do. Yet even at the height of his fame, Lee still considered himself a pupil of Yip Man, his original Kung Fu instructor in Hong Kong. The takeaway point is that self-improvement should be an ongoing process, even if you’ve achieved some degree of mastery in your field. One of the most effective ways for instructors to accomplish this is to seek out other instructors having skills worthy of emulation. In the early 1970s, word spread about a dynamic local college ground school instructor named Jan Sakert who had a unique ability to convey complex ideas in simple ways. What an opportunity to learn, I thought. I spent many hours in the back of his classroom watching the master at work, in hopes of improving my ability to teach. Today I’m a much better teacher for that experience. Learning from master instructors is a two-part process. First, you’ve got to find someone worthy of emulation. Second, you must look beyond what is taught to see how it is taught. Finding those with aviation mastery isn’t difficult. Individuals such as Rich Stowell are masters of spin training; Sean Tucker has an extraordinary

knowledge of the airplane’s performance envelope and Doug Stewart knows as much about IFR cross-country flying as anyone on the planet. Self-improvement means spending time in the cockpit or the classroom with individuals of this caliber. When a cockpit or classroom connection isn’t possible, use the Internet as your classroom. YouTube is a good place to start. Search for “Richard Feynman” and listen to his lectures titled

did you know?

FAA knowledge test scrutinized
oFFiCiAls oF The FAA’s AirmAn TesTing Standards Branch met recently with AOPA and industry participants to address concerns about changes that without notice altered the content of numerous knowledge test question banks, spiking failure rates. Flight training industry members emphasized the need for the FAA to provide guidance on training that matches the FAA’s new testing expectations. Read the story online (www.aopa.org/faatest).

“Fun to Imagine” and “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.” This Nobel Prize winning physicist can teach you many things about conveying complex ideas in simple ways. Finally, don’t discount written words as a means of learning from master teachers. In his book The Gift of Wings, Richard Bach said that the way to know a writer is not to meet him in person, but to read what he writes. To pry loose the essence of what makes written communication good, however, you must look beyond what was said, and ask yourself how it was said. Barry Schiff’s article "Flying Behind the Power Curve" in his book The Proficient Pilot is an excellent example of how a master instructor uses the building block technique to help you understand a rather complex idea. Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author, educator, and speaker. He has been a pilot since 1970 and a CFI since 1973. Visit his website (www.rodmachado.com).

4 | www.airsafetyinstitute.org

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2011/110421industry_faa_seek_fix_for_knowledge_tests.html http://www.rodmachado.com http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 2

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